Chapter 874: Road Construction (2)

The monthly expenses of the veterans of the road escort team are not cheap, to put it bluntly, there is too little people in this part of North America, and land is everywhere, it depends on how much you can plant and keep the harvest. After the formation of the North American Railroad, the army was ordered to cooperate, but it was certainly not enough. This place is a foreign land to the Ming people. In order to ensure the smooth construction of the road, the road protection team came into being. North American soldiers served for five years, most of them were willing to stay, and a few were used to being soldiers, and they didn't adapt to it alone, so they joined the road guard team at a high price. These people are veterans of war, and they know what to do at the first order.

Several squadron leaders met with Qi Heng, one, two, three, four, five, and they knew more than Qi Heng what they said. The next fighter will be released, and the troops are also ready to be in place. Mortars are a bit against the sky in this era, after solving the fuse and primer technology, with the current smelting technology of the Ming Dynasty, seamless steel pipes can definitely be made, but the output is a little lower. Fortunately, in a certain warehouse, 60 mm caliber steel pipes are piled up, and they can be pulled out directly and used.

Qi Heng was still very fortunate that no cannons had been found on the hills on both sides so far. Even backward artillery is the only weapon that can pose a major threat to the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Especially as an attacking side, as for the power of the arquebus, it is negligible.

Eight mortars opened fire, and a rain of bullets sent smoke up the hill on the left, and in the process of exploding, people could be seen getting up and running, and then they were killed by their accomplices. Qi Heng's telescope can see clearly, this thing is not indigenous? Could it be that the Europeans intervened? It is not difficult to think of this reason, the original natives in this area are still very cooperative, and as long as they trade normally, they will not make trouble. That is, in the past two months, the number of large and small destruction incidents has gradually increased, and the natives will not also talk about feng shui, right?

The smoke has not dissipated. The escort with rifles began to move forward, not fast or densely formed, with two men separated from each other by at least two meters. Everyone hooked their waists and trotted forward slowly, which was not the kind of posture of rushing forward with all their might. The blockers on the hill unexpectedly remained calm. Looking at the approaching road guard, the fire was not fired for a long time. This is simply unthinkable for the natives. After all, it was about eighty meters, and if it was an indigenous, it would have been fired.

There was a temporary low wall on the hillside, and it seemed that this was the enemy's position. It is not clear what the effect of the shelling will be, although the trench is not new, but for the Europeans armed with winning guns, the trench is not practical. Qi Heng's only concern was the grenadiers, this thing was hidden, even if it was the original version. If it blows up, it can hurt people.

The advance of the escort team was very orderly, there were people covering, some people were trotting forward quickly, there were no dense shooting targets on the hill to hit, and it was difficult to hit them. "Bang bang bang!" A cloud of white smoke suddenly rose from the hillside, and the platoon guns finally rang out, and a line of people stood behind the low wall, which immediately became the target of the covering group. Escorts of two squadrons. There were probably three or four people who were shot in a critical position, but the opponents suffered more casualties. At least thirty or forty people were hit.

The enemy's fire suddenly stagnated, and the escort team who was lying down to shoot suddenly got up, bent down and continued to rush forward for a while, and immediately lay down when the gun was lined up again, and this time as for two or three people were wounded, the gunfire of the covering group was like raindrops. The formation of guns behind the low wall was torn apart, and it was difficult to pose a threat.

At this time, the grenade flew out, and the landing point was in front of and behind the low wall, dozens of explosion points in a row, and the screams continued. The follow-up road escort team has begun to press in full force. The gap in firepower was too big, and I thought it would be a difficult battle, but in front of the road escort team composed of this group of veterans, it was unexpectedly easy.

More than 100 enemies scattered and fled, and they did not have the courage to fight to the death, in fact, it was not that they did not have courage, but they were completely defeated. The European countries of this era have never fought such a war at all. The fleeing enemy ran to the woods a hundred meters away, where their horses were hidden. At this time, Qi Heng moved and chased after him with a company of cavalry. In North America, there is no real infantry anymore, and everyone is required to be able to ride a horse, to be able to play a saber and shoot on horseback.

