Chapter 12, Twenty-seven moments in the four years of Chongzhen (12)
Moment 12: The Morning Star Flag on Taiwan Island
Autumn of the fourth year of Chongzhen, southern Taiwan, Kaohsiung
The autumnal equinox of the fourth year of Chongzhen has just passed, and there is already a hint of chill in the early morning air in Kaohsiung Port.
——Although Kaohsiung Port is located on the dividing line between the tropics and subtropics, it was still greatly affected by the abnormal solar activity during the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty. In the 21st century, even in Kaohsiung in winter, the average temperature is above 15 degrees Celsius. But last winter on the island of Taiwan, many places with higher altitudes actually had white snow! This is evident from the climatic chaos that spread throughout China during the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty.
It was early in the morning, and under the faint morning light, the morning fog shrouding Kaohsiung Port was about to dissipate, and the entire port was coated with a layer of blurred colors by the soft morning light. The fishing boats docked at the port set sail one after another, the chirping seagulls shuttled and flew over the harbor, the smoke continued to rise, and the melodious bugles sounded in the barracks and fortresses... everything showed that this emerging city was waking up. .
On the fort in Kaohsiung Port, a morning star flag with a cross on a blue background was flying high - the Lingao Crossing Army directly "borrowed" the flag of later generations of NATO... Suddenly, a puff of white smoke came out of the fort, and there was a roaring sound. Touching the sea. This was a salute fired to welcome the arrival of a warship.
"...Is Kaohsiung ahead? Another place I've never heard of... The world is really big!"
Second Lieutenant Zhen Huan, with tattoos on his face, stood on the bow of the cruiser "Kaohsiung", looking at the vast island in front of him, as well as this vibrant new city, the eye-catching red brick customs building on the seaside, and the unfinished towering The bell tower, and the vast sea that seems to be infinitely vast all around...
Recalling that just two short years ago, I only stayed in that small Li village, entangled in boring power disputes among hundreds of people all day long, the former young master of Li village in Hainan Island, Zhen Huan, now the "Second Lieutenant of the Fubo Army of the Australian Song Dynasty", couldn't help but feel filled with emotion in his heart.
The regular army under the jurisdiction of the Lingao Traveler Senate is mainly divided into two major systems: the Funing Army, which is stationed in Fujian and wears the official skin of the Ming Dynasty, and the Fubo Army, which is stationed on Hainan Island. In addition, there are the Ba Dao Team, the Militia Team, The National Police and many other sporadic independent forces serve as supplements. Last year, Taiwan was still the territory of the Funing Army, but this year, as the main force of the Funing Army stationed in Taiwan was gradually mobilized to go to Ryukyu and Japan, and then went to war with the Spaniards in northern Taiwan, Kaohsiung Port's standing The military strength became quite empty, and the defense pressure suddenly increased a lot.
Therefore, in view of Kaohsiung Mayor Wei Bachi's repeated requests for help and the Fubo Army's repeated requests for war, the Senate transferred two Li infantry companies from the Fubo Army's mountain infantry battalion. -Sail Hybrid Cruiser shipped to Kaohsiung for reinforcements.
——Due to the huge gap in customs and culture, the Li and Miao population in Hainan Island has long been unavailable manpower for travelers based here. It is also a potential unstable factor, making the implementation of the project suffering from a shortage of labor resources The committee has always been dissatisfied.
Fortunately, although these ethnic minority compatriots are not qualified workers and farmers, they are excellent forest hunters and warriors. Therefore, in order to deepen the connection and bond between the two parties, the Fubo Army began to recruit the Li and Miao people of Hainan Island on a large scale. Join the army and be organized into full-time mountain infantry for use: The local Li and Miao people of Hainan Island have been accustomed to walking through the mountains and tracking prey since childhood, and they do not think it is a hardship to eat and sleep in the open all day long. After joining the army, the quality of these soldiers was further improved due to the adequate nutrition of the diet, the efforts of the doctors to cure malaria, and the distribution of rifles, grenades, crossbows and the famous Gurkha dog-leg scimitar. The range has increased, and the combat capability has become stronger.
Since these Li-Miao mountain infantry formed an army on Hainan Island, they have been fighting in various counties on the island, performing tedious and harsh tasks of suppressing bandits. With the cooperation of the National Army and mountain infantry, almost no bandits can stop Fu Bo. The dense mountain forests were not an obstacle to the Li and Miao soldiers' attacks. On the contrary, these mountain infantry with amazing foot power could often use the mountains and forests to ambush and attack the Han bandits.
When the bandits collapse and flee, what awaits them is the most brutal pursuit - facing the mountain infantry who can walk quickly in the jungle, even the bandits who are most familiar with the terrain are often at a disadvantage because of their speed and endurance. , and it was difficult to get rid of the pursuers. With the cooperation of military dogs, any attempt by the bandits to hide could not succeed in front of these Li and Miao warriors who made a living by hunting and were good at tracking prey.
Even bandits who claim to be very familiar with the road often cannot escape such a tenacious and cold-blooded pursuit. They gradually lose the will to resist and are eventually tortured by hunger, fatigue and terror to the point of mental collapse. They collapse on the road in a mess and let the pursuers Soldiers cut and kill at will.
And even the bandits who still have the strength to fight have no chance of winning against the mountain infantry who have undergone professional killing training - the weapons equipped by the mountain infantry are stronger than ordinary broadswords. The ability to chop. This kind of scimitar distributes its weight at the end of the blade to increase the speed and power of cutting. The heavier blade can naturally cause deeper and more severe wounds, and even cut off muscles and bones in one go!
Therefore, those bandits who were chased and bitten by the mountain infantry usually did not notice anything strange at all, and were already surrounded by the mountain infantry wearing camouflage uniforms and face paint, as if they were hunting Eld's deer, and then they were like rain. Crossbow arrows were fired from all angles, killing the leaders. Then, before the remaining bandits could react, mountain infantrymen armed with scimitars sprang out from the forest and trees in groups, quickly creating a terrifying Shura field with blood splattering and severed limbs and heads flying away - all those who were bent Those who were hit by the knife would definitely be dead or maimed; even those bandits who were lucky enough not to be killed because they surrendered in time would often be frightened by this hellish scene into lifelong nightmares.
The outstanding performance of the Li-Miao mountain infantry and the huge role they played in the anti-bandit campaign made the Lingao Crossing audience overjoyed. The accompanying political effects are even more noteworthy - for example, Lieutenant Zhen Huan, the company commander of the first company of the Mountain Infantry Battalion, is the son of Zhen "Aoya" (similar to the leader) of the "Qie Dui Village" in Changhua County. Originally, he left the village to join the army voluntarily just to meet his old lover Jianda: The complicated power struggle between the two families in "Qie Dui Village", the Wang and Zhen families, unfortunately affected Jiuda, an innocent woman, and almost caused her to die. Lost his life. After Jianda narrowly escaped the catastrophe, he chose to leave the village and work as an errand on the territory of the "Australians" to make a living. He was unwilling to return to the village and make peace with Zhen Huan again.
