Daming 1805

Chapter 261 Don't Shoot!
On the East River between Long Island and Manhattan Island, a small boat attempts to cross the river from Manhattan Island to Long Island.

As a result, halfway through, a violent splash suddenly arose in the water in front of him.

Continuous small-caliber machine gun shells hit the water.

The helmsman of the boat was taken aback, and immediately adjusted his course, from crossing the river to going downstream.

At the same time, together with the passengers on the ship, they raised their heads in the direction of the shells.

It was a patrol gunboat of about [-] tons, with two twin [-]mm cannons and several [-]mm small-caliber cannons installed on the bow.

The patrol boat quickly approached the boat and sailed forward basically parallel to the boat.

A man wearing a new Ming-style formal suit stood out from the cabin of the small boat, and shouted at the patrol boat in Ming Dynasty dialect:
"Dear Ming soldiers, I am also from Lin County, I have already registered, please let me go!"

There was silence on the patrol boat for a while, and a traffic boat was lowered, carrying a soldier and an interpreter, and approached the boat.

The Ming soldiers with guns shouted to the boat:
"Those who have already registered in Lin County can follow us across the river, and no one else is allowed to pass.

"Take out your household registration certificate, I hope you are really registered, otherwise I will throw you into the sea to feed the fish."

After the soldier finished speaking, the man who called out just now cheered in surprise:
"Thank you Daming, thank you Lord Jun, I will go back to my home in Lin County now, and I will never go to Manhattan again."

Cheering, he began to dig into his pocket, took out a red booklet, jumped on the soldier's boat and handed it over.

The soldier took it over and checked it. It was indeed an official household registration book issued by Lin County recently.

The customs clearance information above showed that he left Lin County for Manhattan a few days after the imperial examination ended.

After a little thought, the soldier put the man in his boat and prepared to take him across the river.

At the same time, the translator translated the words of the Ming soldiers, and the boat opposite immediately became a mess.

The passenger on the boat was not just the man, but a large group of dozens of people.

Their purpose is obviously to go to Long Island for refuge.

In the past two months, the battles between the British and French coalition forces and the United States and Canada have unfolded one after another, and the panic in Maryland and New Jersey, which are closest to the battlefield, has begun to spread.

It's just that Long Island has been in a state of peace and stability, so the people on the island don't feel much.

When the British and French fleets formally attacked Staten Island and formally threatened New York and New Jersey, panic broke out completely.

No ordinary person likes war. In the eyes of local ordinary people, the safest place is the Dongyi Kingdom of Ming Dynasty.

So in the past two days, people have tried to cross the river by boat.

But Daming's patrol team has been cruising intensively, forbidding anyone to cross the East River at will.

Only those who have registered household registration in Lin County can pass.

All others who come to try their luck will be driven back directly, or sent directly to the bottom of the sea with people and boats.

On this boat this time, only three people were really from Lin County, and they were picked up by Daming's patrol boat to the other side.

This kind of thing, in these days, has been happening one after another.

The situation is even worse in Youchangshi Mansion, Dongyi Peninsula.

The Dongyi Peninsula is connected to the land of the United States, and the border line is relatively long, and it is closer to the battlefield.

Before the war started again, people sneaked across the border from time to time.

Now that the war has resumed, more Americans are heading to the Dongyi Peninsula from the Maryland area.

Even though the Youchang Shifu garrison had set up barbed wire fences on the border, people still tried to cross it every day.

Mu Yongfu had to send additional militiamen, and deployed a manpower cordon along the border barbed wire.

Li Qingsong, head of the new Wei County militia banner, led his men and left Wei County to support the western border of Cecil.

The boundary of Maryland in the western part of Cecil County is a river whose mouth is deep enough to have a harbor.

But as the river extends upwards for ten kilometers, it is similar to many other rivers in Northern Yinzhou.

The width of the water surface is about one kilometer, but the water depth in most areas is only more than one meter, and even in many places the water depth is less than one meter, and there are many sandbars in the middle of the river.

It is now August, and the weather is not too cold. Taixi people who really want to run here can even wade or swim across the river without a boat.

Therefore, the defense and security of this river bank has become a more important task.

Due to the possibility of encountering people at any time, the military officers of the Ming Dynasty had no way to communicate with the local people, and it was even difficult for the new militia to communicate with each other.

So Erica, the female translator who served as an interpreter for Li Qingsong during the training, is still by Li Qingsong's side, serving as the chief translator of the banner and also the clerical recorder in the team.

Erica has passed the exam and has become an official translator and civil servant of Dongyi Kingdom. Although she prefers to stay in Changshi Mansion, she is equally satisfied with the job in front of her.

Now I am sitting with Li Qingsong, enjoying the cool autumn wind, enjoying the peaceful scenery around me.

It would be better if someone doesn't bother you from time to time.

