Many years later, when Katata was gray-haired and old, she could not go anywhere. She could only sit in front of her window and watch the thick fog coming from the sea as usual, like a gauze curtain.
It usually shrouded the western mountains. Every time at this time, she would definitely think of that morning when she ran to the beach alone.
There were more than 300 people in her tribe at that time. There were about dozens of tribes like them, scattered in the coastal areas from the northern tip of the peninsula to Big Sur in the south, although each tribe did not consider themselves to be one.
A unified group, but the tribes east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains call them "Miwok" - Miwok people.
By the way, Katata means "kingfisher" in the Miwok language.
Like others in the tribe, the Katata family lives in a conical house with a redwood frame and covered with redwood bark. The diameter of the house is almost three meters, and the whole family is squeezed inside; including
Father, mother, elder brother, younger brother, and herself.
One summer night, an old man named Soaring Eagle in Katata's tribe came to the chief and said that he had had a strange dream. The chief took this very seriously, and you must know that Soaring Eagle is their
The only one among them who could communicate with the Wolf God and the Eagle God, he quickly summoned the elders of the tribe to the "sweat lodge" used for prayer and sacrifice.
"It won't be long before a white boat that we have never seen before will come to us from the sea. The boat is so big that our 'tule boats' are like fleas and sea lions compared with it. Even those white-skinned boats
Human ships cannot compare with them. I looked down from the air and saw that the white-skinned people on the other side of the strait were driven south by the people on the white ships and could no longer enslave us."
"The Wolf God told me that he will stay away from us and head to the north. This will be a large area of cultivated land in the future, and we will all live in square houses and wear soft woven clothes..."
At this time, someone interrupted: "Who is on the white boat?"
"People who look similar to us but are completely different. And they have amazing medicine that will save many lives."
When the witch doctor in the tribe heard this, he stood up quickly and interrupted: "Don't believe what the Soaring Eagle says. The Wolf God will never abandon us! The square house, what a terrible thing! Sickness and death are all arranged by the Wolf God in advance.
Well, God has given us enough food; if no one gets sick and dies, others will starve."
The elders were all silent after hearing this. Seeing this, Soaring Eagle had no choice but to turn around and leave the "sweat lodge", and returned to his residence under the gaze of a group of tribal men.
After the sun went down, Katata sneaked into Soaring Eagle's house quietly when no one was paying attention. The old man seemed to be sick, lying motionless on the ground, occasionally raising his eyelids to look twice, and then closing them again.
Katata poured some water, and when the soaring eagle took it and drank it, she whispered: "Is your dream true?"
The old man was silent for a moment, then opened his eyes and stared at her and said, "A long time ago, Kaknu also saw the same vision."
The Miwok people worship the wolf god "Coyote" as their ancestor, and Kaknu is the grandson of the wolf god. He usually appears in the mythology of the Miwok people as a peregrine falcon. Legend has it that when Kaknu ended up in
During the years in the human world, he turned into a dove, and then flew into the depths of the earth to fight with the underground lord, the stone monster. He used all his arrows to kill the monster and saved many people. When the stone monster died, his body
It exploded into pieces and turned into mountains scattered around the world. And Kaknu lived peacefully in the underground world with the people he rescued.
"When will the White Ship come?" Katata asked hesitantly.
"The weather turns cold, the maple leaves turn red, the eagle god puts the fog-woven clothes from the sea on the top of the Western Mountains, and the white ship arrives."
The Soaring Eagle reached into his arms and handed a necklace made of colorful shells to the girl in front of him, and then stopped talking. After more than ten days, this amiable old man in Katata's eyes showed up.
He passed away in his sleep. On the day after he left, whenever the thick fog rose from the sea, Katata would come to the seaside and look at it.
Time flies and a year has passed. Of course, there is no "moon" in the Miwok people's concept. They only have four seasons in their eyes. The berries and grass seeds in spring are the most delicious;
There are countless salmon in the stream, and it is also the time when acorns and nuts are ripe; it often rains lightly in winter, but it is not too cold.
Katata waited and waited, and everyone in the tribe was laughing at her. Fortunately, this behavior did not affect anyone, and since she was still a girl, her parents just let her go.