Therefore, Master Zhen Huan, who forgot everything for love, simply left the village and joined the "Australian Shorthair", and performed very well after joining the Fubo Army - unlike other poor and miserable hunters, Master Zhen Huan Originally, he belonged to the upper class in Li Village. He was well-nourished, had no worries about food and drink, was physically strong, and had developed his hunting ability quite well. Therefore, he performed particularly well in the recruit training, scoring excellent in both shooting and fighting skills. . Later, in the actual battle against bandits, Zhen Huan could always discover the traces of bandits first by relying on the hunting skills he had honed since childhood. Because it had been difficult to win back the heart of the girl, as long as the unlucky bandits he targeted were all It became the punching bag for Zhen Huan to vent his resentment: in the pursuit of bandits, compared with the sneaky crossbow attack, Zhen Huan Huan especially likes to fight with machetes. He once chopped off the heads of four or five bandits in a row. The remaining dozen bandits saw their comrades slowly falling with their heads missing - the blood was still there. Spraying out from the broken neck, and Zhen Huan, who was covered in blood and looked like a demon, was so frightened that he collapsed mentally and knelt down to beg for mercy.
In addition to fighting hard, after discovering that Jianda could actually read and write, in order to make himself worthy of her, Zhen Huan also made a request to the instructor to learn Chinese characters - few Li people are willing to learn culture. , this request won the unanimous praise of the superior department, and it was immediately approved, and a study class was also set up among the mountain infantry to allow Li and Miao soldiers to voluntarily learn Chinese characters. This was regarded by the Executive Committee as a major progress in the work of national integration.
By this summer, the banditry in Hainan Island had been basically eliminated, and the mountain infantry of the Li and Miao ethnic groups had basically completed their integration with the old troops of the Fubo Army. Zhen Huan was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant because of his outstanding performance in the battle against bandits. He served as the commander of the first company and became the first Li nationality person to be promoted to lieutenant. Later, he was ordered to lead a team to reinforce Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to fill the manpower gap caused by the transfer of Funing Army.
For the Li warriors who have never been to the sea very often in their lives, it is really a long journey from Qiongzhou to Taiwan - even though the "Kaohsiung" cruiser that Zhen Huan is on is currently the only "holy ship" in the navy. (the cargo ship that carries travelers into this world), but the first time he went to sea was nearly three days of continuous sailing without docking, which made him still a little listless and weak.
However, after hearing the command to prepare to disembark, Second Lieutenant Zhen Huan immediately forced himself to cheer up. After randomly checking the equipment of several soldiers and encouraging several seasick subordinates, he led the first mountain infantry battalion The company disembarked from the gangway, and then moved along a cinder-paved road towards downtown Kaohsiung. As a navy port and coaling station, Kaohsiung Port has a large number of warships and armed merchant ships accumulating the leftover cinders and coal ash. Can be used for road hardening work.
Like other port cities, not far from the pier in Kaohsiung, there is a commercial street that is beginning to take shape. It looks quite prosperous. Although there is only one street less than 500 meters away, there are various shops on both sides, and all kinds of sensuality and pleasures. There are all kinds of entertainment venues and handicraft workshops, including a brothel. Sailors of different skin colors, soldiers from the army and navy, merchants from Zhejiang and Fujian, fishermen, residents of indigenous tribes, prostitutes from the Japanese Village (the Japanese immigration stronghold in Taiwan at that time)... shuttled through the streets and alleys. Overall the business atmosphere is quite good
In particular, the Kaohsiung branch of Lingao Cooperative founded by Chuan Chuanzhong not only has the task of attracting small businessmen from coastal Fujian to come to Kaohsiung for business. The Kaohsiung branch is also responsible for the import and export trade with the Dutch, so it is quite large: a two-story building with overhanging eaves and large glass windows. There is a dazzling array of "foreign goods" inside. The middle-aged waitresses wearing blue cloth "Hanfu style" dresses raise their voices and use various southern and northern accents to attract customers. In addition, there are also a few North Korean security forces holding big sticks and wearing big hats - foreign sailors and local natives often causing trouble in the streets because of drunkenness.
When Second Lieutenant Zhen Huan led a group of Li soldiers through the market, he immediately attracted the attention of many people - the expressions of the Dutch were cold and complicated, the reactions of the indigenous people were curiosity and fear, and there were many small traders and The street warblers thought there was business and approached the soldiers one after another to sell their goods and bodies, but they were all rejected. Everyone just followed the military order and marched towards the city hall.
The Kaohsiung City Hall, which was just completed this year, is a two-story Western-style building. Although it is a wooden structure, it is built on a half-person-high stone foundation. The outside is painted with white lime, which looks bright in the sun. Both majestic and beautiful.
In front of the city hall is the gravel-paved Kaohsiung Municipal Plaza, which is also the future core of the city. Therefore, along the ground around the square, bamboo poles and white lime lines are used to divide the plots. Various public and public facilities are being built one after another. Commercial buildings. Some plots of land have already had newly opened shops, while other plots of land are still under construction in full swing. Pebbles, cement, yellow sand and lime were piled everywhere. Professional construction workers and labor teams transferred from the Hainan Island headquarters shuttled back and forth. Steam pile drivers and labor chants echoed one after another. It looked very busy.
At this time, many rattan tables and chairs had been placed in the center of the square, and next to it was a temporary kitchen shed. A stove was built directly on the open space, and baskets of pots, pans, various vegetables, and fish were put together. From a distance, I can see the fire is blazing and steaming. The aroma of the cooking dishes can be smelled throughout the square. When the Li soldiers arrived, the cooks were already serving plates of sumptuous dishes.
The main course of this banquet is venison cooked in various ways - this is currently Taiwan's second largest export product after deer skin. Venison is almost all lean meat, with not much fat and a relatively light taste, which is suitable for the hotter climate here. Then there is a very rich variety of marine fish, shrimps and crabs, shellfish, tropical fruits and vegetables. In addition to rice wine and kvass, iced lemonade is also available.
During the past few days of the ferry journey, the officers and soldiers of the mountain infantry battalion had been chewing "navigation rations" on the ship until they were full of appetite. Seeing the tables full of delicious food and smelling the tempting aroma of wine and vegetables, everyone's eyes turned green and their mouths watered. However, they abided by military discipline and did not dare to move for the time being. When an officer in charge of welcoming them announced with a smile that all the wine and food in the square were a welcoming banquet to welcome them. All the simple warriors of the Li nationality burst into cheers, and without even bothering to say a few more polite words, they rushed over one by one, sat down and started eating.
