It's noon.

Lu Ming and 30 army soldiers walked on Tierra del Fuego (the main island of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago) for two days, relying on a fairly accurate hand-drawn map and compass, everyone finally did not deviate. It was a bit chilly on Tierra del Fuego in late March, and the west wind blew even more loudly when camping at night. The group wore thick military coats, stepped on muddy grass and moss, and struggled forward.

In the past two days, I have not met any Indians, which makes everyone who has tensed their nerves breathe a sigh of relief. Lu Ming decided to rest there for the night, and then climb over the hilly area the next day to reach the beach. The coast of the Strait of Magellan is mostly steep cliffs, so it is easy to observe the situation in the strait.

"Someone!" One of the soldiers who was acting as a spike suddenly shouted, and there was a burst of gunfire, and the soldiers who followed him took off their 32-B flintlock rifles from their shoulders without command.

Lu Ming held a 1633 flintlock pistol in his hand, strode to the front of the team, and looked ahead. There was a swamp edge with a few dwarf trees. Something looms in the bushes, and there are bursts of animal chirps.

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

Fabian and Hans made a big circle on the left and right, and approached the small bush from a distance. After a while, there were short, high-pitched shouts and slight fights in the bushes, and then they fell silent.

The tall Fabian walked out with an Indian in animal skin, who was still struggling, but under the care of Fabian, whose arms were like iron hoops, it was to no avail. Hans dragged a tawny beast after him, which was dying and seemed to be badly wounded.

Lu Ming thought about it for a moment and knew what was going on. The Indian, presumably digging a trap there to catch wild beasts, came across his own group and hid there out of prudence. As a result, it was unfortunately discovered by his own side, and he should not have intentionally hid there to peep at everyone.

"Let him go, Fabian. In this place, try not to be rude to the Indians. Lu Ming waved his hand and motioned for Fabian to let go of his captive.

The freed Indian glared at Fabian fiercely, then walked up to Hans and snatched the dying beast from him, still muttering something in his mouth. Lu Ming only saw clearly at this time that the beast really looked like the legendary "grass mud horse", uh... To be precise, it should be a close relative of the "grass mud horse" - the vicuña.

was interrupted by such a small episode, and it happened to be noon, Lu Ming simply ordered the troops to rest on the spot, regardless of the Indian who went to the side, and began to beckon everyone to prepare lunch. The cooks picked up the sapper shovels and found a relatively dry place to start digging the fire pit, while others picked up the shelves and began to set up pots. In this wet and cold weather, it is difficult for people to maintain a good physical condition without eating a bite of hot food.

The Indian with a bone knife was clumsily skinning the beast at the edge of the swamp. Fabi quietly approached the nervous fellow, crouched down, and pointed at the beast. The Indians, probably thinking that he wanted to snatch his prey, looked at Fabian warily.

Fabian didn't say much, took out a sharp skinning knife from his bosom, and began to skillfully skin the "grass mud horse". The Indians' eyes were almost round as they watched Fabian's rapid movements. But soon the smell of meat wafting from a short distance attracted the attention of the Indians, and he frequently looked back at the cauldron, and the soldiers in the first row could not help but laugh at him, and some even whistled.

"Hey, Fabian! Came over for dinner, what, did you make new friends? Someone quipped.

Fabian smiled, handed the whole vicuña skin to the Indians, washed his hands, and sat down in front of the cauldron to eat. Today is another big pot of stew, cabbage, radish, potatoes, beef, salted fish stewed in a big pot, the cook took a horse spoon and served a big bowl to everyone, everyone sat together and began to eat and drink.

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

"Don't be nervous, Hans." Lu Ming pressed Hans's right hand, "He may not have malicious intent. Matthias, give him a bowl too, maybe he's hungry. ”

Matthias, the cook, looked at the Indians standing not far away, took a wooden bowl and filled it with rice, and then handed it to him with some hesitation. The Indian immediately took it with both hands and began to drink the soup, and as he drank it, he took his fingers into the bowl and pinched a piece of meat into his mouth and munched it. The Indians of Tierra del Fuego hunted a limited number of wild beasts for a living, and perhaps he had never eaten these things in front of him, or perhaps he had plenty of salt in his meal, but in any case the fellow ate very happily, and when he had finished eating, he looked at Matthias with a blank eye.

