Chapter 576 Prisoners of War

Chapter 569 Prisoners of War

Richardson's judgment on Liang Yao's purpose of building the North Platte Fortress was generally correct.

Liang Yao did intend to build the North Platte Fortress into a gate controlling the east-west transportation route, and he did intend to have the Arizona Regiment stationed here for a long time.

It was just that Richardson looked from a distance and the civilian workers who seemed to be building the fortress were not civilian workers.

To be precise, these people were prisoners of war. They were Mongolian horsemen and Solon cavalry prisoners of war that Liang Yao bought from the British and French coalition forces.

In the two months at Dagukou last year, Liang Yao bought a total of 2,820 Mongolian horsemen prisoners of war and 816 Solon prisoners of war from various tribes from the British and French coalition forces. These prisoners of war were transported to California in batches.

Unfortunately, many of these Mongolians and Solons were not used to taking ships. A total of more than 130 prisoners of war died during the voyage. After arriving at the West Coast and North Platte, more than 80 prisoners of war were reduced due to acclimatization and diseases.

However, these numbers are still within Liang Yao's tolerance range. At least most people survived. And since this year, except for some old Solon people in their seventies who died of natural causes, no one has lost people due to injuries or illnesses.

"Such good horses are used as draft horses and pack horses! What a fucking waste! Can't they buy some donkeys and cows? These horses can be used as war horses!" Looking at the excellent horses pulling bricks and wood on the construction site, Kekudi, the former Qing Dynasty Solon Horse Corps, felt distressed.

These horses would be top-notch military horses in the Qing Dynasty!

It's a pity that he is now a prisoner and has no chance to ride those little foreign horses.

Sukeba took the meal tray and sat on the ground in the dining area. He broke off a piece of naan and dipped it in beef sauce and stuffed it out of his mouth.

And the Han people there are basically southern Han people, who look similar to Mongolians. They can be distinguished at a glance. Even if we escape there by chance, we will be discovered very soon.

"What does he think the Liang wants you for? You guys, now you have nothing but a rotten life." Duan Minmengte sighed.

Solon put on his cashmere cape, stared at his shiny leather boots, and hurried out of the carriage before the special train stopped.

"Such a bad horse, it will be broken if you can ride it, you haven't ridden a horse for a long time!" Duan Minmengte, the leader of the Mongolian cavalry, was also very envious of those good horses, and I also asked Sukeba beside me very puzzled.

Idea? How can I not have any ideas.

"He looks down on this Liang, that old man can become a general in a foreign country, how can he be a good person?" Sukeba looked at the group of sneaky foreign devils in the east, and seemed to have not guessed why Solon had been feeding us with bad food and drink.

Those officers were officers below the company level of the Arizona regiment.

Except for the main dishes, which were rationed, the staple food and drinks could not be added in limited quantities.

"It's not just a matter of a knife or a gun to kill you, why is it so troublesome?" North Platte's brain is not so stubborn, so he understood the meaning of Sukeba's words.

"No matter how slow a horse runs, can it run slower than someone's gun? Besides, even if he runs away, he can speak Chinese fluently, has a Mongolian face, and has no money. Where can he run to?"

"Duan Minmeng, he said that this Liang was far away, transported you there, and fed you badly, just to let you build a fort for me?"

Before washing his hands, he took the plate to the back of the canteen and lined up to receive today's food.

"Run? Where to run? Does he know where you are now? Does he know the way back to Xiaoqing?" Sukeba glanced at the Mongolian fool behind his face.

"Damn, North Platte, you are so stupid, no wonder you can't even recognize a few complicated Chinese characters!" Sukeba also had something to say to that Mongolian fool.

As far as I can remember, there have been a few young and strong women outside the tribe. Since I was 18 or 17 years old, I have been following Liang Yao's cavalry to fight north and south. The war filled my memory and left me no time to think.

While Sukeba was thinking about it, a strange whistle sounded from his ear. It was the whistle for lunch.

"Life, I don't want your life." Sukeba murmured.

Kruger and a group of officers lined up at the train station to welcome Soren.

Now I finally have no time to think, but the completely familiar environment around me makes me confused. I don't know where to go in the future.

Hearing the whistle, Duan Minmeng and my tribesmen reflexively lined up behind the water tank and took the lead in washing their hands with the water for clocking in without order.

"Yes, Sukeba, he has few ideas, he should come up with an idea, right? Are we going to be a laborer there for the rest of our lives?" North Platte said.

As for being a laborer there for the rest of our lives, it is actually a very good ending for me and my people. At most, the food we had before coming there was worse than in Xiaoqing.

While we were having dinner, a train whistled into the Kekudit Railway Station.

"Ah? Let's grab a horse and run! Anyway, we haven't unlocked your shackles yet, it's a good opportunity to escape." North Platte was stunned and said.

Duan Minmeng, who was instilled with the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and serving the country by his ancestors since he was a child, stared blankly at the machine. How can I and my people be like a machine born for war?

I am sure that the other side can always give us such bad food, so what's wrong with being a laborer there for a lifetime.

Sukhba also took it seriously, thinking it was a train for adoption. I completely knew that it was a special train, and sitting under the special train was the person who changed the direction of my life.

Furthermore, we are familiar with the place we are born in. Even if we escape, where can we escape to?

And you only have to work for seven hours a day. If you are lazy or make mistakes, you will be whipped and locked up in the white room.

Duan Minmeng has a narrow face, slender eyes, and a flat nose, a typical Mongolian appearance.

Sukhba knew that in a country with the largest horse population in the world and a cliff-edge lead of seventh in the world, horses were not considered scarce.

"Take a step and see what happens." Sukhba said.

Today's main dish is beef stew with potatoes, the staple food is naan, and the drink is a bowl of milk.

"What you are saying is that Liang wants you to work for me! He wants to collect blood tax from us! Did he find out? Those soldiers guarding us are all infantry. If Liang is short of cavalry."

Sukhba stared at the white steaming machine by the river in a daze. The Han teacher at the night school told me that the thing was a steam engine and was placed by the river to pump water. As long as you feed that machine coal, it will work day and night. One machine can hold up to a hundred or so people.

The most valuable thing we have now is not our bad life. Perhaps the reason why Sauron allows us to live until now is not because of our bad life.