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Just as Second Lieutenant Zhen Huan and his men were dining in the open air on the square, feasting, in the city hall across the wall, Kaohsiung Mayor Wei Bachi was also on the top floor terrace with the morning star flag flying, overlooking the new arrivals from the "Central" This team of reinforcements looked at the appearance of these Li warriors.
"...There are only two companies! Although they look capable of fighting, they still seem to be a little too few..."
Sighing, he smacked his lips with some dissatisfaction, then raised his head and cast his gaze into the distance - looking out from the roof of the city hall, you can almost see the entire "territory" under the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung City: Although The city hall is very impressive, as are the squares, roads, docks and commercial streets. But when it comes to places that are "really like a city", there is only such a small area in the entire Kaohsiung.
As for the remaining neighborhoods in Kaohsiung City, they are basically a huge shantytown, but they are built in a relatively regular manner. As far as the eye can see, there are rows of unadorned wooden houses on stilts coated with coal tar. Most are single-story, but there are also some scattered two-story wooden houses scattered here - Taiwan has always had many typhoons, earthquakes, and mudslides. For the early settlers, this kind of wooden house was more suitable for the environment.
Further out from the shanty town, there is a defensive fortification consisting of earthen ramparts, bamboo fences and trenches. Along the line are wooden thatched-roof watchtowers, which delineate the dividing line between the urban area and the suburbs. Some farmland and plantations have been opened up on the vast plains on the outskirts. As well as several unfinished and slightly messy roads, trenches and channels. Extending a little further along the road, you can see a dozen scattered residential areas, forming satellite villages and towns guarding Kaohsiung Port - among them there are the "standard villages" established by the Lingao Senate in the past two years by immigrants, There are also legacies from earlier years when travelers such as Zhang Wei and He Bin recruited refugees and colonized Taiwan. Together, they have a total population of approximately 20,000.
Looking out from these settlements, we can see vast expanses of wilderness and dense jungles, and even the vegetation is basically original. The vast beaches are covered with mangroves, and the undulating plains are filled with dense banyan trees, cycads, and bamboos... Within the entire field of vision, there is really very little cultivated land, and all traces of human activities can only be described as... It is an embellishment of natural vegetation.
From a tourism perspective alone, this is definitely a tropical seaside pristine beauty that will be loved by future generations of petty bourgeoisie. But for Mayor Wei Bachi, he would rather see the rows of chimneys and the golden waves of rice. The beautiful scenery in front of him will only make him feel deeply worried and stressed - looking at this wild landscape surrounded by nature Colonial port scenery, how many more years will it take to build this so-called Kaohsiung City into the capital of Taiwan Island, a regional transportation hub connecting Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, a fortified base for the navy, and a starting point for developing Taiwan?
Relying on the inheritance left by Zhang Wei, as well as the refugees and Nanyang slaves from various provinces collected and transshipped by the Senate in the past two years, as well as some old Fujian people who came from Beigang (a Chinese settlement under the city of Jelandia, the Dutch colony in Taiwan) Immigrants currently have a population of about 30,000 in Kaohsiung. But as there were more people, the pressure on Wei Bachi also increased. He knew that although the Executive Committee had not set a target for land reclamation, Kaohsiung City faced the vast Chianan Plain, which was Taiwan's most important agricultural area in the 21st century. The Senate had high expectations for agriculture here from top to bottom. is very high. If I have been unable to produce solid results, there is no need for me to be the mayor of Kaohsiung.
——You know, although the Lingao time-travel team sometimes laughs at themselves as "five hundred losers", in fact, this time-travel team is definitely full of talents: masters can form a company, doctors can form a platoon, There are countless turtles who have gone to European and American universities to become gold-plated, and there are even those who fly cannons and fly airplanes in the United States. Wei Bachi has the position of mayor of Kaohsiung under his butt, but I don’t know how many people are eyeing it, hoping that he can take his place!
Therefore, in order to achieve the great goal of Lingao Chuanzhong, Wei Bachi must complete the initial reclamation of the Jianan Plain as soon as possible, establish intensive state-owned farms, and then achieve self-sufficiency in food and agricultural products. It is best to be able to obtain A large amount of surplus food was released to support other areas.
But with the equipment and manpower he has at hand, it is still a bit difficult to reclaim this kind of original ecological land on a large scale, which is all raw land and has extremely dense vegetation - especially since the vegetation here is very developed, even if it is used after setting fire to the wasteland. When oxen plow the fields, there is often a situation where the oxen’s power is not enough. Having to rely on manual hoeing to plow the land requires a huge amount of labor, and various casualties occur one after another.
In addition, the aborigines on Taiwan Island are also a major threat to Kaohsiung City’s land reclamation business.
According to Wei Bachi's original idea, after the large-scale reclamation of Taiwan and the construction of Kaohsiung City, he had to play the classic role of a Western colonist who used glass beads to defraud the indigenous people of their land and coaxed them into writing land sale contracts. According to Zhang Wei, a pioneer, when he brought a group of people to settle in Taiwan, he did first annex the settlers and retired pirates left by Zheng Zhilong and Yan Siqi, and then secretly dispatched Fu in Huangshi. With the help of Ning Jun, they fought fiercely with the natives for several times, and then managed to gain a foothold.
Unexpectedly, after Zhang Wei was sent back to Penghu Island and the Lingao Crossing Group took over the Kaohsiung Port area, those old immigrants who were pirates had been controlled by Zhang Wei for several years. Of course, they had long been submissive. Even the Taiwanese natives People also fled away after hearing the news and disappeared - within a radius of a hundred miles, although the scouts sent by Wei Bachi found some native villages and fields, they had been abandoned for a long time, and the people inside had already fled inside. Lu went.
During the construction process of the next two years, although natives occasionally came to spy quietly, they never came into contact with the settlers of Kaohsiung Port, let alone bought things at the port market... However, the temporary "peaceful coexistence" ", does not mean that the threat from the indigenous people is gone. This strange calmness makes Wei Bachi feel uneasy and worried all day long about whether something unexpected will happen next.
Last year, because there was an elite Funing Army stationed there, there was no need to worry about the security of Kaohsiung Port. But this year, the garrison at Kaohsiung Port was transferred by Huangshi to attack Japan and Ryukyu. Even though the expedition was now over, this force continued to stay in the Keelung area in northern Taiwan, attacking the local Spanish stronghold in an attempt to seize the sulfur mines there. . There are only some miscellaneous guards, Korean stick squads and Japanese security forces left here in Kaohsiung Port. Wei Bachi has been worried about this all day long... Fortunately, the reinforcements have finally arrived! He finally breathed a sigh of relief...
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Although the prosperous Kaohsiung Port looks so vibrant, in the eyes of others, it is just a desperate purgatory.
——Anuoji is a native of the Malay Peninsula. He was originally a small leader in the tribe. He had a wife and children and had no worries about food and clothing, and his life was relatively comfortable. Unfortunately, he was lost in a battle with a hostile tribe and became a prisoner from then on. Later, although Anokhi was not unfortunately tortured and sacrificed to the gods, he became a "living commodity" for the hostile tribe elders and red-haired merchants to trade arms, and he was turned from a captive into a slave.
