New World 1620

Saturday, March 1621, 4, was sunny.

The weather in early spring in North America is still getting late quickly. When Xiang Wei, who was sitting behind the podium, closed the lesson plans and looked back, the wall clock above the blackboard behind her was exactly at 18:[-] pm, but it was already dusk outdoors.

Today is Saturday, which should be the beginning of the weekly weekend, but considering the pressure of teaching progress, Xiang Wei still chooses to add classes on weekends.

If it was placed in later generations, any student would curse secretly, and then sit in the classroom with a calm expression on his face, reluctantly surviving a happy weekend that should belong to them.

But this is the 17th century, and in the newly built classroom, which still exudes the damp and decaying smell of newly cut logs, there are nearly forty people, aged from 6 to 15, dressed in Delaware Indian sackcloth. There were Indian boys and girls of varying degrees, and there were even a few apparently bigger Indian teenagers among them.

Except for a few students who were really too young to sit obediently and eat corn buns, the remaining 30 students were busy with their final exam assignments.

Xiang Wei was dressed in modern clothes cut from Indian handmade linen, and her hair was neatly coiled.Xiang Wei, who is still breastfeeding, is not yet 28 years old. The former middle school Chinese teacher who is a new mother is now slightly plump, with a soft and calm complexion, and a faint smile on her face all the time.

As the first pregnant female resident after crossing the catastrophe, Xiang Wei gave birth to the first baby in the Manhattan community more than three months ago, which also caused a lot of "turbulence". It is said that many current policies are It was triggered by the night when Xiang Wei gave birth.

Although her husband lost his life protecting her and the child in her womb on the day of the catastrophe, and is now buried in a cemetery north of Manhattan, Xiang Wei, who is strong by nature, chose to face the reality after a short period of sluggishness.

Shortly after confinement, Xiang Wei submitted an application to the education committee member of the Supreme Committee, and volunteered to become a Chinese teacher in a Chinese primary school, as well as a head teacher of an Indian class.Her character and former occupation met almost flawlessly the committee's requirements for the education of minors in the community and the assimilation of Indians.

Today's test question is "Our Shape", requiring students to write down on paper all the external characteristics of a person that they can see.And these Chinese characters and pronunciation, as early as a week ago, Xiang Wei taught the current Indian students.

"Okay, students, the exam time is over."

Xiang Wei recovered from the short memory, stood up and raised her voice to the Indian students in the audience: "Now let's recall the learning content of this week."

"Apart from a person's height, the most distinctive features are our eyes, hair and skin."

Xiang Wei stepped off the podium and came to a 10-year-old Indian girl, looked at her with a smile, and then pointed to her face: "Dama, tell me, what is the difference between a teacher and you? "

Unlike other Indian students, except for the hair decoration and shoes on the feet, Dharma is wearing an obvious Chinese-style dress.Although such a dress is a bit inconsistent with her slightly immature and thin body, Dama still tries to wear it out every time she attends class.

The dress was given by a certain Chinese youth.The young man who bought himself a beautiful winter fur collar coat with a strange paper ticket one night has been away for a long time, and it is said that he has gone to the other side of the sea.

From that night on, Dharma would go to the place where the Chinese lived almost every now and then, to peep at that handsome tall "warrior".According to those Chinese people, he is not an ordinary soldier, but a lieutenant, a leader who is much, much more powerful than a soldier.

There are also such a group of people in Dama Village. They are usually the bravest and strongest in the village. They can kill more prey every time they hunt, and they can always deal with many people alone when facing the enemy. They are likely to Will become the patriarch of the family or even the head of the village.

"Dama, what are you thinking?" Xiang Wei noticed that the Indian girl in front of her seemed to be in a trance, so she shook her hand in front of her eyes.

"Ah!" The Indian girl came back to her senses, stood up with a blushing face, and lowered her head.

"Dharma, tell me, what's the difference between Teacher and you?" Xiang Wei didn't blame anything, and gently combed the ends of the Indian girl's hair.

What's the difference?After Dharma understood the meaning, she slowly looked down from the top of the female teacher's head, her gaze swept across her hair, forehead, cheeks, eyes, lips...

It seems that such a problem has never been considered before, so what's the point?

About a minute later, Dama finally shook his head and said softly in unproficient Chinese: "It's the same..."

Xiang Wei showed an expression of joy or surprise, and quickly walked back to the podium, gestured to Dharma to take a seat, and then said with a smile: "Dharma's answer is very correct. Look at our eyes, we Our hair, our skin... We are all the same, we Chinese, Delaware, all come from the other side of the sea in the far west! We have exactly the same ancestors!"

The Indian students in the audience looked at each other in blank dismay, and many of them began to look at each other.

"Teacher...someone..."

Looking at her watch, Xiang Wei, who was about to announce the dismissal of get out of class, suddenly heard a little Indian girl who was sitting eating corn calling herself in rough Chinese.

As soon as he turned his head, he saw a tall figure standing outside the window with his back facing him, and a wisp of light blue smoke floated up from the person.

