"Your Excellency, Honorable Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask you to restrain your troops from entering my land, where they hunt bison, African gazelles, break the traditional quiet life of this land, and even harass my daughter Sophia, all this is intolerable offense."

Juan Carlos's face was flushed with anger, he was able to speak English fluently, and there was no barrier to communication between the two sides.

Behind Juan Carlos were Sofia, a young girl in cycling uniforms, and her companion Walesa, two beautiful white Portuguese girls staring at Li Zhuzhu, who was wearing a straight lieutenant colonel uniform, looking extremely dissatisfied.

Li Zhuzhu rode on his horse and looked at the group of three coldly, and after Juan Carlos finished speaking, he raised his hand and saluted in a military salute and replied; "Unfortunately, I am not able to accept your request, the forces in the region are conducting military operations, and all personnel must cooperate unconditionally."

"God, this is my land and my farm, and you can't do that."

"On the contrary, I can ......," replied calmly, as he matured rapidly over the years of his career as a horseman; I can understand your feelings, Mr. Juan Carlos, but the rights you claim are not universally recognized internationally, and they involve international disputes, and before all the dust settles, I advise you to restrain yourself from running around, including the two beautiful young ladies behind you, of course. ”

"Since my great-grandfather, the Carlos family has lived in this vast land, where the mountains, the water, and the forests are all imprinted with the imprint of the Carlos family, and I myself am the "Balazo" appointed by His Majesty the King, and I have unquestionable rights to this place......"

"Alright, alright, Mr. Juan Carlos, these questions that have been discussed countless times will not be repeated, the King of Portugal has indeed appointed regional governors and so-called "balazzos", but they cannot be counted without international recognition, and we are here with the same mission of conquest, so that everyone can calm down and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. ”

At this time, Sophia suddenly interjected with an angry face; "Don't quibble, you are a bunch of shameless robbers, you have come here to act recklessly, I don't care if you are British or Queenslander lackeys, please get out of the land of the Carlos family immediately."

"Oh God!" Juan Carlos couldn't stop his daughter and couldn't help but scream.

He had dealt with the young officer in front of him many times, and knew that he was a strong-tempered soldier who could tolerate a certain amount of negotiation, but would never allow offense.

"Grab this woman and whip her fangs and teeth."

Sure enough, Li Xuanzhu's face changed suddenly, and he gave an order coldly without the slightest pity for the jade.

He could not tolerate any offense against the Earl of Queensland, who was the idol of Li Xuanzhu as a god, like a father and a brother, playing the role of the god of the redeemer of overseas Chinese, and the leader of the bodhisattva who saved the suffering.

At the screams of the Portuguese maiden, the soldiers had rudely tossed her to the ground and tied her hands and feet.

"Your Excellency, I humbly ask for your forgiveness, Sophia is still an ignorant child, she is only 15 years old." Seeing this, Juan Carlos hurriedly rolled over and dismounted, kneeling on one knee and pleading.

A dangerous light flashed in Li Xuanzhu's eyes, and it disappeared in an instant, and his tone returned to coldness; "Anyone must be held accountable for her words and deeds, whether she is an old man or a child, she is smart or ignorant, a pretty face does not alleviate Sophia's guilt, it seems that our policy is still too conservative, and you should be taught to be in awe."

Sophia's face turned pale with extreme fear, and she cried out with tears; "Oh...... No, God, you can't do this to me, Father...... Save me! ”

"Your Excellency, I ask for your forgiveness and am willing to atone for my sins with money." Juan Carlos was in a hurry when he saw his daughter Sofia tied up and pushed and shoved to take her away.

If it was really a whip, Sophia's pretty face would have become a pile of rotten meat.

According to the rules prevailing in Europe, money has supreme magic, in the church you can buy a book of indulgence, on the battlefield you can pay a ransom in exchange for a captured knight, you can turn the devil into an angel, almost anything.

"£1,000 ransom for one month of hard labour." Li Xuanzhu said the final verdict in a cold voice, turned the horse's head and left.

"Lieutenant Colonel, I am willing to pay more ransom, can I be exempted from a month of hard labor." Juan Carlos couldn't imagine what his beautiful daughter Sofia would be like after a month of hard labor in Bayou Town, where soldiers and black slaves gathered.

"There is a limit to mercy and forgiveness, and those who dare to offend will be punished, so go and prepare a ransom as soon as possible." Li Xuanzhu didn't say much, and left with a group of people waiting for the horses, leaving only the stunned Juan Carlos and the girl Walesa, who looked at each other and couldn't speak.

Bayou Town

Queensland has a well-established process for building new towns, and the construction of sewer culverts with masonry is a necessary process in the rainfall Zambezi River Basin, which greatly increases the cost of town construction, and in Southeast Africa, where infrastructure is almost zero, it is really a scorpion.

With the exception of Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, which was ruled by the British, it is really difficult to find a sewer-equipped town in southeastern Africa.

Li Xuanzhu led the cavalry to the outskirts of Hekou Town, where there were two masonry pillboxes, each with more than 20 soldiers stationed on them, armed with a heavy machine gun, surrounded by barbed wire nailed to large wooden stakes, responsible for the defense of the surrounding area.

