Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 304 Heading North (Part 3)

"They must have been Haida people from the Blue Awful Islands (now the Queen Charlotte Islands)."

Captain Zhao Tieshan, who had participated in the northward exploration mission a year ago, received a bone carving totem left behind on the battlefield from Gan Daquan. It was an exaggerated, deformed thunderbird with dried bloodstains on its beak.

He had seen similar items at a fur market in the Blue Ridge Islands, where the local Haida warriors always hung them on their animal hide armor, supposedly to gain the protection of their ancestral spirits.

On June 6, half a month after the attack on Beitunbao, the "Shunyun-7" transport ship, carrying supplies and immigrants, finally arrived, bringing tears of joy to the survivors.

That sudden battle, though lasting less than an hour, caused heavy losses to Beitunbao.

Five newly erected graves are located on a geomantically auspicious site on the east side of the fortress. The oldest of the deceased, Zhang Dafu, was pierced through the abdomen by a spear and died tragically after struggling in agony for several hours.

The youngest, Li Yao'er, was only eighteen years old. A huge hole was pierced in her neck by a wooden spear. She fell on this unfamiliar and desolate land without uttering a word, her young face frozen with fear and resentment.

Of the seventeen injured, two had persistent high fevers and were delirious, and their wounds were severely festering; they appeared to be in poor condition.

However, thanks to their tenacious counterattack, the native pirates also paid a very heavy price, with at least forty corpses left on the battlefield, accounting for almost 20% of the number of natives who attacked.

Moreover, their leader appeared to have been shot dead by muskets during the battle, and they abandoned a large number of weapons during the retreat, suffering a crushing defeat.

During the agonizing days of waiting for rescue, the survivors made emergency reinforcements to the protective wall and also set up several makeshift traps around the perimeter using fishing nets and barbed wire.

As night fell, the immigrants would take turns keeping watch, each clutching a musket.

One night, Chen De, who was on guard duty in the watchtower, suddenly fired his gun, which immediately alerted everyone.

Later, it was discovered that it was just a brown bear looking for food.

But no one blamed him; every act of caution and care was absolutely necessary.

Everyone guarded the village closely, remaining vigilant day and night, never daring to let their guard down for a moment, lest they be attacked again by the native pirates.

Perhaps due to the death of their leader, leaving the group leaderless, or perhaps out of fear of the stronghold's fierce counterattack, the native pirates lingered on the shore for several days before sailing away on a misty morning, just as mysteriously and decisively as they had arrived.

Before leaving, the native pirates piled up the bodies of their fallen comrades on the beach and burned them.

They formed a circle, humming a strange, mournful dirge. The song seemed to transcend time and space, carrying the mystery and sorrow of antiquity, and drifted away on the sea breeze.

As the flames rose, an old shaman wearing a feathered crown suddenly turned towards the village, raised a wooden staff covered with human finger bones, and pointed it out into the distance.

Some immigrants vaguely heard the old shaman chanting, "Revenge, revenge!"

Of course, his words were met with ridicule from Gan Daquan.

Those natives are ignorant and barbaric, how could they possibly speak Chinese!?
Furthermore, the outbreak of this battle was clearly an initiative by the native pirates, while we in Beitunbao were on the defensive, fighting back to protect our homeland.

If we're talking about revenge, then it should be carried out by us, the new Chinese.

“Actually…” Captain Zhao Tieshan of the Shunyun-7 hesitated for a moment, a strange expression on his face, “Those Haida people attacked your Beitunbao, probably really out of revenge.”

"Huh?" Gan Daquan looked at him in astonishment. "...Why?"

“Last September, when one of our Xinhua armed ships, which was scouting the northern shipping route, was returning via the Qing'ai Islands, a conflict broke out with the local Haida people while they were trading furs. More than ten of them were killed and several of their canoes were sunk.”

"So, when they learned of the existence of our Beitun Fortress, they didn't hesitate to travel a long way to retaliate against us?"

Zhao Tieshan traced a cut on the totem's neck with his fingertip, his voice suddenly lowering: "They call this a 'blood debt totem.' Every time they kill an enemy, they carve a mark on the amulet."

"Of course, the various supplies stored in your Beitunbao were also one of the important reasons for their attack..."

"Damn it!" Gan Daquan cursed under his breath, though it was unclear whether he was referring to the invading Haida people or the troublemaking exploration ship.

The room suddenly became eerily quiet, with only the occasional crackling of the oil lamp.

Gan Daquan stared at the captured Haida battle axe on the wall, its blade still stained with Li Yao'er's blood.

