Commander Zheng had already planned the location of the first batch of farmland these days. The first batch of farmland was located on both sides of the river, stretching for more than 30 miles. It was located on the east and west sides of the camp, enough for 5,000 farmers to farm. 800 farmers and 400 soldiers were dispatched to cut down trees and clear out an isolated area without vegetation outside the planned new field, preparing to burn the forest.
On the 13th of January, before the Lantern Festival was over, Fang Laosan and his 50 soldiers were busy at the edge of the forest when they suddenly saw a cloud of smoke rising in the distance.
Old Third Fang was stunned. He suspected that he was seeing things. He looked at one of his squad leaders. Old Third Fang's squad leader was also shocked. Old Third Fang knew from his face that he had not seen wrongly.
Could it be that the barbarians had come again?
"Everyone, return to the camp! Everyone, pack up!" Old Fang shouted. Let's go back to camp!"
The 40 soldiers followed Fang Laosan and rushed to the camp. After rushing for an hour, Fang Laosan returned to the small hill where they had set up camp.
Fang Laosan walked into the camp through the gate and shouted to the soldiers standing guard beside the gate,""What happened? The foreigners are here?"
The soldier standing guard replied,"It's not the barbarians, it's Red Hair!"”Old Third Fang was stunned. He did not expect Hong Yi to come this time. E novel.
It was said that the Hong Yi were all very tall and had red fur all over their bodies, just like Chi Gui. These Red Barbarians ate raw meat like wild beasts. Hong Yi's fleet had been plundering along the Fujian coast for a long time, killing many Ming people. He didn't know how many red-haired people had come this time.
Fang Laosan brought 40 of his men to the assembly point. Commander Zheng Hui was there with his hands on his hips to boost morale.
"Red Fur only sent a few hundred people, not worth mentioning. We've even killed Tartars before, so why would we be afraid of these hundreds of Red Fur?”Zheng Hui paused and said loudly,"I just hope that all the people on their ship will disembark. That way, we can kill them and seize their ship."”
Hearing Zheng Hui's words, the soldiers laughed out loud and gradually became less nervous.
Zheng Hui waved his hand and said," This batch of red-haired people probably suddenly appeared in our camp. They looked down on us and are probably preparing to come in and rob us." Let's teach them a lesson! Let them know that we are not to be trifled with.”
"Two companies of four hundred men will guard behind the trench. When Red Hair comes to charge into the trench, we will kill them all in front of the trench.”
At this moment, the three ships in the harbor outside had already left the harbor and headed north. There was nothing to rob outside the camp. Red Fur would probably rush straight for the camp after getting off the boat. There were pigs, sheep, cloth, ironware, food, and other supplies in the camp. If these supplies were robbed by Red Hair, the matter of developing Taiwan would be ruined.
The two company commanders shouted and began to arrange the team. The soldiers and officers ran to their respective tents to put on their armor, take out their rifles and ammunition, and then ran out to form a line. Old Third Fang's row of forty people had always been brave enough to fight. At this moment, they were arranged at the front of the west side of the camp. The forty soldiers were divided into three rows and stood at the front line.
Old Third Fang was wearing a military uniform and holding a steel knife as he stood beside the team and gave instructions.
The winter uniform of the Fan family's soldiers was the same color as the mandarin duck battle jacket of the Ming Dynasty. They were both dyed red. However, in order to adapt to the needs of the dense shooting formation, the hem and cuffs of the Tiger Division's uniform were made very small. The left and right lapels of the military uniform were buttoned together, making it very sturdy. His pants were relatively wide, and under them were long leather boots that were easy to cross. The soldiers had leather belts around their waists, and fixed ammo pouches hung on the belts, making the entire outfit look very similar to modern military uniforms.
The officers 'uniforms were darker than the soldiers' uniforms. Although the soldiers and officers were wearing the chain mail they had obtained, the color of their clothes could still be seen through the gaps between the armor. Another difference between officers and soldiers was the tassels on their helmets. The tassels of the platoon leader were blue, different from the red tassels of the soldiers. The company commander was yellow, the battalion commander was green, the regiment commander was black, and the commander Li Zhi's tassel was white.
At this moment, Old Third Fang was wearing a dark red military uniform and standing at the far right of the team. He wore a chain mail over his military uniform and a blue tassel armor on his head.
Fang Laosan waited behind the trench for an hour before he saw the Hong Yi soldiers slowly approaching.
These Red Barbarian soldiers were very tall, and they were usually a head taller than the soldiers of the Breaking Ranks. They were wearing wide-brimmed hats and skirt-like military uniforms. They wore coffee-colored jackets over their military uniforms and had bags slung across their bodies. Most of the Hong Yi soldiers were holding their muskets, and their hands were holding a musket holder. Some of the Hong Yi soldiers raised their spears to protect the musketeers.
Just like the Breaking Ranks on the mountain, the Hong Yi soldiers were also arranged in three rows. The first two rows of soldiers were musketeers, and the last row of soldiers were pikemen.
Old Fang took a closer look and realized that not all of them had red hair. There were some gold and some black.
