1635 Han style rises again

March 1678, 3, Zhongzhou Island (Hawaii Island).

Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Linghui of the Navy (Lieutenant Colonel) Xiao Weizhi, accompanied by several officers, sailed to the shore in a small boat, and then landed on the island.

The corpses of several aborigines fell on the shore in disorder. A naval officer who came to greet them explained that when they landed, they were obstructed by these aborigines. musket.In order to ensure their own safety, the officers and soldiers could only be forced to shoot and kill these aborigines.

Xiao Weizhi shook his head, and did not express too much blame for the killing behavior of the officers and soldiers.These poor and ignorant indigenous people may not even know how powerful the "enemy" they are facing is.

In the "fierce" naval battle that broke out in the early morning, Qi sailors and temporarily recruited armed immigrants, like hunting, held muskets and fired wave after wave of salvos at the swarming natives.The three big ships didn't even fire their cannons, and they killed as many as hundreds of natives charging desperately on the sea surface with only the fire from the guns on both sides of the ship's side.

In less than half an hour, the sea area where Qi's ships were located was covered with the bodies of indigenous people and many out-of-control canoes, rising and falling with the ocean currents.

The remaining natives seemed terrified by the sound of musket fire and the deaths of countless companions.Holding oars and wooden spears, they stared blankly at the three huge sailboats in front of them. They neither screamed loudly nor turned around to run away. Waiting for the judgment of "God".

The naval officers and soldiers took several natives to the boat and tortured them severely.It turns out that these aborigines are the "soldiers" of the powerful tribe located on the east side of Zhongzhou Island. After several sacrifices and divination, they finally chose an auspicious time. Today, they gathered an "army" of more than 600 people to conquer the Qi people. The Huaiyang Fort where they are based is ready to seize all their exquisite objects and various "artifacts".

The priests in the tribe claimed that the Qi people in Huaiyang Fortress were messengers from heaven, who brought a large number of artifacts to be given to all the tribesmen, but those greedy messengers violated the will of heaven and tried to hide those Artifact.According to God's will, the brave tribal warriors, led by the wise chief, should recapture those artifacts and kill all the greedy messengers.

After hearing this confession, Xiao Weizhi couldn't help but deeply wondered whether the officer who asked the question had read too many stories about myths and strange things, and he could make up everything about the incident based on the incoherent and incoherent narration of the natives. The ins and outs.

However, according to the confessions of the indigenous people, the "big war" in the early morning has wiped out most of their "main force", and even their wise and powerful chiefs were shot to death by muskets at the first time. Falling into the sea, most of them went to meet the gods they worshiped.

In this way, this powerful tribe was wiped out by Qi State.But out of caution, the fleet is still planning to go to the east side of the island to investigate the tribal camp and see what's going on with them.

After sailing for half a day, when the fleet arrived at the east side of the island at [-] o'clock in the afternoon, they found that the indigenous villages on the shore had no awareness of being an "enemy" when they saw the big ship approaching. They neither fled nor organized any resistance.When the fully armed sailors were preparing to land in small boats, several brave native warriors thought of obstructing the landing of the Qi people.

This huge tribal camp should be composed of several villages. Many women and children looked curiously at the outsiders who suddenly broke into their homes.

These poor natives may not know that their fathers, husbands, or sons were shot and killed by Qi people at sea in the early morning.Even those who survived by luck were scared out of their wits, and still stayed in the sea of ​​killing in a daze, constantly chanting about the gods in the sky.

Watching Xiao Weizhi and a group of Qi naval officers and soldiers and armed immigrants rush ashore and enter their camp.A few old natives with faces covered in various oil paints and wearing a crown made of various flying feathers greeted them, but they were blocked by more than a dozen cautious naval officers and soldiers.

Those old natives, probably the priests of the tribe, took a piglet from the natives next to them, and at the same time, they muttered something, as if they were reading a sacrificial rite.Afterwards, he bent down and handed the piglet in his hand to Xiao Weizhi and other Qi State officers respectfully.

Xiao Weizhi roughly guessed that the aborigines might be doing an ancient and primitive sacrificial activity to express their respect and awe for the arrival of the conquerors.

An old native with a long beard led Xiao Weizhi and others to the back of the camp, and came to a wooden statue of a god. He smiled and began to chant a hymn.

After the end, he took the conqueror to a huge mausoleum, where five huge pillars stood, and under the pillars, twelve wooden statues of gods were placed in a semicircle. tables.

