America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 548: The Battle of Roswell Farm

The journey from Wiltord's military camp to Roswell Farm is about half a day, and it will be a little slower if you walk.

Therefore, when it was just dawn the next day, the first batch of soldiers who set off from the military camp had already arrived near the farm.

"Sir, I'm hungry." A soldier stretched his neck and said to the bearded man.

The bearded man glanced at him sideways on the horse and said angrily:

"Didn't I give each of you a few potatoes when we set out?"

The soldier was not polite and said angrily:
"Boss, you are riding a horse and we are riding on two legs. We have been walking all night. What can those potatoes do?"

The bearded man looked back at the soldiers following him.

Hunger and a whole night's march made the soldiers look pale.

Their eyes were staring straight at him.

The bearded man knew that he could not anger these hungry green-eyed soldiers now, otherwise, they might shoot themselves a few times first.

In the barracks, he was the leader of the rebellion. If he was the first one to be sacrificed to the flag now, it would be really worthless.

So, the bearded man pointed to the farmhouse that was beginning to appear in outline in front of him.

At this time, under the faint morning light, a few wisps of green smoke could be vaguely seen rising there.

"Brothers, have you seen the smoke?" The bearded man shouted loudly, "A delicious breakfast is being cooked there. Let's rush over now. Those things are ours!"

His "Looking at the smoke to stop hunger" technique is very much in the style of Wei Wu and is very effective.

The empty eyes of a group of hungry soldiers immediately radiated light, and their calves were instantly filled with strength as they trotted towards the farm.

The smoke from the farm was real, but it was just breakfast prepared for the militiamen stationed there.

"Here comes the barbecued pork buns!"

Two muscular men came out of the kitchen carrying a large steamer.

The two of them used their arms to lift up, and placed the steamer on the table at the door with a "dong" sound.

There is also a large pot of pickles and fried meat on the side of the steamer.

The soldiers lined up to wait for breakfast. Each of them held a bowl and an iron teapot in his hand.

For everyone who arrives in line, the chef responsible for distributing breakfast will add a spoonful of pickles to their bowls, add a piece of fried meat, and then put a steamed bun into their bowls;
Beside the table were two kerosene stoves on which coffee was brewing.

Those who have received the steamed buns can use the teapot to receive a cup of coffee here, and then return to their posts to eat and drink.

This breakfast can be called a "combination of Chinese and Western". It is not particularly delicious, but it can provide a lot of energy.

Most of the soldiers with different skin colors in the team were satisfied. After all, many of them could not even afford breakfast before.

"Master Wei, do you have rice rolls?"

A young man stuck his head out from the group and asked.

"Changfen? Do you want me to make you rice rolls?" Master Wei took off the towel hanging around his neck to wipe his sweat and glared at the young man angrily.

He leaned out of the shed and shouted to the roof of the warehouse:
"Snake Ming, can you take care of your brother? This bad guy always makes trouble for me!"

However, Snake Ming, who was standing guard on the top of the warehouse, did not answer Master Wei downstairs. He held a telescope in his hand and stared at the south side of the farm in the faint morning light.

His expression suddenly became tense.

His right hand still held the telescope, and his left hand made a gesture downwards.

Chen Jianqiu, who was happily eating steamed buns and drinking coffee not far away, saw the gesture and said softly to Li Sifu beside him:

"Let everyone take your places, our guests are here."

The bearded man soon approached the farm.

"Sir, something seems wrong. Why doesn't there seem to be anyone in the farm?" A soldier asked the bearded man as he stretched his neck and looked into the farm.

The bearded man also felt something was wrong.

Years of experience in the military made him feel a little uneasy.

He hesitated to ask his soldiers to stop and observe first.

However, a strange smell reached his nose.

"What does it smell like?" The bearded man sniffed.

This smell is strange, but it seems very familiar.

"Yes, it's meat! It smells like meat! They fried the meat!" someone among the soldiers suddenly shouted.

The bearded man suddenly woke up.

Yes, this is the taste of meat!

It turned out that it was not that he didn't know the taste, but that he had forgotten it because he hadn't eaten meat for a long time.

His unsatisfactory saliva and tears flowed out almost at the same time.

"Come on! Damn it! For the meat!"

No more mobilization was needed, and all the soldiers rushed into the farm like wild horses that had escaped the reins.

They saw a shed and several tables in an open space not far away.

There are many wooden basins and cages on the table.

