Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2470 Gibraltar Crisis ([-])

The bombardment continued and was joined by land artillery.

Of course, it is said that it is a land artillery, but it is actually a naval artillery.Because the Marine Battalion is defending on the spot, it doesn't need to move much, so they are equipped with a large number of heavy and huge naval artillery.These heavy artillery are closely protected by field fortifications, with large caliber and long barrel, so they have a long range and great power, and their deterrent effect on the enemy is beyond doubt.

Several east coast warships moored at sea that bombarded the coast in the morning.Among them, light cruisers and escort gunboats fired solid iron bullets and hollow iron bullets, which were mainly used to create chaos and destroy dock facilities.These ships are equipped with a large number of 80mm, 105mm, 120mm, 135mm, and 150mm naval guns (respectively against European 6-pound, 8-pound, 12-pound, 18-pound, and 24-pound guns), with a total of more than one hundred If the gates are fired in turn, they can be called the wharf destroyers: the few sea artillery guns arranged by the Spaniards near the wharf were destroyed first, followed by the wharf buildings, which were basically lost in the ravages of the morning. , and even more than a dozen fishing boats and merchant ships moored nearby suffered from catastrophe and were seriously damaged, and the entire harbor was in a mess.

The bombardment of the "Bianliang" ironclad warship was quite different.Although this powerful battleship has only eight guns, they are all advanced Type 90 breech-loading rifled guns, including four 100mm naval guns, two 120mm naval guns, and two 150mm naval guns.These artillery can fire both solid shells and "special shells".When firing solid bullets, the masses of the pointed shells reached 24 pounds, 40 pounds, and 90 pounds respectively. The power is quite large, destroying the hull of the ship is like destroying it; If the bomb that blows the fuze is used, it can not only play a role in destroying the hull, but also kill and injure a large number of enemy personnel.

The Spaniards learned the power of these special bombs this morning! The "Bianliang" fired more than 100 rounds, and almost all the special ammunition stored in the ship's arsenal was wiped out.The shells landed on homes, on farmland, on the streets and among people, wreaking havoc in the peaceful seaside town.Not to mention the scattered buildings in the town, the fire is still burning, and now the Spaniards are yelling and screaming to put out the fire, in a state of chaos.

Misfortunes never come singly, while the navy was shelling, at noon, the East Coast Army also joined the shelling chorus.The long-barreled naval guns dismantled by the marine battalion, the large-caliber heavy artillery of the army, the light artillery of the garrison and the Portuguese, all poured shells into the Spanish-controlled area.The Spaniards who were caught off guard—hey, we were the ones who threatened to beat you, why did you do it first—he suffered heavy losses!Their barracks and material depots are the key areas that receive priority attention. In the past few days, people on the east coast have already known their location through binoculars, and the Spaniards themselves have no sense of concealment, so they were beaten one by one!

The first to be blown up was a barracks where about 700 soldiers were stationed.There was a big playground there, very recognizable, and the shells fired by the East Coasters rained down, destroying houses, smashing warehouses, and killing the Spanish soldiers in great numbers when they panicked.According to the soldiers on the observation post, within two hours after the shelling, at least "more than 500" Spaniards in this barracks were killed or injured.This is a very astonishing number. Even after deducting the factors that may exaggerate the results, the Spaniards probably still killed or injured [-] people.

The Spaniards also destroyed a large warehouse, which stored many hard-won materials.People from the east coast have been observing them for several days. There are always large vehicles coming and going in and out of the building complex with more than a dozen houses. It seems that there are only heavy vehicles. Isn’t that a warehouse?Just hit it!Not only did solid bombs have to be used to wash the ground, but a lot of explosive bombs were also thrown in the past. Although it was a pity that they failed to cause a fire, it was a great achievement to destroy a lot of the enemy's supplies.

In short, the preemptive shelling of the people on the east bank still had a great effect.The unprofessional Spanish soldiers were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses. Not only did more than a thousand soldiers were killed and injured (hundreds of civilians were also killed and injured), but a lot of various supplies, equipment, and supplies were also damaged, not to mention the sudden devastation caused by the devastation of the town. Morale has dropped—how can we fight this battle when we have been hit so hard before seeing the enemy face to face?

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At two o'clock in the afternoon, after passing through the crowded and panicked streets, the carriage of Count Jimenez's court finally arrived at a manor in the north of the town.This is the headquarters of the Spanish Army, commanded by Count Enrique, a nobleman from Andalusia, and it is also the largest barracks of the Spanish army, with about [-] people stationed there.