Then, he experienced a nightmare-like sea voyage and was trafficked by red-haired traders to Sanya, far away from his hometown, and became a slave of the "Australians". In that dark place, no one cared about Anokhi's name and only gave him a cold code name: A230385.
After working in Sanya for a year, Anokhi was transferred to Kaohsiung to work as a coolie in reclamation due to the large-scale agricultural development in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Although it is already a slightly chilly autumn and it is the Little Ice Age with global low temperatures, the weather in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is still very hot around noon.
Under the dizzying bright sunshine, Anokhi struggled to carry a basket of weeds and gravel, moving slowly - even though he had just been cured of dysentery and was still very weak, under the fierce supervision of the overseers Despite being beaten with sticks and whips, Anokhi had to continue working.
Compared with the Sanya slave camp on Hainan Island, which although the conditions were harsh and difficult, has survived the most terrifying initial period and the mortality rate has been greatly reduced, Kaohsiung is still full of primitive jungle, and the reclamation process is very difficult and dangerous. The slaves In the process of opening up wasteland, we have to face various situations anytime and anywhere. A sneak attack by poisonous insects and snakes - you may inadvertently turn over a piece of rotten tree leaves and be bitten to death by the poisonous snake hiding under it; and the bites of mosquitoes are even more difficult to prevent, but the tropical epidemics spread through them have always been It is the number one cause of death among residents of Kaohsiung City in recent years.
Obviously, slaves without human rights are the most severely threatened by disease in the entire Kaohsiung Port, but have the least access to medical care and rest. Anokhi doesn't know how long he can live, but he knows that he will definitely die if he continues to stay here - he remembers that when he came here in the winter, there were five or six people in the same group with the number starting with A23, but when he arrived Now, he is the only one left. So Anokhi had planned his escape a month ago and was preparing to escape with more than twenty other slaves. They hid part of the food distributed by the overseers half a month ago and prepared it as dry food on the way to escape. Now they are just waiting for a suitable opportunity...
Today, the task assigned to Anokhi is still to open up wasteland. "Australians" usually set fire to a piece of land, and then slaves manually clean up the trees, debris and stones that have not been completely burned, and level the land - because of the rain forest Burning in humid climates usually is not efficient and burns out quickly. The number of steam engines that can be used to level the land here in Kaohsiung Port is limited, and most of the land preparation work can only be done by slaves.
And this was the escape opportunity in Anokhi's eyes - it was impossible to escape from the camp. The camp where slaves were held was surrounded by barbed wire and tall sentry towers were set up. There were security soldiers with military dogs coming and going day and night. patrol, although slaves take advantage of the night Escape incidents still happen frequently, but most sporadic and unorganized escapees cannot escape from the camp at all, or they are overtaken by bullets from the security forces before they get very far from the camp. Some of the guys who are not killed are also very vulnerable. He will soon be knocked to the ground by the vicious hound. But when the slaves go out to open up wasteland, the number of soldiers monitoring them will be much reduced. Moreover, at this time, the slaves have working tools in their hands but no barbed wire around them. This is obviously the best time to escape.
Although even at the land reclamation site, there must be security forces and military dogs monitoring it, a single slave still cannot escape. But if many people join together and escape, some people will eventually be able to escape - as for who can escape successfully, it depends on luck.
Through observation during his work breaks, Anokhi successfully discovered a natural trench washed out by the rain, which could be used as a hidden path for his escape. At the end of the trench is the vast mountain forest that symbolizes freedom. Now there is only one chance - although the slave owner and Zhou Papi have many things in common, slaves who can run away are different from long-term workers who cannot run away, so the supervisor never They would release them from the camp when the light was dim in the morning. Instead, they would wait until the sun rose and it was bright before driving the slaves out to work, and the work would be finished before dusk. But the climate here in Taiwan is quite special. Sometimes even in the afternoon, mountain fog will suddenly rise...and this is the opportunity Anoki and the others are waiting for...
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The mountain fog gradually dissipated in the afternoon, revealing puddles scattered among the mountains and forests. Suddenly, the sun penetrated through the gaps in the leaves and shone on the shallow puddles, reflecting a dazzling flash of light. The chirping of birds and insects sounded from time to time in the jungle, and then suddenly there was a "shushing" sound of scraping grass blades - a fat and strong dark boar was seen leisurely walking out of the jungle, sniffing around. Sniff, seems to be looking for food.
Suddenly, the wild boar seemed to feel something and raised its head uneasily - although it did not see anything unusual, some kind of survival instinct unique to wild animals still made it feel as if it was being stared at by some terrible predator. On.
But before it could take any action, a sharp javelin shot out from behind the bushes, piercing directly into the boar's eyes and deeply into its head! After letting out a mournful cry, the dying wild boar continued to run around for a dozen more steps, but finally fell down helplessly.
After a while, several hunters wrapped in animal skins jumped out from the bushes. The leading man was Mona, the young leader of the Madou Society. He was strong and strong, with tattoos on his chin and forehead. Although he had just caught a big prey, there was no joy at all on his face.
What many people don’t know is that, perhaps due to their long-term contact with the Central Plains civilization since the Qin and Han Dynasties, although the Li people on Hainan Island have a relatively backward social form, they are by no means a cannibal. However, the indigenous people of Taiwan, who came into contact with the Central Plains civilization relatively late, are truly cruel headhunters.
What's even more terrible is that Taiwan's indigenous headhunters often do not do it for robbery or vendetta - of course, it would be better if they can kill their enemies or steal property. Most of the time, they just want to prove that they can kill, or just to kill people. Just adding decorations to the room, just like many hunting enthusiasts in Canada and the United States in later generations like to make the bear heads or elk heads they hunt into specimens and hang them on the wall.
Whenever Taiwanese aboriginal boys reach adulthood, these teenagers will hold a "Chu Cao" - that is, head hunting. As their coming-of-age ceremony, they will sneak attack on each other from other tribes, and then hang the heads at the entrance of their own villages. on the shelf to celebrate his coming of age.
——Based on the concept of Taiwanese aborigines, it seems that only boys who have killed someone can be considered men and are eligible for face tattoos...
Year after year, Taiwan's aborigines lived such a barbaric and bloody life: chasing wild animals in the forest, drinking from mountain springs, beheading their enemies, dancing around bonfires at night, and eating meat. For them, life is a sacrifice, and dying in battle is the highest pride.
The Madou Society is the largest indigenous tribe on the southern plains of Taiwan, with a population of over a thousand households. As the son of the leader of the Madou Society, Mona wanted to be a hero in the village since he was a child. And during the coming-of-age ceremony at the age of fourteen, he really performed well. Through a clever ambush, he successfully killed two Xingang Society natives who were hunting, and evaded the Xingang Society's pursuit. The severed heads of these two unfortunates were brought back.
