bookandnovel Chapter 780 The Enemy Arrives
Chapter 780 The Enemy Arrives
Chapter 780 The Enemy Arrives
In America, there are only three countries, British North America, Texas, and Mexico.
Unlike in Europe, there are no fortresses, fortresses or customs cities on the border between the three countries. Given the dense population here, if the boundary marker is pushed forward by one kilometer every day, no one may notice it for several years.
Such a vast land, even if America was only regarded as their own plantation by the British, would require a huge investment of wealth in increasing transportation capacity. However, there were always places that railways could not reach, or loss-making routes that investors were simply unwilling to invest in.
Therefore, the scene of a dozen cowboys driving hundreds or thousands of cattle across the American wilderness came into being.
At this moment, on the border grassland, a hungry wild beast was staring with red eyes at a huge herd not far away that was trampling and raising dust. The scale of the herd was so huge that there must be thousands of them.
Joseph used to be a cowboy, but now he has become the cowboys' mortal enemy - a mid-level leader in a gang of cattle rustlers.
The profession of cattle thief does not sound as prestigious as other outlaws, but it is actually a very profitable business. A longhorn cattle can only be sold for a quarter of a pound in the place of production, but if it is shipped to San Francisco, it can be directly increased tenfold.
Although cattle thieves cannot use formal sales channels, they can make a profit without any capital investment. After disguising themselves as cowboys, they can sell the stolen cattle to long-term underground exchanges, but the price will be severely suppressed.
Some large cattle rustling gangs have hundreds or even thousands of members. Some of these gangs are state militia when they put on uniforms, but become cattle thieves when they take off their clothes and hold guns.
Joseph drove the cattle, but he did not forget his old job: "Boss, do we really have to go through Texas? Those Texas cowboys are not easy to deal with."
Texas was once considered a forbidden zone for criminal gangs because the wolf cowboys had such a keen nose that one of the cowboys' daily pastimes was headhunting in the wilderness - taking the heads of criminals, exchanging them for bounties in British North America, and then buying alcohol for their colleagues.
"The buyers are in a hurry, and the British shells are about to fall on their heads, so they have no time to deal with us."
The leader of the cattle thieves, Micah, laughed and said, "Besides, who do you think the buyer of this business is? In Mississippi, which has been ravaged into a wasteland by those black people, is there any plantation owner or farmer who can eat the 1,000 longhorn cattle we brought this time?"
"military?"
Joseph was a little bit incredulous: "Boss, do you have any connection with the military?"
Micah smiled somewhat reservedly, but did not explain. In fact, he had no qualifications to rely on the local rich men. It was nothing more than the British pound that paved the way, and the "stolen cattle" purchased by the quartermaster who wanted to make a little extra money.
He raised his voice. "I know it's risky to go through Texan territory, but according to top-secret information, the Texans have completely abandoned the border towns and retreated to their old lairs. And if you want to make big money, you have to take risks, right?"
The cattle thieves were still worried and drove the cattle in silence.
It's you who makes the big money, not us.
The cattle thieves' gang is not as tightly organized as those veteran bandits, and they can disband easily.
Micah was a little embarrassed, he raised his gun to the sky and fired: "Listen to me, after this job is done, in addition to the original promise to you, everyone will get a bonus of one pound!"
"Hurray, Boss!"
Joseph also cheered. At that time, it was almost impossible to see one-pound notes in most rural areas. It was beyond the scope of daily use and only businessmen and large farmers would use it when doing business.
Amid the cheers of the cattle thieves, Micah smiled triumphantly. Every time at this moment, he had the illusion that he was the king of the wilderness rather than a wanted criminal.
Unfortunately, the cheers that came with the high price of one pound per person came to an abrupt end when they walked out of a canyon.
Outside the canyon, a line of cowboys wearing cowboy hats, with revolvers on their waists and long rifles in their hands, were looking at them with smiles on their faces. Behind them was a corpse hanging on a crooked tree, fluttering in the wind - they were the scouts of the cattle thieves.