Erica thought so in her heart, and an inappropriate scene appeared in front of her eyes.

Three Thai and Western youths carried a small boat, ran all the way from the opposite bank to the water's edge, put down the boat and paddled this way.

The soldiers on duty sounded the warning call, and Li Qingsong and several resting officers jumped up at the same time.

"Shoot and intercept immediately! Warn the other party not to cross the river!"

Erica jumped up too, and went to translate the orders for the Tessie soldiers.

A Yin soldier had already controlled the machine gun on the shore and fired a dozen rounds into the water.

The original intent was to warn and discourage.

But as soon as the gunshot rang out, the three Taixi youths over there seemed to be taken aback, and they jumped off the boat and got into the water.

Li Qingsong frowned and continued to issue orders:

"Everyone spread out along the river bank, and if they find suspicious people ashore and don't obey orders, they can open fire directly."

Erica translated the order and told Tessie's soldiers to split up.

Li Qingsong held his rifle and observed the situation on the water.

Not long after, on the shore near his side, a person's head appeared, as if he was taking a breath.

With a straight face, Li Qingsong waited for the opponent to climb ashore, and when he tried to run inland, he pulled the trigger directly, and a bullet hit the ground in front of the opponent.

The Taixi youth immediately stopped in his tracks, and yelled in English in horror:

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot, I mean no harm..."

Li Qingsong couldn't understand what the other party was screaming, and at the same time as Erica translated, two soldiers had already gone up to meet him.

A Yin soldier swung the butt of his gun, and slammed the Taixi youth's side face forcefully, knocking him to the ground.

The two Taixi soldiers behind immediately followed up and tied each other's hands and feet with the prepared rope.

The other two Thai and Western youths who were trying to cross the border were also caught by other soldiers, and they were escorted over with their hands tied.

Li Qingsong ordered their hands and feet to be tied up, threw the three of them on the ground together, and told the soldiers to continue to be vigilant.

Erica picked up her notebook and went to interrogate and record the situation of the three Taixi youths in accordance with the regulations.

Before opening his mouth, he taunted directly:
"You Taixi men are really trash and cowards. Instead of fighting for your country, you fled to Daming instead."

Hearing Erica's ridicule, a Tessian young man twisted his body excitedly and said loudly:
"We're not cowards, we just don't want to fight our own people. Virginia and Maryland are both English."

The other immediately went on to say:
"We don't even know which side is our country. What's the difference between England, Scotland, and America?"

The last one followed suit and said aloud:
"My parents are Dutch! Why should I follow the British and fight the British?"

While recording the situation, Erica continued to ask with a look of disgust:

"You don't want to fight, why support American independence? Why join the North?"

A Tessi youth immediately said loudly:

"We're not with the North, we're not with either side, and we're not thinking of independence!"

Erica continued to ask:
"You don't want independence, so why didn't you oppose it when Adams wanted independence?
"You are unwilling to fight for independence, so why didn't you fight for non-independence?

"Why don't you fight against Adams and Napoleon? Wait until the British and French troops arrive before thinking about fleeing?

"Anyway, you are always like this, and you will never dare to take responsibility."

The three Thai and Western youths all had big heads, and they asked and questioned messily:

"Why are you so unreasonable, why don't we oppose Adams? Do we have a chance to oppose Adams?"

"It's not up to us to be independent or not. We're just three ordinary people."

"What does that Frenchman, Napoleon, have to do with us?"

Erica listened to their doubts, but she was even more disgusted:

"Emperor Shizu of the Ming Dynasty said that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world, but you have no such awareness at all.

"You are born ignorant, but you don't know how to learn, you can only follow the trend, how can you have good results?"

Erica communicated with the three Tessian youths for a while in a mocking tone, and recorded some key points.

After sorting out his thoughts, he returned to Li Qingsong and reported:
"Mr. Banner, these three Thais, one of English descent, one of Scottish descent, and one of Dutch descent.

"They're all fighting ignorant, ignorant, numb ordinary people who don't know why and don't want to fight.

"They all want to escape the war and go to Daming, the safest place. How should we deal with them?"

Li Qingsong looked back, and the three Taixi youths were still struggling from time to time:
"Since they are all ordinary people, putting them on the ground with their hands and feet tied and starving for a day will be regarded as a slight punishment, and we will send them back to the other side tomorrow."

Listening to this, Erica took a step forward, and at a place less than half a meter away from Li Qingsong, she exaggeratedly praised:

"Mr. Banner, you are really too kind..."

Li Qingsong had a strange expression on his face, obviously the same thing had happened several times, and he basically handled it this way.

As a result, this woman is very exaggerated every time, and every time she leans so hard to her side, she can't wait to post it.

If he wasn't a soldier, if it wasn't for the military regulations, he would have executed this bitch dozens of times on the spot.

When will this life end...

(End of this chapter)