"We do not need to be modest in the development of the new Huaxia Island to this day, we are the messengers of civilization who have brought prosperity and prosperity to this large island, and we have brought ......new life to this ancient island (once part of the ancient Gondwana mainland, as evidenced by the unique flora and fauna of the island)," several officials from the propaganda department were agitating hoarsely in a military camp on the outskirts of Dofan Port, the capital of the Zelu region.

In front of them was a large area of soldiers sitting on the ground. These people looked tired, but the excitement on their faces really couldn't be hidden. In the just-concluded dry season offensive, the Daze County Security Corps, together with militias from several other counties, carried out a sweep of the Antemoro people, Antai Faji, Antainoji and other indigenous groups living in the mountains, and won the victory.

During this months-long dry season offensive, more than 2,000 militiamen were dispatched to the Zelu area, engaged in dozens of battles, large and small, and achieved the results of killing, wounding, and capturing more than 10,000 enemy troops. In addition, they seized a considerable amount of grain, livestock, and even some gold and silver. It is worth mentioning that these gold and silver coins are all minted by the Muscat Sultanate, and the fact that so many of them have ended up in these tribes seems to indicate a lot of problems.

At that time, Peng Yuanzhi, commissioner of the Zelu Prefecture Administration and commander of the garrison, who saw the seized silver coins, had a cigarette in his mouth, spit it out, and after scolding the "Malegobi," he went back to write a report to the Xinhuagang side, and his words were nothing more than resentment at the Muscat Sultanate's meddling in the situation on New Huaxia Island, and he urged him to take tougher measures against this "rogue state" in order to ensure the hegemony of the east coast on the Swahili coast.

To be honest, Peng Yuanzhi's accusation against the Omanis for meddling in Xinhuaxia Island is not entirely a frame-up. Several tribes in the southeast of the island were originally the only aboriginal groups in New China who could use writing. These native people who use the Arabic variant also believe in Islam (although it may seem strange and unorthodox), and it is no wonder that the French who founded Fort Dolvan called them "Moors" when they saw them.

The Moors, the East Coast, have always been extremely wary, partly because of the closed nature of their circles (of course, the unreformed Catholicism of this era seems to some extent more terrible than the Green Church), and secondly, because the two sides have been a little more tied over the years. More precisely, it was the East Coast and the Omanis who formed a lot of bonds for the benefit of the Swahili coast of East Africa.

Therefore, on the one hand, the people on the east coast vigorously rectified and cleaned up the potential Islamic forces in the East African control areas such as New Huaxia Island, Liba Island, Comoros Islands, and Djibouti (the magnificent Mahajanga Mosque was converted into the Taoist Qingniu Palace was the peak of this movement), and on the other hand, they launched a fierce competition with the Omanis on the East African coast. Both sides use their own means, without completely tearing their faces, constantly creating trouble for each other through proxies and expanding their spheres of influence.

In this kind of fighting, the east coast people with more ships, more people, more guns, and more money slowly gained the upper hand, although the princely kingdoms on the Swahili coast were basically Muslims, but after so many years of pouring and conquering, the stupid and stunned were basically dead, and the rest basically had the philosophy of self-preservation, and generally did not come out easily, and the Portuguese and Omanis who sat and watched the battle divide the victory and defeat, and then raised their clans to take refuge. Therefore, on this coast, religious beliefs can certainly add points to the Omanis, but it is not absolute, because the reputation of the people of the east coast has indeed become more and more famous on the Swahili coast in recent years, especially after the formal formation of the colonial government of Tieba Island.

And when it comes to the colonization of the island by the people on the east coast, it is impossible not to mention the hard-pressed naval officer, Captain Ashto. This Italian immigrant officer, who has been mixed in the East Coast Army for half his life, has been serving as a second officer such as first mate and second officer on various ships before, and has never been in charge alone. This appointment as the commander of the garrison of Tieba Island was actually somewhat unexpected, because this position was originally intended for Juan, a naval major and an officer from Spain. It's a pity that on the way from the First Fleet, this gentleman disappeared with the 1,200-ton big flying scissors cargo ship he was riding (sunk off the coast of South Africa), so the official position of the garrison commander fell to him.

