Wild North America 1846

In the town hall

There was a lingering aroma of brewed coffee. Next to the small English round table, Captain William Richardson, businessman Mr. Russell and Richard were sitting on chairs, enjoying a leisurely coffee moment.

There were almost no twists and turns, and $570 had gone into Richard's pocket, which made him quite satisfied and he felt happy.

Captain William Richardson was very interested in the newly established Tang Association in Grape Valley, especially after hearing about the armed cavalry that already had more than 100 people, a warm look rarely appeared on his face.

He said kindly;

"Oh, the Chinese no longer fight alone. This is really exciting news. Congratulations to you young man. This is a very good start. So let me ask, what help do you want from me?"

The British have always given people a stereotyped and unapproachable image of arrogance, and Captain William Richardson is no exception.

Although his expression seemed kinder, the condescending and alms-giving flavor in his words made people feel very uncomfortable.

From the beginning

William Richardson tried to suppress Richard's spirit and put him in the position of a servant who shouted around. In his impression;

The Chinese are all beggars and coolies. Even if they gather some rabble, they still cannot stand up to the public.

Although Richard had a young appearance, he had a mature soul and would not let the other party dominate his speech. He took a sip of the hot coffee and said;

"Mr. Richardson, when I came to collect the bounty, I had already arranged for people to go to the new town to purchase some necessary supplies, such as saddles, ropes, axes, and other things.

For what you call help, I prefer to call it cooperation.

The Tang Association needs to purchase a large amount of supplies, worth tens of thousands of dollars, and there are only two options: New Town or Fangcaodi.

from a certain perspective

I think you will need the strength of the Tang Association more. Now we have an armed cavalry of 110 people. In a few months, there may be 200 or even 300 people. Isn’t this attractive?"

Hearing what Richard said, Captain William Richardson's eyes suddenly lit up, then he picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, without rushing to answer, as if he was digesting the important information in it.

Sitting aside, Russell couldn't bear it any longer. He was the owner of Yerba Buena Grocery Store and a captain under William Richardson.

Although Russell brought his family ashore, his son Odom Russell still rode the three-masted sailboat to fight the waves. This is the sailing tradition of the Dutch Russell family.

"Hi, Richard, I like the adventurous spirit in you that dares to challenge everything. We should talk about it. Russell's Grocery can provide you with all the supplies you need, and even more than you think."

"I need high-quality revolvers and some flintlock rifles. It would be better if I could get military ones. In addition, I also need some horses and related things. The most important thing is that I need a senior military instructor to give the young man

Please behave yourself."

"Oh... little case, I can arm your cavalry to the teeth, and how about finding you a French guy? This old guy was once an officer of the cuirassier regiment in Napoleon's army. You know, this was once the world's most powerful force.

The most powerful cavalry in the army, followed Napoleon throughout Europe. Unfortunately, after the Battle of Waterloo, these French guys were all unemployed and lived in a very miserable life."

Russell happily snapped his fingers and agreed immediately.

The business of tens of thousands of dollars was enough to make him feel very good, so Mr. Russell continued; "High-quality revolvers are not a problem. I know Mr. Samuel Colter, this is a

A down-and-out guy, as long as you are willing to give him the business of 200 revolvers, he will come all the way from New York."

Hearing these words, Richard was greatly shocked. He didn't expect that during an ordinary trip to collect a bounty, he would actually eat a big melon.

Who is Samuel Kirkett?

That was the epoch-making figure who invented the Colt revolver. He developed more than a dozen revolvers in his lifetime, establishing his unshakable status as a master in the field of small arms.

Richard suppressed the shock in his heart, picked up the coffee cup and took a big sip. After calming down, he said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Russell. As far as I know, Mr. Colt has opened a large-scale weapons store."

company……"

"Bankrupt, this unlucky guy." Mr. Russell replied with a sense of superiority. He crossed his legs, picked up a biscuit on a small plate, put it into his mouth, chewed it and said, "In my grocery store.

There are also 27 Colt 1835 revolvers, which are indeed good guns and much easier to use than pepper bottle pistols, but they are much more expensive."

"Can I hear a quote?"

"all?"

"Yes, Mr. Russell, all...including the flintlock rifles in your shop. I would like to hear the price."

"Are you sure? There are 41 Type 1777 rifles modified in 9 years in my store. They are all the best products ever used by the French army. The prices are not cheap!"

Richard smiled and said nothing, and just made a gesture to say please.

The Type 1777 9-year-old republican flintlock smoothbore rifle equipped by the French army is indeed one of the best smoothbore rifles in today's era. It is an improved model in 1809. Although it has a history of more than 30 years, it is still very useful.

