Captain William Richardson had a very good impression of this Chinese young man, young and decisive, with particularly good key skills, and he also knew how to build his own power, which is quite commendable.

The gunslinger in the wilderness are like weeds, growing wildly unnoticed, perhaps for a brief moment of glory, but soon withering in the cold wind before the snow sets.

Richard has the potential to be a different kind of person, and if he is cautious enough to escape the fate of dying in the wilderness or in the back alleys of a tavern, he can thrive and have a bright future.

It's worth taking a gamble on this possibility.

He really needed Richard's new force to break John Sutter's commercial monopoly on the new town, and despite the appearance of Parkview Green, there were more than 2,300 people in total, less than a tenth of the total population of the new town.

This makes Captain William Richardson have a limited number of people at his disposal, and if he finds other captains to join forces and pour out, it will probably be less than 300 people.

Such strength is not enough to defeat John Sutter.

The captains of Parkview Green controlled the commercial routes of San Francisco, but John Sutter was not a vegetarian either, with his own sailing fleet, and the two sides each took a step back after years of competition.

The captains no longer attacked John Sutter's armed merchant ships, and in return, John Sutter acquiesced to the agents of the new borough and could sell the captains' cargo, provided they did not cross the line.

That is, selling outside the John Sutter territory, the two sides reached a tacit balance and a temporary truce.

In addition to John Sutter, there are three other forces in the New Town, through whom the captains of Yerba Buena sell their goods, but they have to endure the price reduction of each other, resulting in very unsatisfactory profits.

Over the years, I have been holding a vicious breath in my heart.

Now that the two sides have negotiated, things will go surprisingly smoothly in the next few hours.

Richard examined muskets one by one, including 41 9-year-old smoothbore flintlock rifles, which had survived 37 years of vicissitudes but were still in good condition and looked as if they would last for another half century.

The preferential conditions are like the Colt revolver, and 100 rounds of tissue paper are free of charge.

The so-called thin oil-paper fixed-load bullets are bullets that use thinner and weaker oil-paper to wrap black powder and warheads.

When using, there is no need to tear the thick oily paper package with teeth, pour out the black powder, and then put it into the warhead to compact, eliminating these steps.

Thin oil paper fixed bullets can be directly stuffed into the chamber, under the action of pressure, the fragile oil paper package shatters to reveal black powder, only need to be compacted together with the warhead, it is very convenient to use.

Watching 41 rifles loaded onto the wagon, as well as 27 Colt revolvers, as well as items such as gunner's belts and bullets, the two sides successfully completed the deal, and Richard was in a good mood.

He had just spoken to the French veteran that Mr. Russell was talking about, a former lieutenant veteran of the French Cuirassier Regiment named Mike Rabiot, who was an ordinary resident of Yerba Buena who had opened a bakery in town that sold baguettes.

Although he is 55 years old, Mike Rabiot is still physically fit and talkative, and he doesn't mind making some extra money in addition to his main business of baking bread.

The town's Rabiot bakery is run by his three sons and his wife, and even the hired labor is saved, so why not have the opportunity to earn another decent income?

In today's world

The French Army, which once followed Emperor Napoleon across Europe, is deservedly the strongest army.

The cuirassier regiment was the best cavalry in the French Army, and was once the best cavalry in the world, making great achievements for the establishment of the French Empire.

Time flies

The once glorious Second French Empire has come to an end, but these veterans of the war are still old and strong.

The Prussian army, represented by the Junker military aristocracy, had enough of the suffering of the French in many years of warfare.

Decker, a Prussian officer, once said with trepidation: "If the trajectory of the bullet is arcing, the French army may rely on ordinary charges to fight 1,000 paces (732 meters) away." The French are experts in this area, they can wound our officers and soldiers, but we don't know where the bullets come from. ”

In general

The smoothbore rifle in the flat-fire condition can achieve effective strikes against enemy targets at a distance of 200~300 meters.

The Handbook of the Infantry, published in 1807, states:

"The rifle (effective) flat fire range can be estimated at 260 meters, beyond which the shot is not assured.

And at half the distance, the shooting effect is especially good.

At a distance of 100 meters, the infantry should aim at the target's knees.

200 meters away from the target, the shot is aimed at the waist. 300 meters away at the target, shoot at the enemy's head.

400 meters away from the target, aim at 32.5 centimeters (about a head) above the enemy......"

In his conversation with Richard, Mike Rabiot made no secret of these hard goods, and he had a few treasures about the French army's strict military regulations.

When the two talked, Mike Rabiot was talking about it most of the time, and it was clear that the old guy was interested in the position of military instructor, and more interested in the high salary of $85 a month.

“…… Well, I really appreciate your wealth of expertise, and that's exactly what we need, welcome to Instructor Mike Rabiot, and welcome to the Datang Club family. ”

"I am honored for that, Mr. President."

