1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 136 Xinxiang Fortress

February 1636, 2, sunny, evening.

Two Ming-style ships docked slowly in the middle of a deep river bend.By the wooden pier in the distance, a group of Ming immigrants with happy faces ran over excitedly.

"3 yuan in bricks, 4 barrels of cement, and the rest are farm tools, swords... By the way, there are two [-]-pound guns.... There are also dried fish and potatoes. These are the potatoes produced in Hanzhou. ..." a sailor shouted loudly on the side of the ship.

The two ships that came here are currently the only cross-sea transport vehicles in Hanzhou, and they have brought a large amount of construction materials and production and living materials to Xinxiangbao.

They set off from Jianye City and brought some materials produced by Hanzhou to Xinxiangbao on Timor Island. Then they shipped precious red sandalwood and nanmu to Batavia and handed them over to the warehouse in charge of Hu Wenjin.

In Batavia, the Ming immigrants who were stranded in the warehouse were loaded on board, along with some food, gunpowder, production and living utensils and other materials. After eight or nine days of driving, they stopped at Xinxiangbao on Timor Island and unloaded the All kinds of unwell immigrants and food finally returned to Jianye City to complete a turnover of personnel and materials.

"Dalang, why are you so sad, are you not happy to see us here?" Niu Jinmin couldn't help smiling when he saw Chen Dalang's sad face.

"In less than half a month, four more people died. Counting, from the time we arrived at Xinxiang Castle, a total of eleven people died!" Chen Dalang said with a sigh.

"Didn't I bring a message last time, Qi Tian said that this is a tropical rainforest, and we should pay attention to prevent mosquito bites. Do not leave ponds, ditches, etc. in the camp, including the periphery." Niu Jinmin was also taken aback when he heard this.

Everyone can understand how precious the people of Hanzhou are. For a Ming person, starting from Daming, passing through Batavia, and then arriving at Hanzhou, the voyage is tens of thousands of miles, and it takes three months.

Nima, this person was placed in Xinxiang Castle, and within two months, eleven of them died.Based on the total population of more than 70 people in Xinxiangbao, the death rate reached 15%.This will take a year, isn't it going to die!
"Go and see, where is there a ditch inside and outside the camp? Within a radius of 500 meters, even the trees and weeds have been cleaned up!" Chen Dalang pointed at the camp and its surroundings in the afterglow of the evening, "But, we Isn’t it going to cut trees in the forest! There are always people who can’t stand the heat and humidity, and expose their faces, necks, or arms, and they are bitten by mosquitoes. … In a few days, just like Xiaotian said, they got malaria, The whole body is shaking, and it won't take long before it dies!"

"This..." Niu Jinmin looked sideways at Dong Fengshan, and finally shook his head helplessly.

It's really an unsolvable problem.For the development of Xinxiangbao, it is necessary to contribute timber exports and reserve timber for future shipbuilding.Then it is necessary to arrange people to go out to cut trees. Therefore, there is a high probability of being bitten by mosquitoes and contracting malaria.If you want to keep people from dying, unless the big guys hide in the house and raise people up.

"Or, you should reduce the time you go out. To be honest, you have cut down so many trees, and we don't have the ability to take them all away!... Besides, the positioning of your Xinxiangbao is a transit supply point. So, you The most important job is to build more warehouses, repair more houses, and improve the defense of the camp."

"Look at your current camp. There are wooden fences built on both sides, and there is no watchtower. I can rush in with a dozen people and chop you all down!" Niu Jinmin criticized Chen Dalang's work mercilessly. .

Hearing this, Chen Dalang's face was full of black lines, and he waved his hand and slapped Niu Jinmin on the shoulder, "Niu Da, the dog, come here if you have the ability! I'm not doing well, you must do better than me when you come here!"

"Hey, hey, Dalang, don't be angry!" Niu Jinmin reached out and rubbed his shoulders, "I'm not worried for you!"

"Niu Da, don't make fun of Da Lang!" Dong Fengshan said with a smile, "There are only more than 70 immigrants here, oh, there should be only more than 60 people now. After more than a month, I can repair the house I live in. To be able to cut down enough trees for us to ship to Batavia to sell. Well done!"

"However, what Niu Da said is right!" Chen Dalang looked slightly worried, "Yesterday, the immigrant who felled the tree said that he seemed to see some natives watching us in the forest...so, the outside The defense needs to be stepped up!"

"Oh, is that so?" Niu Jinmin was taken aback, "Do you need us to stay here for a few days? Pull all the brothers on the boat over and go with you to check the surrounding situation."

"Alright!" Chen Dalang said, "Tomorrow morning, we will gather [-] people and patrol around the camp!"

