Wednesday, May 8, 1630.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the founding of Porter, an important city in the north of Songzhou, and after years of development, Porter City has become the second largest city in China with more than 10,000 citizens.

The area around Porter City and the plains on both sides of the Song River have been developed into vast farms and pastures with no end in sight, with a total agricultural area of 40,000 acres, more than 20% of the total agricultural area of the country, and the total grain production has finally completely thrown Jersey Town away.

Not only agriculture, but also the vigorous development of the paper industry and wool fabrics in Porter City, but also the leading light industry project in Porter City, its multi-category paper products almost supply more than half of the domestic demand, and have become the most proud export commodities of Porter City.

In early summer, the Song River is abundant, and the port of Porter City is extremely busy, barges loaded with coal, wool, leather, timber, paper products or other agricultural and animal products are towed by inland steamboats to the downstream industrial towns, while construction stones, asphalt and other urban construction materials from other towns are continuously transported ashore, fueling another year of expansion of Porter.

On the south bank of the Mohoek River, 20 kilometers northwest of Porter, the riverport town of Eguchi (later the city of Schenectady) has been established for more than a year. The town of Jiangkou is still dominated by forestry and agriculture, the trading post on the north bank of the river maintains friendly relations with the nearby Abnaki people, and a nearby open-pit iron mine is also in the preparation stage, and now the town has more than 1,000 residents, and has basically a certain self-hematopoietic function, becoming the country's future bridgehead for colonization in the Mohek River Valley.

However, during this period, the inland areas north of Porter City had extremely cold winters, and once the temperature dropped below minus 25 degrees, even the Song River could face the dilemma of freezing, so the water transportation between Jiangkou Town and Porter City was more likely to be interrupted.

At the time of the Northern Campaign, the main force led by He Yusuo, who was the commander-in-chief of operations at the time, was forced to return because of the bad wind and snow in the field on the way to the area where Jiangkou Town was located. almost let Deng Jian, You Nanzhe and others, who were stuck in the base camp, be broken by the Iroquois Indians.

In order to ensure that the development of the town of Eguchi was not affected by the winter freezing of the Mohoek River, and considering the military use, the construction of an overland road from the city of Porter to the town of Eguchi was urgent.

In the past year, the country has successively completed the road and bridge projects in the western mining area of Beiyuan Town, Haizhou, and the northern mining area of Yushu Town, Songzhou, which have complex terrain, and the road and bridge construction capacity of the two major domestic construction companies has been greatly improved. However, this time, because Dongfang Construction Company has won most of the contracts for the first phase of the Yacheng project, the "Bojiang Highway" with an investment of 160,000 US dollars was eaten by the state-owned construction engineering group.

The Bojiang Highway, built with modern engineering materials such as gravel, asphalt and cement, is more than 23 kilometers long and will connect the city of Porter and the town of Jiangkou. Although the area along the project line is all flat, except for the first few kilometers through suburban farm areas, at least half of the latter part of the road passes through several forests and swamps. Therefore, the amount of work is not smaller than the previous mining road project built in West Point Town. In order to ensure the completion of the road before the National Day, the state-owned construction engineering group and the local government of Porter City will invest a total of more than 500 people.

Along the busy construction line, pack horse convoys are endless, dozens of hundreds of tons of construction raw materials are transported to the forefront of the project, and the road extends northwest in the woodland swamp at a speed of nearly 100 meters per day.

……

In addition to the "huge" strength of two Wehrmacht Army light infantry battalions stationed at the Army military base in the western suburbs of Porter City, Porter City itself also has a brigade (battalion) size National Guard Force

On the outskirts of a farm area northwest of Porter City, on the edge of a hilly woodland just over 100 meters above sea level, a military defense fortress of the local National Guard was built. The fort is equipped with a number of heavy weapons, including 90mm fortress guns, 60mm mortars and organ machine guns, and is usually garrisoned by a squadron (company) of the National Guard. The composition of this squadron is extremely complex. Chinese, Indian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Finnish, Swiss...... It is found in almost all ethnic groups in the country.