Captain Eishito is not young now, and he has no other requirements, so he wants to finish this term in peace, and then retire with the rank of major before retiring. Therefore, in the past few years, he has been in charge of the military and political affairs of the whole island, and he has really worked hard and spent a great deal of effort, and he is afraid that something will happen.

But a lot of things don't go wrong with care. Maybe it's because of the tropics, maybe it's because of mismanagement, maybe it's because of the lack of supplies, but since the islands fell into the hands of the people of the east coast and migrated vigorously, there have been many things, the most common of which is of course a large-scale epidemic, each of which kills a large number of people, including immigrants and slaves. In addition, the slave rebellion and the ravages of Arab pirates also greatly affected the commercial interests of the island, making many merchants doubt its safety, which naturally annoyed the people on the east coast who intended to build a coastal trade center in East Africa - these Arab pirates were very chicken thieves, they often took advantage of the northeast monsoon to come out to attack the merchant ships of various countries that came to trade, and at this time, because of the monsoon and ocean currents, the naval warships on the east coast could not go north, not to mention that the second fleet was a bunch" The old, the weak, the sick and the disabled," and they could not spare a few ships to go north to inspect the maritime frontier.

Taking into account the above-mentioned factors, the life of Tieba Island has actually been quite difficult in recent years, so that the Xinhuaxia Island side has to urgently transfer a lot of militia from other places to guard it (the county security regiments in mature areas such as Xinhua and Mianhe are on duty in turn) to guard land security, and at the same time, ships in good condition from the Second Fleet are also sent to berth in turn to ensure the safety of the sea there. Such a relatively thoughtful arrangement, although the safety of the island has been guaranteed, but the expenditure has also increased sharply, not to mention, a county security regiment of 1,000 people, plus two or three naval gunboats, a year's expenditure properly exceeds the entire income of the island - the vast majority of the island's current source of income is commodity import and export tariffs, but it is only a little more than 100,000 yuan - if it were not for the people on the east coast who really "love" colonization and have an incredible attachment to the land, such a loss-making business would be exchanged for others. It is categorically impossible to hold on for so long.

But maybe things have changed a little now. The New China Island, which has just finished the requisition in the mountainous area in the southeast of the island, is in full spirit, and although Qiu Haiyang, the newly appointed captain of the New China Pioneer Team, is also over 60 years old, the so-called martyr is full of strength in his twilight years, and this gentleman also has a strong desire to make meritorious contributions. And he has a strong sense of personal self, and he doesn't like to suffer losses very much, and he has been in charge of the Yicheng area for many years, and how he cruelly treats the local Swazi, everyone can see. Therefore, after taking office, this lord did not first focus on the central plateau of Xinhuaxia Island, but planned to clean up the situation around the island and defeat those bulls, ghosts, snakes, and supernatural powers that hindered the cause of the people on the east coast.

The plan of this lord was that the navy would send warships and the East African transport company would send ships to transport troops, and the two sides would cooperate with each other and advance by sea and land to strike at some of the Swahili princely kingdoms on that coast that always caused trouble for the people on the east coast, and "purify" the surrounding environmental order. It is worth mentioning that the dispatch was made at a time when the northeast monsoon prevails in the northern hemisphere, which is usually the time when Omani ships habitually come to cause trouble.

In order to sail against the wind and current, most of the ships mobilized by the people on the east coast this time were equipped with steam propulsion systems, such as the Navy's battleship "Fubo Wanli", an ammunition supply ship, a fresh water supply ship, two newly arrived "Temperary" class frigate gunboats, and two sail transport ships of the East African Transport Company, a total of seven ships, which was almost enough to transport more than 1,000 people of a county security regiment.

Another point worth explaining is that the appointment of Captain Qiu Haiyang and the new officer of Qiu Haiyang this time was not for nothing, but brought a gift to Xinhuaxia Island: a fresh water supply ship transferred by the First Fleet of the Navy, and two "Solar Terms"-class frigate gunboats. In particular, the latter is somewhat different from the "Tempering" class of the First Fleet's pure sail power, because the two ships are equipped with the latest "Popeye-8B" steam propulsion system, which has the ability to sail freely in headwinds and waters, which is very powerful, which may be due to the great progress in the local basic materials industry, machining industry and power design, and it is not as good as ensuring that the steam engine will be carried on board the ship without major changes in the shape of the ship.