Because the collapse of the enemy had long been foreseen, Qi Heng's actions were timely. After rushing up the hillside, the fleeing enemy was still more than ten meters away from the woods. The cavalry, which had already begun to pick up, caught up, each with a revolver and a saber in the other, and a shotgun or rifle behind their backs. The pursuit was fruitful, and in the end only a dozen or so enemies fled, and the others were either killed and wounded, or knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender. At this time, looking at the hillside on the other side, there was no longer a blocker, and I consciously ran away.

"Hurry up and hand over the prisoners to the militia." Chen Pu was not idle, and arranged for the Ming soldiers to leave a squadron responsible for holding prisoners and cleaning up the wounded. In this part of North America, the population resources are too precious, and the big captives are not willing to be killed, so they have to stay and work until they die. How can a healthy white captive be sold for a hundred yuan when he is sent to the mine?

When the troops were packed, the general results of the battle were counted, and the results of the interrogation were also out, about 500 people set up an ambush here, and they actually divided their troops and occupied the hillsides on both sides. About fifty or so of the enemy were killed directly, and many were wounded, one hundred and thirty-three, and one hundred and seven prisoners were captured. On the other side of the hill, about 200 people ran away.

The captives confessed that they were all from the east coast of the Americas, and last year the colonists of North American countries held a joint conference, and unanimously agreed that the colonization of the Ming Empire in North America posed a huge threat to the interests of various countries. As a result, the governors of various countries discussed and came up with a result, forming an expeditionary force, with the aim of curbing the development of the Ming Empire in North America.

How big is this expeditionary force? Three thousand! This number was made up by the governors of the colonies, and the equipment was not bad. There were even troops with a thousand flintlock muskets, and as for how this ammunition came from, the prisoners did not know. The only thing known was that the expeditionary force's plan was to collude with the local natives to obstruct the construction of the Ming Empire's railway. In the form of sneak attacks, attack the various settlements of the Ming Empire in North America.

This news was quite shocking, and Qi Heng and Chen Pu both felt that they had to pay attention to it. If it is purely indigenous, the threat is not very great. But with the addition of the Europeans is different, their backwardness is not too large, and if it is a head-on battle, it will not pose a threat at all. But sneak attacks are terrible for some settlements with only one or two hundred people. And what about the crops that can hold the settlements and the fields? What about roads? The other party is here to destroy, and it is always more efficient than to build.

The vast North America, from Salt Lake Town to Jinshan, is 1,500 kilometers. And the roads are mainly dirt roads, so it's hard to destroy them all, but it's not difficult to destroy a section, right? It's not hard to blow up a bridge for you, right? North America is so big, and it is very difficult to find such a deliberate sneak attacker. Not to mention, there are indigenous people involved.

For Chen Pu, it is really worse, building a road was a difficult thing, but now there is such a thing. The original plan of building the two ends together, going hand in hand, and building easy sections of the road first, this plan must be changed, at least to kill these Western colonists first, otherwise don't think about building roads with peace of mind.

This is an extremely far-reaching move, regardless of the reasons behind it, for Daming's growth strategy in North America. have had an extremely negative impact. How to deal with this situation, it is not Chen Pu's turn to worry about. But look at this from the point of view of the interests of the railway company. You have to make a decision that you think is the right one.

The reinforcements continued their march, and by the time they reached Fifty Lipu, the besieging enemy had withdrawn from the battle. This small village, with only five or six hundred people, held out during the siege. For this unexpected situation, Chen Pu and Qi Heng chose to be cautious and did not enter the village as soon as possible. Instead, a reconnaissance force was sent to check the situation.

The news from the village was also strange, except for some houses on the periphery that had been burned down, the besieging enemy did not launch a fierce attack. It can even be said that they are surrounded but not fighting, and this situation makes the two fall into confusion. Could it be that the enemy who is blocking and the enemy who is besieging are not in the same group? It's not a gang. The answer was not long in coming. Before nightfall, reinforcements entered the village, and the scouts who had been sent out returned in the middle of the night and captured two alive. The results of the interrogation revealed that the village was besieged by a group of natives and held back by Europeans. It was said in advance that after the Europeans had defeated the reinforcements, the natives attacked the village together. The natives just made an appearance, and when they found the Europeans running away, they took the initiative to retreat.

