Wild North America 1846

Chapter 46 The Riverside of the Americas
A team of more than a hundred cavalry gathered very quickly. Li Cha strode forward, got on his horse, waved his big hand forward and ordered, "Let's go!"

The cavalry lined up in a row of two cavalry, quickly crossed the Shanhaiguan Pass, and marched towards the American River Bend.

at the same time
Li Cha sent communications troops to Fangcaodi to report the Tang Dynasty's armed actions, and hoped that it would respond if necessary. This time it should be a head-to-head contest with the Alexander-Madison gang, which cannot be ignored.

more than three hours later
Dusk is approaching, and the lush forest beside the American River is getting darker. The large reinforcements led by Li Cha have just arrived at the bend of the river. This river bend is relatively open. La" sound of water.

There are low shacks scattered by the river bend, with dim kerosene lamps showing from inside. These are the temporary residences of gold diggers. Most of them are built by digging a shallow pit and then erecting a whole piece of cowhide with a few sticks. Can sleep three or four people.

The armed cavalry of the Datang Society has been stationed here for a long time, so a wooden fence is used to surround a horse pen, and the horses are kept in captivity. Next to the horse pen, there are six marching tents lined up, which is the camp of the armed horse team.

When Li Cha arrived here with his men and horses, the sub-team leader Zheng Lao Si had already greeted him. Before he had time to say hello, Li Cha dismounted from his horse, handed the reins of the horse to the soldiers behind him, and asked with his head in his pocket; "Second brother, injured How is your brother?"

"President, the others have been wounded up, and it shouldn't be a big problem to keep them for a while, but Er Hei was shot in the stomach by a white gunman, hurting his internal organs, and finally couldn't survive, and he was out of breath gone."

"Take me to see."

"Go this way, there are three Chinese gold diggers who were killed, and the bodies are placed in the back. I am looking for a place to bury them, so as not to affect morale."

"Don't rush to bury them. We have to avenge the dead brothers. We can't let them die in vain. I want to take the heads of these white gunmen as a memorial to the dead, and then send the brothers on their way solemnly."

Li Cha's face was livid under the dim kerosene light, and his words were full of murderous intent, Zheng Laosi stole a glance at him, and then he didn't dare to say more.

In the forest behind the campsite, there was a small open space with a few long planks laid underneath. On the planks lay four corpses lined up, all covered with blankets.

In a hurry, there was no way to build a coffin, so I could only make do with it and put it aside.

When the blanket was lifted, the black and red blood stains on the bodies of the dead were very glaring, their stiff faces were as white as paper, and their faces were ferocious. Obviously, the tragic end made the dead feel unwilling and unwilling, and a mouthful of resentment was stuck in their throats.

see this scene
Li Cha bowed his hands three times, and said solemnly; "In front of the heroic spirit of the dead brother, I, the president of the Tang Dynasty, Li Cha, solemnly promise that I will avenge you and sacrifice the head of the white bandit in front of your spirit." , this oath will be witnessed by the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth, and it must be fulfilled."

Strange to say

In the quiet forest, a cloud of cold wind appeared out of thin air, blowing the leaves and making a "squeaky" sound. If you take a closer look at the face of the deceased, it seems that it no longer looks so ferocious. Is this an illusion?
after worship
The deceased was covered with blankets again, Li Cha looked at this place quietly, thought for a moment and said, "We can't be sent to the ground in such a shabby way, tomorrow we will organize people to make a few coffins, then put them in decent and clean clothes, and bury them Waiting for us to avenge our brothers and use the heads of white gangsters to pay homage to my brothers from the Tang Dynasty."

"The subordinate obeys the order and arranges for someone to do it tomorrow morning."

"Well, tell me, where are the white gangsters like Alexander Madison entrenched? How strong are they?" Richard had already turned and walked towards the tent, asking as he walked.

Zheng Laosi rushed a few steps to keep up, lifted the curtain courteously at the door of the tent, and said;

"President, sit down with you and the captains. I'll make you a pot of strong tea to relieve fatigue. Madison and his gang have been entrenched by the American River, in a small village more than ten miles away from here. There, dozens of wooden houses were built there, a place called Hewan Village.

Riverbend was about 80 people, with a tavern, a Mexican whorehouse, a small grocery store, and a watermill that was home to Alexander Madison and his gang.

The white gunmen who really belonged to the gang, that is, about six to seventy people, were recruited temporarily, but it is not clear, it is estimated that there may be more.

Hewan Village is a village with a wooden fence. It is surrounded by a three-meter-high log fence. On weekdays, there are white gunmen on guard, just like the early British camps. It may be difficult to take down.

At the beginning of the conflict today, I saw Mabry Jones, the No. 2 member of the Madison Gang, "One-Eyed Dragon", who fired the second shot in Erhei's stomach. It is impossible to drive us Chinese gold diggers away.

