The northwestern hilly region is cold in the middle of winter. Even in the grassland on the east coast, where there is a warm current and the temperature is relatively high, the minimum temperature will still be as low as minus five or six degrees in the middle of winter, which makes Wang Dali, a senior researcher from the Ministry of Geological Resources who led the team here, feel a little worried.

The Ministry of Geological Resources is a newly established unit responsible for the exploration and exploitation of various mineral resources in China. With the development of the country's economy and the gradual completion of industrial categories, the thirst for non-ferrous metals is getting deeper and deeper. As the only skilled prospector in the Ministry of Geology, Wang Dali took on the task of leading a comprehensive exploration and investigation of the final point of the Northwest Railway, the later Corrales mining area.

This is the twelfth time they have explored the mining area. Wang Dali and Meng Hu, who were born as a traveler, led an expedition of about 50 people to almost all the hundreds of square kilometers around the core area of the mining area, and collected a considerable number of ore samples.

According to later data, the Corrales mining area is rich in resources, including iron ore, coal mine, manganese ore, gold ore and other mineral resources. Among them, the scale of iron ore is not large, and the scale of coal mines is okay, but the quality is poor, and it cannot be used as steam engine coal, and can only be used to make honeycomb coal or burn fire in brick kiln factories and cement factories. However, the manganese ore and gold ore in this area are very famous, the gold mine has been mined for 60 years before it is exhausted, but in the 21st century, new veins have been discovered near the original mining area, with an annual output of more than 10 tons of gold, which shows that its reserves are still very rich.

As for manganese ore, its reserves are even more massive. The later Republic of Uruguay owned a lot of manganese ore in the Corrales mining area, which was mined and exported in large quantities. China's steel companies have bought a lot. It is another major mineral export in addition to iron ore exports. Quite a lot of profit every year.

The Ministry of Geological Resources frequently sends people to the Corrales mining area to conduct exploration and investigation, and it is nothing more than the manganese ore resources there. As for the local iron ore and coal mines, they are only incidental development, and the real focus is on manganese ore. To this end, with the approval of the Government Council, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will choose a new steel plant there, mainly to produce various types of special steel, to meet the increasingly high requirements of various domestic industrial sectors for materials.

In the first eleven exploration operations. The expedition team led by Wang Dali has preliminarily identified several large and medium-sized manganese ore accumulation belts, two small gold mining areas, a coal storage belt and an iron ore belt. The collected specimens were analyzed and found to be fully exploitable, at least in terms of taste. Of course, this mining is only for manganese ore and iron ore, one of the coal mines is low reserves, the other is poor quality, mining is not in the middle of two theories. As for the gold mines there, the Executive Committee has unanimously decided not to mine them for the time being, and they will also strictly block the news so as not to be known by outsiders.

The first phase of the Northwest Railway, from Xiayihe Township (which has been officially withdrawn from Fort to set up township) to Canyon Fort has been laid and successfully opened to traffic. In order to support the country's strategy to develop the northwest, the Southern Depot in Port Merlin specially sent the third and fourth steam locomotives produced by the plant here. Now, it is about 30 kilometers of railway mileage between Xiayihe Township and Canyon Fort. The use of horse-drawn rail wagons has been officially abolished, and steam locomotives have been used to transport people and goods. Efficiency has been greatly improved.

Compared with the frequency of one train every two days on the Rome Line Railway, the first phase of the Northwest Railway, which does not have a double line, does not have a clear departure plan. They always send all the supplies and personnel from Xiayihe Township to Canyon Fort, more than 30 kilometers away, and then return at once when they need it.

The expedition team of Wang Dali and others arrived at the Canyon Fort Station by train. There, all kinds of prospecting tools, weapons, supplies, pack animals (vicuñas), riding horses, etc., have been waiting for many days. Escorted by a small cavalry unit, they traveled through the low hilly area and along the roadbed of the second phase of the Northwest Railway (Canyon Fort - Baiqi Cliff Fort) under construction all the way to the northwest to Baiqi Cliff Fort.

At present, more than half of the 70 or 80-kilometer-long railway linebase has been leveled, but due to the shortage of manpower, the construction of the entire railway linebase will be completed in the first half of next year. After that, the rails will be laid and inspected, and it is estimated that the official opening of the second phase of the railway will not be until the end of next year or the beginning of the next year (48 years). As for the third phase of the Northwest Railway leading from the Hundred Feet Cliff Fort to Merlot and the fourth phase leading to the mining area further afield, if the construction manpower is not increased, it may have to be arranged for 50 years, which is probably not something that the gentlemen of the Executive Committee can wait patiently for.