"You can call me Richard."

"You can also call me Mike."

"So...... Happy working together! Instructor Mike. Richard reached out and shook his calloused hand.

Not to mention, Mike Rabiot's hands were as strong as iron tongs, and he was more of a blacksmith than a cuirassier regimental officer with a sword.

Richard asked curiously, but he didn't expect it to be.

Born into a family of blacksmiths in Compiègne, Mike Rabiot followed his blacksmith father as a child until he was admitted to a priest's school as a teenager, and since then he has embarked on the path of a professional officer.

After immigrating to North America, Mike Rabiot returned to his old job. Among other things, the toaster oven at Rabiot's bakery is a proud work he built with his own hands.

"Dear Mr. Richard, your goods are all loaded, Russell's grocery store is responsible for delivering them to your home, don't worry, as long as I have the goods here, I will give you a good price." Seeing that the carriage was firmly tied, Russell walked over with a smile on his face.

Richard put his hand on the brim of his hat in thanks; "Thank you, Mr. Russell, I am very pleased with this transaction, it has been a pleasant experience, and I look forward to deepening our cooperation with Parkview Green in the future, and I look forward to welcoming you to Grape Valley."

"Thank you for having me, Mr. Richard." Russell suddenly thought that the other party seemed to need an experienced architect, so he turned his gaze to Captain William Richardson, who was standing to the side.

Captain William Richardson understood what he meant, took two steps forward, patted the bundled four-wheeled carriage, and said; "Bring these goods back first, young man, Mr. Architect should have fun in the new town, and when he returns, I will let him go to you." Maybe...... You can level the field first, it's not difficult. ”

"Then our in-depth cooperation ......"

"Don't be in a hurry for these few days, as long as Datang will show enough strength, it is not a problem to need any materials, let's give the other party some time."

"OK, I agree with your proposal."

It was close to noon

Richard did not delay any longer, politely said goodbye to Captain William Richardson, and the group of seven returned to the Grape Valley.

Although the journey was not far, Russell's grocery store still sent two escort gunmen to deliver the goods together with the coachman, plus military instructor Mike Rabiot, and the team on the return trip grew to seven.

More than 10 minutes later

As soon as the group arrived at the mouth of the valley, they saw a large number of people gathered in the distance, and it seemed that something was going on.

This made the two white gunmen escorting the cargo nervous, and immediately loaded the guns into the guns, prepared to respond, and asked in a hurried tone; "Young Master Richard, do you want to escort the goods back first, so as not to ......?"

The following words, the white gunners did not say, because it was too late for the carriage to turn around.

The group of fierce-looking people surrounding the mouth of the valley, about fifteen or sixteen horsemen, found that Richard and other people were arriving with a carriage, and immediately divided half of the men and rode over, and soon surrounded Richard and the others.

These people Richard saw it clearly, all of them were Chinese gunners in gray and black cardigans, riding tall horses, with revolvers stuck in their waists, straddles sabers, and their faces were full of unruly expressions.

Needless to say, I was already able to guess eight or nine points.

This guy must be a gang thug of the Agreement Hall, and he came here for Lin Ah Da and his party yesterday, but he didn't expect the news to leak so quickly, and it seems that this matter is difficult to get better.

The corpses are buried, can they still be dug out and washed and returned?

Compared with the gangsters of these agreement halls, there are more people in the Datang Society, and Dai Changfu led more than 60 people to block the valley mouth, pushing and scolding each other, just not letting the other party pass.

Although there are many people in the Datang Society, there are only seven or eight people with guns, and in the face of fierce and domineering armed thugs, it is inevitable that they will lose the upper hand in momentum.

A group of eight horsemen galloped around, circling around the four-wheeled carriage, and when a big man with a scar saw four white men guarding the carriage, his face softened.

But when he saw Richard and the other three, his expression became fierce again, and he shouted loudly; "Where are you coming from, what are you sending goods, report your name?"

"I don't know what this good man is called?"

"A certain family does not change its surname, does not change its name, the North American branch of the agreement hall sits on the eldest brother Lin Zhanhao, and friends on the rivers and lakes call him "Brother Hao", we are here for the brothers in the association. Lin Zhanhao, the big man with the scar, strangled the horse's head hard, and his eyes stopped on the full carriage, revealing a greedy look.

The goods of this carriage were clearly not grain, and judging from the outline of the goods under the canvas, it seems that they should be mining tools or ...... Gun.

"Great, great, the big dragon head is back."

At this time

Among the members of the Datang Society who were blocking Taniguchi, there was a reckless guy who saw Richard's figure and couldn't help shouting.

The distance between the two sides was fifty or sixty meters away, and the voice came clearly, Richard's expression was awe-inspiring, and the scarred man Lin Zhanhao's expression changed drastically, and he immediately reached out and took out a gun from his waist......