Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 522 "Supply Chain" (Part Two)
June 2, 1642, Nanping Fort (present-day San Diego).

The morning mist was gently dispersed by the sea breeze, revealing the entire Nanping Fortress clearly in the sunlight. This coastline, which once belonged to the Spanish, has been completely transformed.

On the towering watchtower, the red five-star flag of the Republic flutters in the wind.

The newly expanded wooden boardwalk pierces straight into the sea like a sword, allowing two transport ships to load and unload simultaneously.

The stockade walls, constructed of rammed earth and massive timbers, reached a height of four meters. Several bastions stood tall, and a number of heavy defensive cannons gleamed with a cold, eerie light.

The settlement is lined with neat rows of newly built wooden houses, and in the distance stretches a vast expanse of newly cultivated farmland that extends inland.

Just a year ago, this was merely a remote outpost of the Spanish in the northernmost part of North America, but now it has become a strategic foothold for the Republic of New South Wales' advance into Mexico.

In fact, the north had always been considered a safe rear area in the history of the Spanish American colonies.

Although the regime known as the "New Continent Republic" quietly rose more than a decade ago in Xinhua Bay, more than 3,000 kilometers to the north, officials of the Spanish American colonial authorities still believed that there was a sufficiently large security distance between the two sides.

According to the map, it is more than 3,500 kilometers from Xinhua Bay to the core area of ​​Spanish Mexico.

Even though the new Chinese had secretly established several settlements in San Francis Bay a few years ago, they were still more than 2,000 kilometers away from Mexico.

Later, as a precaution, the Mexican colonial authorities established a colonial outpost in San Diego Bay, but it was more than 700 kilometers away from Yuzhou Fort (now San Francisco), where the new Chinese had settled.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Spanish, this vast "no man's land" was sufficient to form a natural barrier between the two sides.

If the new Chinese dared to invade Mexico, they would face the hardship of a long march of thousands of kilometers, and the difficult logistical support would become their most fatal weakness.

They even optimistically predicted that any form of attack would repeat the mistakes of the Spanish expeditionary force ten years earlier—in that military operation to suppress the Chinese, the expeditionary force suffered a shameful and tragic defeat due to the long and arduous journey, poor logistics, and exhaustion of personnel, with almost all of the more than 1,400 landing troops wiped out and more than four armed ships sunk.

It is this long geographical isolation that has given Spaniards an unprecedented sense of security, which explains their unusually tough stance during the San Diego Bay conflict and trade disputes with the new Chinese community last year.

When the Chinese repeatedly sent envoys to make negotiation requests, the New Spanish Viceroyalty did not even bother to give a formal reply.

At a banquet in Mexico City, the nobles spoke disdainfully of the "arrogant and rude behavior of the new Chinese," believing that the Viceroyalty should "teach these unruly new Chinese a lesson" and teach them to abide by Spanish rules.

However, everyone underestimated the "temperament" and "tolerance" of the new Chinese.

Then, something happened that left the Spanish dumbfounded: the new Chinese seemed to completely disregard the challenges posed by the long sea supply lines, and were not worried about the various drawbacks of a long expedition, and declared war on Spain in an extremely resolute manner.

What they found even more unacceptable was that the new Chinese demonstrated astonishing combat efficiency and enormous results in the early stages of the war.

How did they do that?
In fact, the New Continent Republic had already been quietly preparing for this war at all levels.

Although the central government of Xinhua had debated whether to go to war, various functional departments had long been actively preparing for war.

Needless to say, the military persuaded the decision-making committee last February to quickly fill the three "frame battalions" in the army to full strength, and then formed two more "frame battalions", bringing the size of the Xinhua Army to more than 2,800 people.

The two newly launched "Haiyan-class" cruiser warships also completed sea trials and adjustments at an unprecedented speed and were immediately commissioned into the naval forces.

The Ministry of Material Reserves also began purchasing and stockpiling grain, medicine, and military supplies nationwide a year ago.

Over two years, the Immigration and Colonization Department sent more than 12,000 immigrants to the Yongning Bay colony, greatly strengthening the local colonization force and turning it into a huge logistical support center.

The Department of Trade Affairs made advance adjustments to the smuggling operations in Spanish America and increased the procurement of various strategic materials.

The Ministry of Transport will allocate limited domestic transport capacity to the south, prioritizing the transfer of goods and migrants to the south.

Meanwhile, the American trading companies with official backing became the main channels for procuring war materials and gathering intelligence.

Last July, after the Xinhua army captured the Spanish stronghold in San Diego, in addition to raising the Xinhua flag and renaming it Nanpingbao, they immediately sent more than 500 immigrants to the area.

The majority of these immigrants were young and able-bodied men, who immediately began a vigorous construction effort upon arrival: expanding the camp, fortifying the fortress, and building warehouses, transforming this Spanish outpost into a fully functional military supply base before the war even began.

Meanwhile, another supply point was being built on a large scale in the area that would later become the port of Long Beach in Los Angeles County, which perfectly connected the Yongning Bay colony with the forward outpost of Nanping Fort.

In addition, the construction of Black Shark Island, which had been ongoing for over a decade, and the Jingyuanbao supply depot (now San José del Capo), secretly established before the war, enabled the Xinhua Army to quietly construct a strategic corridor leading to the core of Spanish Mexico. These bases together formed a coherent supply chain, allowing the Xinhua Army to advance towards the core of Mexico in a leapfrog manner.

