Wild North America 1846

Chapter 396 Heading South to Weiyuan Fort

New York Harbor

New York, the largest city in North America, gave way to Chang'an City at the end of 1862. This is because the current population of the United States of America is less than 8 million and cannot support an international metropolis with a population of more than 2 million. In order to seek job opportunities,

Much of the city's population has been lost to surrounding areas.

After the war, New York was still prosperous, but there were many more Chinese businessmen in the city.

In this metropolis, Chinese faces mean the upper class and wealth. Their business tentacles have monopolized banks and large trading companies, monopolized docks and railways, owned ports and a large number of city properties, and held the most beautiful girls in their arms.

, living a wealthy life that everyone envies.

Just today at the New York port, a grand farewell ceremony was held to send off the three princes of the Tang Empire to board a luxury cruise ship and begin their study tour in Europe.

Wu Erbao also witnessed this grand scene at the port. He was accompanied by a dozen strong Chinese men, each of whom was wearing a weapon, with a Colt 1848 cavalry-style revolver on his waist, and a Colt on his back.

The special lever-action repeating gun is really armed to the teeth.

Such costumes are common in New York Harbor. The local white people know that these Chinese are going to go on an expedition to South America. In the past month or so, many Chinese teams have collected supplies in New York Harbor and then organized groups to sail to the south.

"Ahu and Abao, let's go and see if our supplies have been delivered to the ship. It will set sail tonight, so let the guys hurry up and get on the ship. Stop messing with women, it's more important to do business."

"I know, captain." The two strong young men responded and quickly ran towards the street on the side of the pier.

Wu Erbao pinched his eyebrows with a headache, and said to Tian Fuguang beside him: "When they get to the ground, these guys need to be well trained, otherwise they won't be able to fight. They are just a group of stragglers. What kind of combat effectiveness can they have?"

"Don't worry, captain, we are very good at training these guys. It only takes two months to transform them. Don't be idle on the ship. We will start practicing as soon as we get on the ship."

"It makes sense, let's do it."

Tian Fuguang is also one of the retired veterans. He wanted to go to South America to get a piece of the pie, so he volunteered to form a team and became the vice-captain of this team.

While the two were discussing, suddenly several burly white men came from one side. This immediately aroused the vigilance of Wu Erbao and others, who reached for the revolver at his waist.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to cause trouble, we just wanted to see if you could take us with you." The leader was a strong white man with a strong face and thick blond hair. He spoke English.

Wu Erbao's English was not bad, so he raised his hand to stop his subordinates from overreacting, and then took a step forward and said, "Who are you? We already have enough manpower, and we don't want Italians or Irish."

"We are Germans, from the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Kingdom of Hesse. I am Ferguson, and these people are my partners. There are 7 people in total. We can't find a job here, and we don't have money to buy bread, so we want to follow you there.

Let’s go explore in South America, we are not afraid of war.”

German?

Wu Erbao turned his head, and as soon as his eyes met Tian Fuguang's, they both knew what the other person was thinking.

The Germans are recognized as good workers and soldiers, with rigorous personalities and good obedience, and are stubborn and stubborn in accepting death. They are much better than the Italians who have a loose personality and the Irish who like to form gangs.

Wu Erbao's team has recruited more than 30 Germans. Seeing that the white men who came to his door were strong and young, he already agreed in his heart, but he still showed hesitation on his face and said;

"Ferguson, I want to make it clear to you that our team has no salary and is only responsible for providing weapons and food. Once you join, you must obey orders. The final reward may be the land we conquer, or maybe nothing."

"We would like to participate, sir."

"Call me "Captain", you must obey orders unconditionally and receive necessary military training."

"Yes, Captain." Ferguson folded his legs and raised his hands in a non-standard military salute, which made Wu Erbao and a group of strong Chinese men burst into laughter.

more than an hour later

Wu Erbao and his people boarded a steam freighter with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons. His team of 63 people and another team of 18 people jointly hired this freighter to deliver goods to the south. The destination was Wei.

Far Castle.

The price of such a drop-in cargo ship is much lower, which is very suitable for private expedition teams and can save a lot of money along the way.

Weiyuan Fort is a new town more than 520 kilometers south of Buenos Aires. It is also a military stronghold along the coast of the Tang Empire's expeditionary force. This cargo ship is to transport barbed wire, bricks and cement to Weiyuan Fort.