They didn't know what the basket was, and they couldn't recognize the white barbecued pork buns on it.

But the aroma wafting from those tables made the hungry soldiers lose their ability to think.

They rushed to the table and started fighting for the food on the table.

The tables, basins, and cages were quickly knocked over to the ground. The barbecued pork buns rolled everywhere and were covered with dust. The pickles and fried meat were scattered all over the floor.

But this did not stop the hungry soldiers from robbing the ground desperately.

A soldier stuffed a barbecued pork bun into his mouth and rushed towards a piece of fried meat that fell on the ground not far away.

But he didn't score a touchdown.

Another soldier came out halfway, hugged him by the waist, threw him to the ground, sat on him, and started to pick out the half of the barbecued pork buns that had not been swallowed from his mouth with his hands.

The bearded man is naturally not to be outdone.

Any orders are redundant at this time, and the most important thing is for everyone to take care of their own belly.

He kicked a soldier over, then snatched a bun from his hand, wiped it on his clothes, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Well, damn, well, I found something to eat, well, I didn't give it to the chief first," the bearded man cursed indistinctly while chewing the bun.

There was chaos around the table for a while, with shouts and shouts and sounds of fighting happening one after another.

The bearded man raised his head, looking for anything else to eat.

However, he suddenly saw a man standing at the door of the house not far away, looking at him, leaning against the door with a playful expression.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

The man snarled and shook his head.

"The mighty American Army has been reduced to this, fighting for food like wild dogs. I really don't know what Washington and Grant would think when they saw this."

Although the scene was noisy and the man was still some distance away from me, his voice seemed to have magic power, reverberating over the farm like a bell.

The soldiers who were still fighting for food were all stunned.

They all looked at this person.

This person is Chen Jianqiu.

"Aren't you guys hungry? The room behind me is the kitchen. Would you like to come in and have a look?" He looked at the bearded man and the soldiers around him with a half-smile.

"Ugh, damn it, ugh, kill him!"

The bearded man hadn't finished the barbecued pork bun in his mouth yet, and his speech was unclear.

But this did not stop him from raising the rifle in his hand.

But just as he was aiming, Chen Jianqiu disappeared in a flash like a ghost.

The soldiers raised their guns and shot at the house as they moved forward.

The bullets hit the earthen wall, sending debris flying and leaving craters, but they didn't cause much damage to the house itself.

When they were about ten meters away from the house, suddenly the sun jumped out of the horizon.

The first ray of sunshine shone on the earth, on the farm, and on the face of each of them.

They saw some sandbags and boxes piled up not far on both sides of the house, and behind these obstacles there were flashes of metallic luster.

A rapid sound rang out rhythmically.

The Maxim machine guns placed there began their roar.

There were eight machine guns in total, four on each side, forming a cross-firing angle.

This kind of firepower is extremely terrifying.

You should know that in the early days of World War I, a British division had only 24 heavy machine guns, and it was not until the later stages that the firepower was increased to the battalion and platoon levels.

The reason why Chen Jianqiu made such arrangements was not because he had any hatred towards these American federal soldiers, but simply because he wanted to reduce his own casualties.

His soldiers are much more valuable than these scum who are fighting each other for food.

The dense bullets from the heavy machine guns formed a net and spread towards the American soldiers.

Before they could react, a large number of them fell down like grass being mowed.

"Quick! Find cover and shoot!" The bearded man tried to command a counterattack.

But he had no intention of resisting, and just ran back with the gun in his hand.

I came here to steal food, but now I'm ambushed. What's the point of playing with my life!

But he had not taken a few steps when he heard a gunshot suddenly above his head.

"Ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta."

The bearded man looked up.

Directly opposite him, on the roof of the warehouse, there was a BAR equipped with a tripod.

She Mingzi was crawling on the roof, holding the butt of the gun with one hand and pulling the trigger with the other, shooting at the people below.

Beside him, there were several soldiers holding bolt-action rifles, shooting downwards.

They are observation posts and are also responsible for suppressing fire from above.

"Damn it, there are people on the roof. Quick, kill them." Before the bearded man could finish his words, blood started to bloom from his chest.

It is extremely unwise to wear an officer's uniform and issue orders at will on the battlefield.

The machine gunner on the roof spotted him and gave him a "triple hit".

The bearded man was beaten so hard that he seemed to be convulsing. He fell on the ground on his back, wailing in pain.