From that day on, Mona passed the test of the ancestral spirits with honor, obtained the qualification for tattoos, and became a true warrior.
In the days that followed, in order to prove his greatness and extraordinaryness and make the surrounding tribes tremble when they heard his name, Mona was very keen on "making grass"... To this day, in the house of this "hero" There are already more than thirty collections on display, ranging from old and young to men and women. Most of them are the heads of Taiwanese natives. There are also some heads that belong to unlucky Han traders, and there are even a few heads of red-haired people.
Such frequent "outings" naturally brought many enemies to Madou Society, but Mona and his father, the previous leader of Madou Society, were not too worried about this. Compared with other tribes on the island, the Madou Society itself has an exceptionally large population and can mobilize more than 500 warriors, giving it a crushing military advantage in battles with other tribes. Another large tribe nearby, the Jialiuwan Society, is also a close ally of the Madou Society. Although the "Thunder Guns" of the red-haired people are very powerful, they are small in number, and Madou Society is not afraid of them. As long as they are half a day's journey out of Taiyuan Port, they are no longer within the sphere of influence of the red-haired people. So Mona and his father have always believed that no force in the world can threaten their tribe and hunting grounds.
However, starting six years ago, Madou Society finally encountered a real enemy: a group of Han aliens from across the sea landed at Madou Society's hunting ground, and this group of people did not come and go like the maritime merchants in the past. , but to open up wasteland, cut trees, and build houses, as if they want to live here permanently.
If they had just occupied the desolate beach called "Dagou", Madoushe might not have cared much about it, but these Han people kept pushing further inland, and soon gradually approached Madoushe several major settlements. Naturally, Mona's father could not tolerate the tribe's hunting grounds being encroached upon, so he led the tribe's warriors to fight against "Chu Cao", killed several of their people, and then cut off their heads to pay homage to their ancestors to punish them for offending Ma. The sins of the sacred hunting ground of Beanshe. But the other party also retaliated and burned down a small village in Madoushe.
This sporadic fighting lasted for a long time, and neither side could do anything about the other. Although Madoushe's side relied on their familiarity with the terrain and killed more Han people, the Han people always had backup coming from across the sea... In the end, a decisive battle broke out, and the four hundred warriors of Madoushe and Mojia slipped away. Two hundred reinforcements from Wanshe entered the Han village under the blessing of the ancestral spirits. But what greeted them was filled with smoke and bursts of gunfire! More dense than the thunderstorms heard in Mona during a rainstorm! Unexpectedly, the Han people actually have so many "thunder guns"! There are more red-haired people than there are in Taiyuan Port!
For a while, I could only hear the sound of "thunder gun" in the smoke, and there were red fires everywhere. When the smoke cleared, all the tribal warriors who rushed in front of the team had been defeated. Mona's father also had blood spattered from his chest, and was the first to fall amidst the heavy gunfire. Mona was horrified when he saw this, and quickly picked up his bleeding father with a soldier, turned around, and ran towards the village desperately. .
After the insidious Han people fired their "Thunder Guns", they rushed out many spearmen wearing iron armor from all directions, blocking many warriors who had no time to escape, and crushed their desperate resistance, allowing them to attack again. Nor can he return to his homeland.
On that day, Mona had never felt that the journey back to the main village of Madou Society was so far away. His father's blood almost dyed his clothes red, but even so, his father, who was only breathing his last breath, was still weak in his ears. He kept mumbling that he must protect the tribe and not allow the enemy to attack... Mona wanted to cry, but the warrior never had such an expression and could only vent the pain in his heart through constant howling.
Mona's father did not return to the village alive in the end. The Madou Society's warriors who returned alive were only half of what they had been when they set out, and they failed to bring any enemy heads - this was the Madou Society's heaviest loss in recent years. Grass.
Amidst the gloom and gloom, Mona inherited the position of leader of Madou Club. In the following days, the Han people sent more large ships to hunt dogs, and more and more Han people landed, so many that the warriors who went to inquire could not count them. Faced with such an irresistible and powerful enemy, for the safety of Madou Society, Mona had no choice but to lead the tribe to retreat inland, abandoning the hunting grounds near the landing site of the Han people, as well as many cultivated mountain rice fields... Although the members of the society Life has become a little more difficult since then, but he has finally avoided the disaster of destruction for the time being.
However, as time went by, more and more Han people landed on the seaside. They transported people at an incredible speed - most of them were Han people, but there were also many strange alien races that Mona didn't know. Build houses and reclaim large tracts of land...
Is this the "power of civilization" that the red-haired man who came to preach last time boasted to himself? Mona stroked the red-haired missionary's long-dried head, watching all these changes happen with fear and helplessness. After inheriting his father's position as leader, he had to consider the survival of the entire clan, so , he did not want to continue to conflict with the powerful Han people, and he no longer went out to prove himself as often as before.
But the problem is that those greedy Han people not only occupied Madoushe's original hunting grounds, but also continued to burn wasteland and reclaimed land. Their forces were getting closer and closer to Madoushe's new settlement. Recently, there have been some sporadic conflicts. The two sides had once There were many confrontations, but in the end it ended with Madoushe giving in. Many young people in the tribe were so angry that they clamored all day long to go down the mountain to work in the towns of these aliens.
Regarding this situation, Mona felt infinitely entangled and confused: for the survival of the tribe, the elders told him that he must be patient. But the Han are occupying more and more land, converting more forestland into farmland. The hunting grounds of the tribal warriors subsequently shrank, and the prey they obtained became less and less. And if this continues, it won't be long before these hateful Han people will colonize the Madou Society's last territory. At that time, the entire tribe will have no way to retreat and will have no choice but to fight them to the end or move to the east. Higher and farther on the mountain...
——Although the enemy is really powerful, if he continues to sit back and watch his territory being invaded, then on the day of his death, when his soul is taken to the Rainbow Bridge, he may not be able to face the questioning of the ancestors... Mona said very painfully I thought like this, and then finally made up my mind: "... Aliens from the other side of the sea! If your civilization requires me to grovel, then let you see my barbaric pride!"
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At noon, at the land reclamation site outside Kaohsiung City, a dozen Japanese security army soldiers who were responsible for supervising the work in the morning finally made it to lunch time. After changing shifts with another team, these hungry Japanese rushed away one after another. Return to the canteen at the station and enjoy the long-awaited lunch.