Bricks used in the construction of cellars and other buildings.

There are many such cargo ships, and most of their destinations are towns south of Buenos Aires.

From Buenos Aires to the south are Glory Port, Victory Port, Weiyuan Port, Crescent Port, Shuguang Port and Zhennan Port. There are a total of 6 ports from north to south. Continuing south, you will reach Tierra del Fuego.

The destination of Wu Erbao and his party was Weiyuan Port in the middle. This vast territory is closer to Argentina. It is said that there are some Indian villages and towns in the area, which have a long history of development and have some foundations.

After boarding the ship

Watching the freighter slowly leave the dock and the bustling New York metropolis in front of them, Wu Erbao, Tian Fuguang, and Hou Acai stood side by side on the bow of the ship, with all kinds of thoughts flooding their minds, and they were filled with emotion.

Starting today, they will embark on the journey of fighting for the future of their family.

All the savings over the years have been put up, and the villa has been mortgaged and a large amount of money has been borrowed. It can be said that there is no turning back.

There was a lot of cargo loaded on the ship. Wu Erbao's team included 26 war horses, 150 second-hand King's bolt-action rifles, 100 cavalry swords, the same number of kettles, blankets, 400 sets of clothing, 30 tents, 30

Barrels of gunpowder, 100,000 rounds of bullets, three tons of rice and 10 tons of hay, two tons of black beans, 20 carts, more than 100 sheep and hundreds of chickens and ducks, as well as other odds and ends, pots and pans, etc.

of debris.

After these few months of training

This team has to solve everything by itself. Wu Erbao feels that his personal abilities have soared and he has become more comprehensive, but he is also more tired.

Standing on the bow of the ship, he said energetically, "Fu Guang, Ah Cai, our conquest is about to begin. We want to lay down a large pasture so that future generations can live a good life like nobles."

His words also aroused the ambitions of Tian Fuguang and Hou Acai. After looking at each other excitedly, Tian Fuguang said: "I heard that the Volunteer People's Army has already sent nearly 20,000 people, and I am afraid that after going there, all the benefits will be lost."

People are raking it all out.”

"How can it be that simple? There are more than 1 million Mapuche people. I heard that it is very difficult to deal with. These indigenous Indians have been fighting the Spaniards for hundreds of years. They are not obedient people."

"Hehehe...we are good at taming the thornheads, this should give us a greater sense of accomplishment."

"Stop talking nonsense, you two will start military training after boarding the ship. No matter what, train all the boys first. What I want is a capable military team with strict orders, not a mob. Everything must be in accordance with our military standards.

Come and ask for it.”

"Don't worry, captain, we are good at this."

"That's good. As long as we train our team well, we won't have to worry about not having any battles to fight, and we won't have to worry about not having good territory to occupy. I'm afraid you won't be able to take care of us when the time comes!"

"Hahaha, no matter how big the place is, we won't be afraid." Tian Fuguang laughed heartily.

The ancestors of the Mapuche people are the Araucan people who lived in the Andes Mountains. They were famous for their bravery and fighting skills during the Inca Empire.

Since the discovery of the New World, the rulers of the central plateau of South America have changed from the Incas to the Spanish conquerors, and the Araucans have naturally become the most troublesome Native Americans to the Spaniards.

During the centuries-long war, the Araucan people emerged heroes such as Lautaro who fought against the Spanish. However, due to backward productivity, they eventually gradually migrated southward under Spanish military pressure.

The Mapuche people still have a loose social structure dominated by tribes, and the so-called "Kingdom of Patagonia" is actually a false proposition.

During the period of resistance to the military invasion of Chile and Argentina, the French adventurer Aurellier-Antoine came here in 1860 and was elected as king by the local Indian tribe, establishing the nominal "Kingdom of Patagonia".

In fact, it has almost no binding force on the Indian tribes scattered across the vast South American plains.

"Patagon" in Spanish also means a person with big feet.

Patagonia, which is 2,000 kilometers long from north to south, is the Big Foot of America and extends to the southernmost tip of South America.

It is located between the Colorado River and Cape Horn at the southern tip of the American continent, covering an area of ​​900,000 square kilometers and about 1,460 kilometers at its widest point.