Marbury Jones threatened;

The Chinese gold diggers who dare to stay in this river bend will all go to hell if they see one kill one, and two kill one pair.

After today's conflict, less than half of the Chinese gold diggers have left here because of fear, at least three to four hundred people.

They don't want to be involved in the right and wrong of armed conflicts. With the mind of being wise and safe, don't these bastards think about it?

Without the protection of our Datang Society's armed cavalry, what would it be like for them to be harmed by these white bandits?
A bunch of cowards, idiots, protecting these bastards, I really feel unworthy of Erhei's death. "

Zheng Laosi became more and more angry as he talked, he slapped his palm on his thigh angrily, and made a loud "pa", wondering if he was in pain or not?

Li Cha thought about it. If Hewan Village had a solid defense base like Muzhai, if he attacked hard, he would need to mobilize all the musketeers from Grape Valley and suffer certain heavy casualties in order to defeat it.

Datang will not be able to bear this kind of loss.

If it is a night attack, only my own agility can sneak into the village in the dark, but the danger is self-evident.

If you fall into the trap of the Madison gang, no matter how skilled you are, it will be difficult to resist the siege. The risk is too great.

Since Alexander-Madison and his group are Jin Ba, they will not hide in Hewan Village and not come out. Finding ways to surround and wipe out some of the gangsters, severely attack their arrogance, and weaken their strength has become a feasible choice.

think about it

Richard said; "Well, it's hard to hide the news of the arrival of our reinforcements. Inform the Chinese gold diggers by the American River that Datang will start a war with the Madison gang, and let them find any traces of the white gang. report.

tell them
This is a life-and-death battle. If you lose, the Chinese will have nothing to do with panning for gold by the American river in the future, and no one will be able to protect them. You can weigh your own interests.

The guys in the horse team stepped up their vigilance and rested early after feeding the horses. There are still a lot of things to do tomorrow.

I reckon that Madison's gang of gangsters are quite arrogant, and we won't be too scared to come out. If so, it's a good opportunity to cut off their wings.

The few of you are also tired, so we will have a rest early after drinking some broth, and we will talk about tomorrow if we have anything to do. "

"Your subordinates obey." Dai Changfu, Gao Shiheng, Liu Wu, Zheng Laosi and other captains all clasped their fists in agreement.

At this moment

Zheng Laosi beckoned to the outside of the tent and ordered: "Don't stand there stupidly, quickly bring in the broth, give the president and several officers a drink to warm up, and bring some big pancakes, one by one I don’t even have any eyesight.”

Speaking of here
Zheng Laosi turned his head and explained with a smile; "This is when I was chasing the white bandits in the morning, I happened to bump into a few American pack deer, and killed two of them at that time, but unfortunately I didn't leave the blood of the deer in a hurry. Good stuff, it's delicious cooked together in broth."

Just as he was talking, his brother came in with a large bowl of broth. The broth was boiled with clear river water and only a little salt, ginger and wild onion were added. The rich aroma was tangy.

In addition to the large pieces of venison, there were also cleaned and chopped deer intestines, deer liver, deer lungs, and deer tendons, which were piled high in a large bowl, which attracted everyone's index fingers.

So what else to say, just open it up.

After eating a large bowl of broth and half a piece of flatbread, Li Cha felt hot from eating, belched contentedly, and was full.

Seeing that other people were eating heavily, with hot sweat on their faces, he stood up and said to Zheng Laosi; "After eating, I just go out for a walk. You can check the sentry post with me, and digest food by the way."

"President, shall we follow?" Dai Changfu and the others put down the bowls in their hands and stood up one after another.

"You don't need so many people. Set up your subordinates, build a few more bonfires, and go to bed early when you are full. Old Four and I will come back after a round."

"Subordinates obey."

Li Cha didn't respond, he waved his hand and walked out of the tent first, followed by Zheng Laosi.

The night at the end of April was relatively cold, about seven or eight degrees above zero, and the cold wind gusts on the river beach.

Li Cha brought more than 100 cavalry reinforcements for this trip, and more than a dozen tents, which have been erected neatly by the river beach. Venison soup was stewed on the blazing bonfire, and the soldiers were wrapped in blankets, etc. At the side, talking about something joyously, Halazi almost shed tears.

More than 130 horses were crowded in the wooden fence stables. These horses had been fed with fodder and clean water, unsaddled, and rested quietly in the fence.

Li Cha took Zheng Laosi around the river beach for a long time, and went deep into the forest near the river beach to check the guard post. After seeing a few wild wolves, he returned to the tent to rest in peace.

With wolves around, it was impossible for the Madison gang to approach quietly and sleep peacefully.

The pack of wild wolves is a great help hidden in the dark. At this critical time, Li Cha will not let it go unused. When he saw the "one ear" of the wolf, he went back to rest in peace.

(End of this chapter)