Rise of the 1630s South America

In mid-July 1631, the time entered the winter in South America.The lowest nighttime temperature in Uruguay, which is in the middle of the Little Ice Age, has dropped to close to zero.

Lin Youde, who had just finished inspecting the camp, wrapped himself in the military overcoat and walked quickly to the cafeteria.There are hot soup and food prepared for the night watchmen. On this cold winter night, drinking a bowl of steaming fish soup to warm your stomach is really a pleasant thing.Thoughts were spinning in his head, when he heard a crisp "bang" cut through the silent night sky, Lin Youde suddenly stopped in his tracks, and turned his head to look at the sentry tower from which the sound came.

There was another matchlock shot from the sentry tower.The ex-Swiss mercenary Carl and his companions nervously reloaded, while raising their voices to warn with simple Chinese words: "alert", "Indians", "many".

Lin Youde's scalp went numb all of a sudden, but there was no room for hesitation at this time, he quickly walked to a copper gong hanging at the door of the kitchen, picked up the rolling pin and slammed it hard.Then he ran to the front of the dormitory, kicking the door and shouting.

Soon, the 16 off-duty guards who were resting rushed out in disheveled clothes. The scene was a bit chaotic, and some even forgot to take their weapons.

Lin Youde's complexion was very bad: "Something happened! There are Indians attacking! Everyone bring weapons and prepare to fight! Chang Kaisheng, go mobilize the construction team, and then distribute the weapons. Hurry up!"

Gunshots also rang out from the sentry tower by the east gate!Lin Youde's face changed slightly, there is no gate at the east gate!If the Indians who came to attack rushed in through the east gate, the fun would be great.

"Quick! East gate! Those who have weapons follow me!" Lin Youde was anxious, and rushed to the east gate first. Behind him were eight or nine guards with hunting crossbows on their backs.

There are a lot of sundries and soil piled up at the east gate.As soon as Lin Youde rushed to the vicinity, he saw through the lit brazier several Indians climbed up the pile of debris with their spears upright.The matchlock guns of the two sentries on the sentry tower had just been fired, and they were nervously reloading at this time.

"Aim and shoot!" Following Lin Youde's order, the sound of "Click Ceng" firing from the hunting crossbow suddenly came and went.Several Indians who had just stood up straight were brutally hit by featherless arrows and steel balls at a distance of more than 20 meters, and they screamed and fell down.Everyone didn't care to watch the results of the battle, and started loading and winding in a hurry.

High-pitched shouts rang out from outside the east gate, and soon, the Indians climbed up the pile of dirt, waste building materials, and sundries again.

"Fire it when you see it right, don't shoot all three arrows at once!" Lin Youde ordered.Just now, the ten people here shot thirty arrows or steel balls at once, but the result was only four poor people.

The arquebus has been loaded.The two Swiss immigrants on the sentry tower shot again, in exchange for two screams from the Indians at the gate.Lin Youde ordered to shoot again, this time the ten featherless arrows and steel balls shot down the remaining two people to the ground.

The east gate is relatively narrow, coupled with the accumulation of some construction waste, so that only a few people on the other side can climb up the waste dump with difficulty at a time.Moreover, the two non-stop firing matchlock guns on the sentry tower on the side of the gate also gave the opponent a lot of side damage, making it difficult for the opponent to pile up at the gate.

The two sides confronted for a few minutes, and soon, a high-pitched voice sounded outside the east gate again.Several Indians held simple bows and arrows and shot at the sentry tower. The sentry on the sentry tower didn't notice for a while. One was hit by a bone arrow and injured in the face, while the other hurriedly took cover.

Lin Youde was a little anxious.There are only ten people on his side, and if a large number of Indians come in, it will be impossible to resist.At this moment, Liu Dafa from the construction team rushed over with a group of people.They carried a few heavy boxes and shouted slogans. The white gas from the corners of their mouths was particularly eye-catching in the middle of the night.

"Good stuff!" Lin Youde guessed what was in the box all of a sudden, and couldn't help but regret why he didn't think of this.

