North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 100 is still aimed at us! (5,000 words)
Azu spent a whole month designing and perfecting the gold panning process for hard rock gold mines, and designing the necessary mechanical equipment.

In the mine, a combination of manpower and machinery is mainly used. Manual drilling and blasting are carried out, and then tracks are laid in the mine tunnels to transport the ore by small trains.

Outside the mine, a stone crusher, cyanide reaction tank, activated carbon extraction equipment, high-temperature incineration reduction furnace, cyanide collection and recycling equipment, and chlorination oxidation device for treating highly toxic tailwater were designed.

This process and equipment are much more complex than the amalgam method, but it wasn't difficult for Azu. Even with the technology available at that time, there weren't any insurmountable obstacles.

After perfecting the process and designing the machinery, it is handed over to the machinery factory for production.

Then there are people!
Apart from the forty-odd people who followed him to pan for gold last year, almost all of them have joined this year's gold panning team.

In addition, Ah Zu personally selected more than 250 people from among the thousands, bringing the gold mining team to 300 people this year.

Apart from the dozen or so white men last year, the rest were all Chinese laborers who had joined the militia.

They were not only young and strong, but also had received military training, many of them had combat experience, and their loyalty to Azu was fully guaranteed.

Jason, Harley, and old Martinez are now proper senators, so they obviously can't participate in this year's gold rush.

Azu planned to bring Youma along, so that she could truly act as a liaison between the gold mining team and the Blackfoot tribe.

There was also young Carnegie, who was taught the gold mining process.

By the end of January, after debugging and trial production, the Alcatraz Arsenal finally produced its first batch of truly qualified HM49 rifles, as well as several large ones shrouded in black cloth.

Azu led the gold rush team to another uninhabited island—Angel Island—and equipped them with brand-new HM49 rifles, improved real grenades, and those mysterious big guys.

On Angel Island, these three hundred men trained day and night, scattering bullets as if they were free, aiming to train them into a formidable fighting force in the wild in the shortest possible time.

In the wild, ensuring safety is the top priority, rather than panning for gold!

Especially during this turbulent time, Azu sensed that some conspiracy against him was brewing in the shadows.

In the midst of such a tense and busy period, it was already mid-February, and the Spring Festival finally arrived.

Meanwhile, the merchant fleet that had been on a transoceanic voyage finally returned to Clark Port after a full five months at sea!

Seventeen large ocean-going clipper ships, not one missing, were neatly moored at Clarke Pier.

The first to disembark from the seventeen ocean-going sailing ships were more than 2,700 Chinese laborers who had traveled across the ocean with dreams of getting rich!
This single merchant fleet of the Huamei Company carried almost the entire total number of Chinese laborers from last year.

These 2,700-plus Chinese laborers were all contract workers who had signed contracts with Huamei Company.

Over the course of two years, these two thousand-plus Chinese laborers will work for the Huamei Company for free in exchange for their ship tickets.

Of course, Huamei Company will also provide them with free food and lodging, as well as all basic living necessities.

With the addition of these two thousand-plus Chinese laborers, the labor shortage problem of Huamei Company was completely alleviated.

Having made preparations in advance, Ah Zu built a huge camp covering 100 acres on his own land next to the shipyard for these Chinese laborers. Hundreds of prefabricated houses were neatly built there, along with supporting catering, water, lighting, heating and sanitation facilities.

These Chinese laborers could only enjoy such good treatment under Azu's care.

It was precisely because of Ah Zu's emphasis that the captains and sailors received basic medical training and that the ships were equipped with sufficient medicines and other supplies that the number of Chinese laborers who died at sea on this voyage was significantly reduced to below 7%.

In other words, nearly 3,000 Chinese laborers boarded the Huamei Company's fleet, and more than 2,700 of them disembarked alive.

But more than two hundred people still died at sea!

In those days, it was impossible for someone not to die while adrift at sea for two or three months.

Not to mention Chinese laborers, even captains and sailors frequently experienced death.

Of the more than 2,700 people, some were assigned to shipping companies to learn how to be sailors; some were assigned to shipyards, garment factories, machine factories, pharmaceutical factories, smelters, and newly built textile factories; and some were assigned to the mines under its jurisdiction to become miners.

Another group of literate individuals were assigned to various trading companies, hotels, and other establishments, where they learned English while simultaneously learning how to do business.

At the same time, Azu also selected 600 strong young men from these 2,700 people to fill the second militia regiment.

In this way, the Second Militia Regiment had more than 1,500 men, finally becoming a fully staffed militia regiment.

Although most of them are still new recruits, with a few months of diligent training, they will become a core fighting force.

The Chinese laborers who had just arrived on the other side of the strait were there during the Spring Festival. Their ancestors treated these compatriots who had come from afar to a big meal.

Taking advantage of the Spring Festival, these newly arrived Chinese laborers had a good seven-day rest and fully recovered their energy before Azu allowed them to officially start working.

In addition to the Chinese laborers, this massive merchant fleet also brought back a full 7,000 tons of rice and more than 1,000 tons of tea.

