Dominate the Country

The war in North America is going on, and the expeditionary force has allowed the dispatched troops to recruit people willing to serve in the settlement.

The failure of the defense battle at the mouth of the Colorado River was a huge blow to the immigrants around San Diego. The residents of one immigrant village after another evacuated northward, and tens of thousands of immigrants who settled here were forced to leave their new homes. At the same time, the armed militia in the immigrant village was divided into two, one part followed the women and children to evacuate northward, and the other part stayed in San Diego.

In addition to the militia gathered in the rear, the expeditionary force defending San Diego City has increased rather than decreased compared to the battle at the mouth of the river. Not counting the navy at the port, it has reached 5,000 to 6,000 people. More than half of them are militia.

Although the Spaniards won the battle at the mouth of the Colorado River, and they also had rockets, a defensive position in the wild is still far from comparable to the city attack and defense battle like San Diego.

The big duck won the first game, but it may not win the second game.

…

The time goes back two months. In fact, when Chen Ming received the North American war report, the war had been over for a while.

…

Emperor Chen had a high status in the minds of immigrants. He asked the landlords to reduce rent and interest in his native land, which relieved a lot of pressure on the people who stayed in the native land. So many public fields were also rented out, and the rent was lower and less than that of the landlords, giving the people a better choice.

Just this point, his status in the hearts of immigrants was not low.

You should know that the life of North American immigrants in their homeland was not very good. Even if their living conditions improved a little after the establishment of Chen Han, it was only relative. As long as people can make a living, few Chinese are willing to leave their hometown.

But these people had received great favors from Chen Han before they were moved to North America.

This is grace, this is benevolent and virtuous governance. This "good" is to give many poor people a chance to breathe, and let them remember the grace.

When San Diego is in danger, that is when this "gratitude" breaks out.

The militiamen who were left behind generally obeyed the orders, and the militiamen who gathered also fought bravely. Their fighting spirit and courage were high, and they were not like cowards who could not pull the trigger on the battlefield. San Diego was their homeland, where they lived and multiplied, and their fields and houses were all here.

There was no need to struggle hard for a long time when they came to North America. The land here was fertile. They only needed to find a place with rivers and water sources, cultivate fields, and build houses. It only took two years to gain a foothold, and then it was the day of repaying the loan year after year.

So now these immigrants hate the Spaniards.

They just got a foothold here, and the Spaniards came to kill them. This feeling was not good.

If they all wanted to abandon everything they had now and be relocated to another place to start over like the immigrants who were forced to move north outside San Diego, they would have wasted two years of time, two years of hard work, and even owed more debts. This is one of the reasons why the militiamen were so motivated.

In two years, a large number of people immigrated to San Diego, and dozens of immigration sites around it became immigrant villages. The whole area gradually prospered, and the immigrants' lives became better and their prospects were bright. But now they were destroyed by the Spaniards, and all the militias hated the Spaniards.

Ding Dongsheng is one of them. He is now eighteen years old. Only after he was fifteen did he experience what it felt like to have a full stomach. When he was sixteen, he followed his parents and relatives to migrate to North America and came to Village No. 3 in Lore Town, San Diego.

Lore Town is a name given by the immigrants themselves, because on the day the town was established, the sky thundered dozens of times and it rained heavily all night.

Ding Dongsheng felt that the thunderstorm was the rebirth of his family. Last year, his family could eat a full meal every day, and they could have a taste of meat every ten days or half a month.

Ding Dongsheng's family is a member of the vested interest group after Chen Han was established. Their family is full of loyalty and trust in Chen Han. Emperor Chen was respected by Ding Dongsheng's parents and brother as the Buddha of all families. When the battle at the mouth of the Colorado River was lost and all the immigrants had to retreat northward, the entire Ding family cursed the Spaniards again and again. Ding Dongsheng firmly chose to stay, and in line with the most simple peasant concept of "repaying gratitude", not only Ding Dongsheng stayed, but also his third brother Ding Qiusheng, who was not married yet, stayed.

"Work hard, fight well, fight the red-haired devils, be loyal to the emperor, and serve the court." When they parted, the old man Ding said to his two sons. Ding Dongsheng, Ding Qiusheng and another living eldest brother Ding Chunsheng, the Ding family has no shortage of people to carry on the family line. Only the second brother Ding Xiasheng of the four brothers of the Ding family died ten years ago.

