More than 100 cavalry gathered quickly, Richard strode forward, turned over his horse, and waved his big hand forward vigorously and commanded; "Let's go!"

The cavalry formed a queue of two horsemen, quickly crossed the Shanhai Pass, and galloped in the direction of the American River Bay.

meanwhile

Richard sent a communications corps to Yerba Buenaodi to inform the Tang Society of the armed movements, hoping that it would respond if necessary, and this time it should be a head-to-head battle with the Alexander-Madison gang, and it was not negligent.

More than three hours later

As twilight approached, the lush forests along the River of America became darker and darker, and a large force of reinforcements led by Richard arrived at the bay of the river, which was relatively open, and the clear river of America rushed in front of him, making a "la-la" sound of water.

Scattered along the bend were low shacks, from which the dim kerosene lights peeked out, and these were the temporary dwellings of the gold prospectors, mostly dug in shallow pits, and then built with a few sticks on a whole cowhide, which could sleep three or four people.

The armed horse team of the Tang Society has been stationed here for a long time, so a horse fence is enclosed with a wooden fence to keep horses, and next to the horse fence are six marching tents lined up, which is the camp of the armed horse team.

When Richard arrived here with his men and horses, the detachment leader Zheng Laosi had already greeted him, and he didn't have time to greet him, Richard got off his horse, handed the reins of the horse to the soldiers behind him, and asked; "Fourth, how is the injured brother?"

"President, the others have already wrapped up their injuries, and it shouldn't be a big problem to raise them for a while, but Erhei was hit in the stomach by a white gunman on the dog day, injured his internal organs, and finally didn't survive it, and he ran out of gas."

"Take me to see it."

"You go this way, there are three Chinese gold diggers who have been killed, and the bodies are all placed in the back, and I am looking for a place to bury them, so as not to affect morale."

"Don't be in a hurry to bury them, we have to avenge the dead brothers, we can't let them die in vain, I will take the heads of these white gunmen to sacrifice the dead, and then send the brothers on the road ceremoniously."

Richard's face was blue under the dim kerosene light, and he spoke with a heavy murderous intent, Zheng Laosi peeked at him, and didn't dare to say more.

In the forest behind the camp, there was a small clearing, under which were laid several long planks, on which lay four corpses, all covered with blankets.

In a hurry, there was no way to build a coffin, so I could only put it aside.

When the blanket was lifted, the black and red blood stains on the bodies of these deceased were very dazzling, their stiff faces were as white as paper, and their faces were hideous.

See this scenario

Richard bowed three times and said with a solemn expression; "In front of the heroic spirit of the dead brother, my Datang President Richard solemnly promises that I will avenge you and sacrifice the head of the white bandit in front of your spirit.

It's strange to say

Is it an illusion that a cold wind appeared out of thin air in the quiet forest, blowing the leaves "rattle", and then looking closely at the face of the deceased, it no longer seems to look so hideous?

After the worship

The dead man put the blanket back on, and Richard looked at it quietly, thought about it, and said; "You can't send them to the ground so shabbyly, tomorrow we will organize people to make a few coffins, and then change them into decent and clean clothes and bury them. Waiting for us to avenge the brethren and sacrifice the heads of white bandits to the brethren of my Datang Society. ”

"The subordinates obey the order, and arrange someone to do it early tomorrow morning."

"Well, tell me, where are the white bandits of Alexander Madison? How strong is it? Richard had already turned and walked to the tent, asking as he went.

Zheng Laosi hurried a few steps to follow, and diligently lifted the curtain at the door of the tent, and said;

"President, you and the captains sit down, and I'll make you a pot of strong tea to get rid of, for the Madisons have been entrenched by the River of America, in a small village a dozen miles from here, where dozens of wooden houses have been built, called Riverbend Village.

Riverbend is two hundred and seventy or eighty people, with a tavern, a Mexican brothel, a small grocery store, and a watermill that is the home of Alexander Madison's gang.

The white gunmen who really belong to the gang, that is, sixty or seventy people, are not known for temporary recruitment, and it is estimated that there may be more.

Hewan Village is a village with a wooden fence, surrounded by a log fence more than three meters high, and there are white gunmen on guard on weekdays, just like the camp of the early British, if you really want to take it down, I am afraid it will be a little difficult.

At the beginning of today's conflict, I saw Marbury Jones, the No. 2 man in the Madison gang, the "one-eyed dragon", who fired the two shots in the belly of Erhei.

Marbury-Jones threatened;

The Chinese gold diggers who dared to continue to stay in this river bay saw one kill one, and killed two and killed a pair, and all of them had to go to hell.