In the distance, the section of the Bojiang Highway can still be seen, and the National Guard in the fortress has been removed from the personnel who are on patrol or standing guard, and the remaining soldiers are lazily lying in the sun in all corners.

Several heavy wagons drove up the path on the side below the fortress, apparently carrying a large number of supplies. The soldiers of the garrison guarding the gate happily pulled open the wooden fence blocking the road, and a few idle people jumped directly into the car, lifted the canvas, took out the tomato from it and stuffed it into their mouths.

Two young Chinese men in training uniforms jumped out of the last carriage. One wears the rank of lieutenant, the other a sergeant.

"Uh...... Sir, welcome to Orchard Fortress! "A garrison soldier has sharp eyes. At once, he saw two silent "big men", quickly threw away the fruit, ran over in three steps and two steps, and stood up and saluted the lieutenant in front of him. As the name suggests, the "Orchard Fortress" is mostly orchards in this area, except for a few forest farms.

Because of the small strength of the National Defense Forces, there are very few commanders who can retire from active duty to serve in local national guard units, and the squadron commanders of national guard units in many cities in the country are even deputies with the rank of sergeant.

The current acting commander of the Orchard Fortress squadron is a retired European sergeant from the army. But now, two lieutenants and sergeants wearing National Guard armbands appeared at once, which startled the soldiers of the National Guard standing guard at the gate of the fortress.

"This is the country...... It's not fair, why not put us in the city? Yu Shan patted his buttocks, reached out and took out a tomato from the passing carriage, and bit it in his mouth without rubbing it, looking up at the fortress wall in front of him as if no one was looking.

"Soldier, this is an order from the Ministry of Defense, please give it to your squadron leader." Qiao Yan returned the military salute to the soldier in front of him, and took out the appointment order from his pocket.

"Oh my God...... There's a big guy here to be our squadron leader! ”

"You know, it's the lieutenants and sergeants who have retired from the Wehrmacht, and they are all soldiers who have really fought wars!"

"Sergeant Slark is finally leaving, I've been waiting for this day for a long time!"

"Maybe this old man is more difficult to serve, but it doesn't have to be ......."

Passing by the barracks inside the fortress, the people who heard the wind exchanged their heads and ears, and the young soldiers of the garrison showed curious and nervous expressions to the two soldiers carrying backpacks in front of them.

Although it was shocking that a lieutenant in his prime had come to take over his duties, the handover went smoothly. Ten minutes later, the inauguration ceremony of the new commander was held in the fortress on the spot, and the former squadron commander, Sergeant Slark, gathered all the remaining dozens of National Guard soldiers in the fortress.

However, to Sergeant Slark's surprise, although Lieutenant Qiao Yan was very kind, he did not have the excitement of taking up the new officer, but retreated to the dormitory alone to rest, and only the deputy commander of the squadron, Yu Shan, carried out the work handover.

“…… It's a fresh start for me and for everyone. Well, I'm going to miss you all. I now give the floor to Sergeant Yushan. "The former commander is obviously no less than Yu Shan's wordsman. The chattering resignation speech lasted like a talk show for nearly ten minutes, and finally it was Yu Shan's turn to play.

"I've never liked this place, do you know why? A few years ago, Lieutenant Qiao and I both almost died here...... Hell, thousands of savages attacked our positions for three whole days! In an hour we had all the shells, and we stabbed and stabbed with bayonets...... It was full of corpses and rotten flesh, blood mixed with mud and snow, and you couldn't sleep all night......"

Yu Shan walked in front of the rookie of the National People's Guard with his hands behind his back, showing off his experience with a pretending expression of "worrying about the new words".

I have long heard about the glorious and tragic battles of the "First Iroquois War" (Northern Campaign). More than 40 military tombstones in Porter City Cemetery are still the annual tribute of Porter citizens, and the city is named after a sergeant who died in battle. Now a veteran who had actually participated in that bloody battle stood in front of him, and all the National Guard rookies pricked up their ears.

“…… Everybody's chubby, I'm happy. It shows that the life here is peaceful and comfortable, and I hope that this life will not be disrupted, and everyone can happily stay until the end of the service period......"

