Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 211 The British in the South ([-])

Sun Shengjun frowned and observed the actions of the British.Their commander is obviously a very cautious person. He only sent a small number of people out of the city to meet the dozens of British loggers who stumbled and ran back from the mountain. The British roared loudly.

"A bunch of cowards!" Sun Shengjun muttered, "A bunch of lucky ghosts too!"

It seems that there is no loophole to take advantage of. The response of this group of British is professional. The battle should not place hope on the stupidity of the enemy.Of course, this doesn't apply to civil servants of Ming Dynasty, Sun Shengjun complained fiercely in his heart.

It gets dark early in winter, and it will be dark in less than an hour, and there are no British people on the mountain at this time. Sun Shengjun simply sent a few cavalry to each banner to pass orders, ordering them to follow the pre-established plan. retreat.The day after dark knows how many of these natives are going to escape, so let's gather them as soon as possible.

After all, Sun Shengjun overestimated the lower limit of the quality of these indigenous Eight Banners soldiers.A simple retreat that had been rehearsed many times turned into a chaotic race. I don't know which messenger told the group of natives that the camp was open for dinner, and then the group fell into chaos of scrambling to retreat.

Under the dumbfounded gaze of Sun Shengjun, more than 200 aboriginal Eight Banners soldiers ran back with their feet loose. In the chaos, many people were squeezed off the slippery hillside, screaming continuously.Of the Eight Banners soldiers who did not die during the battle, no less than 20 of them rolled down the hillside, and their life and death are unknown.

Is this a bunch of jokes?A sentence that the officers often talked about suddenly appeared in Sun Shengjun's mind.

The chaotic operation lasted for more than half an hour, and then the Eight Banners soldiers reluctantly returned to the camp. After seeing that the camp did not prepare a sumptuous meal as they had heard, some Khoisan people immediately clamored.However, they were quickly kicked and beaten by dozens of black "elites" from the red and yellow flags, and then they stopped.

Sun Shengjun stared blankly at the group of Khoisan people who were squatting on the ground, silent like cicadas, and suddenly felt a burst of despair. These people were simply worse than the group of refugees he had led back then.Fortunately, the British didn't come out to pursue them just now, otherwise he would have made a big joke today-the first army on the east bank to collapse itself because of the rumor of "opening the meal".

"Sun Erdan, go and arrange a guard post." Sun Shengjun said to a cavalry behind him.Like him, Sun Erdan is an old bandit who rebelled from Shaanxi. He has moved to several provinces and has extremely rich combat experience. It is more reassuring to entrust him with the camp security task.

"Dinner!" After being silent for a long time, Sun Shengjun finally choked out these two words.Some Khoisan servicemen guarding the camp took out many sealed bags of lime from the luggage pile. These were items specially designed by the military to heat food.The basic principle is that quicklime releases a large amount of heat after it reacts with water, and it is very effective in heating food, especially in rainy weather when there is a lack of firewood or where it is necessary to avoid cooking smoke as much as possible.

Today's dinner is sorghum rice and beef stew with potatoes, which is quite hearty.To be honest, since these natives became vassals of the people on the east coast, their level of civilization and living standards have risen a lot.For example, in terms of agriculture, Hezhong Fort has sent many people to guide them in planting sorghum, peanuts and other crops.Before meeting the people on the east coast, the Khoisan people didn’t talk about it (they only knew how to herd). The agricultural technology of those Xhosa black people was relatively backward. They didn’t even know how to use human and animal manure and deep plowing techniques.

Among the various tribes of the Bantu Negroes, it is common knowledge that more food can be grown on land that was once a stable for livestock.As mentioned above, the residence of black people is based on "krals", and the center of each kraal is a livestock pen.Over the long years, the Bantu people discovered that the ground that was once used as a livestock pen is often more fertile, and the grain they plant often yields better harvests.It's a pity that they, whose civilization level is too low, have not been able to discover the reason why these lands are more fertile.

Until the people on the east bank strongly intervened in their lives and promoted deep farming techniques, manure and plant ash to fertilize fields, the use of cattle, advanced agricultural tools, advanced irrigation techniques, and advanced seed selection and breeding techniques, the food of these indigenous peoples Production immediately ushered in explosive growth.After the summer harvest this year, the freedmen (except slaves) of the Upper Six Banners tribe got rid of hunger for the first time by relying on the increased grain income and doing odd jobs for the people on the east coast.And this also greatly increased the prestige of the people on the east bank in their minds, making them truly feel that it was the right thing to take refuge in.

The natives clumsily held their chopsticks and ate their meals in silence.Some people were not comfortable with chopsticks, and when they were about to eat with their hands, they were quickly scolded by officers and people from the east coast.These are all required by Mo Ming. The aborigines who belong to them must learn Chinese and learn the way of life of the people on the east coast.Mo Ming is very envious of the large French-speaking countries in Africa, so he is determined to establish several Chinese-speaking indigenous countries in Africa, and this can be regarded as one of his bad tastes.