Barbed wire and bunkers, which were standard for the Queensland army's strongholds, proved to be a very reliable defensive measure against wild beasts and local Aboriginal forces.

The underground culvert facilities in Hekou Town are being repaired, and the section of the road in and out of the town has been repaired, but in other places, due to the lack of masonry production, a deep trench has been dug in the ground, and the underground culvert has not been built with masonry and cement, which looks messy.

Here he grabbed the reins of his horse, then turned over and dismounted, handed the reins of his mount to the guards to take him, and paced to the edge of the construction site.

The armed soldiers on duty immediately saluted with their guns; "Report to the commander, the third battalion, one company, and two platoons are on duty."

"Take a break, do you notice anything unusual?" Li Xuanzhu returned the military salute and asked casually.

"Report sir, everything is normal."

"Continue to be vigilant to prevent the Portuguese from doing anything."

"Yes, sir, stay on guard."

Li Xuanzhu walked forward with his hands and came to the edge of the deep ditch to inspect the progress of the project, and a technician came over with a trot and carefully replied; "Report sir, the sewer culvert project in Hekou Town is under construction, and what you see is the eastern section of the town, which will be turned into a nullah after leaving the town, leading to the Zambezi River."

"Well, how's the project going?"

"Report to the chief, at present, the town's foundation ditch culvert has been excavated, except for the completion of the construction of the road in and out of the town, the others are waiting to be built, compared with the plan has been more than a week late, mainly because the output of the brick factory is insufficient, and other construction projects also need a large number of masonry, so it has been delayed."

"Is the wood drying cellar built?"

"Two drying kilns have been built, black slaves are being organized to harvest trees, due to the lack of a large number of mechanical assistance, so many of the harvested trees cannot be transported back, and there is a lack of qualified carpenters, and the construction progress is relatively slow."

"If you don't have a machine, you can carry it on your shoulders and hands, isn't there a shortage of slave laborers?"

"Report to the chief, there may be reasons for this, there are currently more than 1,700 black slave workers in the town, and half of the wharf construction team has been used, and the construction manpower in other areas is relatively tight."

"yes, I see."

Li Xuanzhu nodded, and the cavalry battalion detected several large-scale black tribes in the southwest, living in a wide valley area about 80 kilometers away, among which the largest black indigenous tribe numbered about 10,000 people, and the smaller ones also numbered thousands.

Capture some black slaves, you can greatly increase the speed of construction.

Because of the distance in Mozambique, the resettlement program has not yet been launched, so the main force of construction can only be black slaves, which is also the norm in African colonization.

The problem is that if the distance of more than 80 kilometers is rushed on foot, it will take at least a week, and a round trip will take at least half a month.

Because there are no roads at all, and they are full of forests, swamps, meadows, and barren mountains, it takes a lot of time and exhaustion to overcome the natural environment in its primitive state.

But don't forget that this is in the wide Zambezi River Valley, and the black indigenous tribes living in the valley are not far from the river, and if you have some handy "mosquito" patrol boats, you can make up for the number of black slave laborers.

With a small displacement and a shallow draft of just over a metre, the Mosquito patrol boat is ideally suited for Mozambique's water network with little infrastructure, and can reach the river in a single sprint and go ashore in a few steps.

In contrast, freighters, with large displacement and deep draft, were not adapted to the area.

This is because the hydrogeological situation of the Zambezi River basin is completely blank, the Zambezi River channel is wide, and the river channel is as wide as 4.8~8 kilometers away in the estuary area.

Although the river is very wide, the navigable conditions are extremely harsh.

The Zambezi River course is bent and treacherous, and the areas along the river are widely covered with swamp forests, and the water flows through the valleys and flood plains, and the water flow varies according to the width of the river, and the hydrogeological conditions are extremely complex.

The lower reaches of the river are the lower reaches of the Kabrabasa, flowing through the plains and mountains, the river widens to 4.8-8 kilometers, and forms a huge estuarine delta at the entrance to the sea, with a dense river area of more than 7,000 square kilometers, and the estuary town is located here.

Hekou Town has superior port conditions, located in the hilly heights only a few dozen kilometers away from the Mozambique Channel, the main channel channel channel is more than 10 meters, can pass tens of thousands of tons of cargo ships, is an important area through the river to the sea.

The establishment of a logistical support base here is a deliberate consideration.

The advance team of the African Expeditionary Force arrived here at a great price, standing on the high point of the estuary town and looking at the wide Zambezi River, in addition to the scattered green sandbanks and the highlands in the river, you can also see two 5,000-ton freighters washed away by the torrent, across a shallow beach in the river, the hull has been skewed and deformed.

These are the harsh conditions of navigation on the Zambezi River, whose main channel is not wide, hidden in a wide white expanse of water, and the slightest mistake can deviate from the course and run aground, which would be catastrophic.

This is because the speed of the Zambezi River is faster, the estuary can reach 7,000 cubic meters per second, and the amount of water entering the sea is slightly higher than the annual runoff of the Yangtze River.

Thus, patrol boats of the "Mosquito" class, with a small displacement and shallow draft, are well adapted to the area.

It's a pity...... Li Xuanzhu did not have a "mosquito"-class patrol boat on his hands.