On the Sao Tome Island in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, Nanjiro rode a horse and patrolled the island very leisurely.
Nanjiro was born in the Shimazu family on the Japanese island of Kyushu. He was the younger brother of the family governor and had been mainly responsible for the Shimazu family's overseas trade and colonial development.
It was under Nanjiro's planning that Sao Tome Island was captured from the Portuguese.
Nanjiro liked the Sao Tome Island in front of him very much. He would ride a horse around the island every day to take a look.
Sao Tome is a volcanic island, with highlands above 500 meters above sea level accounting for two-fifths of the island's area.
There are many mountains here, with 12 peaks over 1,000 meters tall. The highest peak, São Tomé, is 2,024 meters above sea level. There are also a large number of virgin forests in the center of the mountains.
The south is only 5 kilometers away from the equator, and the climate is humid and rainy. The annual rainfall on the south slope can reach 7,000 mm, making it one of the rainiest areas in Africa.
There is neither scorching heat nor cold winter on the island. The mountains and plains are covered with lush forests. No matter in the morning, evening or noon, the mountains are always shrouded in clouds and mist. From a distance, they look like gauze hanging on the treetops.
When the clouds and fog meet the trees, they condense into crystal water droplets on the leaves, roll down to the ground, and form flowing springs and waterfalls.
Therefore, the gurgling water of mountain streams continues all year round, converging into hundreds of meandering rivers, large and small, like jade belts dotting this beautiful island.
There are no traces of artificial carvings, no noise and pollution, but some natural beauty and intoxicating poetry. Especially at the southern end of Sao Tome Island, the coastline is twists and turns, the waves are beating against the cliffs and rocks, and the sea water is washing the soft beaches.
The forest is swaying in the sea breeze, creating a tropical coastal scenery.
When he first landed on this island, Nanjiro was deeply amazed and attracted by the scenery on this island. He has traveled to many places in the world and has seen too many beautiful scenery.
But the scenery here was his favorite, so under his planning, the Shimazu family, together with the Japanese king of Japan and some of the big names who supported the Japanese king, sent troops to defeat the Portuguese on the island, not far away.
, brought this beautiful island under the rule of the Japanese state.
"After I really defeat the Portuguese, I will definitely think of a good name for this place."
Nanjiro rode his horse, admiring the beautiful scenery on the island, looking at the sea where the water and the sky meet, and then looking back at the thousand-meter peak on the island. He felt relaxed and happy, and felt extremely comfortable.
"Yundu?"
"Fog?"
"None of them are very good, and they can't describe the beauty here very well. The beauty of clouds and mist is just a part of it."
Nanjiro shook his head slightly while thinking about the name.
The main reason why he has not changed the name here is because he has never thought of a good name, a name worthy of this beautiful island.
In addition, there are the Portuguese, who have never given up and will not give up and hand over São Tomé Island to the Japanese.
"Pah~pah~"
Soon, Nanjiro rode his horse and came to a gentle beach. The sound of whipping came, and Nanjiro followed the sound and looked over.
I saw some Japanese supervisors waving whips in their hands and constantly urging the large number of Kunlun slaves to hurry up and build forts, ports, bunkers, city walls and the like.
There are many of these Kunlun slaves, each with dark skin and strong body. They are constantly stirring mortar and using cement and steel bars to build strong fortresses to defend against enemy attacks.
With the existence of cement and steel bars, the construction speed was very fast. Forts stood one after another, and the ferocious barrels of cannons were exposed. The original simple docks built by Portugal and the ports also took on a new look, turning into docks and docks built with cement.
The port can accommodate large ships.
"Um?"
Nanjiro looked at everything in front of him and couldn't help but frown slightly.
The progress is much slower than I imagined. According to the plan, the port, dock, fort, bunker, and city wall should be almost completed, but now only about half of it is completed.
Once the Portuguese launch a large-scale attack, it will be difficult for more than a thousand people close to the island to resist.
"Why is construction so slow?"
Nanjiro asked Hirata Ichiro who was responsible for the construction of fortifications.
Ichiro Hirata was just an ordinary samurai and had not yet received a Han surname.
"Sir, we no longer have enough cement and steel bars, so the construction speed has slowed down. In addition, these Kunlun slaves are very lazy. As long as there is no supervision, they will be lazy and slippery."
"Also, there is a lot of rainfall here, which has a huge impact on our construction schedule."
Hirata Ichiro quickly replied.
"I don't care about this. You must build these fortifications as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Portugal attacks, how can we resist it?"
Nanjiro scolded sternly.