The plan has been decided, and everyone prepares for a while, and then rests early.

In the morning light, the fifty sailors and guards in full armor wrapped their heads and hands tightly after breakfast, and stepped into the dense forest under the eyes of many immigrants.

The dense virgin forest is full of poisonous insects, snakes and ants. If you are not careful, you will be bitten by mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, and other unknown poisonous insects.Therefore, the guards who walked ahead and opened the way were very careful.Holding a long bamboo pole in both hands, he kept sweeping the branches and leaves of the trunk left and right to drive away the snakes and insects.

In less than half an hour, everyone was already sweating profusely, but they did not dare to take off the tightly wrapped cloth towels.Once bitten by mosquitoes, there is a high probability that they will lie in the camp and wait to die.

They first explored the direction where the natives were suspected to have appeared a few days ago, and based on this, they began to search carefully around the camp in a clockwise direction.

In the afternoon, everyone found an open place, ate some dry food and water, took a rest, and continued to search in the forest.It's too frighteningly difficult, so I quickly finished my inspection, went back to the camp, took a shower, and changed into dry clothes.

"Stop!" Someone in front shouted in a low voice.The people following behind, upon hearing this, immediately stopped.

Chen Dalang walked forward cautiously, looking in the direction of the leading brother's finger.

Through the dense branches and leaves, there is a large open space cleared by humans in the distance. Dozens of wooden houses are scattered on the open space, some of which are covered with clay and thatch on the outer layer and roof.The people walking around the camp were women and children.

"It's a native!" Niu Jinmin also walked over and whispered.

"That's right!" Chen Dalang nodded and said, "The men must have gone out to find food, and the camp is full of women and children."

"Take it!" Niu Jinmin said in a low voice, "Maybe there will be a conflict with us at some point, first... to prevent future troubles!"

"Okay!" Chen Dalang thought for a while, and quickly made a decision, "Try to catch as many people as possible!"

Niu Jinmin was taken aback for a moment, and then understood.Chen Dalang wanted to capture these natives and make them work in the camp.

The crowd retreated slowly, found a valley with sparse forests, rested temporarily, and waited for the evening when the men of the native tribe returned to the camp before launching a surprise attack.

"It's almost there!" Chen Dalang stood tall, looking at his brothers sitting around, "Everyone, be careful!"

After speaking, Chen Dalang walked in the front with a knife in his hand.Everyone was silent and followed behind, each of them clenched their knives (guns) tightly.

Coming to the side of the native tribe, Chen Dalang and Niu Jinmin each led more than [-] people, preparing to launch a surprise attack from the east and west sides.

In the quiet and peaceful tribal camp, the woman happily took the prey and wild fruits the men had caught, and lit a fire in the earthen stove in front of the wooden house, preparing to cook a sumptuous dinner.

The old man in the camp, with his eyes closed, leaned against the wall of the wooden house, recalling the past difficult years.

Twenty or thirty children were happily chasing and frolicking.

However, a group of heavily armed "colonists" has broken into the edge of the tribal camp.Some children who rushed to the front stared blankly at these tightly wrapped people and ran past them quickly.

"Bang!" The gunshot finally rang out. It was a native man who finally found the intruder and was about to grab a wooden spear to fight back, but was knocked down by the musket.

Because they had been instructed in advance to try to capture the natives alive, they held knives and guns and did not take the initiative to hurt people. Only when they encountered strong resistance would they cut them down or knock them down with a single shot.

"Don't let them run away!" Chen Dalang couldn't help being very anxious when he saw that a dozen or so natives were desperately running towards the dense forest outside the camp.It's fine to run to the forest to fend for yourself, but I'm afraid that they will come to Xinxiang Castle to harass them from time to time if they want to rescue the clansmen or avenge their families, which will be quite troublesome.

"Shoot, shoot!" Chen Dalang shouted loudly.

"Bang bang bang!" A dozen musketeers chased for a dozen steps, and then stood still and fired.

Six or seven of the dozen natives were knocked down in an instant, but the rest quickly ran into the forest and fled without a trace.

"Da Lang, one of the brothers died, and five were injured. The natives probably escaped by more than a dozen, and the rest are here!" The brothers came to report.

Chen Dalang nodded, and ordered everyone to tie up the natives who were kneeling on the ground, carry up the dead brother, and prepare to return to Xinxiangbao immediately.

It's getting late, and you must not walk at night in the forest, it's too dangerous.If you are not careful, you will fall into it.

Under the setting sun, the crowd escorted more than 100 natives to Xinxiang Castle.

Behind him, a raging fire was ignited in the native camp, which became even redder under the setting sun.

(End of this chapter)