1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 977 "Industrial Blood"

March 1681, 3, Kaiyuan.

"preparation!"

"put!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

With the commander's long knife swung down, dense lead bullets were thrown over in an instant, blocking the charge of more than a thousand native troops on the opposite side more than 60 meters away. Countless natives groaned and fell to the ground one after another. .

"Cavalry, attack all!"

The dense musket formation and the never-ending sound of shooting caused the natives to suffer huge casualties. The whole team collapsed uncontrollably, shouting and screaming, turning around and running backwards.

The rumbling sound of horseshoes behind them aggravated the confusion of the natives. Everyone was struggling to escape to the distant mountains and forests. As long as they could hide in the dense forest, they could escape.

"Don't stop, don't stop!" A cavalry officer shouted loudly: "Go through, go first!... Stop the return of the natives!"

With the help of the horse's momentum, Ai Cheng easily cut the neck of a running native in front with the saber in his hand, then slammed the horse's belly, picked up his speed again, and galloped towards the mountains and forests following the tactical instructor in front of him. go.

The student soldiers arrived at Kaiyuan Railway Station at one o'clock in the middle of the night the day before, and were then assigned to the Dongcheng District of Kaiyuan City to gather and stand by.

At dawn the next day, an army intelligence staff officer conveyed an order from the head of the Northern Command that all the cadets form a mixed battalion without having to carry artillery, and immediately ran to the Kaiyuan Reservoir dam to set up defenses to prevent the native coolies from fleeing to the southeast mountain forest area.

Four days ago, some natives who had expired at the Kaiyuan mine were informed that their work period would be extended for another six months.In order to compensate the "spiritual loss" of these natives, Kaiyuan Mine will increase their labor service fees, and each person will receive an extra remuneration of 3-5 cents according to the amount of monthly work.

Every year, the State of Qi "recruits" hundreds of thousands of native coolies from the Nanyang Islands to go to the Hanzhou mainland and some overseas territories to serve for a period of five years.They are filled in large numbers in extremely difficult workplaces such as mines, urban infrastructure, railways, highways, docks, and reservoirs, and contribute their "meager strength" to the construction of a beautiful and rich Qi State.

In the first year when these natives came to the mainland of Hanzhou, due to the environment, climate, poisonous insects, snakes, ants, crocodile attacks, and short-term inability to adapt to high-intensity work, nearly one-fifth of them would die.During the next period of service, the remaining natives will also be killed by various safety accidents, diseases, fights, strains, and abuse by supervisors.In the end, there may be less than one-third of the natives who can survive the service period.

During this period, open flames and unprotected machinery were common, and the air in many workplaces was filled with dense smoke, mist and dust, which were harmful in varying degrees.Horses run loose, barrows hit head-on, trucks drag machinery at high speeds, poisonous preparations are placed everywhere, and overweight goods are all common phenomena. The equipment has not been widely used yet—of course, the local mines and road construction sites in Hanzhou will not spend extra costs to provide these protective equipment in order to protect the bodies of the natives.

As we all know, mining is a typical high-risk occupation, facing various dangers at any time.The people of Qi are not willing to stuff their precious residents into such a life-consuming place, so the demand for native coolies will naturally become extremely strong.

Apparently, if death or injury occurred in the course of work, it was natural for countless natives, who were becoming more and more insensible, to call it fate.For the accident victims, this may be a great tragedy, but most of them can only accept the result in silence and hope that they can see through the rest of their service.

Those natives who returned to their hometowns alive were also subjected to high-intensity labor, inhalation of various dust particles, infection by toxic gases, and physical punishment. Everyone's bodily functions were inevitably severely damaged.If it is a quiet rest, it is very likely that in the long years to come, it will suffer all kinds of pain and torture.

Although every native who returns to his hometown has received a "high salary" from the people of Qi, but alcoholism-although alcohol is prohibited by the True God religion, many natives have become accustomed to it during their service in Hanzhou. The stimulating effects of alcohol, and other intemperate consumption, will soon squander the income they have gained, and die silently in extreme poverty and unspeakable pain.

The vast majority of Nanyang natives are extremely repulsed by Qi's "recruitment" work, and even fear it as a way to die.But under the coercion of those puppet sultans and tribal leaders controlled by the people of Qi, they had to say goodbye to their relatives. Go down the railway line and road construction site full of bones, and then silently dedicate everything to yourself.

