Wild North America 1846

Chapter 45 Prepare for Battle
grape valley

A wooden wall across the valley blocks the internal and external traffic. This is the newly completed Shanhaiguan. It is connected to the mountains on one side, and is about seven or eight meters deep into the sparkling Yudai River on the other side. Lots of sharpened stakes, wrapped with barbed wire.

In the warm spring season at the end of April, the snow in the Sierra Nevada melted, and countless valley streams converged into a river, rushing down the river, and the water was turbulent.

On the wide river surface, a foot-long big fish often jumps out of the water, and the colorful wildflowers on both sides are in full bloom, creating a vibrant scene.

When Li Cha and his group of dozens of riders arrived at the pass, the guards on duty hurried forward to salute. He waved his hand to make the guards retreat, then got off his horse, and walked forward with great interest, watching the busy blacksmiths working.

The blacksmiths are covering the gate of Shanhaiguan with a thick layer of iron plates. The side facing the valley is completely covered. It is made of dozens of small iron plates overlapping and fastened with finger-thick rivets.

To do this, first of all, use a hand drill to drill dozens of holes on the half-foot-thick wooden gate, which coincide with the holes on the small iron plate, and then connect them firmly with thick rivets.

Thus

The defense of the Zhaimen has been doubled, and it can even withstand the bombardment of small and medium caliber artillery.

Now that most of the construction has been carried out, the dark iron gate has just emerged, giving people a sense of unbreakable security. Finally, it needs to be painted with rust red paint and put on brass door nails as big as the mouth of a bowl. This is the final completion.

Enter the pass
It can be clearly seen that the back of the gate is reinforced by palm-wide iron bars, and the other end of the rivet that penetrates the gate is riveted to the iron bar. This is done to reduce weight and to save money.

In San Francisco (San Francisco), all steel-related items are extremely expensive, a pan costs 50 cents, and a shovel costs $4.5, so how much does a small iron plate weighing 95 pounds cost? Woolen cloth?

The answer is 5.5 ounces of gold, which is worth about $110, which is still a good price.

The Coast Mountains along the Pacific coast are rich in iron ore resources, but there are no steel mills.

All steel products need to be sent from the east coast of the United States, transported to the port on the Pacific side through the Panama Railway in Central America, and then transported to the Bay Area by the captains of Fangcao.

After tossing back and forth, the price turned upside down.

On the east coast of North America, the price of a ton of steel plate is 22-23 dollars, about one cent per pound, while in San Francisco, the price is about 1.1 dollars per pound, a difference of 110 times.

Therefore, when William Richardson offered to help Datang Society buy a set of steelmaking equipment, Richard immediately agreed and asked for two sets.

Who would think too much of this thing!

Back to the hilltop camp
A few servant girls stepped forward to help Li Cha take off his weapons, put on loose robes, and brought freshly brewed tea, which made him very happy.

These pretty maids are all girls who are willing to be good in the brothel, and they were originally doing the job of serving people, but because they are still young, they have not yet groomed and received customers.

These young girls had nowhere to go after the deeds were returned, and they were all taken under the door of the Datang Society, doing some washing, mending clothes, helping the kitchen, sending out servants, and teaching some characters in their spare time. Can't be idle.

There are 6 smart girls specially selected by Gaiwangshan, there are 10 in the camp, about 6 in the new town's main helm (including the four girls in the back garden), and [-] in the Rose Manor, all pretending to be the president Li Cha's maid.

Li Cha accepted all the flattery from his subordinates, and lived an enviable life as a lord.

Over the past few days, after taking back the deed of prostitution, there are a total of more than 220 girls who are willing to be good. Among them, there are nearly a hundred girls who have fallen into prostitution, and some of them are still young. Maids, there are more than one hundred people nodding.

Overall
Congliang girls account for slightly more than half of the total number of women, and the rest are willing to deal with the flesh and blood business because those women can't bear hardships, can't bear it with their hands, and can't lift their shoulders. .

Considering the way out for these good women, Li Cha added an order of 300 sewing machines and 50 looms to the procurement materials, just to put these women together, to set up a garment factory, and then a weaving factory. It can also be regarded as an industry under the Datang Club.

Nowadays, there are quite a few women under the Datang Club, there are more than 100 in Rose Manor, and there are some in Sacramento.

Without the protection of the Tang Society, it would be difficult for these weak women to gain a foothold in the chaotic and disorderly province of California, and sooner or later they would become the fat prey of those villains.

These women are vulnerable groups originally attached to the forces of the Agreement Hall. Li Cha believes that Datang will have a natural moral responsibility for these women, and should provide them with a stable job so that they can support themselves.

San Francisco has a long history of more men than women, and it is the same among Chinese immigrants. Women are a scarce resource, which has attracted the envy of countless people.

The benefits are obvious. Datang’s recruitment of gunmen received enthusiastic responses from Chinese immigrants. The quota of more than 140 people was quickly filled, and formal military training began.

Under normal circumstances

Military training is carried out in Grape Valley and Rose Manor. There are more than 320 people in Grape Valley and more than 220 people in Rose Manor. The armed guards in New Town and the American River take turns on duty and rotate every week.

In terms of the armed forces in his hands, Richard has already caught up with John Sutter, and the two are not much different.

But no one knows how deep and prestige John Sutter has. If he ascends to the top, how many white cowboys will lead the horses and carry guns to join the militia?
Five hundred, one thousand, or more?

John Sutter's chairmanship of the new town's civic council seems to have a righteous reputation. This is a place that Fangcaodi and the lobby club are more afraid of.

In the hall

Li Cha was holding a teacup in his hand, and he was tasting the tea leisurely. Dai Changfu strode in from the outside, arched his hands in front of him and said; Madison's people fought, and both sides suffered casualties, so I asked the congregation to send reinforcements."

"Oh... What's the specific situation?"

"The conflict happened on our territory, just at the mouth of Xiahe Bay. Chinese gold diggers picked up several pieces of dog's head gold in different sizes here in succession, so it is judged that this is an area rich in sands. Many Chinese flocked here at once. Came to pan for gold sand, and the harvest was extremely rich, which aroused the greedy appetite of Alexander Madison and his group, and there have been several frictions for this. But this time, Madison and his group came with more than [-] gunmen to grab the gold sand by force. There is a piece of land, and the two sides started fighting when they disagreed."

"How are the casualties?"

"Four people in the armed cavalry were shot and injured, one of them was quite serious, and was hit in the abdomen by a bullet. Whether he survived depends on luck. Three Chinese gold diggers were killed, and several people on the other side were also shot and fled. Casualties unknown."

"Assemble the team, let's go to the scene to see, everyone brings three days of dry food, ready to fight."

"As ordered!"

After Dai Changfu took the order, he left in a hurry and went to gather troops to prepare for reinforcements.

Li Cha glanced at the maid standing outside the door with a somewhat fearful expression, frowned and ordered, "What are you doing standing there stupidly? Hurry up and change my young master's clothes, and prepare some dry food."

"Master, please forgive me. This servant will change the clothes for the young master." The two young maids were taken aback, and hurried forward to say a blessing, and immediately got busy with their hands and feet.

(End of this chapter)