He finally understood why those natives would travel thousands of miles to attack—just like the local clan feuds within the Ming Dynasty, hatred never needs too many reasons.

Those natives traveled thousands of miles to attack their Beitun Fortress; they really came for revenge.

Moreover, this hatred is like wildfire; a single spark can start a prairie fire.

"Since the Haida people have taken the initiative to provoke the war, our Xinhua government will probably have to respond strongly," Zhao Tieshan said thoughtfully. "And your Beitunbao will most likely serve as the forward base for the expeditionary army, so you will probably receive a large number of personnel and supplies. Commander Gan, you may be put to great use because of this!"

"What, do you think the higher-ups would recruit us into the army?" Gan Daquan said dismissively.

“Hehe…” Zhao Tieshan chuckled. “Gan, the garrison commander, has only been in Xinzhou for a short time and is unaware of the structure of Xinhua’s official system. Even if he is not serving in the military, he can still recruit and organize local armed militia in the name of a local garrison commander to expand the territory and achieve great things.”

"Pshaw!" Gan Daquan chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Old Zhao, don't try to fool me! Although I've only been in Xinhua for less than two years, I know that if you want to climb the ranks, you need to be literate. It's not something a crude soldier can easily achieve. I'm afraid my time as a platoon leader is already over!"

"Chief Gan, you probably don't know that Xinhua has a cadre management academy that specializes in training serving officials, do you?"

"What? I'm just a roughneck, yet I can go to school and get promoted?" Gan Daquan stared wide-eyed.

"Why not?" Zhao Tieshan said with a smile, "Many of the local officials in Xinhua are just like you... rough and uneducated people. After a few months of intensive training and assessment, they can take up the position of local leader. It's not impossible for them to rise to higher positions through merit." "..." Gan Daquan stood there for a long time, muttering, "Does Xinhua really employ people without regard to their background?"

"What's your background?" Zhao Tieshan shook his head and said, "Now that we've come to this New Continent, aren't we all the same in terms of origin and background?"

A glimmer of hope appeared in Gan Daquan's eyes, and even the wounds on his body seemed to feel less painful.
-
June 26, Pingshan Fort (now North Vancouver).

A damp sea breeze, carrying the scent of pine, wafted in through the open window. On the desk of Lieutenant Hou Wangchuan, commander of the 3rd Company of the Xinhua Marine Corps, the newly delivered transfer order trembled slightly in the wind. His rough fingers traced the paper stamped with the wax seal of "Xinhua Military Affairs Department," and a sharp smile unconsciously curved his lips.

"Finally, we don't have to hunt wild men in the mountains anymore!"

After quickly browsing through the information, an excited expression flashed across his face. He slammed his hand on the table, stood up abruptly, and his military boots made a crisp sound on the floor.

Liang Zhongmin, the clerk who was compiling the "supply list", was so startled that his pen trembled and the ink splattered on the "Iron Sand Island Labor Recruitment Form" as a black spot.

He looked up helplessly at Hou Wangchuan. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a string of dazzling points of light on the gold tassels of Hou Wangchuan's lieutenant epaulettes.

"What, are we being transferred?" He carefully placed the quill on the inkstone.

"Yes, prepare to go north to fight the natives." Hou Wangchuan handed him the transfer order and said in a relaxed tone, "Later, issue orders to all officers and soldiers to prepare equipment and luggage, and set off as soon as the transport ship arrives."

When Liang Zhongmin received the transfer order, he noticed the whitish scar on Liang's left thumb—a mark from a stone axe he had sustained a month earlier while hunting Skomish people in the nearby jungle.

He unfolded the order, his pupils suddenly contracting: "Beitunbao attacked? These Haida people dare to cross hundreds of miles by sea to invade?"

"Yes, those natives really have guts!" Hou Wangchuan sneered, taking out a roll of nautical chart from the tin cabinet and spreading it on the table. His finger slowly moved to the location of an archipelago in the north. "Moreover, they made a long march of hundreds of kilometers, crossing the sea from the Qing'ai Islands, and then launched a landing attack. Hmm, they're a good training target, much better than chasing those natives (Skomish) who only know how to hide in the mountains all day long."

"After we withdraw from here, how should we carry out the labor 'requisition' operation needed on Iron Sand Island (now Tekseda Island)?" Liang Zhongmin folded the transfer order again and put it into the folder.

"Most of the time, during the off-season, militiamen were drawn from Hejiang (now Courtney, Vancouver Island) to continue searching for natives and then sending them to Iron Sand Island for mining purposes," Hou Wangchuan said with a smile. "We don't need to worry too much about these things. Since the higher-ups have issued the transfer order, there must be corresponding follow-up arrangements."