Uh, here he is again... Xiang Wei blushed slightly, she quickly lowered her head, pretending to sort out the lesson plans.Feeling that nothing had changed for a long time, Xiang Wei turned her head again, just in time to meet the gaze of the tall figure who turned to look at her.

The tall man was dressed in the officer's uniform of the Maritime Guard, and looked at the female lecturer in the window with a smile on his face. He seemed a little embarrassed to see the other party. The 37-year-old captain of the patrol ship of the Maritime Garrison quickly made a gesture, implying that the other party was just looking at it casually. look.

"Okay, students, this is the end of today's class." Xiang Wei regained her composure, and announced the end of get out of class with a smile, "Today's test papers will be handed over to class Dama later."

"Yes, teacher."

The Indian girl Dharma quickly stood up and answered with a voice as thin as a mosquito while lowering her head.The girl's face was still flushed, because she found that she suddenly found many things that she hadn't noticed before...

……

……

The two walked one after the other on the trails of the Brooklyn industrial area. Except for the occasional Indian hired workers walking around, the industrial area on weekends was much less crowded than usual. The high-intensity work made the skilled workers in Manhattan more dependent on the rare Weekends and weekends.

"If you leave the child alone at home and come to class, you won't be afraid that the child will be hungry and left alone?" Wang Tiechui turned around and broke the embarrassment with a smile.

"No... I have Aunt Hai Huifen and other sisters to take care of me." Xiang Wei is still blushing, holding a lesson plan, like a female college student who has not yet graduated.

"I heard all the teaching just now. It is very vivid. These young Indians can further identify with us, which is the basis for us to take root in America." Wang Tiehammer touched his chin, his voice was full of high-spirited fighting spirit, "I agree very much The committee's decision, in this way, our territory development prospects will be very broad."

"Hehe, you soldiers like to open up territories." Xiang Wei was stunned for a moment, seeing the rare image of a hot-blooded youth on the other side, and burst out laughing, "It seems that soldiers guarding peace in any era is just an excuse .It seems that this place was born for people like you."

"It's not necessarily... If I have a choice, I still hope to wake up and find myself lying in the house of the customs compound, teasing my silly boy..."

As soon as Wang Tiechui finished speaking, he seemed to realize that he had said something wrong. When he turned his head, he noticed a slight change in the expression of the female teacher behind him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it..." Wang Tiechui hurriedly coughed.

"Captain Wang, thank you for coming to see Wenwen these days. He doesn't know anything about this world. Maybe when he grows up, he thinks the world is like this. He won't know about the catastrophe and a certain era... ..."

The female teacher returned to her smile and quietly looked at the navy captain in front of her.

"Captain! Commissioner Zheng asked all officers of the Maritime Garrison to go to the headquarters for a meeting!"

Suddenly, a small officer of the maritime guard ran over and yelled at Wang Tiehammer.

Um?It's almost night, why do you have a meeting all of a sudden?Wang Tiechui frowned, then looked at the female teacher beside him, and then showed an apologetic expression: "Hehe, what makes life at sea is trouble."

"Wang...Brother Wang, go get busy, and come to my house to read Wenwen when you have time."

The female teacher wisely walked to another road, and after a few steps, she turned her head and said something softly, but the naval captain was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey..." The female teacher hung down the lesson plan in her hand in a desolate manner, thoughtful.

……

……

At 19 o'clock in the evening, the committee meeting room.

Almost all the committee members, including Chairman Liu Lao, gathered together. Except for those who went out to perform daily military affairs, all the officers of the Land Garrison and Marine Garrison who had not left Manhattan were also called together.

"The fishing boat responsible for transporting the last batch of construction materials to West Point Town has returned ahead of schedule. There is a problem in West Point Town, Lao Liu, please explain clearly to everyone!" When the last officer was seated, Zheng Quan stood up, Liu Baidong, a former fishing boat captain with a worried face in the conference hall, nodded.

"I set off after 4 o'clock in the morning today, probably after 11 noon..."

Liu Baidong gesticulated and talked non-stop for nearly 10 minutes, before he picked up his water glass and drank heavily.

"You can't even get close to the pier. Are you sure He Yu and the others are under attack?" Chen Liwen, the commander-in-chief of the Land Guard, frowned, folded his hands on his chest, and looked ugly.

"About two kilometers away from West Point Town, I saw black smoke. At first I thought it was Dong Jiunan and the others burning wasteland." Liu Baidong put down his water glass and wiped the corner of his mouth with his arm, "When we are about 500 meters away from the pier, I heard gunshots again, although it was only a few shots, but it was obvious that He Yu was warning me. After that, what I said was the situation. Many Indians were hiding in the woods near the pier. If I hadn’t reversed the car in time, Maybe those Indians will touch it!"

"It's still here..." Mr. Liu sighed deeply, his old hair seemed to be getting whiter, "Xiao Zheng, Xiao Wang, Xiao Chen, you are all veteran soldiers for many years, what do you think?"