Yu Shan's incomparable inaugural speech made Sergeant Slark, who had retired on the side, frown secretly. Because his previous management style in this squadron was brutal and rigid. However, the ordinary soldier laughed loudly, and it seemed that the sergeant's approachability and temperament were very much in line with their appetite.

"This time the new supplies have arrived, and they are so fresh. No more canned food, we'll have a bonfire dinner in the evening! Qiao Yan was not at the scene, Yu Shan was too "addicted", and the last sentence of welfare caused a lot of jubilation in the fortress.

"Sergeant, you are very good at arousing everyone's feelings." Walking up to Yu Shan and shaking hands and saying goodbye, Sergeant Slark's expression looked funny, "But I must say that these little bunnies are far from real soldiers. ”

"They weren't really military in the first place, and I didn't want to force them." Yu Shan responded to the views of his European colleagues with the shrugging gestures he had learned, and he seemed to be unconcerned.

"So...... I wish you and Lieutenant a qiē shun lì! Sergeant Slark had no choice but to say goodbye.

The fortress door was opened, and the usually stern Sergeant Slark walked away amid the sound of farewell, and Yu Shan breathed a sigh of relief and stretched his waist greatly.

As soon as he turned around, he suddenly saw a familiar face among the soldiers of the disbanded National Guard, and Yu Shan's face suddenly changed greatly. That person knew Yu Shan, and he was an old acquaintance who had known him for more than ten years, a former military household in Chedong Village, Lu Che, Zhangpu County, Fujian Province, and a playmate Da Niu when he was a child. The reason why Yu Shan felt "uncomfortable" was that before leaving Lu Chesuo and getting on the boat last year, Da Niu had punched himself hard behind his back.

"Hehe, Yu Shan...... I didn't expect it to be you and Qiao Yan here, I thought I recognized the wrong person, what a coincidence...... The people who came out of the village, just me and Old Man Zhang's family were placed here. I'm sorry about the last time......"

Since last year's farewell, the current Da Niu's personality seems to have changed greatly, looking at the fellow in front of him, Da Niu's eyes showed a strange sadness.

"Brother for so many years, why are you talking about this......" Unlike last year, when he proudly "showed off his wealth" at the entrance of the village, Yu Shan now seems to be not mentally prepared to meet this fellow villager again, and his tone of voice is also a little unnatural.

"Yu Shan, you're not lying, life here is really good, there is food and drink, and meat every day. ......"I don't know what I said, Da Niu, who has always been very optimistic in Chedong Village, didn't seem to want to talk to Yu Shanduo at this time, so he avoided it while talking."

The big cow walked away, and Yu Shan lowered his head lonely, but his heart was beating very hard.

……

The campfire dinner at the Orchard Fortress at night was very lively, except for those who stood guard, nearly 100 soldiers of the National Guard sat around several campfires in the camp, feasting, and some of them were still talking about the girl in the city and the like.

Unlike during the day, Qiao Yan held himself in the house, but at this time it was just the opposite. Replaced by Yu Shan was not at the scene. Lieutenant Qiao Yan, as the current first commander of the Orchard Fortress squadron, was whispering and laughing with a few Chinese soldiers at the dinner party.

"Qiao Yan, you and Yu Shan are a year older than me, I will also call you Brother Qiao......" At this time, Da Niu had already drunk too much wine, his eyes were red, and he was still holding the wine bowl in his hand.

"Big Niu, after a while, you will be able to adapt. The National Guard reserve has a short period of service. Don't be a soldier then. You are a good farmer, and you are not afraid of not having a good life here. Qiao Yan smiled reluctantly and clinked glasses with the other party.

"Well, without you and Yu Shan. Maybe I won't be able to live like this in my life! However, there is one thing I'm sorry for Brother Qiao and Cui Ya......" Da Niu drank the wine in the dry bowl in one gulp, sprayed the smell of wine, and stood up directly. It's as if something has been on my mind for a long time, and today I have to find a reason to vent.

"What's wrong with you? Is something wrong with the folks? Seeing the other party's appearance, Qiao Yan couldn't help but be stunned. So he quickly grabbed the other party's arm and secretly walked to the remote part of the camp.