On the altar was a pig with a rotting head, along with some sugar cane, coconuts, breadfruit, plantains and sweet potatoes.The long-bearded native elder offered the pig's head on the table to Xiao Weizhi, and then began to recite a lengthy sacrificial rite.

Hundreds of aborigines had already gathered around, and after the old aboriginal man finished reading the sacrificial rite, they all knelt down and prostrated themselves on the ground.

"The aborigines here probably regard us as gods descended from the world." An officer (captain) of the imperial military school (captain) suppressed a smile and said quietly to Shi Linguang: "From now on, your Huaiyang Fort can justifiably control this island. The natives of the land are included among the people under your dominion."

"That's not bad!" Shi Linguang grinned after hearing this, "We happen to lack the necessary manpower. In the future, we will have enough coolies to drive us when we build ports, reclaim farmland, and build fortresses."

"Roar! Roar! Roar..."

At this time, there was a sudden burst of shouting from all around, and the natives surrounded Xiao Weizhi, with their hands raised high, and their expressions were jumping wildly.

"Officer Xiao seems to be the god of these natives at this moment!"

"I think he is more like the king of those natives."

Everyone was astonished when they heard the words.

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On March 3th, under the watchful eyes of hundreds of residents of Huaiyang Fort, three motor sailboats slowly left the pier. Several thick smoke columns, under the cover of green mountains and green waters, looked unusually abrupt, which was in harmony with the natural and primitive surroundings. The environment is so out of place.

After sailing out of the narrow mouth of the bay, the fleet turned to the north, preparing to enter the 42-degree north latitude area, and continue to use the North Pacific Kuroshio Current to head for the west coast of America.

After the three motor sailboats unloaded half of the immigrants and supplies at Huaiyang Fort, the load of the ships was greatly reduced. Driven by the steam engine, the fleet ran at an average speed of 12-15 knots on a calm ocean. .

On April 4, a huge storm hit the moving fleet. In the high wind and waves, the three motorboats had to lower all their sails, turn off their machines, silently pray for the blessings of the gods and Buddhas in the sky, and wait for the weather to improve.

In the early morning of April 4th, the storm that had been raging for two days and two nights gradually subsided, and a round of red sun jumped out of the sky, shining golden light on the sea, which was really beautiful.

But lookouts on the fleet's flagship, Feng Yang, reported in dismay to the commander that they had lost track of the other two motorboats.

According to the regulations in the "Navy Navigation Regulations", after the other two ships in the same group temporarily lost contact at sea, the "Feng Yang" will stay in the sea area for two days to find and wait for the rendezvous of the lost ships.

But the sea is boundless, and once the fleet ships are separated, it is difficult to gather again.Moreover, the storm lasted for two days, and who knows where they could be carried under the wind and waves.

What made Fleet Commander Xiao Weizhi even more worried was whether the lost ships would be thrown into the sea by wind and waves, causing one or two huge accidents at sea in which both men and ships were lost.

Although this is purely God's force majeure, as the commander of this squadron, Xiao Weizhi has to bear more or less management responsibilities, which will definitely have a great impact on his future career development and promotion in the army .

The "Feng Yang" kept wandering in circles in the sea area where it was located. During the day, it fired a round of shelling every two hours, and at night it fired a bright signal bomb into the sky.

However, two days have passed, and the two lost motor sailboats have never appeared. In the vast Pacific Ocean, it seems that there is only one lonely ship, the "Fengyang", floating helplessly on the sea.

With a sense of loss, Fleet Commander Xiao Weizhi ordered the "Feng Yang" to stop searching, change its course, and head for the west coast of the American continent.

Perhaps, after losing contact with them, the other two motor sailing ships have followed the orders issued before leaving and are also heading towards the direction of the American continent.

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On April 4, the sailors on the "Feng Yang" could already see scattered branches floating on the sea, a large number of aquatic plants, and even a few reeds.

All this shows that the mainland is not far away.Many naval officers and soldiers immediately lifted their spirits, sweeping away the dull atmosphere of more than ten days.

At noon, April 4, the lookout on the mast shouted loudly that land was in sight.After hearing this, all the officers and soldiers climbed onto the mast and rigging to watch. They saw a black land in front of them, standing at the end of the ocean.As the distance gradually approaches, the color of the land gradually turns into endless green.