While the people from the east bank and the servants of the Eight Banners were squatting in the camp in the mountains to have dinner, a large number of British immigrants were chewing and eating dry, hard and tasteless black bread in the wall construction site outside the Fort of Good Hope.They have been fighting in the cold and muddy Cape Town for nearly two months, working hard for more than ten hours a day, eating the same food as when they were in China, but working hard. There is a strong resentment in the hearts of the immigrants.

So far, 69 people have died of exhaustion or disease on the construction site. If the 35 people killed in the indigenous attack today are added, their death toll has exceeded 20.What is more shocking than the death toll is the number of injured and sick people. According to the latest statistics, the number of injured people has exceeded [-] so far, while the number of sick people is ten times the number of injured people—two hundred!Many people caught a bad cold, dizzy and powerless, they could only shrink in the corner of the leaking wooden house, waiting for God's judgment alone.They lacked sufficient nutritional supplements, hot water and warm clothes. Many people's illnesses were getting worse every day, but a limited number of doctors and missionaries were helpless.

Many had diarrhea for days on end, their faces were sallow, their lips cracked, and they had low-grade fevers, and everyone knew something was wrong with them, but there was nothing they could do, not even change them into a dry suit .

Inside the canopy.Pastor Elkann shook his head and stood up with a dejected expression. The young man from Ireland in front of him had been having a fever all day. All he could do was bring a wet towel and wipe his body to cool down.The boy's older brother, a bearded Irishman, sat silently aside.After the pastor left, he carefully put away two pieces of black bread and a kettle, and then looked at the north covered in rain and fog.It was already dark, and it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

There was a sound of footsteps in the distance. It was Second Lieutenant Aaron Porter, a former English soldier who was patrolling the battalion.

"Good evening, Pastor Elkann, those barbarians may come to touch the camp tonight, please be careful." Potter's voice came intermittently through the night wind.

"It would be suicide to carry out a night raid in this weather. I don't think those savages would do it. The children are very tired today, and they will work two hours longer tomorrow to build the city wall. They need more Rest more." Pastor Porter's magnetic voice sounded.

"Perhaps you're right. But Mr. Heywood ordered us to be on our guard. I hope this damn weather is over soon. A lot of people are complaining about sleeping in wet clothes for days. Forget it. I have to go back and drink some strong The wine keeps the cold out, this damn weather!" Potter walked away cursing.

Pastor Elkann sighed softly, and then walked away with a lamp.

In the middle of the night, a vague figure passed through the gap in the unfinished city wall in the night, staggered to avoid the place where the lights were lit, and then disappeared in the dark northern wilderness under the pattering night rain.Reverend Elkann stood in the corner of the city wall, silently watching the empty beds of the two Irishmen and their disappearing figures, and sighed deeply.

Charles McKinley ran across the dark and open field with his younger brother, who was suffering from a low fever, on his back.He is not familiar with this land, and he doesn't know how to walk in this wilderness full of weeds. He only knows all the way to the north.Yes, he's heading north!The east coast man's castle is in the north, and only there is the hope of his younger brother's survival!These days he had seen too many poor people who fell ill and died silently, and he didn't want his younger brother to follow in the footsteps of these people.He was only 17 and he shouldn't have died so early.

The rain fell on Charles' back from the westerly wind, and his brother Harry was covered with raincloths.Harry's forehead rested on Charles' neck, and he could clearly feel that he was still running a fever.

"Harry, are you listening to me?" Charles said while panting and walking, "Do you remember the lemon tree in front of our house when I was a child? Ha, yes, I still remember the sweet smell."

"Lemon tree..." Harry whispered with difficulty.

"Yes, the lemon tree." Charles lifted Harry up, and then continued to walk in the muddy wilderness, "At that time, you, me, Jack, Johnson, and Annie, our favorite thing to do Just sitting under the lemon tree, basking in the sun quietly. I remember you said that the golden sun shines on Anne's golden hair, and she is as beautiful as an angel."

"Anne's dead...the Englishman...damn it!" Harry's eyes instantly recovered, and his thoughts seemed to become clearer.

"Yes, all Englishmen are damned!" said Charles, following his brother's words. "They almost killed you this time. We can't stay in that damp and dirty castle anymore. We will go to the East Coast people and they will kill you." In the North. They'll cure you, they'll give us hot water, they'll give us food with cocoa, and all will come if we swear allegiance to the King of the East Coasters!"

Charles babbled along the way, talking to his younger brother who was lying on his back from time to time, lest he fall into a deep sleep.During the journey he rested twice and ate a small piece of black bread to regain his strength.It's just that Harry still couldn't eat anything, and even spit out the water he drank, which made Charles very anxious, and couldn't help but quicken his pace and ran towards the north.

"Harry, wake up, don't you aspire to be a great navigator?" Charles panted, he was tired, but more anxious.His younger brother hadn't spoken for a long time, and if Harry hadn't groaned occasionally, he would have thought he was dead, "Let me test you, how to readjust your course after losing your bearings?"

"North Star..." Harry finally had some reaction, he said intermittently: "Look...for...the two stars...to the far right...."

In the dark night, there was a burst of dog barking, followed by people's shouts and questions.

Shire was shocked, stumbled towards the direction of the sound, and then shouted: "Whoever it is, as long as he saves my brother Harry, he can get my allegiance!"

(End of this chapter)