Chapter 75: Crash, Steam Tanks
"beep!"
The deafening sound of the whistle echoed outside the city of Viedma, and the ground was shaking under the four iron wheels of the tractor. Although the steam tractor was not fast, it was still intimidating in the eyes of Philip and others.
"What kind of monster is this?"
As the soldiers shouted, they kept firing their rifles at the steam tractor.
The lead bullets fired from the smoothbore rifle hitting the iron plate have no meaning at all except for making a series of crisp sounds.
Finally, the gunners finished loading the gun. They lifted the gun breech with a stick, aimed, and fired...
"Bang!"
A loud sound like the sound of a bell echoed among the artillery fire. The shells from the nine-pound cannon had no effect on the steam tractor. In front of the steam tractor was an iron bulldozer. This tractor was used to level the ground at the Nanhua construction site.
"Oh, God!"
Accompanied by screams of terror, the soldiers guarding Viedma were finally frightened.
As the steam tractors advanced with unstoppable momentum, the more deadly blow came from the artillery shells fired by the grenadiers. Although those small shells weighed only one kilogram and were not very powerful, they were extremely deadly to wooden walls and defenseless soldiers.
In just a few minutes, hundreds of artillery shells fell like raindrops inside and outside the city of Viedma. In the billowing smoke, the wooden walls that were once insurmountable in the eyes of the Mapuche people were blown down, and houses collapsed in the explosion. The flames of the explosion ignited the wooden houses in the city, and the houses burned one after another.
"Oh my God, what on earth did they bring?"
Philip looked at everything around him in despair. The soldiers around him were constantly being blown to the ground, and they couldn't even see the enemy's appearance clearly.
What’s even more terrible is that the steam monster is rushing towards us with unstoppable momentum.
Is God going to destroy this city?
Finally, the steam monster that even guns and cannons could not stop came. Amid the roar of the steam engine, the billowing black smoke, and the crisp creaking of the wooden wall, the bulldozer pushed open the wooden wall. The wooden wall, dozens of centimeters away, was like thin paper under the bulldozer of the steam tractor.
At the moment of impact, with a loud "boom", the wall collapsed!
While tearing through the wooden wall like peeling paper, the machine gunner standing in the coal bunker on the right side of the steam tractor shook the Gatling gun.
The sound of machine guns echoed in Viedma. The Argentine soldiers who survived the explosion fell to the ground like wheat...
When the living people saw this scene, they all raised their hands high in shock.
surrender!
There is no suspense anymore.
…
[At 11:12 am on May 9, the siege of Biedma ended successfully, taking 28 minutes, of which 18 minutes were spent on marching...]
[May 10, 9 a.m., Carmen on the right bank of the Rio Negro surrendered…]
[On May 10, the news that Viedma and Carmen were successively captured by South China reached Buenos Aires, causing a sensation. All parties accused each other of political struggles that led to the invasion of South China...]
[On May 14, Buenos Aires Province sent a negotiator to Carmen and delivered the ultimatum of Buenos Aires Province, demanding that Nanhua must evacuate the two places, otherwise they would attack Buenos Aires Province. You flatly rejected the representative's proposal.]
[In June, civil war broke out in Buenos Aires Province, and both sides were unable to take care of South China.]
…
[On June 17, the arrival of the "Anlis" and eleven hired ships brought 28,500 immigrants. Although the arrival of a large number of immigrants was unexpected and caused Nanhua to face material supply problems, it alleviated Nanhua's manpower shortage. In order to cope with possible attacks, you expanded the Nanhua Self-Defense Force to 2,000 people and reorganized it into a security force...]
…
"call……"
After sitting up and returning to reality, Zhu Xianhai frowned and seemed a little depressed.
Although everything that happened in the life simulator was within his expectations, the facts proved that even using the Self-Defense Forces to attack Viedma would be a waste of talent.
But the situation that followed was basically within his expectations. Perhaps the fall of the two "towns" of Viedma and Carmen caused a sensation in Buenos Aires, but for the politicians in Buenos Aires who were fighting among themselves, it was just another "barbarian invasion." They were so focused on fighting among themselves that they didn't care at all.
It is impossible to send troops because the generals are fighting a civil war!
But the reason why Zhu Xianhai had this expression was because of another seemingly insignificant matter - the telegraph line was cut off!
"How dare you cut off my telegram!"
Zhu Xianhai muttered to himself, touching his hair with both hands.
"How can I get my offices in London and France to buy supplies if you send all these telegrams?"
After conquering Viedma, Nanhua fell into another dilemma - its external communication channel was cut off. Although the telegraph line across the Atlantic had been successfully laid three years ago, the cable itself, which was successfully laid in 1858, was short-lived: its signal became weaker and weaker until it was completely interrupted. After three weeks of use, it broke in the Atlantic due to high voltage current.
However, there was already a telegraph network in South America and North America. This wired telegraph network, funded by a number of British and American companies, was the best way for Zhu Xianhai to communicate with the outside world. First, he sent a telegram from Viedma to Buenos Aires, and then forwarded it to New York, which took two days. Then the telegram was transported from New York to London via a mail bag via a cruise ship, which took 18-22 days.
For people who are used to the internet-connected world of the 21st century, it is unimaginable that it takes so long to send a telegram. But in this era it is a miracle. After all, ten years ago, it often took 1-2 months for a letter to be sent from Buenos Aires to London.
Of course, the "miraculous" speed also means high cost, with ten letters costing one peso.
Although every word costs a fortune, it saves a lot of time. Many newly ordered equipment are completed in this way.
In the life simulator, as the telegraph company in Buenos Aires cut off the telegraph lines, Viedma's external communications were also cut off.
What an unexpected change!
Although the simulation was not continued, Zhu Xianhai was very clear about what happened next - it directly affected the construction of Nanhua. After all, Nanhua needed to import machines from Europe and the United States.
This is not a easy thing to do!
At the same time, the virtual light screen flashed.
[This simulation ends.]
