Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 48 The Trip to Tierra del Fuego

noon.

Lu Ming led 30 army soldiers for two days on the island of Tierra del Fuego (the main island of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago). Relying on the fairly accurate hand-drawn map and compass, they finally did not go astray. It was a bit cold on Tierra del Fuego in late March, and the westerly wind blew even louder when camping at night.A group of people wore thick military coats, stepped on the muddy grass and moss, and walked forward with difficulty.

In the past two days, I didn't meet any Indians, which relieved everyone who was tense.The hilly area on the map could be reached almost before evening today, Lu Ming decided to rest there for the night, and then cross the hilly area the next day to reach the seaside.The coast of the Strait of Magellan is mostly cliffs, which can easily observe the situation in the strait.

"Someone!" A soldier acting as a vanguard suddenly shouted, and there was a burst of gunshots, and the soldiers following him took off their 32-B flintlock rifles from their shoulders without ordering.

Holding a 1633 flintlock pistol in his hand, Lu Ming stepped to the front of the team and looked forward.There was the edge of a swamp with some dwarf trees growing there.There is something vaguely hidden in the bushes, and there are low sounds of animals.

"Fabian, Hans, you two go up and see what's going on, be careful." Lu Ming ordered.

Fabian and Hans, one on the left and one on the right, made a big circle and approached the small bush from a distance.After a while, there were high-pitched and short shouts and slight fighting sounds in the grove, and then it returned to calm.

The tall Fabian dragged an Indian in animal skin out. The Indian was still struggling, but under the care of Fabian whose arms were like iron hoops, it had no effect at all. .Hans followed behind with a tawny beast, which was dying and seemed to be seriously injured.

After thinking about it for a while, Lu Ming knew what was going on.The Indian probably dug a trap over there to catch wild animals, just in time for his group to appear, and hid there out of caution.Unfortunately, it was discovered by our own side, and it should not be hiding there intentionally to spy on everyone.

"Let him go, Fabian. In this place, try not to be rough on the Indians." Lu Ming waved his hand, signaling Fabian to let go of his captive.

The Indian who had regained his freedom gave Fabian a hard look, then walked up to Hans, snatched the dying beast, and was still yelling.Only now did Lu Ming see clearly that the beast really looked like the legendary "Grass Mud Horse", er... To be precise, it should be a close relative of the "Grass Mud Horse" - a llama.

Interrupted by such a small episode, it happened to be noon, so Lu Ming simply ordered the troops to rest on the spot, regardless of the Indian who walked aside, and began to call everyone to prepare lunch.The cooking soldiers picked up the engineering shovels, found a relatively dry place and started digging the firepit, and some people picked up the shelves and started to set up the pots.In this wet and cold weather, it is difficult for a person to maintain a good physical condition without a bite of hot food.

The Indian was skinning wild animals awkwardly at the edge of the swamp with a bone knife.Fabi quietly approached this nervous guy, knelt down, and pointed to the beast.The Indian, probably thinking he was trying to snatch his prey, watched Fabian warily.

Fabian didn't say much, and took out a sharp skinning knife from his arms, and began to skillfully skin the "grass mud horse".Seeing Fabian's quick movements, the Indian's eyes were almost rounded.But soon the smell of meat gradually wafting not far away attracted the attention of the Indians again. He turned his head to look at the cauldron frequently, and the soldiers in the first row couldn't help laughing at his appearance. People even whistled.

"Hey, Fabian! Come over for dinner, what, did you make a new friend?" someone joked.

Fabian smiled, and handed the peeled whole llama skin to the Indian, then washed his hands, sat around in front of the cauldron and began to eat.Today is another big pot of stew, cabbage, radish, potatoes, beef, and salted fish stewed in a big pot. The cooking soldier took a horse spoon and filled a big bowl for everyone. Everyone sat together and started eating and drinking. .

"Fabian, your new friend seems to be here." Hans said suddenly, and at the same time touched the handle of the knife at his waist with his right hand.

"Don't be nervous, Hans." Lu Ming pressed Hans' right hand, "He may not be malicious. Mathias, serve him a bowl, maybe he is hungry."

Matthias, the cook, looked at the Indian standing not far away, took a wooden bowl and filled it with rice, and handed it to him with some hesitation.Sure enough, the Indian immediately took it with both hands with a smile on his face, and began to drink the vegetable soup. While drinking, he put his fingers into the bowl, picked up a piece of meat, threw it into his mouth, and chewed.The Indians on Tierra del Fuego lived by hunting a limited number of wild animals. Maybe he had never eaten these things before him, or maybe there was a lot of salt in the rice. In short, this guy was very happy to eat, and he stared blankly after eating. looked at Mathias.

