Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 271 Hope (Part )

"Hey, where are you going to take these Western barbarians?"

As the sun sets, with the village chief's shout of "Time to get off work", the immigrants who were cultivating the fields immediately breathed a sigh of relief, carrying their farm tools and walking towards the settlement exhausted.

Halfway through the journey, a group of haggard, disheveled "Beggar Gang disciples" came slowly from the south in a loose formation, which immediately attracted the attention of the immigrants.

Who are these people?

Village chief Han Maocai took a look and couldn't help laughing.

These are not beggars at all, they are clearly the captured Western Yi soldiers!
He walked closer and found an escorting policeman. He greeted him warmly and asked curiously about the whereabouts of the prisoners.

"Well, we've just completed the infrastructure construction of Dongsheng Fort, and are preparing to send these Western barbarian captives to Long'an Port (now Sydney, Vancouver Island), and then take a ship to the Jinsha River Colonization Team on the mainland." The policeman glanced at the slowly moving team and said expressionlessly.

"Going to the mainland? ...What for?"

"Haha, what else can we do?" The policeman smiled and said, "Send them over there as laborers, of course! We'll use them as much as we can before they're handed over to the Spaniards."

"The Jinsha River Colonization Team is developing the river delta (the Vancouver Delta town) and planning to build several agricultural colonies. They say the river has many branches and the soil is fertile. If it can be developed, it will not only supply the entire Jinsha River colonization area, but also provide a lot of food for our Qiming Island."

"Really? The mainland wouldn't be exaggerating the conditions there just to attract immigrants."

"That's not the case!" The policeman shook his head and said, "I heard that the higher-ups are also interested in increasing their support for the Jinsha River Colonization Zone so they can better control the mainland."

"Well, let me tell you another piece of news. The higher-ups are planning to establish a new colonization team to develop the southern continent."

"Hey, do we have enough manpower to develop so many areas?"

"Right now, there definitely aren't enough people to develop those mainland regions. Otherwise, they wouldn't be using all these captives like animals!" The police officer glanced disdainfully at the stumbling procession. "However, by the next two years, the number of immigrants will increase dramatically."

"At the beginning of the year, Qiming No. 1 Shipyard planned to simultaneously build four ships specifically for immigration, all of which were 1,000-ton vessels. Just imagine, by next year, they'll have to build at least six ships. And by the year after, at least eight or ten ships. Just count on your fingers, how many ships will that require, and how many immigrants will they have to bring back?"

"Wow, in two years, Xinhua might have over twenty ships!" Han Maocai exclaimed. "That way, we could bring back at least seven or eight thousand people each time."

"Of course not! In a few years, the population of our Xinhua will definitely exceed 100,000. Hehe, by that time, let alone 2,000 more people from the Western Barbarians, even if 10,000 people come, they will be sending us heads! ... Oh, no, it should be us sending us labor!"

"Hahaha..." The two of them burst into laughter.

The Spanish prisoners on the march looked at them blankly, then lowered their heads and continued on their way in silence.

Five months of hard work and harsh living conditions have exhausted all their energy to the greatest extent.

Before dawn, they would be awakened by sticks and whips from Xinhua soldiers or police, and then have a quick meal of potatoes and half a bowl of porridge before starting a day of hard work.

Building roads, digging ditches, diverting canals, draining water, logging, building houses, mining... the endless work does not allow them to rest for a moment.

If there was any delay or the daily work quota was not completed, the workers would be punished by having their food deducted at the very least and by being whipped at the worst, which was extremely painful.

What’s worse is that during this kind of forced labor and torture, their spiritual world was almost destroyed.

The pride and dignity of the past have disappeared in the day-to-day work and humiliation.

Many people became numb and even lost the will to continue living.

Some of them would occasionally pray in the dead of night, hoping that the omnipotent God would save them from suffering.

However, the reality is cruel, their fate seems to be firmly nailed to this strange land. No one comes to save them, and God seems to have abandoned them. Perhaps one day, they will die here miserably and helplessly like those Indian laborers in the Mexican mines.

In the past few months, there have been some weak-willed soldiers who, unable to bear the heavy labor and the wanton insults of their supervisors, have taken their own lives by suicide.

Perhaps the Xinhua people were kind-hearted, or more likely they were worried that they would overwork the prisoners and thus lack the necessary labor force. After a Xinhua official inspected the poor conditions in the prisoner camp, he instructed the supervisors to appropriately reduce their labor intensity and provide them with sufficient food supplies.

At the same time, he also announced to all Spanish prisoners that their Xinhua side was actively negotiating a ceasefire with the Mexican colonial authorities.

I believe that it won't be long before a ceasefire agreement is reached between the two sides, and you Spanish prisoners of war will be able to return safely to Mexico and reunite with your families.

Under such circumstances, you prisoners should stop doing any extreme behavior and strictly obey the orders of the supervisors, work hard, and eat well so that you can return to your loved ones as soon as possible.

After finishing their work each day, the Xinhua people would send some Spanish "traitors" to them while they were having dinner. They would hold an iron microphone and constantly preach many "treasonous" ideas to them.

"Think about why you would travel thousands of miles to this strange land to wage an unjust war?"

"The New Chinese have no hatred towards you Spaniards, nor have we violated your interests. However, the greedy and shameless officials and nobles inexplicably threw you here to die!"

"Why did you sail across the turbulent sea, arrive at an extremely dangerous place, participate in an unwinnable battle, and endure endless fear and harm?"

"Those noble lords who sent you here live in luxurious mansions, enjoy the finest food in the world, embrace the most beautiful woman—oh, this woman could even be your wife, or your sister—counting lovely gold coins one after another, yet turning a blind eye to your suffering."

"Poor soldiers, think about what you've gained from fighting this war. Your salaries have been embezzled by your superiors, your military supplies have been resold by merchants, and no one cares when you're wounded or killed in battle. Your lives are ruthlessly disregarded, leaving your pitiful families without care and forced to endure exploitation and humiliation at the hands of officials and nobles!"

"Upright and brave soldiers, when you suffer such a tragic fate, you should think deeply about who is responsible for all this."

"Yes, your tragedy is caused by the Governor of Mexico City, the President of the Court of Inquiry, your greedy and incompetent commanders, and the nobles who ride on your heads!"

"We, the Xinhua people, are not your enemies, nor are we the ones responsible for the tragic fate you have endured. Even though you are invaders, destroyers, and murderers of our people, we have not taken cruel revenge against you, and have even saved all of your lives."

"So, you need to think carefully about who your enemy is."

"What are you fighting for?"

"..."

At first, when the Spanish captives heard the propaganda of the New Chinese, they showed great resistance and deep-seated contempt.

This clumsy behavior is really ridiculous!

Do you really think that we Spaniards are as ignorant as those natives?

Just because you guys instigated us so casually, we are going to rise up and resist the oppression of those noble lords?
However, many things in this world really cannot withstand careful scrutiny and deep thought.

Especially when some people with ulterior motives keep instilling ideas in your ears, and when you are in the most miserable and helpless situation and your energy has been exhausted, you will inadvertently think about everything the Xinhua people said.

What they said seemed to make some sense. Why did those officials and nobles send us here to fight to the death with the Xinhua people?

Even if we seize this land, will the nobles give it to us for free?

Also, do those officials and nobles really not care about our life or death?
Otherwise, why hasn’t anyone come to rescue us and bring us back after more than five months?
Do we still have hope? —

(End of this chapter)