The fire was a little bigger, and instead of being small for an afternoon, it spread to the west and north. At this time, Hong Tao remembered that it was the dry season, and although those trees looked green, they were actually not damp, and they were smoked by the fire, and soon became good firewood. By the next morning, the fire had not been extinguished all night, and had spread for dozens of kilometers, and the smoke rose hundreds of meters high. Now there is no worry that Swan will not be able to find his destination, and this large column of smoke can be seen dozens of kilometers away.

"Toot toot toot...... Honk! "After seeing the fire in the morning, Hong Tao couldn't do anything, burn it, anyway, it will be long next year, so it will be burned for Swan. I was just about to pick up the fishing rod and go to a shallow place on the shore to fish for dinner, when an alarm sounded on the mast.

"Holy! This is a herd of bison...... How did I forget them, that's a lot! If only we could get all to the south bank of the river! "Holding up the binoculars, without looking carefully, Hong Tao discovered the enemy's situation. The formation was very large, and the overwhelming dust was like tens of thousands of cavalry, and I don't know how many North American bison were alarmed by this fire and ran to the northeast with their lives.

The bison was originally found on the continents of Central and North America, and also in a small but small number of places not too high north of the Valley of Mexico. However, during the development of the western region, these behemoths were almost wiped out by European immigrants, and their fur and meat were all good things.

Before the arrival of white people in the Americas, the Indians of the North American continent used bison as their main source of meat, but they hunted very limited numbers and protected both calves and cows. But as soon as the European immigrants came, who cares whether they are protected or not, first peel off the skin and sell it for money, and get some meat to replenish the body. It is said that the number of North American Indians has declined sharply, not only due to the massacre and disease of European immigrants, but also the disappearance of bison, which has no food source.

"Your Majesty, the south is also here, look! They're crossing the river! "His Majesty Hong Tao must be from the original Jinhe country, the captain of this ship is the sailor who stayed here a few years ago, and he is also like Hong Tao with a telescope to watch the excitement, but he is not as attentive as Hong Tao. As he looked around, he noticed that there was movement in the woods on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and soon the first bison rushed out of the woods to the river, and without hesitation jumped down the river to swim to the north bank.

"I guess Swan, they've arrived! There are so many bison, and when the wolves come, they won't run so hard. Let's go, get into the boat, and we'll go down the river to have a look. Hong Tao turned his head to look at it for a while, and thought that there must be something behind these bison that frightened them. Ninety percent of Swan's cavalry were the only ones with their horses and guns who could make so many bison so frightened that they went crazy and wanted to cross the river.

The outer keel of the modified Exocet class sailboat has almost disappeared from the bottom, the mast is shorter, and there are two rows of notches in the low freeboard, which is where the oars stick out. This new type of boat can drill into shallower rivers and can move forward by paddling even when there is no wind or countercurrent.

The boat went up the river, slowly approaching the place where the bison crossed the river, these big guys had been running for more than half an hour, and there was a steady stream of companions jumping down the river, and I don't know how many there were in this herd, I can't count.

"Come on, come on, hand me the spear, change it to a full load, be steady...... Stop paddling...... "Hong Tao is close to the bison's crossing site, but he is not here to greet Swan, he wants to have come to hunt this kind of ton of prey, this thing will not be allowed to be beaten in the future generations, and now it is just enjoyable.

The 10-millimeter bullet with the "Bang ......" extended barrel and full charge was amazing, and Hong Tao was such a big man, his shoulders were numb after one shot, and the recoil was too great.

The recoil is strong, and the power is correspondingly great, and a bison 100 meters away fell directly on the bank of the river, and a small hole in the neck spurting blood appeared. Hong Tao fired two seconds later, and it would have been able to escape on the riverbank. This is fate, there are so many bison in front of and behind him, why do they just hit it? The answer is here in Hong Tao. In fact, he didn't aim at a certain bison, there were too many to aim, so he just fired at the ramp that the bison had to take, and the chance of not hitting it was estimated to be only one percent.

Killing is addictive, the sonorous explosion of ammunition, the rough rhythm of the gun, and the scene of the target's blood splashing can make people adrenaline secrete, and then make people enter a semi-crazy state, as the saying goes, killing red eyes. Hong Tao accidentally entered this state as well, and when the ramp was already blocked by the bison carcass, his shoulders were completely conquered by the recoil. As soon as the adrenaline was over, not only did it hurt, but I couldn't even lift my arm.

He took out a cigar and put it in his mouth, lit the fire with his left hand, and sat down on the bow of the boat to rest for a while, finally freed from this state. When he looked at the pile of bison corpses again, Hong Tao felt that it was too cruel and meaningless! If someone else did this, he would definitely stop it, and even if he couldn't stop it, he would have to be sarcastic. Why do you feel a sense of pleasure when it's your turn? People are really contradictory, not only in terms of contradictions, but also in behavior.

Most of the Indian sailors on board were a little trembling at the semi-madness of the waves, and the bison was originally their gods, or they were closely related to their lives. Cowhide and beef are their best living items, and clothing, tents, and canoes are inseparable from this animal. In the past, every time I went out to hunt bison, I had to hold a ritual to thank the gods for their gifts, and then I went to round up a few of them with gratitude. But now, this god has killed more than a dozen people in one person, and his power is too great. Whether they should worship him as a hero, or despise him as something else, they still couldn't figure it out for a while.

"Your Majesty, there seems to be gunfire in the south, shouldn't we go back?" The other officers from the Jinhe Kingdom on the ship were more accustomed to the many strange behaviors of their old emperor, and they were not very afraid.

"Well, let's go back, I guess Swan's and them are here. This guy is not honest when he marches, he has nothing to chase after a herd of bison, and I can't move half of my body, it's so hateful! I must punish him! Hearing the captain's suggestion, Hong Tao immediately found a scapegoat and threw his mistakes on others, as if he felt much more comfortable, and Swan was a good back-erer.

It was indeed Swan, who came with more than a hundred cavalry, each with two horses, day and night, almost tired and vomiting blood, and finally came late. When he saw a huge pillar of smoke rising from the seashore from a distance, he knew that his emperor and teacher had arrived one step ahead of him. The navy is faster than the cavalry, he himself knows this, but he is not willing to let this unscrupulous teacher do anything wrong on the territory that is about to belong to him. But he couldn't stop it, and as a result, this group of bison became his punching bag, and it is estimated that every time he shoots, he silently recites Hong Tao's name in his heart.

"Why do you want to set fire to my woods!" After setting up camp on the fire-ravaged flats of the estuary, Swann boarded Hongtao's flagship and began to complain after meeting him.

"Where is your woods, do you want to make a face? Shall I bring you with me, and you will still be basking in the desert? Don't talk nonsense, this place is very good, you can drive back by yourself and pull people over to build the city, I'm not bored. See, I can't lift my shoulders so that the bison don't frighten my fleet, and this account must be counted on your head, and the area north of the mouth of the river belongs to my country. "The fire was not in vain, and it burned a large open space. It's a good idea to build a settlement at the mouth of the Rio Grande, which can be replenished from the sea, and to explore the interior as far as the Rio Grande.

Swan is not as a chicken thief as Hong Tao, a piece of grass is a fart, and he will give it if he gives it. He is very, very satisfied with this land, he doesn't have to explore too much, standing on the top of the mast and looking north, it is all green, and it is not easy to find a small hill. In addition, Swann was also moved, he felt that after he became a king, he would have to catch those wild cattle and raise them as livestock, and even save the land from farming. He would do nothing but fight and train his soldiers, and with these bison, at least he would not starve himself and his cavalry to death. (To be continued.) )