Lunch is the same rice, pickled radish and potato stewed vermicelli as usual. However, although the food of the security army is not as good as that of the national army, they still meet meat and fish dishes every two days. Today, everyone is assigned a grilled fish, so that these Japanese The little man is quite happy - although Japan has been a rice-producing country since ancient times, it is trapped in the Japanese environment with a large number of people and a small amount of land. Even after the warring states ended, for the poor Japanese people, it is still a luxury to have a full stomach. things. Many Japanese farmers will never be able to eat the rice they grow. The poor eat two meals a day of millet and boiled radish, while the rich eat two meals a day of rice and pickled radish. During the holidays, they only have salted fish and tofu as tooth offerings. The Japanese who come to seek refuge with the "Australian Chief" are basically worse off than ordinary people. For most Japanese mercenaries, being able to eat rice every day was unimaginable in the past, let alone having enough rice for every meal now, three meals a day, and every other day. Fish.
While this group of rough guys were devouring their food, only their platoon leader, the samurai-born security force corporal Honda Kojiro, ate more reservedly - unlike those soldiers who were born from poor peasants, Honda Kojiro came from the Higo Country on Kyushu Island. , said to be a samurai, in fact, when he surrendered to the army, he was completely naked and almost like a beggar. He only had a sword that he never left his body to prove his status as a warrior.
——In the Sekigahara War that decided Japan’s ownership thirty years ago, most of the feudal lords in the Kyushu region were on the wrong side. One by one, they reduced their feudal status and abolished their feudal vassals. Because the feudal lord Konishi Yukinaga was beheaded and died, Motoyama Kojiro's father also became a ronin after the war.
Originally, his family still had a small piece of land. Although he was hungry every day, he would not starve to death. However, as the shogunate's persecution of Catholics became increasingly severe and the ban on Christianity was issued, after Kojiro's father was burned at the stake, the remaining family was forced to flee at sea.
As a result, the Honda family went through another round of twists and turns, and finally drifted to Lingao in a daze. In desperation, Motoyama Kojiro joined the "Australian Shorthair" army, and then he had a stable job. Because he was a samurai, Motoyama Kojiro quickly became a platoon leader.
At this time, as a special treatment enjoyed by non-commissioned officers, on the table in front of Corporal Motoyama Kojiro, in addition to rice, pickled radish, potato stewed vermicelli and grilled fish, there was also a cup of refreshing iced black tea. Given the climate here in Kaohsiung, it was really refreshing to be able to sit down and drink such a cold drink that blended sweetness and bitterness on a hot afternoon... He leisurely tasted this cup of iced black tea, while thinking about whether to go to a brothel for entertainment in the evening. .
However, just when Kojiro Motoyama had just finished drinking the iced black tea and had not had time to move his chopsticks to eat, his good mood today suddenly fell to the bottom as the messenger brought an emergency assembly order - Kojiro Honda's team Not long after the shift was completed, a mist quietly appeared in the wilderness, and then the slaves who were on a reclamation mission inexplicably got into a large-scale fight. Although the overseers quickly suppressed the rebellion of these slaves with sticks, rifle butts and bayonets, when they were called afterward, they discovered that dozens of slaves had taken advantage of the chaos and escaped, ending up unknown!
Then, because those disobedient slaves still had to be taken into custody, no matter how much the platoon leader Ushijima, who was in charge of overseeing the work, had his veins popping out and shouting "How can we repair the Eight-Gate Road?", his platoon could not get away immediately. To pursue the escaped slaves, we could only send people to ask Motoyama Kojiro for reinforcements.
So Motoyama Kojiro took one last longing look at the rice before he could even move his mouth, and once again grabbed his ancestral sword...
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At the same time, Anokhi and his fellow escaped slaves were running as fast as they could along a shallow stream - no one knew what kind of fate would greet them next, but they all knew, If he doesn't escape, the only thing waiting for him is death.
So far, the escape of Anokhi and others has gone smoothly - they successfully provoked a fight among slaves and created chaos. While the guards were busy suppressing the slaves running around, they were well prepared and immediately He rushed into the ditch washed out by the heavy rain, escaped the sight of the guards, and fled quickly along the stream. The shallow stream can just cover their scent, thereby slowing down the tracking of military dogs.
After fleeing for a while, they finally left Kaohsiung Port and went deep into the vast primitive jungle. The climate in the tropical jungle is always hot and humid. After trudging through the dense vegetation for a while, these Malay fugitive slaves were exhausted and had to stop and rest.
After eating a few mouthfuls of moldy dry food, Anokhi was about to discuss the next move with his companions when he suddenly heard a gust of wind whistling past his ears, and then he was dumbfounded to see a javelin grazing his ear, feeling deeply The ground pierced the chest of a companion!
Amidst the splashing blood and shrill screams, before Anokhi could react, he saw another javelin flying out of the dense forest! Four or five of the Malay escaped slaves fell down again, while many ferocious-looking slaves shouted and fled from the jungle to kill the slaves... The slaves, who were originally like frightened birds, suddenly became panicked and some moved Some picked up the shovels and hoes in their hands in an attempt to resist, while many more held their heads and ran away...
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Mona, the young leader of the Madou Society, casually shook off the blood on his hunting knife and tied the head of an unlucky slave to the rope around his waist.
He had just hunted a wild boar, and a tribesman came to report that a group of foreigners were approaching. This news shocked Mona. While sending someone back to report the news, he took the team of warriors who had just hunted together to go over to see the situation of these alien invaders... However, what he saw next made Mo Na Na breathed a sigh of relief - these invaders were just slaves of the disembarked Han people.
Mona knew from a long time ago that the Han people who landed have been driving large numbers of slaves to reclaim the wasteland. Not only did the tribal warriors who went to reconnoiter see it from a distance, but occasionally sporadic slaves would escape. In the end, they would either become meals for wild beasts, or they would It has become a collection of Taiwanese fans,
Therefore, he did not go to the tribe to call for reinforcements, but directly led the hunting team around him to "go out" and attacked the group of escaped slaves. He successfully killed several of them, while the remaining alien slaves screamed and fled in all directions. open. Seeing that the enemy was so vulnerable, the warriors of Madou Society spread out to pursue and hunt the heads of these escaped slaves. Those young people who have never done anything in their lives are particularly enthusiastic, looking forward to cutting off at least one head this time, thereby qualifying for tattoos and becoming true warriors.
However, just as Mona tied a head and raised the sword again, preparing to find the next prey, several "thunder gun" shots suddenly came from the distance, making his pupils shrink suddenly!
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Kojiro Honda led his platoon of Japanese security forces, following the footsteps of a military dog, to hunt down escaped slaves in the sweltering jungle. Along the way, his hungry stomach, stumbling branches and vines, and torn and torn clothes made his mood worse.
These stupid slaves actually knew to escape along the stream in an attempt to slow down the tracking speed of the military dogs. However, they left obvious footprints on the mudflats, making Kojiro Honda's tracking very easy... Suddenly, the military dog stopped and issued a low warning sound. Kojiro immediately stretched out his hand to signal the team to stop advancing, and carefully observed the vast green fields around him.
