On February 10, 1700, light rain was drizzling in the port of Valparaiso.

Valparaiso, which was built in the last century, has a history of more than 160 years. The entire port faces the Bay of Valparaiso and is backed by the mountains. It exists as the outer port of Santiago.

Of course, although Valparaiso faces the sea, it is not a good place for spring flowers to bloom. This port is built on the coastal plain and has a narrow semicircle overall. Because of the narrow plain area, the entire port is not large. It is not so much a city, but rather a small town. There is no farmland, no pastures, orchards, and there are only various buildings scattered near the coastline. The residents of the entire city actually make a living by commerce.

In fact, Valparaiso is also a microcosm of Chile's coastal areas. That is, the existence of coastal mountains makes high-quality ports very scarce near Chile's coastal coastal areas. Liucheng Port, under the control of the East Coast people, is considered a good port nonsense. Can it become the home port of the Third Fleet if the conditions are not good? Under the shadow of the islands in the depths, the wind and waves are naturally more than one level smaller than the outer sea. In addition, there is a rich agricultural and animal husbandry area around it, and the population is also large. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the best port in Chile.

Greencrop Port at the mouth of the Wa River is another good port. It is backed by a large river and the estuary does not have severe siltation, which means it can radiate to far inland places, allowing more people and goods to trade here. In terms of port hard indicators, Greencrop Port is also very good. The terrain weakens the power of the sea water layer by layer, and ultimately makes the waves that can enter the harbor very "gentle", which is undoubtedly very conducive to ships anchoring and mooring to shelter the wind.

As for these two ports, although the coastline of Chile controlled by the Spanish was long, the conditions were really much worse. The one they had the best conditions on hand was Concepción. There was a narrow peninsula extending outward, blocking the strong winds and waves from the outside. The only regrettable thing is that the entrance of this U-shaped harbor does not have enough island groups to weaken the power of the waves, and the opening of the harbor is too large. The direct consequence is that during strong winds and waves, the ships anchored in the harbor will shake violently, which is a bit of a flaw.

The conditions in Valparaiso are much worse than those in Concepcion. The harbor here is unobstructed, and it faces the north in a huge semicircle, foolishly greeting the rushing sea water. If the sea water here is not generally flowing northward, Valparaiso would not have become a qualified port at all.

But as we mentioned earlier, in addition to hard indicators of geology, terrain, and water level, becoming a port can affect whether the inland area it radiates is vast, which is also an important factor. Even in many cases, historical traditions are also one of the important factors. People who lived here in the early days were used to it, would rather pay a price to maintain the port every year than move to a natural port, because the price paid in the short term may be greater.

Valparaiso was in such a situation. The Spanish colonized Chile from the inland. They first established colonial towns in the inland, and then developed into coastal areas. After all, maritime transportation is cheaper and faster than land transportation. As the core capital of Western Chile, Santiago City naturally needed an outer port, and Valparaiso came into being. After more than a hundred years of development, even if people discovered a better harbor than Valparaiso in other places, they would not go there because the cost and traditions did not allow it.

Today, the Port of Valparaiso welcomes a 200-ton brig. Anyone who is familiar with this ship in the port knows that this is a ship from the Cardoso family from Lima. Mr. Cardoso's family came to Lima from Sevilla to do business a hundred years ago. It has been several generations since then. Although it is not considered a top family in Lima, its status cannot be underestimated.

There is a close trade connection between the Cardoso family and the east coast. The merchant ship that had just arrived at the port returned from Maolin Port, a major commercial town in the south, and was filled with metal products, cloth, dyes and medicines purchased there. Of course, according to the old rules, this cargo ship will also bring some customers to Valparaiso with the ship. The customers do not need to buy tickets, nor can they buy tickets. They rely solely on personal connections.

Fernando was one of the guests who came to Valparaiso from the port of Maurin. He was less than thirty years old this year, but he had served in the army for nearly ten years. He served in the field troops in the first five years, but was later noticed by the intelligence department and joined the military police headquarters. After a few years of struggle, he is now a military police captain, and he has a bright future. Fernando's parents are both white people from Castilla, so he is also a serious Iberian appearance, so it is not very appropriate to be sent to Valparaiso for missions.

After getting off the deck of the ship, Fernando waited on the dock for less than five minutes, and a shabby carriage drove over in a low-key manner. After meeting the command that made outsiders confused, Fernando got on the car with his luggage and headed straight to a farm in the south of the city.