Each base was stockpiled with large quantities of food, ammunition, medicine, and ship materials, and was equipped with several repair workshops and medical facilities.

From Xinhua's homeland to Yongning Bay, then to Long Beach and Nanpingbao, followed by the Black Shark Island transit station, and finally the Jingyuanbao forward base, the Xinhua army had effectively placed its blade against the Spanish's weak point before the war even began.

Now, more than two months into the war, the Xinhua Navy has immediately seized control of the sea in the Mexican region, forcing the Spanish to not dare to set sail.

After landing in the Banderas Valley, the army quickly advanced inland and easily captured Guadalajara, the capital of New Galicia province, achieving a resounding victory in its first battle.

After completing the construction of military facilities, Nanpingbao, which served as a logistics and supply center, turned its attention to vigorous agricultural development.

The more than 2,000 mu of newly cultivated corn seedlings outside the settlement have grown to knee height, the 1,000 mu of potato fields are also lush and green, and the vegetable plots are full of pumpkins, green beans and tomatoes.

Although the crops in the fields are growing as expected, and some grain can be harvested in the fall to ease the pressure of transporting supplies to the rear, Zhou Mingde, the person in charge of the reclamation, dares not relax in the slightest.

This young official, transferred from Yichuan (now Berkeley, California), knew that although the climate here was suitable for agricultural development, the asynchronous nature of rain and heat—rainy winters and dry summers—posed a huge challenge to agricultural production.

The Spanish operated here for several years but never built any decent irrigation facilities. They relied entirely on the weather, and their harvests always hovered on the brink of starvation. They often needed aid from Mexico to barely survive.

If the new Chinese wanted to establish a solid logistical base here and carry out large-scale agricultural production to reduce the need for grain transfers from the rear, they had to properly address the area's poor irrigation system.

"My lord, look, this Nanping River (now the San Diego River) is the largest river in the area. Although it has seasonal variations, it provides a relatively stable and reliable water source, far superior to relying on sporadic rainfall or surrounding streams. If used properly, it can irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of surrounding farmland."

Standing on a high slope, Zhao Zhongfa, a local water conservancy engineer, pointed to the Nanping River, which was in the dry season, and spoke eloquently: "About ten days ago, led by several local guides, we explored the upper reaches of the river and found that there is a natural and gentle slope in this section from the eastern mountains to the valley and the sea."

"Therefore, we can use gravity to draw water from the upper reaches of the river or the dam to the farmland downstream through an irrigation canal, without having to spend huge sums of money to build waterwheels or other water-lifting facilities."

"How exactly do you plan to do it?" Zhou Mingde's expression relaxed, and he nodded slightly. "How much manpower and resources will it require? With over seven hundred villagers in Nanpingbao, can we complete it during the summer off-season?"

"The specifics of how to do it are actually not that complicated." Zhao Zhongfa pointed to the upstream location of the river. "We can build a simple stone or earthen dam four kilometers upstream. The terrain there is relatively narrow, which can save a lot of engineering work."

"The dam doesn't need to be too high. Initially, a height of three or four meters is sufficient. By slightly raising the water level, the water can be diverted into the designed main canal."

"Once the main irrigation canal is built, the next step is to construct branch canals leading to various plots of land. Hmm, the initial water gates can be made of wood to regulate and control the water flow in the main canal. At that time, all the farmland near Nanping Fort can be converted into irrigated land, and achieving food self-sufficiency should not be too long."

"As for the manpower and resources needed, we have made a preliminary estimate." Zhao Zhongfa said, taking a notebook from his companion and flipping through a few pages. "Well, the entire water conservancy and irrigation project, including a simple dam, a main canal, and several branch canals and sluice gates, will take about 40,000 to 45,000 standard working days."

"More than 40,000 working days?" Zhou Mingde's lips twitched.

If we mobilize 500 villagers, it would take more than 80 days of non-stop work.

The problem is, where can Nanpingbao gather so many workers, who must not do any other work and only come to repair these water conservancy projects?
It should be noted that, as a logistics supply base, Nanpingbao not only carried out settlement and development here, but also had to undertake the responsibility of handling a large amount of military supplies, loading and unloading, as well as the daily maintenance and patrol of the reserve warehouses, and many other miscellaneous tasks assigned by the military.

Unless, of course, the higher-ups send us even more immigrants.

Alternatively, the construction period can be extended, and villagers can be mobilized to carry out the work gradually during the off-season for farming.

However, the climate and environment here don't wait for anyone.

In November, the rainy season will begin, and the river will swell, making construction difficult.

Sigh, there are still too few people.

In Xinhua, whenever we want to undertake a project of even moderate size, we immediately find ourselves stretched thin due to a severe shortage of manpower.

"Sir, a fleet returning from Mexico has entered the port!" A militiaman galloped in on horseback to report. "Besides being full of livestock, there are also many captured Spaniards on board."

"Spaniards?" Zhou Mingde's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. "I knew it! My luck wouldn't be that bad! I was just thinking about where to find more laborers, and they've delivered themselves right to my doorstep."

He immediately took the horse from the militiaman, leaped onto it, and turned to Zhao Zhongfa, saying, "Let's go see what the military's plans are for these Spaniards. If not, then we'll take them all; your water conservancy project will be settled!"
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(End of this chapter)