With these rice and tea products, Huamei Industry had more capital to make a fortune.

After the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, Huamei Company resumed work at the end of February.

Spring has arrived, and temperatures are gradually rising.

Although the cold weather and rainy season are not completely over, Azu can't wait until the end of April.

All the machinery and equipment have been manufactured and tested.

All supplies and personnel are in place, and everything is ready!
Moreover, Azu also received word that the U.S. Army troops stationed in California began to move around frequently.

Even the interim state government, which had been inactive for a long time, ordered local militias to begin intensive training in preparation for the extermination of the Native Americans.

Therefore, Ah Zu needed to get his gold mining team out before then and build up the defenses of the gold mining camp.

Otherwise, they might have to miss this precious gold rush season because of the war between the Americans and the Native Americans.

This time, Azu arranged for a total of five armed merchant ships to transport personnel and supplies!

Following last year's route, five armed merchant ships sailed through the harbor and entered the inland waterway.

With such a massive fleet, the undisguised dark cannon muzzles on the armed merchant ships, and the densely packed armed militia on the sides, no one dared to easily covet such power!

Neither bandits nor other gold prospectors dared to make a move!
Everyone along the coast gazed at the powerful fleet from afar with awe.

After reaching last year's supply point, the convoy was unable to proceed any further.

Two hundred strong packhorses were led down from the ship's hold, and the massive amount of supplies were transported by packhorses and manpower to the gold mining camp that had been reserved last year.

It took three hundred people and two hundred packhorses a full week to move all the supplies to the mountainside of Giant Elephant Mountain.

This place is about twenty miles away from Golden Lake, which was selected as the new gold mining camp last year when Azu was exploring for gold.

Although located halfway up Giant Elephant Mountain, this area has a flat area of ​​seventy or eighty acres with a wide view. It is surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

There was only one simple road between the upper and lower camps, which was opened last year. After the camp was officially built this year, Azu sent people to widen the road to accommodate three or four horses passing side by side.

Next to the campsite, there is a clear stream more than two meters wide that flows continuously, enough to provide water for living and gold panning.

Moreover, the largest gold mine discovered here is only a few hundred meters away in a straight line, making it perfectly feasible to lay a simple railway track to connect the two.

Using the same method as last year, we first felled trees and built a tall, thick wooden wall around the camp, which was then reinforced and thickened with slag later.

Inside the wooden walls, eight more watchtowers, each about ten meters high, were built to provide comprehensive and unobstructed protection for the entire camp.

This year, there are six times more prefabricated houses than last year, a total of sixty prefabricated houses standing neatly in the camp.

Then came the construction of a semi-permanent gold mining facility.

The factory building was constructed using precast steel components to form its framework, then wooden planks were used to cover the roof and walls, and finally, natural asphalt was applied for waterproofing and moisture protection. Only after the factory was built were the machines and equipment installed and tested inside.

While the camp was being built, a team of 100 people was dispatched to begin excavating mine shafts on the largest gold vein discovered last year.

This gold mine not only has a high gold content, but it is also buried relatively shallowly. After digging down more than 30 meters into the mine shaft, a black gold vein with a color that is completely different from the surrounding rocks was found.

Within the black ore, there are also specks of shimmering gold.

First, some ore was mined and sent to the camp for experimental gold refining.

The first ton of ore mined, after being extracted with cyanide, yielded a small amount of gold, which was then placed on a small scale.

Looking at this tiny, insignificant piece of gold, Youma, Ayan, and young Carnegie beside Azu couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Boss, how come this ton of ore only yielded this little bit of gold?"

Ah Yan had experienced gold panning last year, and in his memory, such a large pile of ore should have yielded more gold than the little bit in front of him.

Looking at the reading on the scale, Azu calmly said, "This ton of ore yielded less than two ounces of gold!"

Less than two ounces?

Ayan said unwillingly, "Didn't you say that the gold content here is no lower than that of Golden Lake? How come it's less than two ounces?"

"Hehe!" Azu smiled slightly: "Do you think that extracting two ounces of gold from one ton of ore is a small amount?"

“Normally, if a ton of ore can yield one-fifth of an ounce of gold, it is already considered a rich mine and definitely worth mining!”

"But our ore here can produce two ounces of gold, which is ten times the yield of ordinary rich mines!"

"Aren't you satisfied with this?" Azu smiled and said, "You should know that the amount of ore in this mine is many times greater than the silt in Golden Lake!"

"The process and production equipment I designed can extract three thousand tons of ore a day! You do the math, how much gold can we produce in a day?"

Ah Yan did the math: "That would be... six thousand ounces a day?"

"Six thousand ounces a day, how about a month? A whole gold rush season?"

Ah Yan clicked his tongue, somewhat unable to keep up with the calculations.

Azu continued, "Moreover, theoretically speaking, the deeper you dig, the higher the gold content is likely to be! This one vein alone, if my estimate is correct, is enough for us to mine for two or three years!"