Fernando was silent along the way and did not speak to anyone. It was not until the carriage stopped in front of a farm full of sunflowers that he got off the car and got out of the carriage by several Spaniards and entered the manor.

There were more than a dozen people in the manor who had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Captain Fernando carrying his luggage, they immediately greeted him enthusiastically. Captain Fernando didn't say much, smiled reservedly, and then said to these people: "It's a few days later than the expected date. I'm very sorry, I've made everyone wait for a long time."

"No matter how long you wait for life and death, it is meaningful." The owner of the manor, Fiore, stepped forward and said.

The Fiore family has also operated in Chile for several generations. It was originally in Santiago and later moved to Valparaiso. However, because they had no noble title and had insufficient connections, their family's development was always suppressed. Just like in Valparaiso, the plains at the foot of the mountain were basically occupied by others, and the Fiore family was forced to sell considerable coastal land and switch to the mountain to operate, and their lives were quite unhappy.

The other people were basically the owners of small and medium-sized manors, middle and lower-level officials, and small and medium-sized merchants in Valparaiso. They basically had various reasons, either out of revenge or desire for wealth and power, which prompted them to make the decision to surrender to the East Coast people and secretly overthrow Spanish rule.

"Mr. Fiore, Mr. Murillo, Mr. Sanchez, Mr. Lazoya, Mr. Reina..." Fernando shook hands with these people one by one, then sat down, opened the luggage that had been in his hands, took out several letters of appointment issued by the East Coast Government, and said: "This is a letter of appointment issued by the State Council of our country, authorizing everyone to form a stability maintenance meeting during the war and the transition period after the war, and to serve as officials of various departments to maintain order inside and outside the city."

All the people present received a letter of commission, and they took the one with their names written in turn, and their faces were overjoyed. With this amulet, they could fight back during the war and control Valparaiso with the help of the East Coast people. At this time, the big men who bullied and offended them in the past would be in trouble. To be gentle, they would be to lose money and eliminate disasters. To be serious, they might be to destroy their families and lose their families.

This is a feast! The materials in the city's public warehousing dare not move, and they are dedicated to the East Coast as military supplies. But then the names of the East Coast people are levied on a large scale inside and outside the city, and the crimes are woven into frame-ups of a few big merchants, which is enough to make the people present make a fortune.

Fernando looked at these people with a faint mockery on his lips. Valparaiso is a bridgehead for attacking Santiago and cannot be missed. The regular army of the East Coast Army will also land here. With these people helping to raise supplies and military expenses, it is so cool that they don’t have to bear all the infamy.

In fact, there are many people like Fiore. When attacking Chile in the future, the East Coast people adopted a central flowering strategy, that is, to give priority to occupying big cities and cut off north-south traffic. Because of Chile's narrow terrain, this trick is particularly effective, so that the colonial towns from south to north cannot be taken care of each other. In the south, prisons set up by the East Coast people have basically surrounded the Spaniards. As soon as the gun is fired, more than 60% of the major cities (such as Villarica, Temuco and other places) will be captured within a few days. The famous port city of Concepcion will riots on the same day, welcoming armed prisoners from the east coast to the north into the city.

In central Chile, the focus is Santiago. This will be solved by a mixed field force, and the local white Spanish soldiers who surrendered in the country will provide assistance. As long as Santiago is captured, the central Chile region will basically be fine. The following is to directly arrange for the reduction of troops to collect taxes and collect grain to lay a solid foundation for fighting through war.

As for northern Chile, to be honest, the East Coast people did not pay much attention to it. Although I heard that there are many copper, gold, lead and saltpeter mines there, and the reserves are very large, this matter can be put behind. After all, the mines do not have feet and will not run away if they are placed there. The East Coast people have more energy to be trapped in the Chalkas Court District between Lima and Santiago. Potosi has accumulated a huge amount of wealth and must land in the shortest time and occupy it (this route cooperates with the troops heading north from Hujuyi for attacks), and then transform it into nutrients to conquer Western America.

Of course, the East Coast people also have arrangements in Potosi. A special commissioner will also bring a large number of commissions to the north from Hujuyi recently. It can be foreseen that many white people in the area were bribed by the East Coast people. However, Charkas and Paraguay are the places with the largest number of Indians and the strongest bloodline, so it was not very smooth to buy them.
Chapter completed!