At the end of March and the beginning of April, with the steady advance of the army on the east bank in the Yakui River valley, some of the indigenous tribes on both sides of the river were also wiped out. Since their departure from the Triford Station on 14 February, the East Coast has fought more than 2,000 Guarani casualties, wounded and captured.

These Guarani, who are mainly villages and basically fight on their own, are simply unable to resist the attack of the army on the east bank. Even with a small number of Spanish missionaries, due to the limited population density and transportation conditions, these Guarani people were basically unable to unite, and all of them were broken by the east coasters.

Thus, when the East Bank Army arrived in what would become the area west of South Casshouera, the time had just reached the day of 5 April. Further west from here, we are about to enter the "familiar land" of the Spanish missionaries for many years, and it is conceivable that the resistance encountered by the people on the east coast will increase exponentially, and the enemy's organization and combat effectiveness will also increase significantly.

After discussing with several army company commanders, Zhu Liang, the army major who led the team, decided to rest here and wait for the supplies from the rear to come up as soon as possible. With the way the people on the east coast fight today, the consumption of materials is far greater than that of the armies of various countries on the old and new continents, and without materials, then there will be no war. Moreover, this army has been vigorously advancing westward in the previous fifty days, and has fought a total of more than a dozen battles, although the intensity is not high, but while waiting for supplies at this time, let the troops rest for a while, which is also conducive to the next battle.

The main combat units are resting, but the baggage troops must not be sloppy in the slightest. These militiamen recruited from Ping'an and Zhenhai counties were also ordered to build a temporary camp here and pay attention to vigilance. Training should also be strengthened on weekdays. Because maybe they'll be sent in some battle. In the previous fifty days. They were involved in only one battle. Or when the enemy is about to collapse, the training is limited. And given the possibility of a full-scale war with the Spaniards, the militia will also be mobilized in large numbers to take on many combat missions. Then in the next battle, it is very likely that the major officer who led the team will send them to the front to improve their quality and practice tactics by taking turns fighting the Guaraní.

Most of the 16 72-ton steamboats belonging to the inland waterway transport company that have been accompanying the troops have also returned to ship goods at present. They returned mostly full of people, except for a ship that carried the ashes of the wounded, sick and the war-dead. The rest of the ships were mostly Guaraní captured in the previous series of battles, and a total of about 100 East Coast militiamen guarding them. Among these Guarani, children were specially selected, and some of them were to be sent to study at the fort of the Corps, numbering about 80 people; The other part and the indigenous women will be sent to St. Mary's Island, New China Island, and the number will be about 200 people; At the very end, more than 200 adult men will be sent to Tacheng Port to dig coal and cut wood, thinking that they will "atone" for their actions against the heavenly soldiers.

The main force of the Guarani people has indeed been transferred to the areas of New Königsberg, Hekou Township, Xihu Township, and Dafeng Fort in the south, and all those who remain in the north are the old, weak, sick and disabled. This made the advance of the East Bank army so strong that no one could interfere with them. If it were not for the concern that going too far into the western region would cause logistical supply difficulties. Maybe Zhu Liang got up earlier, and the main force of the army killed him.

"Listening to the news brought by the ship that returned last time, there are a lot of Ming people who have been transported back to the mainland this year. It turned out to be a record 9,000 people. Combined with the natural increase in the native population, the more than 3,000 female slaves bought back from the Crimea and the Ottoman Empire, the more than 500 female slaves and children bought back from Muscat merchants, some immigrants from Poland and Livonia, and the Central and Southern Europeans smuggled from La Plata, the population has exploded by 16,000 this year, which makes the total population of our country reach a record 99,000, which is only one step away from the 100,000 mark. Chang Kaisheng, the commander of the army's 1st Company, who had just finished arranging the vigilance of the troops, sat down beside Zhu Liang, lit a pipe and chatted.

"The proportion of the population of the Ming people has climbed to 39% after the vigorous introduction of these years, which is the largest ethnic group in China; The French are still the second largest ethnic group, with about 7.6 per cent, and that's a terrible statistic even if we have largely stopped the source of French immigrants over the years; None of the remaining ones exceeded 5%, and many of the large ethnic groups such as Russians, Romanians, and Bulgarians were basically female slaves, and they could not be counted, and the third most should be Italians, accounting for about 4%, and then the Latvians, Estonians, and Samogitians, which hovered between 3.5-4% respectively; The proportion of indigenous people has decreased a lot, and the combined proportion of the Charua and Guarani is less than 5%, which is basically acceptable to us, and it is not a problem to digest such a small number of indigenous people. Well, it is also worth noting that the number of mixed-race children in the country is close to 9%, and it is believed that it will gradually become the mainstream of the population in the future. Zhu Liang held an internal report in his hand and said while reading it.

