The sun sets, the stars are sparse, birds and animals are chirping in the woods, and the jungles on the tropical coast are full of life. Everyone lit a bonfire, set up camp in front of the spectacular iron ore belt, took out the drinks and food they had brought, and celebrated wildly until dawn. Starting from the second day, it was a careful and busy exploration work.
Under the guidance of Priest Mekart, everyone roughly determined the surface scope of the Mayari Iron Ore Belt. To be honest, the scale of this large open-pit iron mine exceeded everyone's expectations. The northernmost point of the iron ore belt is actually only thirty miles away from the nearest coast. The southern end of the iron ore belt has penetrated deep into the mountains and forests, and the scope is extremely broad. The outcrops on the surface alone are at least twenty or thirty miles away.
After all, the Mayari Iron Ore Belt is one of the largest shallow iron ore belts in the world. The iron ore here ranks among the best in the world, both in terms of reserves and quality. What is even more precious in later generations is the "chromium" rich in iron ore belts, an indispensable key element in special steel.
Along the way, six kinds of abundant mineral deposits, including nickel, cobalt, manganese, chromium, iron and copper, are concentrated in the Snake Head Zone with a radius of 400 miles in the east of Cuba's Snake Island. Coupled with the sleeping tungsten mines on the large scaly island, and the oil in the offshore Gulf of Mexico... "Cuba's rich minerals" are truly worthy of the name.
"Praise the Lord God! Praise Your Highness! The reserves of this iron ore belt are enough for the entire alliance to dig for an era! And the quality of the ore here is also much higher than that of Black Rock Mountain!"
Three days later, Priest Mekart gathered all the information and gave a firm conclusion. Even though several days had passed since the discovery of the large iron mine, the excitement and excitement on his face still hadn't subsided. Because every day, the exploration team will bring new discoveries and expand the new boundaries of the iron ore area.
"The large iron mine of Maria must be firmly in the hands of the kingdom! We must establish a permanent camp and control this mountain forest and coast that are crucial to the kingdom!"
Hearing this, Priest Tomat and the old militiaman Chihuaco looked at each other and nodded at the same time. Then, Priest Thomas held the sun amulet around his neck and spoke firmly.
"Blessed by the Lord God! Now that we have found the large iron mine predicted by His Highness, the kingdom's fleet needs to establish its first permanent stronghold here, as well as the first main temple on the island of Cuba! The glory of the Lord God, It must be sown on the Cuban Snake Island, and the suppression of Quetzalcoatl must be completed by the main temple!..."
Speaking of this, Priest Tomat looked solemn and his will was unbreakable.
"Praise the Lord God, I will dedicate my life to you!... I will stay in Cuba, preside over the construction of the stronghold and temple here, and preach to the surrounding Taino villages! And the several priests of the Lord God who are on board will also Stay!" After hearing the words of Priest Tomat, the old militiaman Chihuaco lowered his eyes and was filled with emotion. Priest Tomat chose to stay, which was the right thing to do. It’s just that after staying this time, after a journey of eight thousand miles, I don’t know what year I have to wait until I want to return to the kingdom again...
"The devout priests of the Lord God! What a group of... well, a group of moths willing to throw themselves into the flames..."
Chihuaco felt complicated and remained silent. To be honest, if he was asked to devote the rest of his life to the gods and bury his bones overseas, he would not be able to do it.
"The kingdom's fleet sailed here. The sailors on the ship died and were replenished. They also recruited Puton warriors along the way... There are currently a total of 400 people in the fleet. Of these 400 people, there are only more than 200 People are warriors and sailors who set out from the kingdom.”
Chihuaco said nothing, and Priest Tomat spoke again, stating the cold truth.
When the fleet set off from the kingdom, there were more than three hundred and dozens of loyal Prepecha warriors and sailors. But now, at the destination of Cuba, a full third of these initial manpower has been lost! Storms, diseases, fighting, getting lost...each of them will continue to take away lives. This shows how difficult it is to sail long distances.
