At noon on May 28, 1641, the reinforcements led by Mo Ming, who had just experienced a bloody battle, finally arrived in the area of Fort Gouda. They were spotted a few kilometers from the city by a company of South African cavalry roaming around, and were quickly ushered into Fort Gouda, which had just laid its foundations and was only a short stretch of the wall.

Zhu Liang, the commander of the South African garrison, rushed over to report to Mo Ming the movements of the barbarians these days.

"The barbarians have not moved, not even a decent harassment." Zhu Liang reported, "I once sent the South African cavalry company to reconnoitre, and it turned out that there was only a small barbarian camp behind the mountain pass. They placed about a thousand soldiers there, but the firepower was good, and the muskets and rifles were so numerous that the cavalry could not get close enough to attack. And I was worried that this was a trick by the barbarians to lure the snakes out of their holes, so I did not dare to send troops out of the city to kill them. Now that I have heard the brothers talk about being ambushed by the barbarian brigade on the road, I realize that these barbarians have gone to attack our supply lines, but they have managed to run into our large army. ”

"They have suffered two or three thousand casualties, and of course there will be no more drastic actions." Mo Ming climbed the watchtower in the city and observed the situation inside and outside the city. The planned Fort Gouda is not large, only about 800 meters in circumference, and the bricks used are all fired near the Fort River, except for cement and lime transported from the mainland. After the completion of the Gouda Fort, the vast area of the Great Plains west of the Higashiyama Mountains became a foothold for the people of the East Coast. In addition, the Nanhu area, which is rich in water and grass, will also be included in the bag, so if you want to develop it well. This will be the next base for food and animal husbandry.

Of course. In the eyes of the members of the local executive committee. The main role of Fort Gauda was not as an agricultural base, but as a base for advancing eastward into the Xhosa settlement. To put it bluntly, this is a stronghold that provides logistical supplies and rest for the slave catchers. Now that the hunger for slaves on the east coast is growing, the importance of Fort Gouda is bound to grow in the future.

The city wall has only been built two or three hundred meters long until now, and the buildings in the city are even more pitiful. The only public bathhouses, canteens, and residences are temporary wooden houses made of third-class timber brought from New China. The so-called third-class timber is actually wood that is not suitable for shipbuilding. At present, the timber harvested in the New China area is temporarily roughly divided into three grades, of which those that can be used to build warships are the first class, and those that can be used to build merchant ships are the second class. Other items that can't be used to build boats, but can only be used to build temporary wooden houses, cheap furniture, etc., are naturally third-class.

The construction of Fort Gouda is progressing slowly, and Mo Ming is also aware of it. This is deep in the front line, more than 200 kilometers away from the river fort, and the materials needed for the construction must be pulled from the river fort by transport boats. It is difficult for outsiders to imagine the hardships of this, don't look at the abundant water in the lower reaches of the Berg River, which is suitable for navigation, but when it comes to the upper reaches of the river, the water is not so abundant, and in many places even the river is silted up, and it is necessary to organize manpower to dredge before it can be passed. Not only that, but also because of the whole process of counterflow. Each boat also required a large number of sailors to row, and sometimes a slender man on the shore. In this way, a shipload of all kinds of supplies that are urgently needed here can be delivered.

The river near Fort Gouda is often referred to as the Berg River, but in the latest atlas published by the Ministry of Education, it is named the "Gouda River". It is called the Gouda River because the river that flows northeast of Fort Gouda is only a tributary of the Berg River, and it is quite inaccurate to call it the Berg River. The water surface of the river is wide, and there is no big problem in passing inland river flat-bottomed boats under 100 tons, and if some rivers are dredged to completely connect them with the downstream river forts, and then transported back and forth by local small steamers, then it will take less than two days to make a one-way trip. However, this can only be imagined, and it is absolutely impossible for the mainland to equip the colonies with such an epoch-making transport weapon as a small steamer.

The Gouda River meanders from the green mountains to the east, nourishing the lives of countless plants, animals, and even humans on both sides. Home to rhinos, hippos, antelopes, hyenas and crocodiles, abundant water and grass, herds of bison and wild elephants, it's a seemingly inexhaustible treasure trove of animals. From the perspective of Mo Ming, who has been in charge of South Africa for many years, this place is backed by green mountains, rivers and large lakes in the south, and has considerable agricultural potential. Moreover, the transportation on both sides of the Dongshan Mountain Range is also extremely important, and if the population is sufficient to pick it up, it should become a thoroughfare hub no less than the Fort in the River.