"Texans!"
Some of the cattle thieves' eyes almost popped out of their heads.
"Quick, shoot, it'll be over if they catch us!"
Micah had just said half of his words when two bullets pierced through his forehead and chest respectively, with perfect accuracy.
Centurion Leon blew away the curl of white smoke from the muzzle of his gun, and looked at Baron Charles beside him with some pride: "How is it?"
Baron Charles snorted, drew his bow and shot a cattle thief hiding in a herd of longhorn cattle, killing him and the cattle. "They are a group of weak robbers. Even without the firearms in your hands, we only need a charge to deal with them."
"A tough guy."
Leon blew a whistle, and the cowboys immediately rushed into the group of cattle thieves like a gust of wind.
Some cattle thieves wanted to drive the cattle to attack the cowboys so that they could escape in the chaos, but the members of Leon's team were almost all pure-blooded wolves. As soon as they revealed their scent, the smell of the top predator scared the cattle and made them turn around and flee.
Soon, the gang of nearly a hundred cattle thieves was wiped out by the cowboys of Leon's team.
Leon and more than ten other cowboys skillfully surrounded the herd of cattle and used their own methods. In just over a quarter of an hour, with their skillful cooperation, thousands of longhorn cattle were pacified and gathered into a group again.
"Dolak, take three men and bring the cattle to the citizens of New Naples."
Leon gave the order and led his men back to Baron Charles and his men: "What a great harvest! With this herd of cattle, the lives of those who have left their homes will be greatly improved."
Baron Charles was not surprised by this. Thousands of cattle were worth enough to trigger a war in their time. It was normal that the Texans were unwilling to give up these trophies.
Although he agreed in his heart, he said bluntly: "You are going to teach us these skills of taming cattle, right? We don't plan to be cattle herders."
Leon snorted softly, "Raiding across the grasslands and harassing the enemy's rear, this is the real skill I want to teach you. There is no cavalry in this world that is better at this than us Texas cowboys."
The group continued north.
They were now very close to the border, and the cattle thieves were unlucky as they happened to run into a group of cowboys who were about to cross the border for reconnaissance.
Baron Charles suddenly stopped and pointed to the sky in the distance: "Look up at the sky!"
"It's the British airship!"
Charlie covered his eyes with his hands and looked into the distance: "Is this the floating airship you mentioned? It's so clear from such a distance, it's really huge, can a human really build this thing?"
"Every time I see it, I am also shocked. Humans have conquered the sky, land and sea. Demons are almost extinct on the European continent. The sea beasts in the Mediterranean have been tied up by the Iberian lighthouse guards. The ghost ships that once roamed the Mediterranean have also disappeared.
In a few decades, we, the outliers, will probably have nowhere to go."
Leon was obviously a little sad.
"Alien?"
"You do not know?"
Leon and Charlie looked at each other: “Do you think you are still a human being now?”
Charlie shook his head, but immediately added: "This is the power given to me by the adults. It comes from God. I am also half a saint."
Leon was not surprised by such statements. There were many heretical sects in America, and they were no longer under control in this era. It was because the Pope had lost even the land where he could settle down.
What Leon saw most in this new world were crosses of various shapes and sizes. He had even seen the Laban Cross of the long-extinct Romans, which is the XP logo.
"I saw that you all used the Latin cross, so I thought you were all traditional Catholics. However, considering Mr. Losa's status, it is not too much to be a god of a sect."
Leon's tone was joking, but his expression changed immediately and he said seriously: "Follow closely later. I smell the enemy's scent. I'm afraid we will have to fight with the enemy's scouts soon."
Charlie said calmly: "Take advantage of this opportunity to capture a few more prisoners and interrogate the enemy's intelligence."
Ever since he became a dragon-blooded follower, his strength has skyrocketed, making him very powerful.