"Send reinforcements immediately!" Chen Liwen was the first to stand up, appearing more anxious than the others, "He Yu only has one squad, and even if you add the British and Indians, there are only 70 soldiers who can afford weapons." Come on."

"According to Lao Liu, there are at least 200 Indians surrounding West Point..." Zheng Quan rubbed his chin with a solemn expression, "Our sea and land garrison combined only have more than 140 people, and a considerable number of them are scattered in Manhattan and Brooklyn. How many people can be dispatched to serve as defense missions in Lin and Lin? Moreover, our No. 516 patrol ship broke down last week, and it is still under maintenance!"

Zheng Quan paused, looked up and looked around the people in the conference hall.

"Besides, we have to understand, what is the result of sending reinforcements? Is it just to save them, or..."

Zheng Quan didn't finish his sentence, but almost everyone understood the meaning behind it.

"My suggestion is to save people first." Qi Jianjun thought for a while, and slowly expressed his opinion, "It's okay to lose some supplies, and you can look for them in other places in the future. People are more important than anything else."

"But our mineral sources will be gone, and who can guarantee that those Indians will not continue to threaten us?" Jiang Zhaolong, a member of the Ministry of Industry, was the first to express his objection.

"Don't we still have trade..." Qi Jianjun was taken aback, then turned to look at Chairman Liu Lao, "Liu Lao, think about it, if we send troops to fight those Indians this time, it will not only take time, And if there are casualties, then..."

"Old Qi, you are not familiar with Indians." Zheng Quan pointed to the night sky outside the window, with a gloomy and scary face, "Maybe we think the Delaware people around us are very talkative, even extremely cute and friendly. But it doesn't mean they will understand us All the actions. I think it is probably because of what He Yu, Dong Jiunan and the others have done, otherwise there would not be so many Indians attacking West Point Town!"

Clear love and hate, impulsive and belligerent, kind and simple, almost three adjectives that do not match each other are the personality factors of Indians.Everyone agrees with this point.

"Once the threat is ignited, it must be killed in the bud!" Zheng Quan slammed his fist on the conference table fiercely, with a fierce look on his face, "I propose to mobilize the largest force and use Lao Liu's fishing boat to transport it to the vicinity of West Point Town for landing. After rescuing He Yu and the others, quickly wipe out that Indian tribe that is already an enemy to us!"

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

"Should be leaving tonight!"

Except for a few people who were silent, almost all members under the age of 40 raised their hands.

"Okay, I announce that the proposal is approved. Xiao Chen will be the commander-in-chief of this troop dispatch. Xiao Zheng, your maritime garrison will provide the necessary support. After the other committee members go back, they will also adjust the next work accordingly. Make sure to ensure this troop dispatch. All the guarantees!"

Mr. Liu is also a person who has been decisive in killing and attacking, and he immediately understood that he was facing an endless war this time.

……

……

It was 21 o'clock in the evening, and the entire Manhattan pier was brightly lit, and teams of officers and soldiers of the Land Guard with live ammunition lined up waiting to board the fishing boat.

Several soldiers of the Maritime Guard took a 6-pound light cannon dismantled from a Dutch sailing ship, and carefully pushed it onto the fishing boat under a series of instructions. tail.

According to the final military dispatching instructions, Chen Liwen will command 80 officers and soldiers of the land garrison and a 6-member artillery squad of the maritime garrison to set off overnight on a fishing boat, accompanied by a medical team of 4 people called urgently.

Although nearly a hundred people and one cannon made the whole fishing boat look heavy and crowded, more combat supplies were still tied to the stern of the fishing boat with small wooden boats, making the subsequent northward voyage at night much more dangerous.

Many residents of Manhattan stood quietly outside the dock area under temporary military control, but everyone's face showed deep anxiety, and almost no one spoke.

The news has spread like wildfire. In just one hour, not only the entire Manhattan community has entered the highest alert, even the Brooklyn industrial area has temporarily declared military martial law. All workers have temporarily received a flintlock gun, while Indian hired labor Was told to stay in the shed to rest.

Representatives of the Delaware tribe in Brooklyn also received information about the situation in West Point. These impulsive Delaware Indian warriors almost jumped up on the spot. Tell the residents of Manhattan that they will send their bravest fighters to help their "brothers."

Well, it’s a brotherhood. Zheng Quan can only tell these fighting spirited “brothers” kindly that they can only row the wooden boat and follow them northward. If there is any accident at night, I will not accompany you...

At 21:30, all combat personnel had boarded the fishing boat. Zheng Quan silently waved his hand, and the diesel engine and oil motor of the fishing boat emitted a puff of smoke, and the heavy hull, which was absolutely fully loaded, began to move slowly.

"Beat those bastards to death!"

Suddenly, a young voice rang out from among the crowd waiting outside the dock area, and then the whole crowd let out a high-pitched shout.

The officers and soldiers on the ship sat close together, their eyes under the brim of their hats showed eager gazes, although no one spoke, but including the officers, they all straightened their bodies and grasped their weapons tightly.