North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 81 Burning in Blood (5000 words, please subscribe!!!)

That night, the entire city of San Francisco was like hell!

After the bloodbath and looting of most of San Francisco, the commotion finally caught the attention of the naval fortress garrison across the strait.

The naval fortress dispatched its only two shallow-draft gunboats, carrying dozens of sailors, which roared through the narrow strait and landed at Clark Pier.

To the great surprise of these sailors, there was a militia force of over a hundred men holding out near Clark Pier!

It was because of this militia that Clarke Wharf and the surrounding area were spared from looting and massacre by bandits.

"I am Lieutenant Klein, and I am here to inspect the situation in the city!"

"Can anyone tell me what exactly happened here?"

“Lieutenant Klein, I am Harley, the commander of the 10th Company of the San Francisco Militia!”

Harley extended his thick palm and shook hands with Lieutenant Klein.

Lieutenant Klein asked in confusion, "As far as I know, the San Francisco militia only has nine companies, right? When did a tenth company appear?"

Klein stared at the battle flag fluttering in the darkness.

That was a golden tiger banner!
Lieutenant Klein was certain that he had never seen a battle flag like this before!

"Our 10th Company was formed just a few days ago, following Commander Hamilton's orders."

Harley followed the story Azu had taught him: "Because we were all green recruits, we were conducting night training when we were attacked by the bandits!"

"Are they all newly joined militiamen?" Klein examined the equipment and expressions of the militiamen around him; they didn't look like new recruits.

On the contrary, they are very well-trained and well-equipped!
Otherwise, how could these newly formed militia companies, which had only been established for a few days, possibly withstand the bandit gang's attack?
At this moment, Klein didn't have time to delve deeper: "Is it confirmed to be a gang robbery? Why is it on such a large scale?"

Harley replied, "According to the wounded bandits we captured, they had gathered more than a dozen gangs this time, totaling six or seven hundred people."

"I feel like most of the gangs in California have gathered here!"

"They dispersed and infiltrated the city yesterday, and then suddenly attacked together tonight."

"According to the bandits, police chief Hawke, militia commander Hamilton, and other officers were killed immediately."

"The police and militia were disorganized, which is why the gang succeeded!"

"Are they all dead?" Lieutenant Klein frowned, looking at the towering flames all around. "We can't let these gangs loot and slaughter us, or San Francisco will be completely destroyed!"

"Then, Lieutenant, what do you suggest? I'll do whatever you say!" Harley replied憨憨地.

"Follow me, and we'll wipe out the gangs along the streets!"

"But, all of us together only number a little over a hundred, while the bandits have six or seven hundred...!"

“If we can organize the disorganized police and militia, we will have a chance to drive the gang out of the city.”

Harley scratched his head, gritted his teeth, and replied, "Okay, then I'll do it with you!"

The task Ah Zu assigned to Harley was simply to guard Clarke Wharf and the surrounding area, especially the area where Chinese laborers lived.

After withstanding several probing attacks from the bandits, no more bandits came looking for trouble.

When Harley was bored, he ran into Lieutenant Klein and finally found something to do.

Thus, this force, composed of naval sailors and the newly formed 10th Militia Company, began its campaign to eliminate bandits, starting from Clarke Wharf and proceeding outwards along Market Avenue.

The gang was large, but it was divided into many groups, ranging from dozens to a dozen people, and they carried out rampant looting and killing throughout San Francisco.

When they encountered Lieutenant Klein and Harley's team, no gang chose to put up a desperate fight.

They came to rob, kill, and make money, not to fight anyone!
Almost every bandit gang that encountered this cleanup team chose to retreat.

In the darkness, the gang couldn't even see who was on the other side.

According to their agreement with Major Daniel, they should now make a token show of retreat!

On the contrary, the police and militia scattered throughout the city, as well as the ordinary citizens who still had a fighting spirit, finally found their organization.

More and more people, carrying all sorts of strange and unusual guns, gathered under the golden tiger flag.

This team is like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger!
The force of over a hundred men had grown to four or five hundred by three or four in the morning. Lieutenant Harley and Lieutenant Klein had to split up, each leading over two hundred men to continue the clearing operation.

At five o'clock in the morning, the gunshots and shouts of killing that had been echoing throughout San Francisco finally began to subside.

As the situation improved slightly, the citizens finally mustered their courage and went out of their homes to spontaneously fight the fire.

Around 6 a.m., most of the gangs had withdrawn from the city.

Originally a motley crew, once they left the city, many gangs gradually merged into a huge force, galloping and roaring across the land.

This time, they really made a fortune!

They looted almost every decent target in most of San Francisco.

Gold, US dollars, jewelry, antiques... these gangsters won't leave anything they can pack up and take away!
Each bandit gang's horseback was stuffed with their most valuable stolen goods, in large and small bags.

The treasures we snatched were so numerous that our mount was struggling to keep up and couldn't pick up speed.

All the bandits were extremely excited; this was the biggest heist they had ever pulled off!
That night, they accomplished what any gang could only dream of—plundering a city!
This night will be forever etched in history!

With tonight's huge haul, they could live lavishly for a long time.

