Sunday, April 26, 1626.

Although today is a weekend holiday, Jersey Town is bustling with activity because it coincides with the large-scale ripening of fruits and vegetables in the first season after the start of spring. Compared to Virginia and Quebec, which were another devastating drought year, this year's spring rain in China and the United States is relatively good, and the irrigation canals and artificial water storage projects in Jersey Town's farm area were put into operation at the beginning of the year, so the fruit and vegetable harvest is still not lower than usual.

In the vegetable gardens and orchards contracted by the townspeople, rows of peppers, tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, peas, celery, and lettuce are crisp and tender, and they are full of delicate eyes. The employment tide of Indian employees ushered in a small peak after spring ploughing. Large and small vegetable fields and shacks are crowded, boxes of fresh and tender vegetables are sent to the designated trading and acquisition points in the town like an assembly line, and groups of small wholesalers from all over the town are busy hitting the back of their heels, for fear of missing the trading period, and the carriage responsible for receiving them is even more overwhelming.

In addition to the bulk orders that go directly to the workshop of the Merlin Canned Food Company, most of the fruits and vegetables exported will be sent directly to the major stores in the capital city of Mancheng to satisfy the more than 26,000 citizens of the capital who have been "hungry" for a winter, and a small number will be shipped to Porter, Elm Town or Qingcheng City, where the local supply is still temporarily insufficient. At the wharf, more than a dozen inland river transport ships take turns to come and go.

However, the biggest fruit and vegetable harvest in Jersey Town this spring is potatoes. Watching the truckloads of yellow and round potatoes being transported to the warehouse, the mayor of the town, Wang De, who had been busy all day, was tired and happy. Looking left and right, he kept beckoning the town officials to check around to prevent any accidents.

The state-owned Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery and Animal Husbandry Group is located on a 1,800-acre potato farm outside Jersey Town. Although potato cultivation in the 17th century was just beginning, a total of about 2,500 tons of potatoes were harvested, plus the number of dependent Indian tribes to the west came to trade each year. The town of Jersey is now the largest potato producer in the country. There is even a group of old farmers of European or Chinese descent who are thinking about how to make the yield of this "ground fruit" higher.

Although this wave of large-scale potato listing will have a big impact on domestic food prices. But Congress and the government are clearly happy to see this market downturn, and the pressure on demand for imported food will gradually decrease, which is a good thing for the country. In addition, grain exports to Quebec, France, and the colonies of Virginia, England, began this year. It will also be based on potatoes, which will save a large number of grains and exchange for precious raw materials such as blubber, whalebone, and whaleskin. Representatives of the Qingcheng city government negotiated with the two places and finally concluded that the import price of various types of whale products was more than 50% cheaper than that in Europe. Let the domestic related enterprises squint.

In order to ensure this potato harvest, the state-owned agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry group offered a very considerable remuneration for labor, whether it is the mayor Wang De, or ordinary townspeople, at this time they are all smiling, especially the first batch of hundreds of Daming farmers who have just arrived in North America for only a month this year, but also to the various "rare and exotic fruits" that have never been seen in front of them show an unbelievable expression.

While the town of Jersey was busy singing and laughing, a raft carrying horses, a Chinese businessman and a few Delawares came ashore from the Jersey River (Hackensack River) on the west side of the Jersey Peninsula. The Chinese businessman's face was covered in blood and his face was exhausted. I couldn't find a few clean places on my clothes. As if he did not dare to rest at all, the Chinese merchant mounted his horse and ran straight towards the farm looming to the east.

……

Few years. Most of the Algonquin-speaking Indian tribes on both sides of the Song River are attached to the United States, and the Delaware are the predominant, but this does not mean that there is no threat west of the Song River. Beginning in the year before, the Susquehana people in what is now northern Delaware began to move north, and although not a member of the Iroquois League of North America, this Iroquois-speaking Indian tribe has been dominant in eastern North America for the past few hundred years, often attacking the mild-mannered Drava and other tribes.

Today, a migratory group of the Susquehana has emerged more than 20 kilometres west of the Jersey River (Hackensack River) in what is now the city of Irvington and attacked a small local village of the Delaware. This small village, which is far away from China and the United States, and has gradually adapted to agricultural and settled life, was occupied. Most of the men in the poor small village of Delaware were working in the nearby fields, and only a few of them ran out when they saw that something was wrong.

A Chinese national of a small private trading company who was engaged in the Indian trade in this small village saw with his own eyes hundreds of Susquehanas shouting and screaming into the village. According to the safety instructions that citizens must carry guns when they go out, this Chinese businessman accompanied by a few Indian hired men, and under the protection of a few Delaware warriors, he relied on a revolver to kill a bloody road, and several Indian hired men died on the way, so he could escape back to Jersey Peninsula.