It borders the icy snowy areas of Antarctica to the south, and the grassy Papans to the north. Patagonia is located in between, containing countless fertile grasslands.

This vast and sparsely populated area is also synonymous with remoteness "finisterrae" (Spanish), which means; the final end of the earth.

After 13 days of sailing

This steam cargo ship of more than 2,000 tons arrived at Weiyuan Port and docked at the dock at about 2:00 in the afternoon. At this time, the sky was bluer, the sun was bright, the boundless blue Atlantic Ocean was calm, and hundreds of seagulls were flying up and down.

.

A permanent reinforced concrete pier is being built at Weiyuan Port, and steam freighters arriving from long voyages are docked on the wooden trestle. After getting off the ship, Wu Erbao and others looked around in amazement at this semi-encircled port located in an indented bay, feeling that everything was so...

novel.

The warm sunshine shining on the body makes people feel comfortable. In the south of Weiyuan Port, there is a rolling mountain range hundreds of meters high that extends to the sea, surrounding the port. A large river meanders from the inland and enters the sea here, bringing it with it.

There are abundant fresh water resources.

Looking up, the forest in the distance is lush and boundless. It is indeed a fertile land!

"What are you looking at? Work for me."

There were faint shouts and curses not far away, as well as the screams of whips hitting people. Wu Erbao saw the disharmony in this scene, and just chuckled and stopped paying attention.

More than 1,000 Indian slaves are working at the dock. Under the supervision of overseers holding leather whips, they are building stone walls along the seashore.

In addition, some Indian slaves were driven over to unload the goods. Not far from the dock is the town of Weiyuanbao. From here, you can faintly see the imperial double dragon flag fluttering in the wind, symbolizing the pace of conquest.

Entering the town, it immediately became lively.

Most of the people coming and going here are Chinese faces, including soldiers and civilians, and there are also many Indian women leaning against the door to show off their faces. Many shops have been opened in the town, and the crowds are quite lively. It is full of the roughness and warmth of the early colonial period.

Wild taste.

The common feature is that almost everyone carries firearms.

The arrival of Wu Erbao and his party caused almost no reaction. There were too many Chinese teams like him who came to South America to conquer the world. It was not unusual to catch a lot of them everywhere.

As soon as they arrived in the town, they saw a commotion not far away.

Dingqing looked over

It turned out that some Chinese armed militiamen on horseback came to the town shouting and shouting. The cloth bags in front of their horses were stained with blood and filled with bulging bags. There were also many people driving cattle, sheep and young Indian women with their hands tied.

, swaggering all the way through the market.

Needless to say, he must have returned from hunting.

"Boss, I like it here. I'm so excited that I'm ready to move." It was Ferguson who spoke. He came over and licked his dry lips with his tongue, with a fiery light in his eyes.

Wu Erbao rolled his eyes at him and ordered: "If there are no rules, call the captain."

"Yes, captain, I feel that this is the place where men should come. The air is filled with the wild smell of conquest. And the brothers have been holding it in for two weeks on the ship. Can you please relax for us later?

.I have already inquired, and the women here only charge ten cents a time."

"Let's settle down first, don't bargain."

"As you command, Captain."

After scolding his men, Wu Erbao and his party quickly settled down.

Since they had brought enough supplies, they camped on a flat land not far from the river outside the town. They surrounded it with more than 20 carts, unfolded 10 tents, and then cut some branches from the forest.

Form a fence, dig a few earth stoves and you're done.

Supplies were concentrated in the middle of the camp, and separate fences were built specifically for the sheep, chickens and ducks brought there, and militiamen were dispatched to take turns on duty at night, in full compliance with military regulations.

Wu Erbao has not been idle these days. After settling down, he went around visiting old friends. He also stopped by the garrison near Weiyuan Fort to get acquainted with him and build relationships with the army.

When there is real danger here, you have to count on the local garrison for rescue.

After a few days, the situation nearby has become almost clear.

The expeditionary force and the Chinese armed militia are all like wolves and tigers. Within one or two hundred kilometers around Fort Weiyuan, the Indian tribes are almost extinct. If you want to find the Indians, you have to go deep into the Pampas Plains to look for the news.

The isolated Indian tribe would not be able to hunt without horses.

(End of chapter)