When the five-year service period expired, all the natives who were still alive were relieved, thanking the great true God for his protection, allowing him to survive. Everyone wanted to leave the regional mine urgently and return to their hometown to reunite with their relatives.

However, the people of Qi went so far as to renege on their promises, forcing more than 800 native coolies who had expired to continue serving for half a year on the grounds of heavy workload and insufficient manpower.God is sorry, these people have escaped accidents, diseases, high-intensity labor, and also endured the flogging of supervisors, fighting with coolies, starvation, and endless fatigue.

Naturally, the unreasonable demands of the Qi people were strictly rejected by the native coolies, and they clamored one after another, demanding that the Qi people fulfill their promises and let them return home safely.

The management personnel of the mine then instructed more than a dozen native supervisors to severely suppress it, and whipped the natives who took the lead in making trouble.It might be that the overseer's hands were too dark, or it might be that the native coolies were too weak. Four of the six coolies who were punished were actually killed.In anger, the brother of one of the deceased attacked the native supervisor with stones, and took the lead in launching a violent resistance.Afterwards, the clamoring natives rushed forward and beat to death more than a dozen overseers who showed off their might.

The native coolies who made a big fuss took advantage of the situation and snatched tools, inciting all the natives to riot.After paying huge casualties, they killed dozens of mine guards and managers, and took control of the entire Kaiyuan mine.

After Kaiyuan City received reports from dozens of guards and foremen who escaped in embarrassment, martial law was immediately issued throughout the city, and hundreds of armed militiamen were quickly mobilized. Prevent the natives from entering Kaiyuan City.

At the same time, the magistrate of Kaiyuan sent several envoys for help to Xinhuai'an, Heishan and Jianye, requesting the mobilization of garrisons and gendarmes to quickly quell the native riots and avoid more serious consequences.

In fact, if the rioting natives fled to the south immediately after snatching the weapons and tools from the mine, or scattered into the mountains, it might cause some difficulties for the follow-up counter-insurgency work of the Qi people.

However, these raging army of local coolies actually had the idea of ​​seizing Kaiyuan City. They thought that if they wanted to grab a hand in the wealthy city of Qi State, in addition to obtaining a large amount of supplies, they also wanted to seize Kaiyuan City. Vent some of the grievances accumulated in my heart, and then flee to the dense forests in the mountains to avoid the killing of Qi's army.

The native army of more than 3000 people lingered in the Kaiyuan mine for a full night and half a day before they elected a few leaders, armed with muskets and various mine tools that they had snatched, and killed them in a mighty manner. To Kaiyuan City.

At this time, in Kaiyuan City, after a night of chaos, under the organization of officials at all levels and local reserve officers, order was quickly restored, and preliminary preparations were made for an attack.More than 1000 citizens were urgently armed, and a large number of horse refusals and barricades were put in place one by one outside the city.In the process of waiting for the natives to attack, more than 20 artillery pieces were even launched from the arsenal in the city, staring at the direction outside the city.

When the native army attacked Kaiyuan City, it was no accident that they encountered a Kaiyuan defender with police and retired soldiers as the backbone, which inflicted great damage on the natives.Although the shooting process was not uniform, and there were even a lot of misfires or self-injury, the violent musket shooting still caused the attacking natives to lose a lot.Especially when dozens of artillery began to bombard, the natives immediately lost their confidence in attacking.

If the natives withdrew from the encirclement at this time and fled towards the south or east where the mountains and forests are dense, they might be able to escape the army's suppression by luck and persevere for a little longer.

But the natives, who were unable to overcome the difficulties, returned to the Kaiyuan mine in frustration and began to quarrel.

Some people are well aware of the strength of the Qi State. If they send troops to attack, everyone will not be spared and will be slaughtered. It is better to surrender.The Qi people had already experienced the destructive power of the natives' riots, and understood that excessive oppression would arouse resistance, and they might reduce the degree of enslavement to them in the future.

Some people also believed that since they had launched an armed riot and killed dozens of Qi people, they would definitely face wild revenge. Even if they voluntarily surrendered, they would not be exonerated.Even if the Qi people don't kill them all, they will definitely punish them severely, and they don't rule out making their service period permanent.At that time, everyone's life would be worse than death, and their bones would eventually be buried in abandoned mines.

That being the case, why not fight to the death with the Qi people, and bite them hard before being destroyed.

After a small-scale firefight, the desperate faction killed all the backbone of the natives who wanted to surrender, and then engulfed all the native coolies and began to deploy defenses at the Kaiyuan mine, preparing to have a dignified battle with the attacking Qi army. battle.