This batch of guns must be second-hand guns, maybe three or four. After the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, hundreds of thousands of smoothbore rifles once equipped by the French army were scattered around the world and can be seen in many armed conflicts.

its figure.

North American white immigrants in the early 19th century used it to hunt Indians and bison in the wilderness. It was a very sharp weapon.

The French once conducted a destructive inspection of flintlock smoothbore rifles that had been in stock for 30 years, and took out 12 rifles for random inspection.

In the extreme firing test, the first one to explode fired more than 6,800 rounds of ammunition. The other 11 smoothbore rifles all sustained more than 10,000 rounds, and the most fired more than 13,400 rounds.

Therefore, the French concluded that these weapons should be able to be used for many, many years if there are no other accidents.

The biggest advantage of a smoothbore gun is that it has no rifling, so there is no high temperature generated by friction in the barrel. The inevitable shooting accuracy is much worse, and it can only effectively attack enemies within two to three hundred meters.

If you exceed this distance, you can only pray for God's blessing.

Russell looked at Richard with admiration in his eyes. He put down the coffee cup in his hand, thought about it for a moment and said, "What kind of cooperation do you mean?"

"To counter the pressure from John Sutter, perhaps this kind of cooperation can be broader, to jointly fight against all forces that are malicious to us, and to fight together when necessary. Of course, this needs to be discussed in depth, and it is not yet

The best time."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the armed cavalry of the Tang Association has not yet demonstrated the necessary combat effectiveness, we need to be more certain before we can talk about fair cooperation, right?"

"I appreciate your pragmatic spirit, young man." Russell's expression also turned solemn. He glanced at Captain William Richardson intentionally or unintentionally. Seeing that the captain was still tasting the coffee with great interest, he already understood in his heart.

.

So, Mr. Russell thought about it and said;

"Mr. Richard, we already know something about your strength. You can be said to be one of the best shooters in the San Francisco area, but that's all.

If the Datang Association, which is dominated by Chinese, has not been formed, to be honest, you are not qualified to cooperate with us on an equal footing.

But things are different now

From you, we have seen some interesting changes taking place in the Chinese ethnic group. As a nation with an ancient civilization, this kind of change is exciting.

Can we cooperate?

Further observation is needed to draw a conclusion, but given the sincerity of cooperation you have shown, Datang Club can get a good offer.

There are 27 1835 Colt revolvers. Each of these guns on the market costs 42 to 45 US dollars, or even 50 US dollars, and the price I give you is 32 US dollars.

Needless to say

The purchase price of this batch of guns is 22 US dollars, and I want to earn 10 US dollars for each gun. If you can show enough strength, I can compensate you 10 US dollars for each gun in future transactions, but not now.

I can give away 100 rounds of bullets for each gun, which are fixed bullets loaded with thin oil paper. As an excellent gunner, you should understand that these are the best bullets today.

This batch of 9-year-old smoothbore flintlock rifles totals 41. The price is much more expensive than revolvers, but that refers to buying new guns. In fact, the cost of getting a second-hand rifle is very low, the same 32 US dollars for you.

I can guarantee you won't get a lower price than this in the entire Alta California area.

How about it, are you interested?"

"Happy cooperation!" Richard stretched out his hand neatly, shook hands with Russell who looked a little hesitant, and made a deal without even negotiating.

These bargains of 3 US dollars and 5 US dollars per gun are completely unnecessary. The other party has made it very clear that as long as they can show enough strength, it will be no problem even if all these weapons are given away.

"interesting."

Captain William Richardson, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said something. He looked at Richard with admiration in his expression, and obviously became very interested in this young man. "If you need anything else, you might as well tell us together."

"Mr. Richardson, we can pay in cash for weapons and equipment, but Datang will need some time to raise the remaining supplies."

"Specifically it refers to..."

"Datang Hui plans to build a strong armed fortress at the entrance of Grape Valley, which requires hiring experienced engineers and purchasing some construction materials. This is a large expenditure."

"Well... there is no problem with the construction engineers. The construction of Fangcaodi Street has basically come to an end. We have very good engineers here. How will you pay for the construction funds?"

"As a protector of Chinese gold diggers, the Datang Association charges a protection fee of US$5 per month to the Chinese association. Today, there are more than 1,400 Chinese members in the association. This amount of money is about US$7,000 per month, plus other operations

, the preliminary estimate is about more than 10,000 U.S. dollars. However, it will take some time before the payment can be made."

In front of the old fox, Richard spoke very calmly.

William Richardson stared at Richard closely, as if he wanted to see something strange on his face, but his purpose obviously failed.

but

A smile gradually appeared on William Richardson's face, and he turned to Russell and said, "Man, maybe we should go to Grape Valley to see what interesting changes are happening there?"

"I would like to accompany you, my dear captain."