……

The room was lit with an oil lamp, Yu Shan lay on the bed in a daze, slowly breaking a corn cob in his hand, eating one by one, and the scene of Da Niu punching himself last year seemed to appear in his mind.

"What's that...... If it weren't for me, you would have stayed in the village and died...... Is it all my fault?! Yu Shan suddenly felt irritable in his heart, and the corn cob in his hand was thrown out and smashed against the door.

The voice was dull, but it was not the sound of hitting the wooden door, Yu Shan turned his head curiously, and saw that under the light, Qiao Yan was looking at himself calmly, followed by a short man, needless to say that it was a big cow.

For the first time, Yu Shan felt that Qiao Yan's eyes were so strange and terrifying, and couldn't help but sit up from the bed, goosebumps all over his body, and lowered his head slightly.

"Why have you kept hiding it? Although Cai Dafu is not a good thing, he has been very good to Cuiya and the child over the years, and he also gave Cuiya and her father a pension for the elderly! Why do you have to bring her to me?! It was you who forced Cai Dafu to write a letter of resignation, and it was you who asked me to make Cuiya's family ruined! ”

After being silent for a few minutes, Qiao Yan suddenly roared in a low voice, took a few more steps, grabbed Yu Shan's collar, lifted it fiercely, and raised his fist while punching directly at Yu Shan's face.

Yu Shan's body was beaten to the corner of the wall, a trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he touched his cheeks and sat up again.

"If you hadn't broken them up, would Cuiya have died?!"

remembered Yu Shan's unkindness at that time, and was determined to take Cuiya away, and even he had the slightest idea of wanting to kill Cai Dafu, but in the end, Cuiya fought to the death. Qiao Yan grabbed Yu Shan's neckline again, and his usually quiet and kind face actually became extremely fierce.

"Yes, I did something wrong, and I should let the Cuiya family go! But I'm not here for you! Who is talking about Cuiya and Cuiya all day long! Who is depressed all day long, looking for death and life! Cai Dafu left his wife and children and ran away by himself, you also saw it, he is a dog who can't change his-eating person! ”

Yu Shan broke away from Qiao Yan's hand and suddenly shouted, a red mark clearly appeared on his pale face. grabbed the armed belt at the head of the bed, pulled out the revolver, stuffed it directly into Qiao Yan's hand, and then pushed it on his head.

"Okay, then kill me and give Cui Ya her life?!" Yu Shan's face twitched, and his eyes looked at Qiao Yan's face in a daze.

"Brother Qiao, you also knew back then that Cai Dafu usually bullied the people in the village too much, and everyone hated him...... I also have a ......," Da Niu walked to the middle of the room and knelt on the ground, "If you don't say this, Da Niu will not be able to feel at ease for the rest of his life." ”

There were footsteps in the corridor of the fortress dormitory, as if Yu Shan's shouting just now had alarmed others.

A minute later, Qiao Yan gently threw away the pistol and turned around and walked out the door without looking back, leaving Yu Shan and Da Niu in a daze in the room.

After Qiao Yan left the room, he didn't stop until he walked to the watchtower at the top of the fortress. Looking at the starry sky, I couldn't help crying.

……

Although it made a great contribution to the country's early development, the awkward geography of West Point Town led to the expansion of the town to reach its limits. Even if the living conditions of the new communities in the hilly areas to the west and southwest are greatly reduced in the future, the old town of West Point can theoretically accommodate up to 10,000 people, and the construction of municipal infrastructure such as transportation, water supply and sewage in the urban area is bound to pay a high price, which is obviously not in line with the will of the town government to find a breakthrough in the bottleneck of urban development.

The new area of West Point was chosen to the south of the old town, about two kilometers south of the hill slope on the west bank of the Song River, along the hill slope on the west bank of the Song River, in the future Highland Falls. On the left is a mountainous hill and a valley in which a stream flows east into the Song River. To the north of the creek is a flat woodland almost twice the size of Old West Point.

In the future, the new urban area of West Point Town will be the key development object of West Point Town. But now, there is only a cleared lumber yard and a few orchards, and a farm community of fewer than 100 households tucked around the wooded paths and exuding a small rural atmosphere.