"The kingdom wants to establish a permanent stronghold, build warehouses here, store food, cut down timber, build temples, and even mine iron ore to lay the foundation for the arrival of more people!... And to do all this, not only We need property to mobilize the manpower of the surrounding tribes, and we also need enough force to control the surrounding areas..."
Priest Thomas remained solemn. He looked around at the leaders of the fleet and spoke out His Highness's will word for word.
"Before I set off, His Highness gave me the power to make a decision! I need the fleet to leave three long ships and at least half of them, that is, more than two hundred soldiers and sailors, to stay with me in Cuba! More than two hundred Among the people, there must be at least a hundred people, and if the Prepecha headquarters is reliable... Well, most of the gem cargo, weapons and armor, and cloth and property in the fleet must also be kept as much as possible."
After Priest Tomat said solemnly, he was the first to look at the captain of the exploration team, the old militiaman Chihuaco.
"Captain Chihuaco, what do you think?"
"Leave two hundred people behind?..."
Chihuaco pursed his lips and pulled his hair. Familiar young faces flashed through his mind. At this moment, he would decide the fate of these young men, whether to stay here or go home... After a long time, he nodded and promised.
"I will leave three ships and select a hundred reliable Prepecha boys, um, eighty sailors and twenty warriors. The remaining one hundred gaps...more than fifty people from the Puton tribe , who are familiar with the tropical jungle environment, you can keep them all. And among the more than thirty people in the Silver Crow tribe, half are shipwrights and are familiar with carpentry work, so they can be left to you! As for the last twenty people..."
Chihuaco paused, wanting to keep the newly added manpower in the Mayan lowlands. In his heart, he still had a preference and wanted to bring back as many of his compatriots from Prepecha as possible.
"For the last twenty or so people, let's choose the loyal Prepecha warriors!"
Priest Tomat raised his brows, saw what Chihuaco was thinking, and interrupted decisively. He looked into the eyes of the old militiaman and said sincerely.
"I believe that the Prepecha warriors who can participate in this voyage have no doubt about their loyalty to the Lord God! We need reliable manpower here in Cuba! ... And the return journey is still eight thousand miles long. The difficult sea route. Staying here is actually easier and safer than returning to the kingdom!"
The eight-thousand-mile-long sea route is, indescribably, the separation between life and death. When the fleet came, nearly a third of them were dead, and when they returned, many of them were dead.
Thinking of this, the old militiaman was silent for a while and looked at the deputy captain Huitu Puap. Puap nodded indifferently and agreed. In his opinion, there is nothing wrong with letting Prepecha's warriors and sailors stay here. There is no need to worry about eating and drinking, women just jump on him, and there is no need to fight a difficult battle. If it were him, he would be happy...
"Bah! I, Huitu Puap, am a man who has been valued and entangled by both the Condor and the Serpent! Your Highness has promised me that I am destined to become the commander of the legion, so how can I stay on this deserted island in Cuba!... .Well, I still have a dozen young wives in my hometown in Huzhong..."
Thinking of this, Puap touched his chin with a rare look in his eyes. After this voyage, he suffered so much from the mental torture of the curse that he never wanted to go to sea again.
"God bless you! When I return to the kingdom this time, I will fight bravely, kill Prince Maya, and discover the large iron mine... No matter what, I have to beg Your Highness not to send me out to sea to explore..."
The old militiaman's eyes flashed, looking at Huitu Puap's expression, he pursed his lips again. He knew Puap very well, so he shook his head secretly and said nothing. Then, the old militiaman looked at Priest Tomat with a solemn expression, and asked a question that he cared about very much and was equally important.
"Dear Priest Tomat, you stayed in Cuba to establish a kingdom stronghold and spread the glory of the Lord God... Then, how are you going to get along with the simple Taino people?"
Come and try it quickly. 】