Iron Sand Island, as its name suggests, is rich in magnetite deposits.

According to experienced prospectors, the ore grade on this island exceeds 40%, and some veins on the north side of the island can even reach 60%-65%, which is much better than the iron mine in Guangfeng (now Sanich town).

Not to mention, Guangfeng Iron Mine is just a very small mine with reserves of at most around 10,000 tons. Moreover, as mining efforts increase, development becomes more difficult and the ore grade gradually decreases.

It is foreseeable that this small mine will gradually become depleted and unusable after a maximum of ten years of mining.

For the long term, the Xinhua government dispatched several prospecting teams three years ago to explore mineral veins on Qiming Island and surrounding islets in search of future iron ore resources.

After the war with the Spanish ended, the exploration activities that had been interrupted were restarted, and the team was doubled in size, in order to find a mine that could replace Guangfeng Iron Mine in the shortest possible time.

Although the time travelers knew that the province of British Columbia where they were located would later become one of Canada's major iron ore producing areas, they were not very clear about the specific location of the ore veins and could only send more people to search in all directions.

In addition to Qiming Island and the surrounding islets, several prospecting teams were also dispatched to the Jinsha River area (present-day Vancouver and surrounding areas) and Xinhua Bay (present-day Puget Sound, centered around Seattle) to expand the search area by casting a wide net.

Last August, a prospecting team, acting on feedback from the Hejiang area, reported that a nearby island might contain iron ore resources, and immediately went there.

When the island's inhabitants went to Hejiang for trade, they mentioned that many of the mountains there had black and dark brown rocks that seemed very similar to the characteristics of iron ore published by the Ministry of Mining.

When the prospecting team landed on this rather large, long and narrow island, after some exploration, they indeed discovered a large amount of magnetite, and the reserves were extremely rich.

Roughly estimated, this small island, covering an area of ​​several hundred square kilometers, has a vast area of ​​iron ore deposits, with reserves reaching tens of millions of tons, or even higher (the actual reserves are more than 2 million tons).

Upon receiving the report, Xinhua's decision-making committee immediately mobilized substantial resources to begin developing the island.

They built fortresses, docks, and mines, and imported various mining equipment and tools.

At the same time, a large number of mining laborers were "recruited" and transported to the island.

Given the extreme shortage of manpower, the Xinhua government simply dispatched some idle Marines to search for indigenous tribes on nearby islands and in areas adjacent to the mainland, "persuading" them to leave the mountains and forests and engage in arduous mining work.

The Third Reserve Company was a newly established unit in April of this year. Originally a shell company with only some officers and senior non-commissioned officers, numbering less than forty people, it was transferred to Pingshan Fort after more than fifty new recruits were added. The company was tasked with "searching" the local indigenous tribes and relocating these natives who had lived there for generations to Tiesha Island, where they were needed more.

This kind of military operation is of extremely low intensity, not even qualifying as a counterinsurgency operation. Apart from constantly crawling through ravines and training leg strength, it does not actually have much effect on improving the overall combat effectiveness of the troops.

As for actual combat, it is almost non-existent.

Once the fully armed officers and soldiers arrived at the indigenous tribe, they only needed to fire a few shots and brandish their gleaming bayonets to create a deadly deterrent to the tribe. Then, the tribe members would obediently follow the new Chinese to Pingshan Fort to wait for the ships to transfer them.

Such a battle is truly uninteresting.

However, looking around with my sword drawn, I felt lost and confused. It seemed that I really couldn't find a worthy opponent in the vicinity of Xinhua.

The indigenous people were extremely underdeveloped and lacked any sense of organization. They didn't even have many basic iron tools and couldn't even last a few rounds against ordinary militiamen, let alone the heavily armed regular army of Xinhua.

Just as they were "bored"ly carrying out the conscription of natives around Pingshan Fort, they unexpectedly received orders from the military to turn around and kill those Haida people who dared to take the initiative to invade.

These Haida people were able to organize an armed force of hundreds of people and travel hundreds of kilometers by sea to launch a long-distance raid on Beitunbao. How could this not arouse the high vigilance of the Xinhua government?

With such effective organization, such formidable fighting power, and such a high degree of aggression, and having acquired a considerable amount of ironware through multiple trade channels, given time, they might grow into a powerful tribal alliance, posing a threat to Xinhua and thus hindering the normal operation of the northern fur trade.

These indigenous tribes, which possess potential strength and control key northern shipping routes, must be contained and even forcibly suppressed to prevent them from having any chance to emerge.
-
(End of this chapter)