Soon another bullet came from nowhere and hit his abdomen, ending his pain completely.

Soldiers lying in ambush in other buildings on the farm began their own shooting.

The dense sound of gunfire echoed over the farm, turning this usually quiet and peaceful place into a hellish scene.

The second wave of soldiers led by Wiltord also approached the farm.

As they reached the edge of a cornfield, they heard gunshots coming from the direction of the farm.

The colonel listened carefully to the gunshots, his face looking extremely strange.

The intensity of the gunfire was beyond his comprehension.

According to his understanding, there were only about a thousand militiamen in Roswell. Even if all of them came, how could they make such a big noise with thousands of people?
"Give me the telescope!" Wiltold got off his horse, took the telescope from the guard, half-crouched on the edge of the field, and looked towards the direction of the farm.

He was shocked to see that his vanguard troops had been completely routed. Some were desperately trying to escape from the farm, some were lying on the ground with their heads in their hands, and some were hiding behind any shelter and trembling.

"Stop advancing! Organize your formation on the spot and shoot at the enemy in the direction of the farm!"

Wiltord gave the order.

"They killed our comrades, we must avenge them!" He turned his head and said to the soldiers behind him with a sad face.

If he retreated now, the colonel would definitely be unwilling to do so. He decided that even if he had to leave, he would at least take a piece of meat from the other side.

Those who were able to hold back and not leave in the first batch were the colonel's direct subordinates, and they chose to obey Wiltord's orders.

They scattered on the ridges of the fields, using them as cover, and began shooting at the Roswell militia outside the farm.

"Boss, there's a group of people over there in the cornfield, trying to steal our butts from the perimeter."

Li Sifu bent over and ran to the back of the kitchen.

There, Chen Jianqiu was squatting in the corner smoking a cigar and listening to the noise outside.

"How about I take the cavalry to deal with them? These guys are too annoying." Li Sifu volunteered.

"Cornfield?" Chen Jianqiu picked up a small stone from the ground and started to pick at the adobe wall out of boredom.

Li Sifu nodded repeatedly:
"Yes, right next to the cornfield, these guys are relying on the ridge and exchanging fire with people outside our farm."

Chen Jianqiu threw away the stone and brushed the dust off his hands.

"No, he will steal our ass, and I happen to have someone stealing his ass."

He used his little finger to pick at his ear:

"Uncle Niu is waiting for him there with the Big Knife Team."

Wiltord continued to look in the direction of the farm with the telescope.

Because the ridges and canals formed natural trenches, he and his soldiers were fearless.

They concentrated their attention on shooting at the militia outside the opposite farm, trying to open a gap for their vanguard troops who were surrounded in the farm. For a moment, they even forgot that they were still hungry and also forgot what they were there for.

But they didn't notice that there was some movement in the cornfield behind them.

Niu San gently pushed aside the tall corn stalks in front of him and looked out along the crack.

He saw Wiltord standing in the canal looking around with a telescope.

To be precise, it was Wiltord's head.

It stretched out, and then disappeared again after a while.

According to Chen Jianqiu's order, he led his men to ambush here before dawn. He originally planned to catch some American soldiers who were in a panic and broke into the cornfield or came in to steal corn, but he never expected that Wiltod and his soldiers were divided into two parts.

Niu San didn't know Wiltord, but that didn't stop him from preparing to attack the group of people in front of him from behind.

"Get the grenades ready, four per person. Once I give the order, throw them into the ditch in front. Make sure you throw them all within ten seconds." Niu San said to the soldiers behind him who were eager to try.

The soldiers quickly took up their attacking positions.

A few minutes later, Wiltord and his soldiers, whose attention was focused on the front, suddenly heard a whistle coming from behind.

Some of them turned their heads away.

Then, they froze.

"Hey, what is that?" A soldier pulled the sleeve of his comrade who was changing bullets next to him.

A pile of stone-like things suddenly flew out from the cornfield and flew towards their heads.

One of them flew into the ditch and landed at his feet, smoking.

After a few seconds.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

A series of explosions sounded in the canal, mud splashed, shrapnel flew, and the canal was suddenly filled with wailing.

Immediately afterwards, a group of soldiers wearing turbans suddenly rushed out from the cornfield.

Each of them had a shotgun in his hand and a machete on his back.

Niu San rushed to the front.

Compared to ten years ago, he has more gray hair, but he is still as brave as ever.

"Brothers, follow me and kill them!"

(End of this chapter)