After today's conflict, there are already less than half of the Chinese gold diggers, at least three or four hundred, who have left here out of fear.

They don't want to get involved in the rights and wrongs of an armed conflict, and they have the idea of protecting themselves, and these bastards don't want to think about it?

Without the protection of our Datang Society's armed horse team, what would they have to be like by these white bandits?

A bunch of cowards, idiots, protecting these cowards, I really don't feel worth it for Erhei's death. ”

The more Zheng Laosi spoke, the more angry he became, and he slapped his palm on his thigh with a loud "snap", and he didn't know if he was in pain?

Richard considered that if Hewan Village, a stronghold with strong defenses in Muzhai, was attacked, he would probably need to mobilize all the musketeers in Grape Valley and suffer a certain amount of heavy casualties in order to defeat it.

Datang will not be able to afford this kind of loss.

If it is a night attack, only his own agility can take advantage of the night to touch the village, but the danger is also self-evident.

If you fall into the trap of the Madison gang, no matter how clever you are, it will be difficult to resist the siege, and the risk is too great.

Since Alexander Madison's gang is a golden tyrant, they will not cower in the village of Riverbend and not come out, and it has become a feasible choice to find a way to surround and annihilate some of its bandits, deal a severe blow to their arrogance, and weaken their strength.

Think about it here

Richard said; "Well, it's hard to hide the news of the arrival of our reinforcements, inform the Chinese gold diggers along the American River that the Tang Dynasty is going to war with the Madison gangs, and let them report any traces of the white bandits immediately.

Tell them

This is a war to the death, if you lose, there will be nothing for the Chinese to pan for gold by the rivers of America in the future, and no one will be able to protect them, and the interests will be weighed by themselves.

The guys of the horse team are on the alert, and after feeding the horses, they will rest early, and there will be a lot of work to be done tomorrow.

I reckon that the Madison gang of bandits is too arrogant to be intimidated by us, and if so, it would be a good opportunity to cut off their wings.

A few of you are also tired, so you can rest early after a sip of broth, and talk about it tomorrow. ”

"Subordinates obey." Dai Changfu, Gao Shiheng, Liu Wu and Zheng Laosi and other captains hugged their fists in unison.

At this time

Zheng Laosi beckoned to the outside of the tent and commanded; "Don't stand stupidly, hurry up and bring in the broth, give the chairman and a few officers some warm drinks, and bring a few flatbreads, one by one I don't have any eyesight."

Speaking of which

Zheng Laosi turned his head and explained with a smile; "This was the morning when I was chasing the white bandits, and I happened to bump into a few American pack deer, and I killed two of them at that time, but unfortunately I didn't leave the deer blood in a hurry, it was a good thing, and it was very delicious to cook together in broth."

As he spoke, his brother came in with a large bowl of broth, boiled in clear river water with only a little salt, ginger and wild shallots, and the rich aroma was tangy.

In addition to the large pieces of venison, there are also cleaned and minced deer intestines, deer liver, deer lungs, deer hoof tendons, and a large number of large bowls are piled high, attracting everyone's index fingers.

Then what else to say, just open the whole.

A large bowl of broth and half a flatbread poured into his stomach, and Richard was so hot that he burped and was full.

Seeing that the others were eating and sweating on their faces, he stood up and said to Zheng Laosi; "After eating, I just went out for a walk, you accompany me to check the sentry post, and by the way, I will eliminate my food."

"President, shall we go along?" Dai Changfu and the others put down the sea bowl in their hands and stood up one after another.

"You don't need so many people, you set up your subordinates, build a few more bonfires, rest early when you're full, and I'll come back after a turn."

"Subordinates obey."

Richard didn't respond, he waved his hand and took the lead out of the tent, and Zheng Laosi hurriedly followed him and walked out.

The night at the end of April was cold, about seven or eight degrees above zero, and the wind was gusting on the river beach.

Richard brought more than 100 cavalry reinforcements with him, and more than a dozen tents, which had been neatly set up on the riverbank, and venison soup was stewed on the blazing bonfire, and the soldiers were waiting in blankets, talking about something, and the harazi almost flowed down.

More than 130 horses were packed in the wooden fence stable, which had been fed with fodder and water, unsaddled, and rested quietly in the fence.

Richard took Zheng Laosi around the river beach for a big circle, and went deep into the forest near the river beach to check the sentry post, and after seeing a few wild wolves, he returned to the tent to rest with confidence.

With wolves around, it was impossible for the Madison gang to get a good night's sleep.

The wolf pack is a big help to hide in the shadows, and at this critical time, Richard will not let it go, and when he sees the wolf "one ear", he will go back to rest with peace of mind.