Matthias looked at Lu Ming, and after getting permission, he served him another bowl. A few minutes later, the bowl went into 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 vicuña, and then ran back and handed the vicuña to Lu Ming, who was furthest away from him.

This kid is quite bold, and he also has some eyesight, and he knows who these two bowls of rice are eating. Lu Ming smiled secretly and motioned Matthias to accept the whole piece of fur.

After the Indians had finished delivering, they returned to the swamp, wrapped the remaining vicuña meat in a large piece of animal skin, and held it to their chests. Lu Ming saw that he was holding the hard work, so he simply gave him a pocket, and the Indians said something again and again, probably thanks, but unfortunately no one understood.

After packing up their things, the troops continued on their way, and the strange, nervous Indian followed him for a while before disappearing, and everyone did not care, 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 only had a rough idea, and he still had to supplement every river and swamp by himself. Moreover, it is not useless, because one day the power of the traversal will extend here. Tierra del Fuego has oil and gas, iron ore, gold, coal, good pastures, abundant forest resources, whale resources, and its strategic location was extremely important before the opening of the Panama Canal.

The muddy meadows, the moss everywhere, and the swamps that dotted the ground were a great obstacle to everyone's access, and it was not until nearly seven o'clock in the evening that everyone reached the coastal hills where they had their intended camp. The west wind blew at night, and Lu Ming estimated that it would be five or six levels, but fortunately it didn't rain. Everyone found a sheltered place from the wind and set up tents to rest.

Nothing was said all night.

Early the next morning, the sky was a little overcast. An hour after departure, the wind began to carry fine raindrops, and everyone hurriedly put on oilcloth raincoats. At this moment, there was a faint shouting sound on the hillside ahead, and it seemed like there were many people. Lu Ming raised his binoculars and looked at it, and was suddenly startled, only to see about a hundred and 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 had eaten yesterday.

"Attention, there is a situation. Check your weapons separately and be careful not to get wet in the rain. Also, no one is allowed to shoot without my orders. After Lu Ming finished speaking, he took off the 1633 flintlock pistol from his waist, loaded the ammunition, and then pulled the hammer to the state of being ready for fire. Whether the Indians had malicious intentions or not, it was important to be prepared.

It was very difficult to keep the muskets strong in this stormy weather, and everyone was a little nervous, wondering what it meant that the Indians had gathered there. Soon, the Indian from yesterday was running in this direction. As soon as he came over, he grabbed Lu Ming's arm, so startled that Lu Ming almost shot him, but then he restrained himself.

Lu Ming walked slowly under the pull and urging of the Indians, and the soldiers behind him looked at each other, not knowing what to do, but Lu Ming did not give them new orders, so he 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, and pouted at the opposite side, motioning for him to explain what was going on.

This Indian seemed to have a good understanding, he quickly figured out what Lu Ming meant, and then made a gesture to eat, pointed to Matthias's waist again, and then blinked his eyes.

Lu Ming glanced at it and found that Matthias had many pockets hanging around his waist, and the pockets were filled with table salt, and he immediately understood the intention of these Indians. I dare to love the salt of my brothers, wouldn't it be nice to make it clear earlier, and put on such a big battle, it's really scary. Well, but you still can't be careless, if it's planted in the hands of these vulgar and barbaric Indians, then who will be reasonable.

This time, everyone really brought a lot of salt, all of which were refined sea salt, so that they could be given away or traded in case it came in handy. Lu Ming nodded at the Indian in front of him, indicating that he could trade salt. The boy suddenly ran back to the opposite side with a smoke, and said a few words, and the Indians were immediately excited, and they picked up a lot of things from under their feet or from their sides and rushed over.

Lu Ming was dumbfounded when he saw it, and the soldiers behind him also stayed in place in a daze, neither shooting nor firing, watching this group of Indians rush in front of him.

It's over! Lu Ming suddenly regretted his previous hesitation.

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