There were about 800 Hong Yi soldiers. They stood at the bottom of the hill and observed the top of the hill for a while. It was obvious that the few trenches had made the officers of the Red Barbarians at the foot of the mountain suspicious. They gathered in front of the army to discuss for a while.
Fang Laosan raised his right hand and shouted,"”
The forty soldiers quickly finished reloading and aimed their guns at the Red Barbarians at the foot of the hill.
The few Hong Yi generals discussed for a while and finally decided to attack the mountain. The few officers shouted something to the soldiers, and the drums of the Red Barbarians began to beat. Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the Hong Yi soldiers raised their muskets and pressed down on the 400 soldiers of the Breaking Ranks on the hill.
Two hundred steps, one hundred and eighty steps, one hundred and sixty steps, one hundred and forty steps. The Hong Yi soldiers had entered the range of the Breaking Ranks. "First-line, fire!" Third Fang shouted.”
Thirteen rifles shot out tongues of fire, and thirteen soldiers paused, tilting their bodies in the thick fog. After shooting, the soldier took a cursory look at the results of the shooting and quickly retreated from the right.
As soon as Old Third Fang finished shooting, the other row next door also started shooting. Soon, the eight platoons had completed their first volley.
The Dutch sailors who were marching along with the drumbeats seemed to have been called out and fell one by one. Before the Red Barbarian soldiers could understand what was going on, dozens of them had already fallen into a pool of blood, moaning and twitching as they screamed. Red Fur, who was still alive in the front row, was splashed with blood, and his entire body turned red.
The white smoke on the hill thickened, and the choking smell of saltpeter gunpowder filled the air.
Fang Laosan looked at the Hong Yi in front of him and felt that they had been beaten senseless. The barbarians didn't expect that the Ming people on the mountain also had muskets and could shoot so far. There were no such powerful muskets in Europe. It would be considered lucky if a European musket could hit a dense formation of enemies at a distance of 150 yards, or more accurately, 130 meters.
Even the Red Barbarian drummers stopped beating, not knowing if they should continue.
Finally, the Dutchman officer jumped out and shouted something. The Dutch gathered their courage and marched up the mountain again.
Old Third Fang sneered and raised his left hand. On his left, the 13 riflers in the second row had already aimed at Red Hair, waiting for Old Third Fang's order.
"Shoot!"
Old Third Fang's platoon once again beat the other platoons to the punch and began the second row of shooting. Thirteen bullets were fired at Red Hair's line formation, and blood splattered on the bodies of the Hong Yi soldiers who were advancing in the face of the rain of bullets. The European marines were already used to muskets, so they didn't wear armor that protected them from cold weapons. The Mini Bullets easily tore through the clothes and skin of these Europeans, drilling into their flesh and stirring them violently.
Beside Old Fang, the other platoons also started shooting. Amidst the crackling sounds of gunfire, the Dutch soldiers at the foot of the mountain fell one by one. After a few screams, they fell to the ground like stone pillars that had lost their souls and rolled down the hill.
The Dutch bandits were knocked out by two volleys of rifle fire.. The huge casualties caused them to enter a berserk state and began to do unreasonable things.
At a distance of 120 steps, the Dutchman actually set up his musket and wanted to shoot at the riflers at the top of the mountain. This distance was far beyond the effective range of the musket, and shooting with the musket would only be a random shot.
The smooth-bore gunner had already loaded his ammunition. At this moment, he set up the support and began to shoot up the mountain.
Flames burst out from the foot of the hill, and the crackling sounds of gunfire merged into a huge explosion. More than three hundred lead bullets flew towards the top of the mountain.
These lead bullets were not accurate, and after flying for nearly 200 meters, they were scattered very widely. Out of the 300 lead bullets, only 30 of them hit the soldiers.
However, these muskets had a large caliber and were quite powerful. The 30 soldiers of the Breaking Ranks who had been shot all had their chain mail pierced through and fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
When the other soldiers of the Breaking Ranks saw that Red Fur had injured their comrade, they were furious and immediately began their third volley.
Before the Dutch musketeers in the second row could step forward to shoot, the Breaking Ranks fired their third volley. The dozens of red-haired marines suddenly froze, and blood spurted out from their bodies. They screamed and covered their wounds with their hands, but they could not stop the blood from flowing out.
Some of the marines who were unwilling to die grabbed the shoulders of their comrades and roared loudly. In the end, they hung onto their comrades and died.
The five sixteen-pound cannons in the camp also fired at Red Hair. The five cannons fired 1,500 cannonballs into the formation of the red-haired soldiers.
The Dutch soldiers who were hit by the shrapnel had no chance of survival. Blood and flesh turned into powder and scattered in the air. The Dutchman who was still alive in the front row seemed to have been bathed in a rain of blood, as he was sprayed red by the blood of his companions who had been shot. Some of them were still hanging some of the pieces of flesh that had flown out of their comrades who had been shot. It was especially terrifying.
The Dutchman retreated.