Soon, he noticed that a clump of thatch not far away was shaking, and then a panicked face suddenly appeared from it. It was a runaway Malay slave. After discovering the Japanese security forces who usually monitored and whipped them, this guy froze in extreme shock, but strangely did not turn around and run away. He seemed to be frightened. So, with a ferocious smile on his face, Kojiro took out a short stick, cursed and leaned forward, preparing to beat the slave violently to vent the anger accumulated in his heart.
But at the next moment, something surprising happened - another figure quickly emerged from the grass in front of him. He first kicked the dazed slave down, and then chopped off his head with a knife. The whole action was like The movement is as smooth as clouds and flowing water. Next, the tattooed Taiwanese student just grabbed the fallen head, but when he raised his head, he saw a group of fully armed aliens, and his hands and feet suddenly froze.
This happened almost in an instant. Kojiro and his subordinates were all stunned on the spot, and the Taiwanese student who came to headhunt was also stunned by this unexpected encounter. The air in the dense forest seemed to freeze for an instant, until a gunshot broke the eerie silence - as the first Japanese soldier subconsciously pulled the trigger, other soldiers also woke up and started to take action against the Taiwanese. The gun fires.
Regrettably, in this round of random spontaneous shootings, not a single bullet successfully hit the target - the Taiwanese student just screamed strangely, and then lifted the Malay slave's head and escaped unharmed. He turned around and ran, disappearing behind the grass in an instant. However, the frightened Japanese security forces continued to fire randomly into the grass, and they did not stop until Kojiro Honda yelled at them.
——Seeing the appearance of Taiwanese students, Honda Kojiro vaguely felt that there might be some trouble now. The slaves they were chasing seemed to have escaped to the vicinity of a certain Sheiban tribe, but there were still unknown people hiding around him. How many signs of life...
At this point, Honda Kojiro no longer cared about the life and death of those slaves. Even if he saw a few escaped slaves running past not far away, he had no idea at all. He just ordered his men to load bullets as soon as possible and keep the formation slow. Slowly retreat, ready to fight at any time... Sure enough, Honda Kojiro and his men had not retreated very far when they heard the terrifying screams of "Woo-wah-" from the students everywhere in the jungle. Looking up, he could see shadowy figures in the leafy dense forest. It was hard to see how many people there were, but the strange screams getting closer and closer made him feel a little bad.
Therefore, Kojiro ordered to stop retreating, all lined up to take aim, and fired a salvo at the suspicious grass that was constantly shaking somewhere - the huge gunshot instantly covered up the roar of the students, and the salvo of more than 20 rounds of bullets was temporarily suppressed. I managed to live up to the arrogance of the fans, and seemed to have hit a few targets...
Hearing that the movements of the Taiwanese students suddenly disappeared, Honda Kojiro once again ordered everyone to retreat, hoping to get out of danger as soon as possible - since he did not expect to start a battle with the students, his platoon only carried the minimum amount of equipment during the pursuit. Standard ammunition, until now It has already consumed a quarter. If you continue to dilly-dally, you may have to fight hand-to-hand with the natives: Although Honda Kojiro is very confident in his ancestral sword skills, he has no choice but to have a group of newbies under his command, with only two It is said that he was born as a samurai. Moreover, apart from training and beating slaves, they have never seen blood since their service. Now, they suddenly have to fight the local indigenous people in this strange tropical jungle. They look very suspense no matter how they look at it.
But they still failed to escape smoothly, and were ambushed again at the edge of the jungle. Without any warning, a javelin suddenly jumped out from among the trees, whizzing past Kojiro Honda. The denomination left a long bloody streak on his face, which went straight to the ground. same moment. Several other javelins also struck from behind the security forces, causing three soldiers to be unfortunately penetrated by the javelins. Immediately afterwards, hundreds of Madoushe soldiers also rushed out from behind the grass, wielding machetes and killing more than 20 Japanese security force mercenaries in the encirclement.
In an extremely critical moment, Honda Kojiro first took out his revolver, pointed it at the Isaiban warriors who jumped out of the grass, and pulled the trigger repeatedly. He fired all the bullets in the revolver in one go and knocked down two Isaiban soldiers. Then, he drew out the tachi hanging from his waist, rushed forward with a quick stride, and slashed at the nearest student. The whole movement was completed in one go, the sharp blade slid across the native's neck, and the blood sprayed all over Kojiro's uniform...
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"...Bang! Bang!"
"...Kill to—"
"...ah——"
A fierce fighting was taking place in the dense tropical jungle. Mona mobilized all the soldiers from the entire Madou Society to set up an ambush and besiege the Japanese security forces who were deep in the jungle. Although he was very afraid of the sharp firearms of the aliens, he Now that the foreigners have penetrated deeply here, they have almost touched the doorstep of the tribe. For the safety of the tribe, they must kill these invaders no matter what, and use their heads to sacrifice their ancestors.
However, under the siege of Taiwanese troops, these Japanese security forces were still struggling, using rifles, bayonets, swords and other weapons to resist desperately. Shining Japanese samurai swords and rough stone axe-hunting knives collided with each other, and roars in different languages rose one after another... Although the Japanese security forces have advantages in weapons, training and organization, the number of people is too small, and the rugged terrain covered with vegetation The terrain also made it difficult to use the volley tactics they were good at.
After several melee fights, Corporal Kojiro Honda was soaked in sweat and blood. The bleeding wound on his face was stinging. The sweat drops on his eyelids made his eyes a little blurry - the sword in his hand. Although it is extremely sharp, the problem is that the blade is a bit too long, and when wielded in a dense forest, it is often blocked by branches and vines. However, relying on the sword skills passed down from his ancestors, he successfully killed seven or eight Ibans. Unfortunately, he also suffered several stab wounds. Moreover, it was precisely because of Honda Kojiro's bravery that many Ibans regarded him as a target of siege. , making him even more difficult to resist.
"...Oh, I really should have eaten that portion of rice and grilled fish before coming out...Who said I am a descendant of a samurai?"
Looking at the ferocious-looking Iiban in front of him, Kojiro, who was already exhausted, reluctantly swung the sword again and stared at the enemies who wanted to take his life... Suddenly, a javelin stabbed out of the grass beside him very cunningly. , pierced into Kojiro’s stomach fiercely!
In an instant, he only saw blood spurting out from his chest, his vision quickly began to blur, and he staggered and lay down. It seems that the cries of death around me can no longer be heard, and my body temperature and blood are constantly draining... Am I going to be called by the Lord? The dying Kojiro murmured to himself, and at the same time he noticed that the Taiwanese students around him were slowly surrounding him, as if they wanted to cut off his head.
So, after the final prayer, Honda Kojiro used his remaining strength to pull the fuse of the grenade hanging on his waist.
"...Boom!"
Although the explosion of the grenade failed to kill any of the students, the huge sound and fire caused by it pointed the direction for the backup troops - a moment later, the warriors of Madou Society heard the sound of dogs barking and The shouts in Japanese were obviously reinforcements from the foreign tribesmen. Seeing that there was nothing to do, Mona had no choice but to cut off Honda Kojiro's blackened head with a knife, and then with a whistle, he led the tribesmen back into the dense forest.
