Upon hearing this, Bruno turned around and, through the town hall of the colony, widened his eyes, observing the situation on the street.
The colonial town hall was a red-brick two-story building with a flat roof, built extrely solidly, like a small fortress. At the entrance of the town hall were stationed two Portuguese white guards, and on the top floor, four white musketeers were arranged for shooting from a height. Surrounding the town hall, there was a patrol team of ten people, the leading officer being white, while the remaining nine soldiers were half-white natives of mixed race.
"The Almighty bears witness! We've been developing Sierra Leone Port for twenty to thirty years... Among the surrounding mixed-race tribes, there are over a thousand people, all descendants of the Kingdom of Portugal, and capable of providing two to three hundred main force troops!"
"With these mixed-race groups as a backbone, we can recruit twice as many black-skinned servant troops... The three parts together just make a thousand people!..."
"Oh! So that's how it is! Tsk tsk, a garrison of a hundred, plus a hundred or two hundred n, created a thousand to two thousand mixed-race tribes?… Angel, you folks really are… quite free-spirited, almost rivaling the sheep-riding Castilians!…"
"Haha! Bruno, on this devil's edge of the land, death and curses are too common, nobody knows how long they'll live... Naturally, we must live it up like the Romans! Besides, the benefits of these black-skinned won, you haven't tasted them for nothing! Except for being sowhat black, their feel almost matches silk… And they're very obedient, able to try different styles…"
"This... Angel, such a libertine style is not the traditional virtue of us Portuguese! If Captain Diogo were alive, he would surely straighten his face and harshly reprimand us..."
"...Uh!… The late Captain Diogo?"
Upon hearing Captain Diogo's na, Angel sowhat unnaturally touched his nose, his expression beca solemn, losing the previous indulgence. Beside him, Bruno seed thoughtful, looking around at the stationed guards. Those locally born native whites had a clearly existing yet indescribable difference in deanor.
In just one generation, the colony's whites, mixed-race whites, have already begun to significantly differ from the holand whites of the Kingdom of Portugal. This is still the colony in West Africa, with frequent exchange with the Kingdom. In more distant overseas lands, like the Eastern African colony being prepared to establish, or possibly the New Continent colony in the future… What extent would these differences increase?
Bruno had no answer, unable to envision such distant futures. He rely squinted his eyes, carefully observing this port stronghold, from Lion Mountain to the Rivermouth, noting various building locations. This wasn't his first ti here, yet this ti was different from many of the previous visits!
He must learn how to establish colonial strongholds before gaining the King's favor in subsequent New Continent explorations and colonization, bearing greater "duties and powers"!
"Established at the river and sea junction, with abundant water sources, protected by rivers… Ideally make use of the mountains for setting up fortifications… If a peninsula terrain exists, then perfect!…"
"The Almighty blesses! Town halls and trading posts must also be built fortress-style, compact enough for mutual support in shooting!…"
In the early epoch of mariti exploration, the Kingdom of Portugal in Africa founded colonies emphasizing fortified strongholds, large and small were wooden and stone fortresses. Each colony's military composition was also centered around white soldiers and officers, with mixed heritage troops as main forces, plus various numbers of local tribal recruits or cannon fodder.
Just like Sierra Leone Port, after twenty to thirty years of colonial developnt, there were currently over a hundred white soldier battalions, more than two hundred mixed-race main force battalions, commanded by white officers. Should a conflict arise with native tribes, the Portuguese would deploy three hundred of their main units, then recruit from allied, conquered, converted to the Lord's native tribes about twice that number, around five to six hundred in tribal servant troops.
If the enemy was relatively weak, the Portuguese would take the main unit with servant troops proactively initiate attacks, using servant troops as consumable vanguard. However, if the enemy's strength was formidable, the main unit would retract behind fortress lines, then fill the front line with servant troops to confront attacking tribes. Simultaneously, the superior Portuguese Navy would launch attacks, bombardnts, harassnts, or plunder the enemy's rear…
This was the fortress warfare of European colonizers, building castles, trading posts one after another, deploying garrisons, linked by a mighty navy!
Ten years ago, in the declining and fractured Mali Empire, the powerful Gambia "Fama" led increasingly rampant expeditions against the enslaving and plundering "Cross believers". He dispatched two to three thousand tribal troops, including two hundred cavalry, to massively besiege Portugal's coastal strongholds in Gambia.
Yet two thousand n besieged a three to four hundred folks comrcial post fortification, battling for several months without breaking through. When ten plus large sailboats of the Portuguese Navy gathered and ca, the ship's cannons fiercely fired volleys, severely harming the coastal besieging tribal army, defeating them, and chased them along the river for dozens of miles…
One could say, once these coastal Portuguese colonial strongholds were successfully established, built into fortifications, attacking them beca extrely daunting! If the Portuguese Navy wasn't eliminated, or at least restricted their naval offensives and supply capabilities, then the ti and manpower cost of besieging forts would beco unimaginably high, far exceeding the construction by several folds, ten tis!
"Haha! Brother Bruno, what are you looking at?… This port is just this way. Ten plus years have passed, only a few more buildings have appeared... yet around the port, many villages converted to the Lord have increased! The inland black skinned tribes fight fiercely, continuously fleeing reaching here, becoming our tribes and villages!..."
"Co! Bruno, my dear brother! To celebrate your exploration of new routes and your achievent of discovering the New Continent!... Brother, I'll certainly entertain you well!... Soone, bring over five tribal maidens, just the ones I previously selected!..."
"Haha! Bruno, these five mixed-race beauties, I haven't touched them yet, all are yours! How about it, their looks and figures aren't inferior to those Gypsy Girls, right?… Think about it, you've been through a near-death experience, what's the use of rules and doctrines? Like Sir Silvira, he never married, yet died overseas, died at sea..."
"Carpe diem! Aproveite o dia! Seize the day, enjoy life!… Haha! Enjoy life, leave more descendants! Brother Bruno, why do you hold back? Oh! Then I'm off, enjoy yourself, just rember my hospitality!… Haha!"
Angel laughed heartily, walked out of the reception hall, had the guards close the door. When the door shut, Angel's face, previously indulgently laughing, instantly vanished, replaced by a somber and stern contemplation.
"The Lord's blessings are truly mysterious! Bruno, this ordinary captain, returned alive from Atlantic explorations, bringing news of the New Continent? Tsk tsk, looks like his future prospects will be more than a re captain, more than a royal knight, worthy of my effort to win over!"
"As for the future… Atlantic's New Continent, yellow-skinned native tribes, new colonial developnt?... Hmm..."
Angel squinted, gazed at the western twilight sunset, remaining silent for a long ti. Beside him, white guards, mixed-race soldiers, bloodline ranks strictly observed. Behind him, in the tightly shut room, n's low groans and maiden's cries resounded, akin to the fallen Africa under Europe, engraving the oppression and cruelty between civilizations!
User Comments
0 comments from readers