A bloody Chinese businessman walked directly through the town, ran into the Jersey Town garrison camp, and cried with snot and tears to Lieutenant Tang Wei of the cavalry company, the commander-in-chief of the local garrison. It seems that all the goods of this unfortunate merchant have been lost in this cannibalistic battle of North American Indians.

If it was an ordinary dispute between Indian tribes, as long as it was a dependency relationship, Tang Wei had been dispatched to mediate many times, but this time it was not as simple as a dispute, it was a strange Indian tribe who directly took his little brother under the knife! Although "Huayin goodwill" is the main tone at present, and the Huamei government naturally frequently assists the Delaware and other dependent villages in ordinary times, but this time Tang Wei did not dare to make decisions on his own, and directly sent the news to the army headquarters.

The Army Command was also distressed when it got the news, and the two infantry battalions of the current main mobile force of the army and the first battalion of the Foreign Legion were all rounding up the Caribbean natives on Guadeloupe, and the remaining two and a half battalion troops on the mainland. One of the full battalions stationed in Porter, a strategic northern location, to defend against the Iroquois Confederacy, is immobile, and the remaining companies are scattered in the capital, West Point, and the Azorean Concession. Could it be that if something happens to the Delawares on the entire east coast of North America in the future, the Chinese and American armies will rush over to it?

Chen Liwen politely signed his name on the telegram, and then kicked the ball directly to the Ministry of Defense without explanation. Zheng Quan is even more absolute. I don't have the right to decide this. It needs to be seen by the prime minister.

……

Noon on the same day. The duty officer in the Prime Minister's Office dragged various ministers out of their homes, including of course the army commander Major General Tan Lai Man, who was trying to be an ostrich.

"Lao Zheng, Xiao Chen, and the Susquehana people seem to be very belligerent. They didn't just attack the Dravas, they are so close to us now that the potential threat to us should not be underestimated! In order to consolidate the dependence of the Drava on us, this dispatch is necessary. You have to give me an affirmative reply, whether you have the ability or not! Premier Qi Jianjun directly asked the Ministry of National Defense and the army commander whether there is currently an emergency transfer of army forces on the mainland.

"Excluding the Foreign Legion, the army currently has a total of more than 1,700 troops, and in the spring it was reorganized into 16 companies and a number of garrisons. Of these, 7 companies are in Guadeloupe, 3 are in Porter City, 2 companies in the capital, 1 company in West Point, 1 company in the Azores, and 1 cavalry company in Jersey Town. There was also 1 company scattered in Yushu Town and Qingcheng City as garrisons, without a single mobile force. Now even the rotation of the garrison has been temporarily suspended. Chen Liwen had a bitter face and sold his poor with his hands.

"Can't you just draw points from all over the place?" Zheng Quan rubbed his forehead, which was also a little nerve-wracking.

"The key is to see how much is needed, and the distance should also be considered." Chen Liwen thought about it for a while and proposed a compromise plan, "Don't think about the garrison in Porter City, it's too far." The cavalry company stationed in Jersey Town could be fully dispatched, and an additional platoon could be drawn from the garrisons in West Point and Long Island New Area. No more, even with the addition of the National Guard, the military defense force in the capital is now the smallest. ”

"That's about two companies of troops, and it should be enough to organize some men from the National Guard in Jersey Town and the capital!" Qi Jianjun's pencil slammed on his notebook, revealing a resolute expression, "I heard from the people who fled back that there are probably only a few hundred people in Susquehana. They have captured so many old and weak women and children, and now that the potatoes are ripe and there is a lot of grain in the fields, it is unlikely that they will give up the transfer immediately, and they may stay there for several days. ”

"But it's not possible to start right away. Even if we order the movement of troops now, it will be tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, and we are struggling to cope. Chen Liwen frowned, very depressed at Qi Jianjun's instruction to stand and speak without backache.

"Prime Minister, Brother Chen, mobilize them now, it's too late!" Li Xiang, the Minister of Immigration on the side, flipped through his exclusive notepad and looked at the situation of the village recorded on it, and his face was also solemn, "Although this village is more than 20 kilometers away from Jersey Town in a straight line, and there is a dense water network along the way, it is only a few kilometers away from the Pasayk River, and you can land from there by boat." ”

"And this village has a very good relationship with us, not only has nearly 1,000 acres of arable land, but also a small pig farm that we have guided the construction, from which we can trade at least 100 tons of potatoes, 100 pigs, and 500 pieces of various furs every year."

The ministers all looked at each other, surprised by Li Xiang's belligerent attitude for the first time, and even more disapproving of the big trade benefits of these sesame mung beans. In their opinion, maybe Li Xiang was affected by Zhou Kemin's sacrifice, and he also had a feeling that needed to be vented.