Jails, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling... the future will be very comfortable, just thinking about it is incredibly exciting!
Large gangs of bandits rode their horses along Market Avenue, eager to leave San Francisco and return to their respective hideouts to enjoy themselves.

Behind them, only a city burning in blood remained!

Burning houses, countless corpses, blood flowing freely... and the painful cries of orphans and widows, as well as the heart-wrenching sobs of those who have been raped!

After being a mile or two away from San Francisco, the thugs, who had been excited all night, began to relax.

At this moment, the market avenue runs right between two hills.

"Hiss...!"

In the darkness, the leader of the bandits' mounts suddenly buckled, and with a "crack," the horse's left foreleg plunged into a deep crater, its leg snapping clean!

"Boom...!"

The unfortunate bandit, along with his horse, crashed to the ground.

"Fuck...! How can there be a pothole in the road...!"

"Hiss...!"

"Crack... Bang...!"

Not only him, but many of the bandits at the forefront also had their horses fall into the horse trap.

In the blink of an eye, a large number of people fell down, and cries of "Fuck...!" echoed everywhere.

"Bang, bang, bang...!"

Just then, countless figures suddenly appeared on the hills on both sides.

Without saying a word, hundreds of rifles and cannons opened fire on the large gang of bandits!
Then...!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!"

"Boom, boom, boom...!"

Countless grenades were thrown from the hilltop into the bandit cavalry.

In the darkness, countless dazzling sparks exploded in an instant!
"Boom, boom, boom...!"

The endless stream of grenades exploded, turning the massive bandit cavalry into a bloody mess!
"What the fuck...?"

"What happened? Who ambushed us...!"

"Ah... Help me...!"

"my leg……!"

“My hand…!”

"My eyes...!"

“My intestines…!”

The bandits were howling and screaming in agony!

The horses are neighing and groaning!

"Fuck...! Who is it...? Who ambushed us...?"

Quentin Tarantino, the leader of the Skinners, was lucky enough to escape the first wave of attacks.

But his beloved horse, his loyal mount that accompanied him across the West, had its leg blown off by flying shrapnel!

"Hiss...!"

The instant his mount collapsed, Quentin reacted with lightning speed, kicking and leaping off. He then hid under the horse's belly, miraculously escaping injury!

Quentin, holding a Colt revolver in his left hand, fired two shots aimlessly at the hill.

Quentin hid under the horse's belly, only peeking out a pair of vulture-like eyes, trying to see clearly who was plotting against him and everyone else!

In the flash of light from the grenade's explosion, Quentin finally saw it clearly!

The soldiers lying in ambush on those hills were all dressed in Ranger uniforms!

The moment he saw it clearly, Quentin Tarantino, the "Ripper," felt his scalp tingle!
A surge of furious rage rushed straight to his head!

Quentin couldn't help but roar to the sky!

"Daniel Cameron...! Fuck you!"
-
6:20 a.m.

In the east, the sky was already showing a hint of dawn!

"Bang...bang...!"

Azu, dressed in a crudely made blue Ranger uniform, was holding a Colt revolver and finishing off the corpses scattered on the ground.

To his left and right, Edgar Allan Poe, Jason, Vic, and Ayan were also shooting the wounded bandit.

Behind them was a team of about three hundred Chinese laborers, also dressed in rough Ranger uniforms, who began cleaning up the battlefield while replenishing their weapons.

This ambush started suddenly and ended just as abruptly!

The brief ambush lasted less than twenty minutes.

Most of the bandits were blown up by countless grenades, leaving them scattered and dead.

Only Quentin Tarantino, the leader of the Skinners, led a few lucky survivors who were spared from the grenade explosion. They seized the surviving horses, waded through a dense network of horse traps, and finally broke through the encirclement, scattering in panic and fleeing.

Or rather, it was Ah Zu who deliberately spared the lives of a very small number of bandits.

According to the lines in the show, that is...!
"The Japanese pirates must be eradicated, but they cannot be completely wiped out!"

Azu had his tailors work through the night to make more than 300 sets of blue Ranger uniforms. Although the workmanship was quite rough, it was not hard to fool a discerning eye if you looked closely.

However, in the darkness, this well-dressed blue Ranger uniform was enough to fool anyone.

Azu went to great lengths to frame our Major Daniel Cameron.

"boom……!"

With the last bullet in his revolver, Ah Zu blew a bandit's head off, splattering brain matter and blood all over the ground.

While loading bullets, Azu said in a deep voice to the people around him, "Hurry up and clean up the battlefield, don't miss a single dollar or a piece of gold!"

"What about all these corpses and horse carcasses?" Edgar Allan Poe asked.

"Just leave it here; I think it might still come in handy!"

In this ambush, only about twenty unlucky guys on our side were hit by stray bullets.

They were calculating against the unprepared, and they had the advantage of timing, location, and people!
Ah Zu annihilated most of the bandit gang with minimal cost.

Thirty minutes later, after thoroughly cleaning up the battlefield and eliminating all the wounded and feigning dead bandits, Ah Zu led a group of Chinese laborers and quietly withdrew.