The siege of San Diego ended more than a month ago. Ding Dongsheng was injured. He first lay in the field hospital for four or five days, and then was sent to the military hospital in Tokyo by sea. His roommate was a man with a broken head, but he was also a lucky man. He actually got more than 20,000 yuan in a not-so-intense fight. The thick stack of deposit slips under the pillow made Ding Dongsheng really envious.

This is a huge sum of money. With this money, all the loans of the Ding family can be paid off. They can also buy horses, sell cattle, buy ranches, and build a small earth building.

The Ding family is from Fujian. They should have gone to Southeast Asia, but they ended up in North America.

Due to the current environment, Ding Dongsheng's father and brother were very dissatisfied with the houses built in the immigrant village. If they wanted to be solid and safe, the earthen buildings in Fujian were better. In addition to being able to defend against enemies, they were also conducive to family reunion. The descendants of the same ancestor formed an independent small society in an earthen building, coexisting and prospering together, dying and humiliating together, how wonderful.

Therefore, the clan power of Fujian has always been the strongest region in the country, defending against foreign invasions and concentrating on the inside.

The earthen building, which is solid and sturdy, is like a big fortress. There are a lot of food reserves, places to raise livestock, and wells inside. As long as the door is closed, the openings and windows upstairs can be guarded by young and strong men with guns and cannons, and women, children, old and young can rest assured. As long as there are no cannons and gunpowder bags, it is really not possible to do anything with the muskets in your hands.

But the country does not promote earthen buildings and does not build them at all.

This is the puzzle that Ding Dongsheng and his father, brother and family members have been puzzled about.

Life in the military hospital was very comfortable. There were water, lakes, mountains, forests, and a vast green grassland. To Ding Dongsheng, who had lived in the mountainous area of ​​Fujian since childhood, this was more comfortable and relaxing than the beach of the Tokyo Coastal Sanatorium.

He liked mountains and forests, rivers and lakes, but not the sea.

Even the seafood that appeared on the table from time to time now, Ding Dongsheng couldn't get used to it.

But the recuperation life in the military hospital was a rare opportunity to open his eyes. The consolation performances, storytelling and singing here never stopped. Although he still felt dizzy from time to time - not because his head was hit, but because of excessive bleeding, and the wound on his chest had just closed, Ding Dongsheng came to the performance venue in the hospital playground on time every day; in just one month, he heard more dramas than he had watched in the past 18 years. He had also run to the forest outside the military hospital several times, and secretly vowed in his heart that after the wound healed, he must run in the forest.

For Ding Dongsheng, this entire military hospital is a large luxurious residential area, and he is one of the residents. In addition to receiving regular doctor's examinations and nurses' dressing changes, eating, sleeping, watching plays, chatting, life is too comfortable.

There are nearly 3,000 people here, including a team of doctors, nurses, service and security personnel. The rest are all wounded and sick people like Ding Dongsheng. On the periphery of the military hospital, another militia squad is stationed to guard.

The situation faced by the North American Expeditionary Force is quite severe. Although the big duck failed to capture San Diego, they did cross the mouth of the Colorado River. The upper and lower Jiazhou are open to them. They can divide their troops to the north and south, and there is no need to fight San Diego to death. In order to stop these, the expeditionary force, which is at a disadvantage in terms of strength, can only attack their coastal areas by sea, except for confronting them head-on.

Of course, the expeditionary force can also go east out of the Salton Basin, and then after a long journey, go south to attack the core area of ​​Mexico. But this is a dead end. There is also the natural barrier of Colorado River on the east side of the Salton Basin, and it is impossible to supply smoothly.

In the distant Salton Basin. At the regimental headquarters of a certain unit of the Eastern Front Expeditionary Force, Pan Chang was sitting at the desk in the camp. The guard spread a snow-white towel on the table and brought up today's midnight snack.

It was already late at night.

When he was in Nanjing, Pan Chang did not have the habit of eating midnight snacks. Even when he was not in the barracks, he did not eat staple food at night. But North America is different, but Salton is different. Here, he may face war at any time.

The battle of Salton has ended, and the main force of the expeditionary force has withdrawn, but Pan Chang's regiment is still there. The severely damaged Pan Chang's unit has only been supplemented with a militia battalion. The real militia battalion is composed of young and strong militiamen recruited from the immigrant group, which is completely different from the previous Yanzi Battalion.