During this period, more Miwok people were attracted to the Spanish mission area south of the strait. Even Katata's tribe had people crossing the sea in boats, trying to trade with each other. When these Indians were pregnant with
Out of curiosity, I participated in the "baptism ceremony" organized by monks wearing dark gray robes. After that, I was shocked to find that I had lost my freedom and it was impossible to return to the tribe.
Since the Spaniards established a fort across the channel in 1776, the Franciscan monks have followed them everywhere. When an Indian participates in baptism, personal freedom is gone. They will fight with whips and weapons every day.
Driven by others, often scolded by monks and overseers, he was engaged in heavy physical labor, and had to drag his tired body to attend mass every morning, noon and evening.
If an Indian fails to report in the morning, his residence will be searched; if he is found to have left the residence without authorization, he will be deemed to have escaped, and the fort will send personnel to round him up. Any form of escape will usually be punished.
Severe beatings and chains were added, and even the lightest punishment cost 25 lashes.
Since the Franciscans were outnumbered, any form of resistance by the Miwok people was suppressed. When Indian women tried to abort their tainted children, the monks beat them and chained them
They lived there, shaved their heads, and stipulated that women should stand in front of the altar at every mass and make confession to a wooden carved baby next to it.
In addition, the monks will let the baptized people lead the way to the tribe, accompanied by the fortress soldiers. After arriving in the village, they will use deception or coercion to have all babies and children under eight years old in the tribe baptized. The former
Because they were too young, they would be left with their mother temporarily; the latter would take them all away and stay away from their family ever since.
Cartata's brother was taken away like this three years ago, and the brother and sister have never seen each other since, so she dislikes the Spaniards very much.
The maple leaves began to turn red again. In the morning of this day, Katata woke up very early. When she walked out of the house, she saw that the mountains and forests in the distance seemed to be covered with a layer of flowing white gauze, so she went back to the house.
He took his deerskin cloak and walked towards the seaside.
"Katata, are you waiting for your white ship again?"
"The Soaring Eagle has been gone for a year, how can you still believe his lies?"
Katata ignored the cynicism of the tribesmen. She walked out of the village and turned to look back at the Western Mountain. She saw the continuously flowing layer of "white gauze" rushing towards the top of the mountain, and the pace under her feet could not help but speed up a little. When she arrived
When the sea lions are all over the shore, the white gauze has completely covered the top of the mountain.
"Wolf God, my people are suffering. I miss my brother and want him to come home! When will the news you asked Soaring Eagle to bring back be realized?"
The thick fog, like a veil, wrapped around Katata's body; the Western Mountain behind him was also completely shrouded in fog, looming, floating or sinking. After a while, cool raindrops began to fall. The water surface of the entire strait
Including the land, everything was shrouded in mist and drizzle.
I don’t know how long it took, when the rain became more and more intense and the fog began to recede, Katata sighed softly, and just when he was about to turn around and leave, he heard a faint sound in the distance that he had never heard before.
The strange sound that passed by was like a pack of wolves howling in the forest. It was extremely long, but the sound came from the sea.
The Miwok Indian girl's heart was shocked. She instinctively thought that this was the wolf god giving her a reminder, and her lips began to tremble. At this moment, she really wished she could transform into a Canuck and fly over as a peregrine falcon.
after all.
Finally, when the morning fog on the sea disappeared and the rain stopped, a rainbow streaked across the sky. At the end of the rainbow that penetrated deep into the sea, a white spot as big as a fingernail was shining brightly in the sun.
Katata stared for a while with her eyes wide open, and saw that the white spot was getting bigger and bigger, until it became as big as her fist. She was finally convinced that it should be a ship.
"What Soaring Eagle said is true!" Katata's eyes gradually became moist, and she knew that the old man was not lying, and her long wait had finally come true!
"Boom!"
On the Spanish fort on the south side of the strait, a 12-pound bronze cannon opened fire. However, there was no shell in the barrel. This move by the fortress defenders was intended to warn the strange ships in the distance not to get closer.
