February 1657, San Diego Bay on the west coast of North America.
There was a large group of Spaniards carrying large and small bags on the pier, shivering in the cold sea breeze. Next to them was a large three-masted sailboat, and several sailors were building a gangway to allow these passengers to board the ship smoothly.
This is the first batch of Hispanic immigrants to be moved out of San Diego Bay. They will take Haihan's Yugong-class heavy-loaded sailing ship to Jinshan Bay in the north, where they will be resettled.
This heavily loaded sailing ship was one of the supply ships that had previously gone south with the Wang brothers. Most of the supplies on the ship had been unloaded, and the ship was almost empty on the return trip, which was just used to transport these Spanish immigrants.
However, the cabins on the ship are limited and are reserved for special groups. These Hispanic immigrants will have to squeeze into the dark cargo hold and make bunks on the floor to spend this journey at sea.
For these Hispanic immigrants, it is undoubtedly an unfortunate thing to be forced to leave their hometown and move to a strange environment. But as the defeated party, they were unable to resist Haihan's arrangement. If they refused to cooperate, they would be treated as prisoners of war.
It is said that those unlucky prisoners of war need to serve several years of hard labor before they have a chance to be released. But before that, many people may have died due to fatigue or injuries, and they will never be able to regain their freedom.
In comparison, they are just changing places to live as immigrants and will not become slaves without dignity. This seems to be a kind of preferential treatment.
What's more, they are not the only civilians who receive this treatment. Mr. Aragones, who was once the magistrate of San Diego Bay, also has to leave here and move to the north with them. Thinking about it this way, most people's mentality seems to be much more balanced.
Of course, this is just the self-comfort thought of ordinary people. Aragones is the only person in San Diego Bay who is qualified to negotiate treatment with Haihan. How can his future living conditions be the same as those of these civilians.
After the gangway was set up, the immigrants were not immediately arranged to board the ship, but waited for a while.
Several carriages drove up to the pier, and it was Aragones who got off the first carriage. He and his family members will also leave San Diego Bay on this ship. However, their large family can enjoy the limited cabins on the ship and do not have to suffer in the lower cargo hold like ordinary immigrants.
Although Aragones lost his status as a local magistrate, his prestige in the hearts of the local people was still there. When they saw him getting out of the car, the people bowed their heads to show respect.
With Officer Haihan watching next to him, Aragones did not dare to be too high-profile. He just nodded slightly to the people nearby, and then boarded the ship with his family.
Wang Anguo stood in the distance and let out a long breath after watching Aragones get on the boat. After sending this guy away, the job of relocating the local Hispanic people will be much easier.
According to the pre-war plan, at least seventy-eight out of ten local Hispanic people would be relocated to other places for resettlement. During this period, various uncooperative situations would inevitably occur. But as long as the Aragones family is moved away, these dissatisfied people will have no legal support, and they will most likely have no choice but to submit.
The remaining 180 households of Spanish immigrants will be diluted by introducing Han people to settle down, and the local population structure will stabilize.
According to DeSantis' confession, Spain no longer has enough maritime armed forces on the Pacific coast to launch the next attack. It will take a long time to mobilize troops from the Caribbean and then bypass South America to get here. time. Therefore, San Diego Bay will not be attacked by the Viceroyalty of New Spain for at least half a year to a year. This is equivalent to leaving a construction window period for San Diego Bay. Such a long time is enough for Haihan to build a coastal defense fort at the entrance of the strait. By then, with shore defense firepower capable of blocking the waterway, even if the Spanish fleet doubled in size, it would be impossible to recapture San Diego Bay.
But there is a small problem here. Cape Loma, located on the west side of the entrance to the bay, is the territory of the local Loma tribe. If Haihan wants to build a fort there, he will definitely have to deal with the Loma tribe.
However, according to the Spaniards' experience in dealing with the Loma tribe, this group of natives is extremely hostile to outsiders and is not an easy person to communicate with.
"Can't we temporarily abandon Point Loma and build a fort on the east side of the channel?"
Wang Anbang expressed his views while drawing on the map: "Look, if the fort is built here, it can also cover the entire waterway and avoid conflicts with the indigenous tribes. It kills two birds with one stone!"
Morgan shook his head and rejected his view: "If you look carefully, the terrain on the east side of the channel is flat and undefeable. The coast of Cape Loma on the west side is steep and has a certain slope, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is different from the sea level. There is a height difference, and the terrain is obviously more suitable for building coastal defense batteries.”
If the fort is built on the east side of the channel, in addition to the artillery, an additional force may be stationed to protect the safety of the fort. Otherwise, if the enemy avoids the attack range of the fort and lands on the nearby coast, the fort will easily be outflanked.
Wang Anguo said: "What the Spaniards can't do doesn't mean that we can't do it too. I think we should try to communicate with the Loma tribe first to see if we can exchange the right to use that place with other conditions. If we can reach an agreement, we can Let’s talk first, and then consider other solutions if we can’t reach an agreement.”
Morgan also agreed with the plan proposed by Wang Anguo, so they sent several indigenous soldiers to communicate with the Loma tribe.
After several contacts, the chief of the Loma tribe finally agreed to meet with General Haihan. This plan was proposed by Wang Anguo, so he also shouldered the responsibility of negotiation.
In order to show his sincerity, Wang Anguo brought some Haihan specialties as gifts, including a military dagger presented to the chief himself.
However, after the meeting, the dagger he sent did not seem to please the chief. Instead, the few bottles of wine he sent interested him, and he opened a bottle to drink with him on the spot.
But the food the chief brought out to go with the wine was really hard for Wang Anguo to swallow. It was a kind of cured meat made of unknown meat, with some kind of bitter fruit added, and then mixed with dried meat made from mashed potatoes. The cake tastes amazing.
The indigenous soldiers nearby reminded Wang Anguo that sharing pemmican with the chief was a very high courtesy. If he refused, he might offend the other party and the negotiation would fall short.
Wang Anguo had no choice but to bite the bullet and swallowed all the pemmican cakes given to him in one bite. I didn't drink much wine, but my stomach was full.