The three-year-style full-body armor is a full-body plate armor made by the weapon workshop through hydraulic forging hammers, including iron helmets, masks, iron armor, and greaves, and the total weight is nearly forty kilograms.In this era when plate armor is gradually declining, the iron armor forged by high-hardness steel in the weapon workshop is said to be able to withstand the shooting of arquebus guns at medium and long distances.At present, only five copies have been produced, all of which were sent to Dingyuan Fort.

"Quick! You, you, you, and the two of you, put on the iron armor. Everyone else comes to help." Lin Youde appointed five strong guards to put on the iron armor.The rest of the people rushed forward, opened the box, and helped the guards put on the armor.The group of construction workers led by Liu Dafa consisted of more than 5 people, with ten matchlock guns and several hunting crossbows.Their arrival greatly increased the density of firepower, and everyone clamored to counterattack under the excitement of the crowd.However, Lin Youde knew very well the virtues of this group of time-traversing people, and it would be fine to let them shoot and shoot arrows from a distance, but if they were allowed to fight hand-to-hand or suffer casualties, their morale would soon collapse.So he just asked five armored guards to step forward with hunting crossbows in their hands, while the others shot in situ.

The two arquebus guns on the sentry tower had stopped firing, and the Indians crowded at the door. Several attempts to climb over the rubbish dump were intercepted by fierce fire from the opposite side and failed, leaving a dozen corpses instead.However, they still have no intention of giving up, and are still trying to break through the gate.

Following Lin Youde's order, the five "iron men" approached the sentry tower, and slowly climbed up to the top of the watchtower along the wooden stairs.One of the two Swiss immigrants on the sentry tower was seriously injured and lay down on the ground, with arrows shot in the face and chest, and blood was gushing from the corner of his mouth; Bandage yourself to stop the bleeding.

"Shoot!" A deep voice came from under Chang Kaisheng's mask. After firing a round of matchlock guns, the five "iron men" decisively took out the loaded hunting crossbow and shot accurately.There was a constant tinkling on the armor, the feeble Indian counterattack.

After the three rounds of feathered arrows were fired, they reloaded and fired another round. The Indians crowded at the door were devastated. The projectiles and feathered arrows with extremely high muzzle velocity ruthlessly penetrated their naked bodies.Chang Kaisheng smiled cruelly, and when he was about to continue loading and shooting, the Indians had already retreated.

Lin Youde, who was 20 meters away, was immediately relieved when he saw Chang Kaisheng's gesture of raising his hand high. "Turn on the string! Advance at a constant speed and keep the formation!" Nearly forty passers-by lined up in two rows, holding matchlock guns or hunting crossbows, and walked slowly towards the gate.Everyone here is on the battlefield for the first time, and various emotions such as excitement, fear, joy, and nausea are intertwined. Some people bite their lips tightly, some have stiff legs and straight legs, some are trembling, some have dry mouth, and some have shortness of breath. , the whole team approached the gate in a silent atmosphere.

Chang Kaisheng, the "iron man" on the flank guard tower, made a security gesture, indicating that there were no Indians at the gate.

"Stop!" Lin Youde yelled, "Team [-] stays alert, and Team [-] begins to block the door. Pay attention to safety!"

Liu Dafa let out a sigh of relief, and led a group of old brothers from the construction team to start stacking discarded building materials, soil, etc. towards the gate.For the sake of safety, they didn't show their bodies, they just climbed up the garbage dump and threw large pieces of sundries and building materials towards the door.Soon, in less than 20 minutes, the small door was filled with messy things.Lin Youde heaved a sigh of relief, leaving a team of people to cooperate with the watchtower defense, and led the rest of the team to turn around and disappear into the vast night. The rest of the city was not peaceful either.

The night of July 7th.This long winter night was spent in panic and confusion for the people who traveled through. Intermittent gunfire and shouting continued until 13:14 am on the 5th.The panicked traversing crowd even dragged out several cannons. Lin Youde led a group of people to attack around. While gathering the traversing crowds running around, he organized the traversing crowd with weapons to support various key points.

5 am.Dingyuan Fort, which had been noisy all night, finally quieted down. After harassing most of the night, the Indians took all the corpses they could take away and disappeared into the wilderness.

The people who traveled through did not know the situation outside, so they could only continue to stick to the fort until dawn.