"It's a great place. Next, I will take care of Fort Rivera and even the mainland, fully support the construction of Fort Gundam, and strive to set up a local force in Fort Gundam, and if it fails, at least solve the establishment of a security regiment. Mo Ming glanced around a few times and found that there was nothing more to see, so he turned his head to Zhu Liang who was following him and said. After finishing speaking, he smiled to himself and said, "I forgot that you are not from South Africa, and you will have to roll up and go back to your homeland in more than a year." Forget it, I'll personally supervise the construction here. ”

"Hehe, I have done my service for the party and the country, I have shed blood for South Africa, you can't do this." Zhu Liang also smiled and said, "After the construction of Fort Gouda, this eastward march to capture the slaves of the Xhosa people is no longer an expedition of laborers. From here, we can enter the eastern part of the mountain through the valley of the Gouda River, and then it is no longer difficult to go south, north or east. We can calmly sweep this area, conquer the tribes that do not submit to the king, absorb and annex the tribes that have come to annex, and grow our strength step by step. I believe that the news of this big destruction of the main force of the Kama tribe will soon spread throughout this area, and Fort Gouda may be very busy for a while now, and some small tribes that are struggling to survive between several major tribes should be happy to come to us. Especially in the case of the Eight Banners tribe as a demonstration, the poor natives who can't eat enough food can't be tempted. ”

Mo Ming smiled and didn't speak again. The matter has already been clear, the battle on the night of the 25th Kama tribe is afraid that it will also hurt its vitality, and the loss of 3,000 young and middle-aged men is definitely an extremely heavy blow to an indigenous tribe with a population of only tens of thousands. Even if most of the dead and wounded were servant soldiers or slave soldiers, it would be equivalent to the loss of 3,000 strong laborers, and the production and life of the tribe would be greatly affected in the future. Not to mention that after this battle, most of the tribes in the valley to the east of the mountain who had been plundered by them would no longer obey their orders, unless they put a lot of effort into putting order in order, but it was clear that the people on the east bank would not give them that time.

"Report, the troops have been replaced, please give the order from His Excellency the Commander." A combat staff officer staggered up the wooden staircase and reported loudly.

Mo Ming looked at his watch, it was already twelve o'clock at noon, and then asked, "Have the soldiers finished eating?" ”

"I'm done eating, I'm already in the whole team, and I'm waiting to go." The operational staff officer replied in the affirmative.

"Well, let's go!" Mo Ming fastened the buttons of General Ming's coat, tightened the command knife at his waist, and then strode towards the bottom of the watchtower.

On the small school field in the city, the 1st and 2nd companies of the army, which had rested for half an hour after lunch, had already completed their formation. The rout of the Kama tribe had already passed through the valley of the Gouda River this morning and entered the eastern part of the mountain, and they were driving a large herd of cattle and sheep, numbering about five or six thousand, and their morale seemed to be extremely low. Mo Ming, who got the reconnaissance information, didn't have any idea of returning to the mountain, he remembered very well the classic scene of how Dolgon chased Li Chuang's ass and beat him hard, even if he couldn't hold the main force of the Kama tribe's army, it wouldn't give them time to integrate those Xhosa tribes in the eastern valley of the mountain. These tribes are already the food of the people of the East Coast, how can Mo Ming make the Kama tribe take food again.

Therefore, as soon as he arrived at Fort Gouda, Mo Ming immediately ordered the 2nd Company of the Army and the South African Cavalry Company to prepare for battle, replacing the 103rd and 104th Companies of the Army, which had been damaged in the previous operation, and operating together with the elite 1st Company of the Army. As for the bulky artillery unit, he decisively abandoned it in Fort Gundam, and this time the pursuit of the defeated army of the Kama tribe was expensive, and the artillery was too slow.

After everything was ready, Mo Ming, who worked tirelessly, entrusted the defense of Fort Gouda to Xiao Baitu, the company commander of the 104th Company, and personally took more than 400 infantry from the 1st and 2nd companies, as well as 1,500 Eight Banner warriors led by Liu Zhong, supplemented by the officers and soldiers of some engineering battalions, each carrying three days of food and water, and marched along the valley of the Gouda River towards the east of the mountain, with the South African cavalry company as the lead.

In the afternoon of the same day, they were accompanied by a barbarian force on the task of blocking the attack. This force, consisting of about four or five hundred men, held back the fiercest South African cavalry with a dense array of spears and bows, and after the large forces on the east bank pursued, this force fought and retreated, but in the end it could not resist the musket volley of the east bankers. Having routed this enemy, the South African cavalry company continued its pursuit along the flat valley of the river while it was still dark, and by evening they had intercepted a barbarian force of about two hundred men.

This group of barbarians was driving about seven or eight hundred cattle and sheep, and they looked extremely panicked, and it seemed that they were the troops in charge of logistics. After seeing that they were surrounded by the East Coast, most of them silently surrendered, except for a few who put up fearless resistance. And the cattle and sheep they drove naturally became the trophies of the people on the east coast. (To be continued......)