"So many nationalities, it's terrible, the demons are dancing wildly." Chang Kaisheng pursed his lips and said: "According to this trend, the two ethnic groups with the largest number of people in the future should be the Ming people and the East Coast people (mixed-race ethnic group), well, although the 11 grades of about 10,000 children in the Corps Fort are now divided into various ethnic groups, they can basically be regarded as East Coast people after the most Lu, so that the national capital will become more and more stable." We should adhere to the established policy, unswervingly for 100 years, work hard to improve our internal skills, vigorously grasp education, and develop industry and agriculture, so that sooner or later we will become a powerful country in the world. It's a pity that you and I can't see this day, which makes me feel a little regretful. ”

"The affairs of the children and grandchildren will be handed over to the children and grandchildren, and we are laying the foundation now. The real rise of this country will not be until the second or third generation. Zhu Liang turned his head to look at Chang Kaisheng, and then said: "Also, let the children understand that this country was fought down by our glorious soldiers, and we can't let those white shirts do anything bad, and we have to keep an eye on those people carefully in the future." I heard that last month they also sent a special person to South Africa to deliver a letter, asking Liu Ang, who was presiding over the negotiations, to reach an agreement with the Dutch as soon as possible. Nima, I learned about the agreement that was reached, and it was all the rhythm of his mother kneeling and licking the Dutch. ”

"Hehe, those hypochondritic civil officials are also so virtuous." Chang Kaisheng said casually, "By the way, you said that 9,000 Ming people came this time, how did they distribute them?" ”

"I know a little bit about this." Zhu Liang also lit a pipe for himself and said: "The executive committee has a lot of money, and several new settlements have been built at the same time." Among the 9,000 people, in addition to about 5,000 people who have been enriched into the new settlements that have been developed in the past three years, such as Mucaoling, New Königsberg, Dawn Town, Qishan Fort, Baiqi Cliff Fort, Ningjin Fort, and Canyon Fort, the remaining 4,000 Ming men plus 2,000 women from the Old World, and more than 1,000 old pioneers who have been allowed to be allowed to be enriched into the new settlements. ”

The distribution of more than 7,000 people in total has already been planned on the planning map of the Executive Committee, and the relevant materials and management cadres have been almost prepared. Some veterans who have been in the army for many years have retired en masse, and together with some of the older boys who have graduated from the Corps Fort, they form a mix of young and old as cadres to manage these new immigrants.

Of these 7,000 men, about 2,000 will be escorted by cavalry, pulling all kinds of supplies to the flat northern grasslands by pack horses and carts, and build a small town on the site of the former northern town of Merlot, the northern capital of Uruguay. In the plan of the Ministry of Transportation, Merlot will also become one of the land transportation hubs of the Eastern Coast Republic in the future, and its importance is self-evident.

Of the remaining 5,000 people, they will be allocated to five newly built castles. Among them, Luoqia Port won one, that is, about 20 kilometers southwest of the Corps Fort in the later town of Garzon, the fort is called Wuding Fort, with 1,000 residents. Port Merlin secured two, namely the Horse Breeding Fort, located near what would become São Victoria do Palmar, Brazil, which, as the name suggests, was mainly engaged in horse breeding and had 1,000 employees; Later, on the site of Fort Santa Teresa on the shores of Lake Negra in Uruguay, the people of the east bank will also build a new fort, called Zhanhua Fort, with the same number of 1,000 people. In addition, the Triford Station will be fully expanded into a permanent masonry fort, named Fort Dingxi, to which 1,000 residents will be relocated. The last fort is about 30 kilometers northeast of the Grass Ridge, near the town of Kama Kuang, which has few forests, abundant water sources and fertile land, and is the natural choice for the development of large-scale agriculture. 1,000 immigrants from Shandong came to pioneer here, so the fort is located below the famous Kamakuang Plateau, hence the name Low Bunker.

Six new settlements were built in one go, and at the same time, the population of the original six or seven settlements was also vigorously enriched, and the almost Great Leap Forward development also allowed the members of the Executive Committee to enjoy the wonderful taste of the explosive population growth. At the same time, it also strengthened the Executive Committee's commitment to the development of the shipping industry and the established national policy of transporting migrants, which means a rapid increase in the country's population.

Chang Kaisheng and Zhu Liang chatted for a while, and then went separately to check on their respective troops.

On April 15, 1646, the first batch of six small river steamboats loaded with supplies traveled up the river to the camp of the army on the east bank. After receiving supplies, Zhu Liang immediately ordered the whole army to continue westward, and after exterminating several Guarani villages and eliminating more than 1,500 Guarani, he began to lead the army back around April 25. At this point, the first phase of the operation to suppress bandits in Qingxiang was successfully completed, and more than 3,500 Guarani people, more than 50 European mercenaries and missionaries were killed, wounded and captured, and more than 400 livestock were snatched. (To be continued......)