A mixed battalion of the army stationed in the Heishan barracks immediately switched to a wartime state after receiving the news of Kaiyuan City's request for help. A military call-up order was issued, requiring all retired soldiers to report to the barracks immediately and prepare to form a reserve army.

The Naval Home Fleet Command in Jianye also mobilized and armed hundreds of naval officers and soldiers who were resting in Hong Kong and handed them over to the army for unified command.

On the evening of the second day after the native riots, more than [-] sea and land officers and soldiers had assembled in Kaiyuan City, and the reserve corps recruited later were being reorganized and distributed to Kaiyuan City one after another.

When more than 400 military cadets arrived, the army had already used a powerful artillery offensive to break through the Kaiyuan Mine defended by the natives, and began chasing and killing the fleeing native coolies.

Therefore, the instructors who led the team formed two cavalry companies with cadet soldiers with certain riding skills, and followed the large force to pursue and intercept the fleeing natives.

This short crackdown was full of blood and cruelty, and it could even be called a bare-bones massacre.All officers, soldiers, reservists, and armed militiamen were given a strict order that all natives who did not voluntarily surrender would be shot and killed.

The military wants to use this most decisive method to deter and intimidate all the native coolies and rebels, and kill them without mercy.

You must know that Jianye Mansion is the most important and largest industrial center in Qi State, with a population of more than 40 gathered in more than ten counties and towns under its jurisdiction.

In the entire Jianye Mansion, apart from Kaiyuan Mine, Heishan (near today's Palmerston, Australia), Luoping (now Batchelor Town, Northern Australia), Shahe (now Southport Town, Northern Australia), Yongxing, North Several counties including Liang (now the small town of Pine Creek in northern Australia) have mines of various sizes, with a total of more than [-] native coolies.

If the coolies in the mines in these places also make trouble like the Kaiyuan mine, it will cause serious damage to the industrial production order and raw material supply of the entire Jianye Mansion.

Ai Cheng rode on the horse, looking at the corpses of the natives lying here and there in the wilderness, although his face was expressionless, his stomach was full of turmoil.The excitement after the battle gradually subsided, followed by a trace of fatigue and sleepiness.In two days, all the cadets rested for less than six hours, all supported by a passion for fighting and excitement on the battlefield.

Now, the large-scale battle has ended, and the army officers and soldiers and reserve soldiers are going deep into the nearby mountains in squads to search for the fleeing natives.Some army soldiers who rushed over were holding bayonets and were stabbing the dying natives on the battlefield.Drops of blood dripped continuously from the tip of the bayonet, and the wounded native lay on the ground moaning and crying in vain, and then the sound stopped abruptly the moment the sharp bayonet was pierced.

"Wow..." Ai Cheng hugged the horse's neck and began to vomit.

Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers just moved away a little bit, but instead of taunting, they smiled kindly.Soldiers on the battlefield, unless they are particularly nervous, will basically have this reaction after the first murder.

"Drink some water." Sergeant Lu Fangqiang, the tactical instructor of Daxing Military Academy, rode slowly to Ai Cheng's side, and handed him a water bottle.

"Are you Qi people always treating these natives so harshly?" Ai Cheng took the water bottle and rinsed his mouth, looking at Lu Fangqiang with a pale face.

"If you fall behind, you will be beaten." Lu Fangqiang sneered, "If you are weak, you will be bullied. Don't look at these natives who are now being killed by us, looking miserable. But don't forget what our ancestors said In a word, people who are not of our race must have a different heart. What's more, these natives are naturally lazy and lazy, and their hearts are cruel and jealous. It is said that before the rise of our country of Qi, they often bullied those living on the Nanyang islands. Han people. In order to covet the money of our Han people, murders, robbers, and prostitution of wives and daughters abound."

"However, since the rise of your country of Qi, the natives in the Nanyang region have become your slaves who take what you can, and they have plundered tens of thousands of them to the mainland of Hanzhou, working as cows and horses, so that the persecution of them Rise up and resist...how do you explain what you have done this time?"

"I don't really understand other reasons. But over the years, I have understood one thing, that is, whether a country or a family wants to develop and become rich, in addition to their own hard work, they also need to rely on The method of plundering is to slowly accumulate strength." Lu Fangqiang said quietly: "If you don't want to plunder your own family, then you can only reach out to people from other countries and suck their flesh and blood."

(End of this chapter)