More than 200 of the 800 players had been killed at once. The casualties were already too high to bear, and the muskets on this side had yet to enter the effective range. Such a battle was impossible to fight. The leading officer shouted something and the firecrackers stopped. The Dutch soldiers gave up on charging the hill and fled back the way they came with their muskets.
Old Third Fang turned to look at Zheng Hui and heard the commander shout,""All troops, pursue!"
More than 300 soldiers carried their rifles and chased after the fleeing Dutchman.
The camp was more than ten miles away from the bay where the red-haired men stopped their boats. When the red-haired men saw the Tiger Troop chasing after them, they ran in a very sorry state. The soldiers of the Breaking Ranks raised their loaded rifles and chased after them. When they saw Red Fur falling behind, they shot him to death. They chased him all the way to the beach, and the Breaking Ranks killed more than forty red-haired men.
The Dutch had suffered heavy losses this time. Even in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay that shocked the Southeast a few years ago, Zheng Zhilong had only taken a little over a hundred Red Hair Ranks. And today, the Dutchman had left more than 300 corpses in this unknown small camp.
Zheng Hui only stopped chasing after them when they reached the coast and reached the cannon range of the Dutch ship. There were too many cannons on the Dutch ship, and a single shot would cause a very tragic casualty.
The Dutchman scrambled into the small boat and rowed the boat away from the shore. They rowed towards the big boat and did not dare to turn back to fight with the soldiers of the Breaking Ranks.
Old Third Fang was hiding in the pine forest by the sea, observing the nine ships in the distance. The nine ships were not small. They were about the size of New Star, and two of them were even bigger. Those boats had wide bellies and were covered with soft sails. Each ship had a lot of cannons on its belly. Some had more than a dozen, while others had more than twenty.
Red Hair had so many cannons! The cannons of this fleet were much more than all the cannons of the Tartars.
These red-haired ships were plundering everywhere and would be the number one enemy of the Viceroy when he opened up Taiwan.
Fang Laosan was observing the ship when someone shouted from behind," Wan Sheng!”The four hundred soldiers shouted in unison. Old Third Fang turned his head and looked at the excited soldiers of the Breaking Ranks. He raised his fist and shouted,"Wan Sheng!"
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In January, the ship craftsmen in Wangjiawan delivered another ship, and Li Zhi's fleet expanded to four ships. Four ships were sent to Taiwan, and another 100 soldiers and 1,400 farmers arrived in Taiwan. By the middle of February, there were already 3,500 people in Taiwan.
Boss Wei heard that the Viceroy had studied the map in Tianjin and named the area occupied by the 3,500 people as Taiwan's Hsinchu.
Boss Wei felt that the name 'Hsinchu' sounded okay. There were indeed many bamboos nearby.
Boss Wei had been cutting down the isolation belt in the forest during this period of time. The 400 soldiers and 800 farmers spent more than a month to finally cut out a quarantine zone around the first piece of farmland and began to burn it.
On the day of the famine, Boss Wei held a torch and lit fires everywhere in the forest. The time of the burning was chosen when it had not rained for a few days. The forest was very dry, and a fire would burn a large area. Boss Wei and his two comrades formed a team of three. First, they lit a fire in the depths of the forest. Then, they retreated bit by bit and lit a fire in other places along the way. In the end, the fire almost burned Boss Wei and the other two.
Fortunately, the three of them had managed to escape outside the isolation zone.
The fire burned for five days, causing the temperature in the vicinity to rise significantly. After burning for three days, Boss Wei was ordered to enter the fire zone to check. He continued to light the places that the fire did not reach until the forest of more than 100,000 mu was burned to the ground.
In the end, the forest on the east and west sides of the camp was completely burned. Standing on the hill where they were camping, they could only see scorched earth on both sides of the river. There was nothing but black ashes.
The next step was to build irrigation canals. The irrigation canal planned by Commander Zheng this time was four miles long. He wanted to irrigate a large area. Such irrigation canals were six feet above the ground by the river and gradually lowered from the river to the distance so that water could flow along the irrigation canal.
Boss Wei followed the squad leader and started digging with a shovel and ramming the earth with a stone hammer. They started to build an irrigation canal.
On this day, Boss Wei was shoveling soil when he suddenly exclaimed,""Yuan Jin, the soil burned out is really fat!”
Yuan Jin, who was in the same class as Boss Wei, dug into the soil with a shovel and said with a smile,""Of course, this plant ash is the best fertilizer. I heard from the platoon leader that the ordinary paddy fields in Fujian can produce two stones and five buckets of rice per mu. The fields we burned are so fertile, and the harvest is even higher!”
Boss Wei had also attended night school for soldiers and could count now. He stood there and calculated."The farmers who came to Hsinchu are so rich.”
Yuan Jin smiled and shoveled another shovel of soil onto the cart without saying anything.
Boss Wei thought for a moment and said,"I'm going to write to my children and ask them to sign up to come to Taiwan as soon as possible." Although I can't recruit them into the Fan manor as an officer, being a farmer in Hsinchu isn't much worse than being a soldier!”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。