As usual, the commander-in-chief of this operation was Lieutenant Colonel Mo Liee, commander of the Navy's Second Fleet. He had just returned from India, and he was afraid that he would not be able to rest for too long, so he would have to pack up his east and west and go north to go on the expedition, which was also hard to say. Today, his flagship "Fubo Wanli" has stopped at Duofan Harbor, ready to escort the two East African transport company sailing ships carrying personnel and materials, and Qiu Haiyang, the captain of the New China Pioneer Team, also arrived here with the ship.

At this time, the "brainwashing" operation of the propaganda officers on the wharf was nearing its end, and nearly 1,000 "civilized messengers" from the Daze County Security Corps, armed with knives and guns, with fierce faces on their faces, would be in high spirits. They had just spread "civilization" to the Antaifaji and other natives in the southeast of the island, and they had been told that they would soon be going to the area of Lipa Island to spread civilization to the Moors living on the nearby Swahili coast, which made them more or less excited.

Yes, it is true that going out to fight is hard and dangerous, but the income is often very good, which has made many people who had doubts before going to war have now put down a lot. Although everyone is still worried about the work of clearing the wasteland at home, the renovation and renovation of the house, and the planting of fruit trees and vegetables, isn't this the old man forcing everyone to go to sea to fight? Since this is inevitable, it is better to fight a few battles, and it is better to divide more money and goods after the war, and then return to the township with a bulging pocket, isn't it more face-saving? A little farm work and house renovation will be completely in time for the time to do it.

Mo Lie's eel and Qiu Haiyang's hearts are still relatively accurate. Among the three counties of Daze, Gaodu, and Lu'an, Daze County has the largest population and the earliest development, and the reclamation work is not as important as the latter two, so this expedition, the militia of those two counties was not requisitioned, but decided to take away 1,000 people from the Daze County Security Corps.

"Captain Qiu, the Daze County Security Regiment has been fighting in the mountains for several months, and now it is in good shape, no matter how powerful it is to take it out to fight, at least it will not be a problem to sweep away those princes of the princes. I am also sure that after all this uproar and attack on us, the natives of the Swahili coast will be much more afraid of us, and that the Portuguese and Omanis will have to pay much more to us in the future than before. Therefore, in the coming period, the situation on the island will be greatly improved, and the trade volume will gradually increase. Lieutenant Commander Mo Liege said softly: "However, are you really not considering forming a joint fleet with the Portuguese to patrol the sea frontier?" Actually, through this meeting in Goa, I think they are quite sincere, the aristocratic group does not have as much hatred for us as we imagined, they are very pragmatic, and our power cannot cover too many places now, and the influence of the Portuguese on land is much higher than ours, and we actually have a strong complementarity. Captain Qiu, in fact, you can consider that the Mozambican side is also under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Goa, Pedro de Almeida Portugal, and he can decide everything. ”

"Let's see the situation first, if we really can't take care of it, it's not too late to bring the Portuguese in." Qiu Haiyang, who was wearing a white cotton shirt, waved his hand and said in an indifferent tone: "What are the Portuguese people who are shabby, why do they give them a good face?" The gluttonous feast on the Swahili coast of East Africa, of course, is the most beautiful thing for us to enjoy, we don't drive the Portuguese away from Mogadishu, Mombasa, Mozambique and other places, and we want to come in and share the profits, how can there be such a good thing. ”

"However, I am allowed to do the things you talked about with them in Goa before, so let's do it this way." Perhaps feeling that he had rejected Mo Lie's proposal was a little ugly, he softened his tone again and said, "You have worked this matter, Commander Mo. The trade with Goa is hugely profitable, and the 200,000 people of New Huaxia Island must accept your affection. By the way, this time you can catch more people, the Yicheng area has been planning a railway recently, and it needs a lot of labor. ”