Mathias looked at Lu Ming, and gave him another bowl after getting permission.A few minutes later, the bowl entered his stomach again, but this time he didn't ask for another bowl.He quickly ran to the edge of the swamp, picked up the intact vicuna hide, then ran back and handed the vicuna hide to Lu Ming who was farthest away from him.

This kid is quite forthright, and he has some sharp eyesight, so he knows who is eating these two bowls of rice.Lu Ming smiled secretly, signaling to Mathias to accept the complete fur.

After delivering the goods, the Indians returned to the swamp, wrapped the remaining vicuna meat with a large piece of animal hide, and held it to their chests.Seeing how hard he was carrying it, Lu Ming simply gave him a bag. The Indian kept saying something, probably to thank him, but unfortunately no one could understand.

After packing up the troops, the troops continued on the road. The strange and nervous Indian disappeared after following for a while, and everyone ignored it and continued on their way.Lu Ming had to refine the map in his hand as he walked. After all, the map of the 21st century is only a rough idea, and he has to supplement the specifics of each river, each swamp, and so on.Moreover, these tasks are not in vain, because one day the power of the Transmigration Congregation will expand here.Tierra del Fuego has oil and gas, iron mines, gold mines, coal, good pastures, rich forest resources, and whale resources. The strategic location was extremely important before the opening of the Panama Canal. Then the fast site.

The muddy grass, moss everywhere and dotted swamps have caused great obstacles to everyone's passage. It was not until nearly [-] o'clock in the evening that everyone arrived at the planned campsite - the coastal hilly area.A westerly wind blew up at night, Lu Ming estimated it would be around level five or six, but luckily it didn't rain.We found a shelter from the wind, pitched our tents and rested.

Silent all night.

Early the next morning, the sky was a bit gloomy.An hour after setting off, fine raindrops began to be carried in the strong wind, and everyone quickly put on oilskin raincoats.At this moment, there were faint shouts from the hillside ahead, and it seemed that there were many people.Lu Ming raised his binoculars to look, and was startled. He saw about a hundred or ten Indians standing densely on the hillside.Most of these people were dressed in animal skins, and the one standing at the front seemed to be the Indian who was eating dinner yesterday.

"Attention, there is a situation. Check your weapons and be careful not to get the medicine pot wet by the rain. Also, no one is allowed to shoot without my order." After Lu Ming finished speaking, he took off the 1633 gun from his waist Fire the pistol, load the ammo, and cock the hammer to fire.Regardless of whether those Indians are malicious or not, the most important thing is to be fully prepared.

It is very difficult to maintain the power of muskets in this stormy weather. Everyone was a little nervous, not knowing what the Indians gathered there meant.Soon, the Indian from yesterday ran towards us quickly.As soon as he came over, he grabbed Lu Ming's arm, and was so shocked that Lu Ming almost shot him, but then he restrained himself.

Lu Ming moved forward slowly under the tugging and urging of the Indians. The soldiers behind him looked at each other, not knowing what to do, but Lu Ming didn't give them new orders, so they had to jog behind in a daze.

Less than a hundred meters away from the group of Indians, Lu Ming broke free from the entanglement of the guy next to him, pouted his mouth towards the opposite side, and motioned him to explain what was going on.

The Indian seemed to have a good understanding. He quickly figured out what Lu Ming meant, then made a gesture of eating, pointed to Mathias' waist, and blinked his eyes.

Lu Ming took a glance and found that Matthias had many pockets around his waist, and the pockets contained salt. He immediately understood the purpose of these Indians.Dare to love the salt of my brothers, wouldn't it be nice to have made it clear earlier, and it's really shocking to put on such a big battle.Well, but you still can't be careless. If it falls into the hands of these vulgar and savage Indians, then you can find someone to reason with.

Everyone really brought a lot of salt when they went out this time, all of which are refined sea salt, just in case they come in handy, they can be used as gifts or traded.Lu Ming nodded to the Indian in front of him, indicating that he could trade salt.The kid immediately ran back to the opposite side, said a few words, and those Indians were immediately excited, and rushed over with many things picked up from their feet or around them.

Lu Ming was dumbfounded when he saw it, and the soldiers behind him also stayed in place in a daze, neither shooting nor not shooting, watching the group of Indians rushing in front of them helplessly.

Ruined!Lu Ming suddenly regretted his previous hesitation.

(End of this chapter)