Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 352 Stepping into a Trap

The freight terminal of wealthy businessman Wang Hai is not big. He built a 74-meter-long wooden pier deep into the bay, which can accommodate two cargo ships at the same time. It can accommodate cargo ships with a draft of no more than 4.5 meters to dock and load and unload cargo, that is, cargo ships with a capacity of less than 1500 tons.

On the Big Island of Hawaii
There are countless small bays that can be used to build docks. This dock is located in a corner, close to the large sugar plantation owned by Wang Hai, just over 4 kilometers away, and there is a dirt road in the valley to connect them.

Most of the nearby Chinese sugar plantations are located within this area.

The original intention of building this dock warehouse was to provide services for the majority of Chinese plantation owners while providing shipping for sugarcane produced by their own plantations.

The warehouse on the dock is seven square meters in size, and at the door is a small square made of rammed earth, which is less than three thousand square meters, about the size of a large courtyard in the countryside.

There was no wall here originally. After the duel, more than 220 Chinese laborers were immediately mobilized to quickly build an earthen wall to surround the warehouse area.

Local materials are mixed with thatch and beaten into mud bricks, which are then built into adobe walls once they are slightly shaped. This way, the construction speed is very fast.

In the afternoon
A wall more than 1300 meters long has taken shape, about 3.2 meters high and more than 80 centimeters wide, and has quickly emerged.

This earthen wall encompasses a small part of the earthen square in front of the dock warehouse, leaving two wide gates on the left and right.

The gate is made of a thick tree with the bark peeled off. One end is inserted into the soil more than 4 meters, and the other end is more than 4 meters above the ground. It is planned to build a Chinese-style flying eaves lintel in the future.

Due to time constraints, we didn't have time to make the latches for the two gates, so we just closed the spliced ​​wooden gates. We'll nail the back of the gates shut with wooden braces and refine the details tomorrow.

60 Chinese gunmen moved in mainly to protect the 70 pounds of sugar in the warehouse, weighing about 330 tons and worth more than silver dollars.

This is the output of more than a dozen Chinese sugar plantations in the surrounding area this month. It has not been transported out in time and needs to be properly protected.

In 1860, the Hawaiian Islands exported less than 150 million pounds of sugar. In the days that followed, as large-scale sugar plantations were developed, sugar production in the region increased rapidly.

By 1868, sugar production in the Hawaiian Islands had soared to 3200 million pounds, and the growth momentum was still rapid, with promising sales prospects.

Only during the American Civil War
Sugar prices fluctuated significantly due to the severe impact of the American Civil War on sugar prices, but they quickly returned to normal after the war and continued to rise.

Such a good financial prospect attracted an influx of white American capital, and the number of white sugar plantation owners increased rapidly in the past few years.

Most of the Chinese sugarcane planters came from the State of Chu. Especially in the past three years, the sugarcane production and the number of plantations have increased significantly, causing irreconcilable and sharp conflicts with the white plantation owners.

No matter what, it’s all because of interests.

Nowadays, both the North American and European markets have a huge demand for bulk products such as sugarcane. The main producing areas of sugarcane are located in four major regions: Cuba, Hawaii, Brazil and Shangri-La Island, all of which have tropical, rainy and humid climates.

Sugarcane is a typical tropical crop with very high requirements for climate and rainfall.

In the temperate regions of North America and Europe, sugarcane is difficult to grow. Even if some is grown, the sugarcane is not sweet and the sugar yield is less than 1/5 of the former.

Europeans have always had a sweet tooth. Families that can afford it buy sugar not in bulk, but in bulk, such as 1 pounds, 2 pounds, or 10 pounds. It is an essential substance in life, just like flour.

When living conditions improve, sugar prices will rise steadily and sales will increase step by step.

The setting sun sets in the west and dusk covers the earth.

When night falls

The dock warehouse area, which had been bustling all day, had returned to its tranquility. There seemed to be an unspeakable throbbing in the silence, filling the night with a dangerous atmosphere.

"Captain Dong, do you think those Americans will come tonight?" Fan Zongjie asked from the dense forest halfway up the mountain, looking towards the warehouse area at the foot of the mountain.

In this dense forest

There were more than 600 Chinese gunmen hiding, all sitting quietly in the woods with guns in their hands. The bushes in the woods had been cleared away, and it was obvious that they had been prepared.

Deputy Commander Dong Jiasheng directly mobilized half of the militia regiment and set up an ambush here, preparing to give the Americans a head-on blow and teach them a severe lesson.

The Big Island of Hawaii originally had a mountainous terrain, with mountains occupying more than 90% of the entire island. Only some plains and hills along the coast were flat, suitable for growing crops such as rice.

The gentle hills are more suitable for growing tropical high-yield sugarcane, which is also the advantage of the area as a high-yield sugarcane region.

Although sugarcane requires a lot of rainfall during its growing period, it cannot be soaked in water for a long time, as this will cause root rot and various problems, greatly affecting its yield.

Therefore, sugarcane producing areas must be rainy and humid.