Under the command of Edgar Allan Poe, a regular officer, and after more than three months of training that was almost indistinguishable from that of a regular army, these three hundred-plus Chinese laborers also developed a certain level of combat capability.

They might not be as good as the regular army, but they're good enough to go toe-to-toe with militia and bandits.

Especially after witnessing bloodshed and experiencing real combat that night, their combat effectiveness will definitely reach a new level.

Back at the shipyard, after taking stock of the spoils, it was already 10 a.m.

All participants will be rewarded with $300 each, and those who are wounded will be rewarded with $800 each.

Besides the prize money of over $100,000, this ambush also yielded at least a million dollars in cash and gold.

As for the vast quantities of jewelry, antiques, and so on, their value is currently incalculable.

No one could have imagined that after the gang plundered most of San Francisco, it was Ah Zu who ultimately benefited!
The basement of the shipyard's three-story building, which was originally a wine cellar, has been specially converted into an underground vault.

The basement was fitted with a bank-grade explosion-proof vault door that was over a foot thick, and the interior walls, ceiling, and floor were reinforced with steel plates that were over an inch thick.

The vast majority of Huamei Company's wealth is now concentrated here.

In the basement, Jason, Vic, Edgar Allan Poe, and others stared in disbelief at the boxes of blood-stained dollars, gold, jewelry, and antiques.

"Oh my God! How could there be... so much?"

"Li, this time, have we...have we gone too far?"

"This...does this count as...we looting San Francisco?"

Ah Zu spotted a gold pocket watch among a pile of jewelry and antiques.

Wiping away the still-wet blood from the pocket watch... it was unclear whether it was the blood of the bandits or that of some powerful family!

Opening the pure gold case, gazing at the magnificent dial and the ticking ruby ​​hands, Azu contentedly slipped the watch into his pocket.

Throughout history, behind wealth lies only evil!

Looking at the boxes of enormous wealth, Azu calmly said, "Whether it's those bandits or those powerful figures, their methods of acquiring wealth are all filled with bloody crimes! It's just that their methods are different."

"The difference is that gangs use guns and violence, while the powerful use power and the law! Often, using power and the law to plunder wealth is far more brutal and bloody!"

"And we, by using the bandits to kill those powerful and wealthy people, and then personally wiping out the bandits, can be considered to have avenged those who should have possessed this wealth!"

"We don't covet the credit for wiping out the bandits; we only took a tiny bit of money as payment for avenging them."

"Does thinking about it this way make everyone feel a little better?"

Hearing what Azu said, Vic and Jason's brows indeed relaxed a lot.

Edgar Allan Poe, however, was not concerned with this. He still frowned and asked, "Lee, I think we can't keep our ambush of the bandits and the acquisition of this large fortune a secret for long."

"The matter is too big, and too many people are involved. Even if we have issued gag orders and stay-at-home orders, it is inevitable that the news will eventually leak out."

Azu replied, "I didn't expect to be able to keep it a secret for long. It only takes a little time. If we act quickly enough, that will be enough!"

"What move? Li, what else do you want to do?"

"Hehe!" Azu smiled slightly: "Take advantage of panic and snatch chestnuts from the fire!"

The task of continuing to inventory and organize these valuables was handed over to Daisy.

Azu then said to Vic and Jason, "Let's go, it's time for us to go see how Harley is doing."

"Also, our Saintess should be docking soon, right?"

"None of us attended Vivian's coming-of-age ceremony. Our little angel must still be angry!"

“Li, you took advantage of Vivian’s birthday and coming-of-age ceremony. I don’t think that’s something a gentleman should do!”

"To be precise, I used Vivian's coming-of-age ceremony to save many lives!"

Azu grinned and said, "Besides, I'm hardly a gentleman! My only regret is keeping everything from Vivian. But I had to keep it from her. I think she'll understand!"

The group boarded a carriage and headed straight for San Francisco, which was in the aftermath of the catastrophe.

Along the way, they saw squads of police and militiamen who looked tense and were heavily armed.

Firefighters and many more citizens are cleaning up the messy streets after the fires have been mostly extinguished.

Blood was flowing everywhere on the street, and there were still corpses that hadn't been cleaned up!

The ruins of many houses destroyed by arson are still emitting smoke, and occasionally they reignite with flames.

Everywhere you look, there are ruins and rubble, a scene of utter devastation!
The wealthier the area, the more severe the destruction and the more people die.

The poorer the area, the less damage there is.

Even bandits look down on these poor bastards!

The carriage traveled all the way to Clarke Wharf before finally seeing the golden tiger flag.

After driving out the bandits, Harley strictly followed Azu's orders and returned to continue guarding the area.

To Azu's surprise, he saw two shallow-draft gunboats and a squad of naval soldiers in dark blue shirts and white trousers!

Leading this group of naval soldiers was a rather young naval lieutenant.

Edgar Allan Poe, familiar with military affairs, whispered, "That's Lieutenant Klein Perry of the Naval Fortress Garrison. His father, Commodore Matthew Perry, is a big shot!"

Matthew Perry?

Matthew Perry, the one who led the Black Ships fleet and opened the doors of Japan?
(End of this chapter)