A few minutes later, the Spaniards in the fortress discovered that the white ship was actually parked two nautical miles away and was motionless. Just as the fortress commander was confidently waiting for the other party to send a small boat to contact him, the fort was not moving.
About five hundred yards to the northwest, a high column of water suddenly exploded on the sea, followed closely by a roar like thunder.
Damn it! The fortress commander's anus tightened, and he thought, can we still play in a friendly manner? I haven't even loaded the cannons, but you are serious about it!
Just when he was in a state of confusion, the second shell roared over and landed in the bay three hundred yards east of the fort, causing another column of water to rise.
"Ring the bell quickly! Notify everyone in the castle to be alert, a group of unknown pirates are attacking us!"
Even though the Spanish built the "Royal Fort of St. Francis" at the northernmost end of San Francisco Bay in 1767, equipped with six 12-pound bronze cannons, it was plainly just a simple fort made of adobe, mud and wood.
It is a large courtyard-shaped fortress and is often damaged by earthquakes or heavy rains.
As of now, there are only 52 Spanish soldiers in the fort. Except for a small number of monks, the others are laborers and family members. The main responsibility of the local garrison and the Spanish is not only to declare the presence of the kingdom in northern California, but also to supervise the baptized Indian laborers.
Carry out work including farming, herding, hunting and weaving to support yourself.
As for the Spanish Viceroyalty in Mexico, its support for the local area is very limited. There are only two supply ships coming every year.
"Dang Dang Dang~~~!!!"
As the commander issued an emergency order, the bells on the top floor of the monastery also rang urgently, and the Royal Fortress of St. Francis suddenly jumped up and down, and emergency mobilization began.
Katata, who was standing on the other side of the strait, didn't know what was happening. Although her position was only two kilometers away from the fort on the other side of the strait, she could also hear the roar of the cannons, but the Miwok Indians had no idea about cannons and instinctively
She thought it was thunder. The little girl was so frightened that she trembled. She thought the Eagle God was angry, so she hurriedly found a rock to hide.
At this time, on the Thor, more than 300 soldiers with rifles on their shoulders were lining up and gathering. They were all like tigers about to be released from the cage and return to the mountains, with excited faces.
After everyone lined up and reported the count, an officer wearing the uniform of a North Navy lieutenant commander raised his trumpet and shouted to all the soldiers:
"This battle is your first battle for Beihai Town! You must remember that you are now soldiers of the Northern Navy Overseas Corps! You must always keep in mind the discipline of the Northern Navy!"
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Hearing the officer's words, the more than 300 former Manchu Eight Banners and Green Camp soldiers on the deck unconsciously puffed up their chests. Almost all of these people were transformed Manchus
One-third of the prisoners of war were Eight Banners soldiers. Some were captured after the Battle of Ningguta and some were captured during the Battle of Hunchun. They all underwent at least two years of labor and education on Kuye Island.
, and then joined the North Korean Navy Overseas Corps.
The main task of establishing this force is to come to the other side of the ocean to occupy and develop. To put it bluntly, it is to compete with the Spanish for territory. Although it is called a regiment, the current strength of the force is only more than 500 people, and the number will be increased in the future.
Considering that there were a lot of bears, wolves, and two-meter-tall bison in the North American continent in these days, in terms of weapons and equipment, in addition to the "1790-style percussion rifle" and 12-pounder cannon, some were copied from the Beihai Town Arsenal.
The "1894 Lever Rifle". Although the effective range of this gun is only one hundred meters, because it uses .357 caliber Magnum bullets, it is powerful enough to kill the beast with one shot.
The officer continued: "I reiterate, everyone must obey the command after landing ashore. Our first goal is to seize the fort! The next step is to capture the fortress. Remember! No indiscriminate killing of innocent people, no bullying of women,
Especially don’t set fire! Violators will be punished by military law!”
"Yes!" More than 300 people on the deck shouted loudly.
"Now start boarding the ship in order of row, starting from the first row!"
Thirty minutes later, a dozen black speedboats carrying more than a hundred soldiers, under the cover of two 122-mm howitzers on the deck of the Thor, rushed towards the fort of the Royal Fort of St. Francis like an arrow.