"Li Xiang's opinion is very good...... You may think that a small Drawa village dozens of kilometers away is not a big deal, and the trade of one or two hundred tons of grain is insignificant, but it is dispensable. There is only that much in one village, but there are more than a dozen Indian dependent villages around us, large and small, and the total amount is very large. The point is, the Indian trade is now all about the small merchants you look down on, and do we let our merchants know that this country has no regard for their interests? Don't forget, we now sell more than 400,000 US dollars of fur products to Europe every year, which can help many people solve their livelihood problems! Moreover, we must not make them feel that they do not feel safe attached to us, and we will inevitably expand westward in the future, and now we must make extensive use of the many conveniences brought to us by our dependents! ”

Qi Jianjun's reasons are also real, especially the elevation of the issue to the level of "national feelings and self-interests", and it has found an unshirkable reason for this military dispatch.

Sunday's Interim Council of Ministers was so efficient that even the Army Commander and the Minister of Defense discussed the battle plan on the spot. As soon as the meeting ended, several orders were sent to the garrison headquarters in West Point and Long Island New Area via Guò radio.

……

In West Point, a number of officers and soldiers who were on weekend vacation were urgently assembled at the military base. The herald ran into the block. Sneaked out of the bar with all the drunken soldiers. Then go to full combat readiness. and organized a platoon of officers and men to go to the docks of West Point to stand by, ready to board the ship to Jersey Town and join up with the other troops.

At the same time, the Navy's offshore and inland river patrol ship USS Snail was heading for West Point at full speed, preparing to transport West Point troops to the south overnight. They will bypass the Jersey Peninsula. It entered from the later Pasayic River and landed directly in the later Newark region, where the banks of the river were only 5 kilometers from the fallen small village of the Drava people.

In the evening, the USS Snail approached the docks in West Point. Under the shouting of the whistle. The infantry, having completed their preparations for departure, began to line up at the pier. After the Northern Campaign, it had not been three years since I had seen such a military movement without warning and a murderous atmosphere, which secretly surprised the busy residents of the dock area of West Point Town.

As for the country's military annexation of Butterfly Island, many residents of Old West Point raised their hands in favor. Scott and a group of West Point soldiers shined at last year's promotion ceremony, which made the townspeople reminisce for half a year. Generous military treatment, high social status, and the eerie "Made in West Point Heroes" brand promotion have always seduced the boys of West Point. But they also have no concept of that distant island, they are simply judging with a pro-army feeling, and they don't care about how attractive the prospect of Butterfly Island promoted by the state is.

Mayor William and Old Judge Robert were also alarmed, and in their eyes this should be one of the few military operations that they were not notified of. They didn't have time to organize the townspeople to do some farewell ceremony.

Pestle with a cane, in the company of old man Robert. One-legged William hurried to the docks, and found that the army troops mobilized this time were very small, only more than 30, and they had to be sent to the south overnight, so it seemed that it was not a trivial matter to draw troops from West Point so urgently.

"Jonah! Who's looking for us? You little bunny, you spend all day loitering around town, and today I finally saw you doing something serious! Swear to God that you will win the battle! ”

Looking at the sergeant major, who was comforting a crying Indian woman in his arms in the ranks of soldiers, William habitually called out the name of the Scottish young man in the manner of an elder.

"Ah, dear mayor, maybe you can kill a few Saskaehanas with your cane!" Jonah, who has been a sergeant major for a few years after enlisting in the army, finally calmed down Delaware's wife, and then turned to Mayor William with a hippie smile, "We'll set off later, and we're going to beat them up!" ”

"The Susquehana?" Old Judge Robert next to Mayor William was stunned for a moment, he didn't know anything about this military-defined New Indian tribe, but he immediately smiled, "If it's the first time I meet you, then they will be very unlucky." ”

"Well, no matter what it is, you have to protect yourself anyway." Watching dozens of young soldiers happily board the Navy patrol ship, Mayor William spoke quietly.

In last year's Battle of Butterfly Island East Island, more than 20 young men from West Point Town were killed, and nearly 10 were severely disabled and retired. This year's Battle of the West Island is still underway, and it is unknown how many more West Point families will receive death notices. In the five years since the town was founded, there are not many veterans in West Point, especially young people like Jonah who came to West Point when the town was founded.

On the balconies behind the windows of the homes near the dock, a number of women, some of them holding babies in their arms, began waving to the soldiers in the procession or touching handkerchiefs to quietly wipe away tears.

A short time later, a platoon of Army officers and men began to board the Navy patrol ship Snail, which was to be urgently transported to Jersey Town for assembly at a rate of more than 12 knots per hour, and it was late at night.