"There are many places similar to this mineral vein in the Sierra Nevada Mountains! This is the real gold mine!"

After experimental mining confirmed the existence of the ore vein, Azu arranged for a simple railway to be built between the mine and the camp.

This railway continuously transported gold-rich ore to the camp for refining.

By the time all the preliminary preparations were completed, the entire month of March had passed.

As April warmed up and rainfall became increasingly scarce, the entire gold mining camp entered a full-speed production phase.

Meanwhile, the war against the California Indians, which had been planned for months, gradually began!
Brigadier General George Phillips left White Sands Camp in New Mexico and traveled to California in person.

However, he did not set up his headquarters in San Francisco, but instead chose Monterey in central California.

Since Brigadier General George Phillips arrived in Monterey and established his headquarters there, an infantry regiment and two cavalry battalions stationed in California have launched frequent probing attacks against various Native American tribes scattered throughout the state.

In conjunction with the regular army, militia units from various towns and cities also participated in the attack.

Never underestimate the American militia!
In the United States, where people are known for their toughness, the militia is the true backbone of the nation!

From the very beginning of the War of Independence, it was the militia who fired the first shot!
In all subsequent wars, both domestic and foreign, the militia was the absolute backbone.

In this era, the United States had a small regular army, mainly composed of professional soldiers, which never exceeded 100,000 men until the outbreak of the Civil War.

Brigadier General George Phillips mobilized his infantry regiment and independent cavalry battalion, totaling two thousand men, plus the one thousand militiamen mobilized by the interim governor, for a total of three thousand men. Seemingly without a clear focus, they launched small-scale attacks on all the Native American tribes.

In early April, during the first supply delivery, Victoria, the head of the "18th Bureau" intelligence agency, personally delivered all the intelligence she had recently gathered to Azu.

"Brigadier General George Phillips is personally overseeing operations in Monterey...!"

"Three thousand army and militia troops are out in all directions, and there are now sporadic skirmishes all over California, but there are no large-scale battles...!"

"Our brothers, who were stationed in the militia units in various towns, were ordered to conduct reconnaissance missions against the Indians, not to wage a real war of annihilation...!"

After reviewing all the intelligence, Azu tapped his fingers lightly on the table and pondered, "What exactly does this brigadier general want to do?"

"If I remember correctly, this Brigadier General is none other than Major Daniel Cameron's father-in-law, isn't he?"

"His son-in-law, Major Daniel, and his cavalry battalion have been completely missing for so long, everyone knows they must be dead, right?"

"Why is this brigadier general picking a fight with the Native Americans instead of avenging his son-in-law?"

"Could it be that he thought the Native Americans killed his son-in-law and the Ranger battalion...?"

Victoria pulled another intelligence report from her chest.

He handed the intelligence document, imbued with his own body heat and scent, to Azu, saying, "Boss, this was just received. It's important intelligence we obtained from a drunken lieutenant colonel staff officer at a hotel in Monterey."

"Oh?" Azu took the information and frowned even more after reading it.

"The intelligence says that the main targets of this war are the Pomeranians and Wintons! The Brigadier General wants to exterminate them completely!"

Azu frowned and said, "As far as I know, although the Pomeranians and Wintons are large Native American tribes, they live by fishing and hunting and are not strong in combat! Moreover, they are not warlike!"

"Why has our brigadier general chosen these two non-warlike tribes as primary targets? It makes no sense!"

Azu looked at Victoria with her dark blonde hair: "Are you sure these are the girls from our hotel who got the intelligence directly from the lieutenant colonel's staff officer?"

“Absolutely sure!” Victoria sat close to Azu, feeling each other’s gentle body heat.

"Ever since Brigadier General George set up headquarters in Monterey, we have intensified our intelligence efforts in Monterey and sent our best intelligence personnel there."

"This intelligence was obtained personally by our most popular dancer, Adele, from that lieutenant colonel. That lieutenant colonel is extremely infatuated with Adele, so he has no reason to talk nonsense or deceive Adele, especially since he was drunk."

Azu frowned even more: "There are only two possibilities. Either the intelligence is true, or the brigadier general has really lost his mind and wants to deal with two relatively peaceful Indian tribes."

"Either our hotel in Monterey has been exposed!"

"That lieutenant colonel deliberately spread false information to confuse the public."

Azu pondered, "If this intelligence is true, then it cannot explain the purpose of the Brigadier General's attacks in all directions and his fire reconnaissance of all the Indian tribes!"

Victoria understood: "Boss, you mean this information is fake? But why would they do that?"

After pondering for a moment, Azu replied, "If the other side can see through the Monterey Hotel's disguise, they are also very likely to see that the hotel is owned by Huamei Industrial!"

"If that lieutenant colonel deliberately spread false information, then his purpose is very clear!"

Ah Zu said, word by word, "The other side is trying to confuse me and Huamei Industry, mislead us, and lower our guard!"

"They're openly targeting the Native Americans, but in reality, they're after us!"

(End of this chapter)