Wang Dali's expedition rested for two days in the humble city of Baiqi Cliff Fort, which had only six or seven hundred inhabitants and even the city walls had just begun to be built, and then followed the old road to the Merlot area. There were currently more than fifty cavalry stationed in the Merlot area, in addition to more than three hundred new Hebei peasants serving them. They did not stay much in this "city", which was more modest than a hundred-foot cliff fort, and soon left the area with their caravan, and began to march towards the Corrales mining area, a tributary of the Black River (Negro), where they finally arrived on July 20.

There is a small military station with a mixed civil structure, which has only been set up for a few months. There were more than 20 militiamen requisitioned from Xiayihe Township, who were responsible for guarding some of the inconvenient supplies and tools here, and there was nothing else to do. Sometimes there were some cavalry patrolling here who stayed overnight, but most of the time they were alone, accompanied only by a few three-toed ostriches and foxes, and of course a few vicious Charruas.

The area where the station is located is already the heart of what would become the Corrales mining area. Meng Hu looked at the dense forests and the clear water flowing in the local area, and couldn't help but sigh deeply, and said, "Another good place is going to be ruined." It is full of wetlands and forests, and there are many animals such as otters, foxes, and water birds, making it a truly scenic spot. The thought that this place would be overrun by smoke-filled chimneys and roaring machines made me feel uncomfortable. Alas, it's a pity! What a pity! ”

"Okay, don't be sour there, no one pays attention to your sighs." Wang Dali, who was wearing a warm leather coat, grabbed a vicuña and tried to untie the cargo tied to its back, while turning his head and shouting at Menghu: "What are you doing in a daze? Come and help! ”

The vicuña was obviously a bit recognizable, and its temper was not very docile, so the vicuña, which was vigorously dragged by the king, immediately spun in circles in place, always resisting his approach, and at the same time screamed loudly, making Wang Dali disgraced and faceless.

"Good brute!" After seeing a bowed head and a bowed Livoniafu smiling and calming the vicuña, Wang Dali couldn't help but curse. At this time, the militia in the barn also began to come to help, and there were many supplies for them, such as tobacco, spirits, cured meat, etc. Stationed somewhere alone for a long time, these supplies are indispensable.

It is said that since the navy obtained a batch of vicuñas from the aborigines of Tierra del Fuego more than ten years ago, the people of the east coast began to graze and breed in baleen whale harbor and the mainland, and the population of this animal has expanded rapidly. At present, there are also a small number of vicuñas and imported alpacas in colonies such as South Africa and Australia.

Slightly smaller than its close relative, the alpaca, the vicuña is also very wild, and is one of the main animals (the other being the seal) of the aborigines of Tierra del Fuego, who also domesticated a large number of vicuñas as pack animals.

This animal can endure hunger and cold, can still live freely in the environment of lack of water and oxygen, is resistant to rough feeding, has strong vitality, and is extremely fast over mountains and mountains, and is a very good mountain pack beast. In the past, the East Coast imported large quantities of alpacas from Spain every year through the Colonia Free Trade Market, but they also obtained large quantities of vicuñas through trade with the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego and the Araucan guerrillas in southern Chile, and bred them in various parts of the country for use as mountain beasts.

Now there are more than ten vicuñas in the expedition team led by Wang Dali, and they can still easily pass through the hills and mountains near the canyon fort with a large amount of supplies tied to their backs, which are not much better than the other Bulgarian Rascek horses imported from the Ottoman Empire (good at walking in mountains and rocky environments), and even surpass them, which is amazing.

The goods were quickly unloaded, and the militiamen, with the help of the husbands, carefully stored the supplies in the cellars, while the pack horses, vicuñas, and mounted horses of the ranks were gathered together and driven into the courtyard of the barracks. There is a well in the yard, and there is a chicken coop next to the well, and there is a grape trellis on top of the chicken coop, which makes people feel a little bit of life here.

After the militia had finished these things, three or four men led the horses out of the courtyard and headed outside, where they went on routine patrols. As for the rest, they took out their rifles and went to their own posts to start their duties, and everything seemed to be in order.

Although this military station has not been attacked by any hostile forces since its establishment half a year ago, this is not a reason for everyone to relax their vigilance. There are often some Chalua barbarians in the nearby area, and there are often some gaucho horse bandits or Jesuit mercenary cavalry in the wilderness, which makes the heads of the people on the east coast always break a string, and they dare not relax in any way. This is a key area planned by the state, and the future special steel and machinery manufacturing base can not let the Spaniards cause any small damage. (To be continued......)