Early the next morning, the road convoy set out, and after repairing the damaged telegraph, they made contact with Jinshan, and the garrison that received the news also sent a company of troops to search around as if they were pulling a net. The natives retreated very resolutely, and they ran away without a shadow in one night, and within a radius of thirty miles, not a single ghost shadow was seen.

As the director of the North American Railway, Chen Pu could not sit idly by and watch the current situation deteriorate, so he immediately took dozens of people to stay overnight and rushed back to Jinshan. By the time we arrived in Sacramento, the railway had already been built. As for why this place is called this name, everyone can't tell, anyway, it's the name on the map provided by the superiors. (The result of Chen's laziness.) ）

In this place, after Chen Pu turned over the top management of the railway company, the result of urgent negotiations was that the governor's palace had to be persuaded to wage a large-scale war. Clean up the natives within 50 kilometers on both sides of the railway, cooperate with those who are willing to cooperate, and resolutely eliminate those who are not willing to cooperate. Of course, the government will pay for this war. The idea that North American Railroad is at most a small part of the equation may seem ridiculous, but it is not. The capitalists of the Ming Empire are now becoming more and more arrogant. If Dai Zhiyuan does not cooperate and the National Assembly initiates a no-confidence impeachment pass, he will have to be removed from the cabinet.

How fat the position of Governor of Jinshan is, how many eyes are staring, and how many people wish for him to step down, it is not clear at all. In a word, the capitalists cannot be offended, especially these big capitalists. Whoever is going to tell Dai Zhiyuan about this, there is no doubt that it can only be Chen Pu, at this time the identity must be revealed, we didn't tell you that we were low-key before, but now it is about millions of yuan of investment, and it is also an investment for the benefit of North America, it is not surprising at all that unscrupulous means.

The interests are too great, and the will of the individual simply does not play much of a role. After the agreement, Chen Pu set off overnight by car, bypassing Kinmen Bay, and it was already noon the next day when the train arrived at Jinshan. Chen Pu, who rested on the train for the night, was in good spirits, deliberately shaved his beard, and after examining his appearance in the mirror, he changed into a clean Tang suit with a black eagle pattern on the cuffs. It was the eighteenth birthday, and the old man sent someone to bring a set of fuchsia clothes.

After the inspection, Chen Pu stepped off the train, and the carriage drove directly into the temporary station to wait for him. As a result, this seemingly ordinary man took off his hat and greeted him.

"Japanese?" Chen Pu asked, and the man raised his head slightly and said: "I am now a Da Ming person, you can call the villain a Shi, a member of the special resource investigation team under the railway company." Chen Pu smiled and immediately got into the carriage, not wanting to say more to him. These people don't have a good thing, regardless of their origins, Chen Pu has heard a little. It's supposed to be part of a special department, and it's all a bunch of guys doing dirty work. It is related to a secret organization that is said to be very old in Dongying, led by two women, who have been by the old man's side for a long time, and it is not clear whether they have left a few dwarf uncles for themselves.

This kind of thing, Chen Pu has always been as far away as he is, for fear that he will not be able to get rid of it. Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived in Jinshan, I encountered people from this organization. Closing his eyes, Chen Pu said to the front: "Governor's Palace." ”

The Governor's Palace is no longer the dilapidated wooden two-story building it used to be, but now a large area surrounded by a tall wall. How come there is an area of five or six hundred acres? The roads in the urban area have all been hardened, and you can feel the closest taste to the Ming Dynasty in this city. Although the buildings on both sides of the road are still mainly made of wood, one or two reinforced concrete houses can always be seen every now and then.

Behind the wall is a tall building, Chen Pu has been here once, a five-story building, the only one in North America. Such a building, even in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, is not rare. It can be seen how rich the North American Governor's Palace is, otherwise how could there be so many steel bars to build such a large building, not to mention the high construction cost here. (To be continued......)