In the garrison of the cavalry company in Jersey Town, the cavalry trumpets sounded the melodious sound of the battle readiness assembly, and a group of officers and men rushed out of the barracks to the stables, put their beloved war horses on their harnesses, and then led the horses one by one to line up on the camp playground.

According to the battle plan, Tang Wei will first send a cavalry platoon to serve as an outpost reconnaissance, and after the infantry from various places arrives, the main force of the remaining cavalry company will also set off by boat to fight with the infantry units in the Newark area.

……

After that, Tang Wei proudly showed off the classic cavalry assault battle for almost a year. It happened in the early hours of April 28.

After most of the day of incubation. More than 150 Chinese cavalrymen, who had reached the size of a reinforced company, launched an attack at 1 a.m. on the 28th. An improvised infantry company made an early detour back to the south of the village and set up a pocket formation. Under the command of Tang Wei, the cavalry company passed through the small village forcibly occupied by the Sasquehana in two directions.

The cavalry units were slightly different from the standard light infantry, not only did they carry rifles on their backs, but each of them carried a revolver shotgun and a cavalry knife on their horses. Because fighting on a horse has almost no chance of reloading.

The monsters of the "four-legged man" are galloping and whistling, constantly making a sound and spewing flames in the night, and the "stones" that can explode with loud noises and flames, leaving every Sasquehana who comes close to it bleeding from his whole body. The Susquehana people who had never had any contact with the American military in China. Frightened by a sudden night attack, the collapse occurred two minutes after the cavalry assault.

Hundreds of Sasquehanas could hardly do anything in the darkness of the night, many of them were knocked over by rows of shrapnel as soon as they burst out of their shacks, and many more ran around the village like headless flies, or hid themselves in the depths of their shacks, not coming out.

Hundreds of Susquehanas who had fled the village fled directly to the way they had come, only to run into a barrier formed by Chinese Army infantry and National Guard soldiers, killing a third on the spot, and the rest lay on the ground in tears. Overnight. In addition to rescuing hundreds of old and infirm women and children of the Delaware, more than 200 young people of Susquehana were captured.

After the complete defeat of the Posas Quehana who had occupied the village of the Dravaare. The cavalry company continued its pursuit south after dawn and found the Susquehana migrating nest nearly 10 kilometers away in the forest and by a small river. It seems that these Susquehana people have planned to continue to flee south, and many women and children are packing up their belongings, and the whole settlement is in chaos.

Although the terrain was no longer suitable for cavalry assault, Tang Wei didn't even want to wait for the infantry this time, and directly let the troops dismount and enter the battle. The cavalrymen, armed with rifles or revolvers, were demoralized by the victory in the early morning, and it didn't matter if they didn't have horses, they directly launched a line charge with their two legs.

The Susquehana people who have escaped back to their place of residence in the early hours of the morning have sent back a terrifying message that has caused their families to collapse even faster. The few Susquehana warriors who tried to resist were directly shattered by the revolver shotguns, and some fled into the forest, while more than half of them gave up resistance and fell to the ground shivering.

On April 30, hundreds of fleeing Susquehannes were captured from the nearby forest, and two companies of Chinese troops ended the clearance of the Irvington area, rescuing not only the fallen small village of the Delaware, but also more than 500 Susquehanna prisoners of war.

Most of the houses and shacks in the small village of Delaware were damaged, the only "high-tech industry" small pig farm was destroyed, and more than half of the farmland was destroyed by the Susquehana. Despite the terrible loss of their homeland, the old witch and the chief of the small village of Delaware held a celebration for the cavalry company in what they thought was the most solemn way possible. It is said that a Delaware girl almost used the traditional "Delaware matrilineal clan" privilege to "do" Tang Wei, if it weren't for Tang Wei, who is a "married man", who reacted quickly, got on the horse and ran away, otherwise he would have been forced to ride something else that night......

……

The three-day "Susquehana War" was won by Lieutenant Tang Wei of the cavalry company, and the Chinese Army completely annihilated the Susquehana who had migrated to the vicinity of their sphere of influence at a small cost of only one killed and three slightly wounded, and provided hundreds of prisoners of war for the country's mines.

The only casualties occurred during the cavalry night attack, when a cavalry sergeant fell from a spear attack from the Sasquehana on his horse, and his allies avoided him, and the young cavalry who landed on the ground was crushed in the chest by the hooves of his horses.

Sadly, this young cavalry sergeant is the youngest and only son of Robert Jr., one of the first citizens of West Point and the current magistrate of West Point, leaving behind a pair of orphans and widows. (To be continued.) )

PS: Thursday plus update. Watching the rapid reduction of the manuscripts, my heart was bleeding......