After hearing Fan Zongjie's question, Colonel Dong Jiasheng smiled slightly and replied;

"The Americans are too ruthless. If they are humiliated today, they must retaliate today, otherwise they will not be able to sleep at night.

According to the military operation guidelines

If there is a 30% chance that the enemy will attack, it is worth taking resolute military action, setting up an ambush overnight, or even lying in wait for three days.

Judging from the nature of these Americans, there is a 70% chance that they will retaliate tonight.

With such a high probability, it would be inhospitable if we couldn't surprise these Americans. "Fan Zongjie was once an official in charge of local colonization in Donggang, Shangri-La Island. Donggang City has experienced rapid development in recent years, especially the sugarcane industry, to which he has played a significant role.

The local people of Donggang made great sacrifices to form the Australian Expeditionary Force.

Fan Zongjie's reasonable allocation prevented the local sugarcane production in Donggang from being greatly affected, for which he was commended by the Prime Minister's Office of the Kingdom.

After this promotion, he will be sent to the Big Island of Hawaii and will definitely take on an important position.

Judging from the current situation
If the Hawaiian Islands were successfully taken over and a prefecture was established on the Big Island of Hawaii and Oahu, Fan Zongjie would at least be a candidate for prefect, with at least a 50% to 60% chance of success.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Colonel Dong Jiasheng treats him with great respect.

The two walked and talked in the clearing in the woods, without a trace of anxiety on their faces.

They are certain
The probability of the Americans launching a surprise attack tonight is as high as 70%, and the probability of a surprise attack tomorrow night is as high as 30%. If it is delayed until the day after tomorrow, the probability will not even be 10%.

These Americans were born in an emerging immigrant country with no history. At least half of them are illiterate. Even if they can read and write, their knowledge is limited to a very simple level.

As for some books on strategy, I have never read them, let alone heard of them.

No matter whether it is a war or a fight for pastures or mines, just roll up your sleeves and get to work. Whether you can succeed or not is up to you.

The American Civil War clearly demonstrated this feature. Both sides launched a fierce attack, with soldiers against soldiers and generals against generals. There were no roundabout maneuvers, no sieges and attacks on reinforcements, and no thousand-mile advances.

Just play the game of queuing and shooting, simple, rough and direct, whoever is afraid will lose.

During the American Civil War, Virginia was a focal point of contention between the two sides. Dozens of the most brutal battles broke out here, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

General Jackson, the famous General in the Civil War, was nicknamed "Stonewall", which meant that the army he led was as strong as a stone wall and difficult to break through.

While winning great prestige, who knows how many casualties General Jackson's army suffered?
This is the difference between those with historical background and those without. The British at least use strategy when fighting wars, while the French are more flexible.

In particular, the extraordinary French Emperor Napoleon was very good at leading his troops to penetrate, detour and maneuver over a large area in a short period of time, forming a short-term regional military advantage and thus defeating the seemingly powerful anti-French coalition army.

The Americans don't know how to do all of this and can't pull off these tricks.

"Report to the commander, there is movement."

"Oh……"

Colonel Dong Jiasheng responded with a look of surprise, took out the gold watch from his arms and looked at it in the bright moonlight.

In the reflection of the fluorescent powder, the time scale of the Swiss gold watch stopped at 8:37 in the evening, which made him unable to help but curse "bad luck", with a look of joy and relief on his face.

The sun sets very late in Hawaii. Normally, it is after 7:40 when the sun sets completely and the watery night envelopes us, ushering in the cool and beautiful night.

Considering that the American white plantation owners are not close to here, the nearest white sugar plantation is more than six or seven kilometers away, and it would take an hour to walk or jog there.

From this
At dusk, before it got dark, these white militiamen who attempted to attack set out. They really did not wait until the next day to take revenge, and they tried to crush them with their strength.

What the Americans practice is;

No matter whether you have any conspiracy or not, I will crush you with my absolute strength and I don’t believe you can withstand it.

"Report the situation?"

"Reporting to the commander, according to the information sent back by visual observation, the white armed forces participating in the attack are approximately 550 people, carrying three field artillery pieces of unknown caliber, and 17 horse-drawn carriages, the load of which is unknown."

"Haha... more than 500 gunmen. It seems that these Americans have invested some money and are desperate. They want to get back at us." Colonel Dong Jiasheng said calmly.

In fact, I was already very happy inside, and I felt safe tonight.

What he brought out was not 600 soldiers from half a militia, but 1200 soldiers from an entire militia.

600 soldiers hid in this valley, preparing to encircle and deal a fatal blow to the attacking white armed forces. All the relevant details were completed after nightfall.

Another 600 soldiers were divided into two teams and stationed on both sides of the entrance to the mountain, forming a situation of closing the door and beating the dog.

As long as you dare to come in, there is no need to think about going back.

Less than half an hour after entering the position, a big fish was hooked.

In tonight's battle, we will first remove one of the Americans' most powerful arms, scare them to death, and then slowly torture them.

to be frank

He really didn't feel any sense of accomplishment in dealing with these Americans who were so stupid. It felt like an adult playing with a child. It was too unchallenging.

(End of this chapter)