"Where are we?" Xiao Weizhi asked in a deep voice while holding up the binoculars to carefully observe the distant coast.

"North latitude is 36 degrees, east longitude is 170 degrees (the latitude of Qi State is calculated, the equator is still taken as the zero-degree latitude, but the longitude is based on the Jianye City Astronomical Observatory as the zero-degree longitude, the area east of Jianye is the east longitude, and the west is the west longitude) " Captain Yao Bangquan immediately replied: "According to the information provided by the exploration fleet, there is a peninsula in the north, which is suitable for establishing immigrant settlements."

"Then let's look for the peninsula area and prepare to establish a colonial stronghold there." Xiao Weizhi put down the binoculars, thought for a while, and immediately made a decision, "Adjust the course and head north. Remember not to get too close to the shore, otherwise Prevent from running aground or running aground....Well, when sailing close to the coast, continue to send contact signals regularly. Maybe the brothers of those two ships are waiting for us on a certain coast.”

"Yes, sir!" Yao Bangquan promised loudly.

At 4 p.m. on April 21, the "Feng Yang" approached the middle of the strait consisting of two peninsulas (now the Golden Gate Strait near San Francisco).After some careful observation, it was found that the terrain on the southern peninsula (San Francisco Peninsula) has less undulations, and several flat valleys can be seen faintly, which is obviously much superior to the towering and steep mountains on the northern peninsula.

What's even more rare is that this place is surrounded by water on three sides, and the location is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as a fortress that has begun to take shape is built, it will be an extremely rare coastal fortress, which is enough to guarantee the initial safety of immigrants.

"Log in."

Following Xiao Weizhi's order, the three small boats were released immediately. The first wave of landing advance team composed of ten sailors and twenty Japanese wandering samurai, holding muskets and long knives, took the small boat slowly to the countdown. Paddle to the coast a hundred meters away.

"You, lead five people to search southeast, and the depth should not exceed one kilometer."

"That who..., that's you, lead five people to explore the southwest, don't run too far, the limit is one kilometer.... Remember, if you find anything, shoot the warning immediately, and quickly withdraw to this place to land point."

"How many of you are left, immediately clear the bushes and weeds here, and prepare to set up a temporary camp."

"...Damn it, why is it raining non-stop.... Sun Datou, when the next batch of supplies is delivered, bring some linoleum tents to the shore!"

"..."

The entire landing operation took four full days. Food, building materials, tents, quilts, farm tools, hardware tools, livestock and poultry, seeds, gunpowder... were scattered, hundreds of tons of supplies and more than 70 immigrants. The small boats were sent to the shore one by one in the way of ants moving.

Dozens of tents were closely arranged in the middle of the camp, and temporary latrines, filter pools, public canteens, material warehouses, guard towers, and simple peripheral wooden fences were also built one after another in the following days.On this beautiful and peaceful land, a group of immigrants from the far east broke its silence for thousands of years in an instant and brought the hustle and bustle of the civilized world.

"It was originally planned to establish a medium-scale immigrant stronghold with more than 200 people, but there has been no news of the other two motor sailing boats, and we don't know what happened, which makes people extremely worried." Xiao Weizhi looked at Feng Yiliang solemnly, He said solemnly: "But no matter what, you must use the only materials and immigrants currently available to overcome all difficulties and establish a solid immigration stronghold here."

"I know that the supplies for you may be in short supply, especially food, which has lost a lot because of the storm. But there are a lot of birds and animals here, and people can be organized to go hunting in the mountains, which is more or less a supplement to the food. In addition , I will leave you two more small boats so that you can go fishing and get some food no matter what, so that you can last longer. When the next time the fleet comes to deliver supplies, it may be half a year at the earliest. You have to do it Good overall planning and careful planning”

"The humble job is written down." Feng Yiliang replied in a deep voice.

"Good job!" Xiao Weizhi reached out and patted Feng Yiliang's shoulder, and said solemnly: "If the colonial affairs here are done well, you may not be able to obtain an amnesty from His Majesty in the future and restore your innocence."

"According to the auspicious words of the chief." Feng Yiliang smiled, and then said in a solemn voice: "Being humbled by this position, I will definitely devote myself to my death, and I will not lose face for my navy."

Xiao Weizhi nodded, then, looking back at the depths of the strait, he sighed insignificantly.

Where were the two motor-sailing boats?