It's almost 22 o'clock in the evening, and according to the usual schedule of West Point townspeople, the lights should be turned off early to rest, but in a small manor-style building in the new area of West Point, a large number of candles are still lit, as if the owner here is naturally energetic.

“…… Actually, you should be happy. All the trees on the earth are yours too! ”

"Oh no! I can't accept it! Mr. Deputy Mayor! Makarov, dressed in a training uniform, sat in the living room with a golden knife, blowing his beard and staring at the smiling Chinese deputy mayor opposite, his hands clenched into fists and constantly knocking on the table. What about 100 acres of land! But now you tell me that they have suddenly run away to the mountains to the west! I need a place that can be immediately an orchard, not a forest for hunting! ”

"But Mr. Makarov, even if you change to the southwest side of the creek. That's the forest too. The Chinese deputy mayor spread his hands, and he was a little helpless, "Hey." Nowadays, the land in West Point is expensive. The surrounding land price has been re-surveyed, and there is an announcement in the town square, otherwise it will not be possible to explain to the townspeople. ”

"But there's at least a nice little lake in the woods, and maybe the kids will be able to fish there in the future." Makarov finally understood the purpose of the other party's special arrival tonight, and spread out on his chair in a decadent manner, muttering, "You are always thinking about my money bag...... Well, I can add more to the purchase price. But if I knew that you had sold the land I had chosen to someone else, I would have broken you! ”

"Hehe, thank you Mr. Makarov for cooperating with us, please remember to go to the town government tomorrow to make up the land payment. There is a lot of interruption, farewell. The Chinese-de-mayor, who had achieved his goal, left satisfied, leaving Makarov in his chair indignant.

"Honey, you've woken up the kid!" When the living room was calm, the wife, who had been married for less than three months, walked into the living room and sat down gently beside her husband, "Actually, we don't need much land, and we have to spend a lot of money to open up wasteland. ”

"No, no, no, we're not short of money. I promise, it's perfect for you and the kids. Makarov immediately changed his expression to a heroic expression, and tapped a finger on the table, "Tomorrow we only need to make up another $500, and we will be the masters there!" ”

"My dear, I will make you the most delicious fruit wine." The Danish wife, who was greatly moved to see her husband attaching so much importance to the family, kissed Makarov's face on the spot.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Makarov, who was already on the verge of losing his mind, remembered something more important.

"Report to the sergeant major, the first squadron has been assembled, and the night training can begin!"

A sergeant of the National Guard in West Point appeared at the door, his body straight, but from the unwilling eyes, it was obvious that he was still a little resistant to this supreme commander who had just arrived in West Point and tried to "put the local National Guard in order" to the death.

"I'm sorry, my ma'am. Tonight is important to these little bunnies, so go to sleep! Makarov grabbed his canvas military cap, pulled the gun belt and whip from the coat rack, and strode out of the room.

A squadron of National Guard soldiers lined up on the edge of the woodland outside the community, all heavily armed, but like the sergeants before them, everyone was not very welcoming. Except for the training of new recruits who entered the military at the beginning, there is basically no high-intensity military training in peacetime.

"Damn it...... Now a great war is needed, otherwise I will go bankrupt......" It seems that there are still some psychological obstacles to the "extortion" of the former deputy mayor, and Makarov at this time is actually a little absent-minded.

"Sir? The soldiers are waiting for your order. The sergeant saw that his boss was stunned, and quickly reminded him softly.

"Thank God, you're looking more and more like real soldiers, but that's not enough! Don't expect to sleep on time every day to get through the National Guard reserve period, that's a shameless crime! Starting today, each squadron will take turns for night field training. Now obey my orders, and march to the mountains to the west! ”

Makarov came back to his senses, and the whip in his hand made a scalp-tingling cracking sound.

Hundreds of soldiers of the National Guard were driven into the jungle by Makarov and began their journey towards "a real soldier". (To be continued......)

PS: Today is the first anniversary of the publication of "New World 1620", and the two are celebrated. (Deposit should be reduced T.T.)