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A short distance away from the battlefield, Anokhi, a Malay fugitive slave who had been forgotten by everyone, tried to curl up and hide behind the body of a Japanese security soldier. Bullets flew over his head from time to time, frightening him. He could only lie on the ground and pretend to be dead, not daring to move.
It wasn't until he saw that the Taiwanese troops had fled, and that the Japanese security forces' backup troops had not yet arrived, that Anokhi took advantage of this brief gap when no one was paying attention, quietly picked up a few bayonets and a rifle, and then quickly pulled it with his hands and feet. Following two escaped slave companions, they disappeared into the vast jungle...
——No one knows what fate these Malayan natives will experience in the unfamiliar jungle of Taiwan.
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"...The war with the Taiwanese aborigines has finally begun!"
At dusk, in the office of Kaohsiung City Hall, Mayor Wei Bachi leaned on a wicker chair and read the battle report just submitted by his secretary.
Armed conflict with the indigenous people was a "established matter" that had been expected for a long time, and he was not surprised at all - as Kaohsiung City continues to expand its sphere of influence, sooner or later it will invade the core territory of the indigenous people, and even they are currently in the process of Part of the cultivated land developed is mountain fences and hunting grounds that the indigenous people voluntarily abandoned. Therefore, it is not surprising that an armed conflict occurred. What is strange to him is why the conflict has been delayed until now.
Of course, despite being mentally prepared, the losses in this armed conflict were still quite serious: forty Malay slaves escaped or died on the reclamation farm, and one-third of the platoon of the Japanese security forces responsible for chasing escaped slaves was killed. Second, the platoon leader died in the battle, and the remaining soldiers were all injured. But they also killed more than twenty indigenous warriors and captured one prisoner. According to torture, the enemy should be members of the Madou Society...
Putting down the battle report, Mayor Wei leisurely lit a cigar. For him, the biggest role of this battle report was to give him reason to launch a brutal mopping up operation to annihilate the Tainan residents. As for the outcome of the war, It was doomed from the beginning.
In the original history, the various indigenous tribes on the island of Taiwan did not perform much better than the American Indians in front of the various colonists. The tribes in the mountains could still defend based on the terrain, but the tribes in the plains were not able to do anything. Can bully. Even the Madou Society and Xingang Society, which once caused headaches for the Dutch, later only dispatched dozens of European soldiers, plus hundreds of indigenous "Imperial Association Army" to launch a sweep against these natives, and were easily defeated. Solved: Kill hundreds or dozens of people and burn down a few villages to force them to surrender and pay tribute obediently. The reason why the Dutch felt that the natives were a threat when they first arrived in Taiwan was simply because they had too few troops at the time, only a few dozen people.
With the current industrial strength of the Lingao Chuanchuanzong, as well as the continuous supply of troops from the mainland, these barbarian tribes with a population of only a few thousand at most can be easily crushed on the battlefield...
Of course, fighting in a wild tropical jungle is a very dangerous chore after all. There is dense vegetation, changeable climate, infested animals, snakes and insects, and all kinds of miasma. If the army rushes deep into the jungle, it can easily cause serious non-combatant disasters. Attrition.
Fortunately, today's Lingao Crossing team happens to have a group of "first-class experts" who are also very familiar with the tropical jungle environment... Thinking of this, Mayor Wei shook a brass bell on his hand. After a while, a tall figure The Army second lieutenant, who was strong and tall, with a dignified appearance, but with tattoos on his face like the Taiwanese aboriginals, pushed the door open and walked in. Then he stood upright with his legs crossed and raised his hands in salute:
"...Commander Zhen Huan of the First Company of the Fubo Army Mountain Infantry Battalion, report to the commander! Please give instructions!"
"...Second Lieutenant Zhenhuan, I heard that you performed well in the Qiongzhou bandit suppression operations in the past, and were especially good at mountain and jungle warfare. You were unanimously praised by the Senate and the Army Headquarters. You were transferred to Taiwan precisely for the purpose of better training. Use your talents well," Wei Balchi said with a kind expression.
"...Thank you for the chief's praise and the Senate's love!" Zhen Huan, the former young master of Li Village, replied neither humble nor overbearing
"...So, the Senate and the people decided to give you a new task!" Wei Bachi changed the topic and finally got to the topic.
"...I will go through fire and water without hesitation! Work hard to make new contributions to the Senate and the people!" Zhen Huan quickly took advantage of the situation to express his determination.
"...Very good! I look forward to your performance!" Wei Bachi said with appreciation, while handing over an official document and a morning star flag, "...Second Lieutenant Zhenhuan, according to the special authority granted to me by the Senate, I appointed you as the captain of the Jianan Plain War Zone Crusade, responsible for commanding All the Li mountain infantry, Korean security forces, and Japanese security forces in Kaohsiung City, totaling about 600 troops, launched a mopping up operation against the barbarians in Madoushe. They must completely eradicate this threat to Kaohsiung City’s reclamation within three months. The cancer of Daye! ”
Second Lieutenant Zhen Huan, who had never expected that he would be able to serve as the commander-in-chief when he first came to Taiwan, turned red with excitement. He excitedly received the official appointment document and the morning star flag, and at the same time replied with a particularly loud voice: "...Thank you, Chief. Cultivation, I will never betray your trust! I guarantee to complete the mission!”
——With Mayor Wei’s order, loyal and martial Japanese warriors, sharp Korean archers, Li hunters who are familiar with the mountains and forests, Taiwanese aborigines who defend their homeland, and Malay escaped slaves who are struggling to survive, The vast jungle of the treasure island of Taiwan is about to be used as the stage, with guns and swords as props, to stage an epic conquest containing several magnificent themes such as blood and fire, civilization and barbarism, survival and destruction...
The Dutch, who also stayed on this island, could only dormant in their castle of Geranje in depression, helplessly acting as spectators.
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PS: When I was looking up the allusions of Taiwanese aboriginals "Chu Cao", I found a very hilarious thing - in 2004, a flood broke out in an area inhabited by the Gaoshan ethnic group in Taiwan. When Lu Xiulian inspected the disaster area, instead of comforting the victims with gentle words, she said: The ignorant indigenous people are not worthy of mercy at all. As superior civilized people, we should learn from the great United States and treat these dwarf black inferior races the same way Americans treat Indians.
Immediately after the news spread, three thousand (it was said that there were so many) angry Gaoshan "strong men" rushed towards Ketagalan Avenue in Taipei, clamoring to "execute" this stinky woman, but of course in the end He failed and was beaten to the ground... Then someone drew a satirical cartoon about this matter. In the painting, Lu Xiulian was wearing a hat with stars and stripes pattern, wearing western cowboy clothes, and holding Tomahawks are scalping Taiwanese aborigines...