"Hi~"
Hirata Ichiro quickly replied respectfully.
But there was a lot of helplessness in my heart.
Without cement, it is not easy to build these fortifications quickly.
It is far away from the Ming Dynasty, so it is difficult to obtain cement. The cement now is bought from Penglai City at a high price, but it is used up soon.
Look at these lazy Kunlun slaves again. Although they are all strong and strong, they are more lazy than anything else when it comes to work. If they can be lazy, they will never work hard.
Even though Hirata Ichiro thought of many ways, including rewards and stimulation, and promises of freedom, it was of no use. For these Kunlun slaves, they just don't like to work and like to lazily bask in the sun. Finally, they found that
, the most effective one is the leather whip.
Only with the whipping of the whip can these Kunlun slaves work more diligently.
"Go ahead and hurry up. We must at least hold on until the next batch of ships arrives."
"As soon as the next batch of ships arrives, this beautiful island will be ours forever."
Nanjiro did not criticize Hirata Ichiro too much because he also knew the situation he was currently facing.
This place is far away from the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese country. Everything is in short supply. All kinds of materials are in short supply, let alone things like cement.
It is definitely not easy to complete the construction quickly without cement.
"Dang~dang~dang~"
As soon as he finished speaking, a rapid ringing of bells came from the tall lighthouse on the port side.
"Portuguese~Portuguese~"
Soon, the lookout's voice came from the lighthouse.
When Nanjiro heard this, he quickly rode his horse to a fort, picked up his telescope and looked out at the sea.
I saw blue sky and clear water, and between the sea and the sky, I could vaguely see large ships sailing towards Sao Tome Island, with the Portuguese flag hanging on them and the eye-catching cross sign on the sails.
"Prepare for battle!"
Nanjiro immediately roared and gave the order.
The clanging alarms began to sound continuously, and the busy construction site suddenly became chaotic. Nanjiro's men quickly drove the busy Kunlun slaves back to the prison room like livestock.
, to prevent them from escaping.
Then, a large number of Japanese warriors from various places quickly gathered and began to enter forts, fortresses, bunkers and other important places to defend themselves in preparation for the Portuguese attack.
"Thirty-two battleships and hundreds of small boats~"
Nanjiro looked at the sea carefully with a telescope and roughly counted the Portuguese ships on the sea. His expression suddenly became extremely serious.
There are more than thirty large ships. The Portuguese are obviously coming fiercely and are bound to capture Sao Tome Island. There are more than thirty large ships, enough to carry tens of thousands of troops.
They also carried hundreds of small boats, and they obviously planned to use these small boats to land separately, which made Nanjiro's defense suddenly very difficult.
Sao Tome Island is very large, covering more than 800 square kilometers, and is oval in shape overall. In addition to the inevitable twists and turns of the coastline, rugged cliffs, and difficulty in landing, all other directions are difficult to defend and easy to attack.
Without any advantage in manpower, it is definitely not easy to hold Sao Tome Island with more than a thousand people in hand, and it may even be impossible.
But even if he couldn't do it, he still had to do it, because he had no other choice. Once he fell into the hands of the Portuguese, he would definitely die.
Although the Japanese state was a vassal state of the Ming Empire, it was not from the Ming Empire after all.
Although according to the vassal-state agreement of the Ming Empire, the relationship between the Ming Empire and the vassal-states is very close, and there is even a relationship between allies, but this is limited to the Japanese mainland, and for overseas colonies, let alone the Japanese.
.
Even for the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, those vassal states established overseas by the princes of the Ming Dynasty, when they had conflicts and competition for interests with others, the Ming Empire would not take care of them.
There is no way to control it, because many times it is vassal states, and the colonies themselves are competing and robbing each other, and it is impossible to favor one side. What's more, if you go overseas, you must have such an awareness.
There is only one situation that the Ming Empire will take care of, and that is when the Ming people are deliberately killed, such as fighting for a colony. The Ming people cannot defeat them and surrender. If you kill the Ming people again, the Ming Empire will come forward.
, initiate corresponding retaliation procedures.
As well as snatching colonies from Ming vassals and colonial trading houses, you cannot harm ordinary Ming people, otherwise the Ming Empire will also start retaliation procedures.
Basically, these things have been spread all over the world, and everyone knows it, but the Japanese people are different from the people of the Ming Dynasty. After all, they are people from the vassal country, not the people of the Ming Dynasty.
They surrendered, and the Portuguese will not let you go easily, especially since the two sides have accumulated a lot of hatred because of Sao Tome Island.