Their mission is to guard the Spanish colonial army on the eastern front. The Spanish Eastern Route Army, which has been severely beaten, has collapsed. Only more than 10,000 of them were killed, but after the remaining 20,000 or so people ran back to the safe area, only a little over 10,000 defeated soldiers were taken in.

It is impossible that all the remaining 10,000 people died on the road. It is more likely that they fled back home. But this is also a potential threat.

Therefore, Pan Chang's troops need to be vigilant, but they are not under great pressure from the front. The real trouble is the cavalry sent out by the Spanish again. The latter's footprints have already stepped into the Salton Basin and are constantly attacking the patrols sent out by Pan Chang's troops.

There are casualties almost every day. Some Spanish cavalry even dared to harass Pan Chang's regiment headquarters.

The fragrant smell of the food immediately made Pan Chang's stomach feel hungry. The Salton Basin is no longer a war zone, but it is a war zone after all, and the diet is naturally not comparable to Tokyo. The most important thing is the distance from the seaside, separated by a small but troublesome Salton Basin, and many fresh meats cannot reach the front line at all.

And Tokyo, San Diego and other places were famous fishing areas in North America until the 21st century.

The only fresh meat Pan Chang could get was horse meat. There weren't even many birds in this hellhole, but horse meat often came to him.

——There were always horses injured in war.

Horse meat has high nutritional value, tender meat, less fat, and contains a unique fresh and fragrant flavor and rich nutrition. Although the traditional Chinese saying is that horse meat is poisonous, soldiers all know that when cooking horse meat, you only need to remove all the blood and cook it before eating. Don't cook it half-cooked.

Horse meat is sweet, sour, cold in nature, and enters the liver and spleen meridians; it has the effects of replenishing qi, nourishing blood, nourishing the liver and kidneys, and strengthening muscles and bones.

Now it's the premier delicacy in the Salton Basin. For soldiers, this is definitely the number one delicacy today.

Pan Chang first ate the 'fresh' grilled salted fish slowly, then a separate portion of boiled horse meat, and a bowl of noodles, which was covered with three pieces of boiled horse meat as wide as a palm and one finger thick. Is he an official? , you can always receive some preferential treatment.

He picked up the porcelain ocean bowl and poured some pepper, sesame oil and sour vinegar into it. After mixing it, he ate it in big mouthfuls. The guard lowered the brightness of the oil lamp, which made the light in the room much softer.

After eating the supper, Pan Chang rinsed his mouth with water, and then poured himself a glass of unknown red wine. This stuff tastes pretty good. It was a good thing that his men found in a carriage that was abandoned on the roadside. Having a drink every night seems to be good for your body, at least you sleep more soundly.

This battle in the Salton Basin caused many officers in Pan Chang's regiment to change their previous style. Because the main force knew the difficulty of transportation here, when they left Salton, they kept almost all the spoils they captured, including drinks and food in a foreign country, and unexpected changes came.

Now there are some officers in his army who are eating butter cheese and drinking coffee, and some are addicted to chocolate. Pan Chang likes red wine, which is just an inconspicuous example among them.

Pan Chang gradually began to feel sleepy. He got up and walked to the bedroom. Unexpectedly, at this moment, a ball of fire suddenly lit up in the distance, and then there was a muffled sound.

"Damn it. Another rocket!"

All sleepiness disappeared from Pan Chang's mind in an instant. He jumped out of the window and looked towards the place where the noise was coming from. It was pitch black there, nothing could be seen clearly except the fire that burned at the beginning of the attack, and there was no explosion sound.

Pan Chang slapped the log on the window sill hard.

The Spaniards are really using their own way to counter their own behavior.

When Chen Han was still relatively weak, they also harassed the enemy with rocket attacks, but now this treatment has fallen on themselves. Who knows how the big duck got the rockets? Pan Chang is really annoyed by this.

"We don't have a barracks in that location. Send someone to take a look immediately."

Pan Chang took a breath and turned his eyes to the place where he was attacked. He turned his head and his frown faded away. If he remembered that location correctly, it was just the regiment's lumber reserve.

Was the attacker mistaken? Or did they not even know the layout of the regiment, and just blindly fired, accidentally hitting somewhere?

Pan Chang said as he put away the telescope.

…

A team of one hundred or ten people quickly attacked.

If they want to pass through patrol teams to show up at the regiment headquarters, the number of people must not be large, otherwise they would have been caught long ago.

Therefore, a team-level combat structure is completely sufficient.

And this was life on the front lines for Salton...