When Count Jimenez arrived, there was chaos.In the open space in front of the barracks, many carriages were tilted here and there, and some wounded soldiers were lying on the ground moaning.Dozens of townspeople who were forcibly conscripted carried stretchers to take these wounded soldiers to the rear for treatment one by one.At this time, the shelling had not stopped, and a shell fell from time to time. The untrained citizens panicked, and the stretcher fell to the ground involuntarily, causing serious secondary injuries to the wounded soldiers lying on it.

"Where did the count go?" Jimenez grabbed a small officer who was running around like a headless chicken, and asked angrily.

"He went to General Morales to urge them to fight an offensive. We are too passive..." The little officer was very panicked and didn't want to answer the question, but seeing that Count Jimenez was well dressed and looked like He is a big man, so he had to speak patiently.

"Offensive warfare?" Earl Jimenez subconsciously felt that there was some question. Just as he was about to ask again, he saw a shell knock down a wooden shelf next to him like a god. The shelf was full of guns and fell to the ground. .The little officer jumped to the side like a frightened rabbit, narrowly avoiding the heavy blow of the shelf.Then, still in shock, he ignored Count Jimenez and ran away.

"With such morale, you can fight?" Earl Jimenez threw his cane on the ground angrily, and said with disappointment: "The people on the east bank don't need to send many people at this time. As long as there are three thousand cavalry, they can fight." Can drive these idiots into the sea like ducks! Spain is really finished!"

"People on the east coast, do you only have cannons to bully people? Cannonballs rain down like raindrops, and you hide behind yourself. This is not the way men fight! This is a coward's behavior!" Earl Jimenez became more and more angry , walking around in the yard like a raging lion, only to hear him chanting: "Didn't you always emphasize the bravery of soldiers? Didn't you always emphasize that soldiers should dare to fight hand-to-hand? Why do you all shrink back?" At home? What kind of brave spirit is this!"

"Your Excellency, let's leave quickly, it's too unsafe here!" The groom and Jose couldn't stand it any longer, and he rushed to Earl Jimenez, trying to persuade the enraged negotiator into the carriage , and then headed straight north, away from the center of the bombardment.

And when Jimenez's master and servant left in a hurry, after some efforts by Earl Enrique, General Morales successfully organized more than 30 soldiers and launched an attack on the area controlled by the East Coasters. A tentative attack.The Spaniards also collected all the artillery they could get at hand, about [-] or so, and provided artillery cover for this wave of charging soldiers.

"Boom! Boom!" Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yafu shook his head, shaking off the sawdust and dust from his hair, cursing non-stop.The two solid bullets hit on the top of the fortification just now were probably the first counterattacks received by the people on the east coast this afternoon.The Spaniards' movements were too slow. If they were on the field battlefield, they would have been inserted into the formation by the enemy's cavalry corps long ago, and the whole army would have collapsed.That is to say, the people on the east bank will stick to their positions, and there is a half-dug trench in front of them, so it is inconvenient to attack. Otherwise, let them know why the flowers are so popular today.

"Battalion Commander, the Spaniards can't fight them. Their rifles are not as far away as ours, and their accuracy is poor. In order to avoid the shelling, they dare not line up in a dense formation. Isn't it just random where the bullet hits?" The battalion commander came over from nowhere and said with a smile.

Indeed, although the Spaniards had assembled thousands of people, their equipment was old and they were basically muskets. They had not yet lined up in a dense formation to shoot in platoons, and could only advance alternately in small groups.On the other hand, the people on the east bank hid comfortably in the fortifications, taking the squad as the most basic combat unit, and under the command of the squad leader, they fired burst after burst of salvos.The Spanish soldiers who were "taken care of" basically couldn't get out of their firepower circle, and fell one by one on the way forward.And the most irritating thing is that at this time, the Spanish riflemen can't reach the boys on the east bank. The range of the musket is flawed, so there is no way.

The only thing that can cause slight damage to the soldiers on the east coast is probably the Spanish artillery.But the people on the east bank have fortification defenses, which greatly weakens the effect of the enemy's shelling. Occasionally a few unlucky people are killed by the enemy's shelling, and it has nothing to do with the overall situation.They couldn't see any panic, they still aimed slowly, and greeted the enemy steadily, accurately, and ruthlessly with rifle bullets.

Zhou Yafu withdrew after watching it for about half an hour.The Spaniards simply couldn't pass through the firepower network formed by the officers and soldiers on the east bank with rifled guns and light artillery, and they had to pay the price of dozens of deaths and injuries for every meter forward.Had he been the Spanish commander, he would have ordered the retreat long ago.Rather than dying like this, it is better to adopt siege tactics to isolate the people on the east coast, so that they cannot continue to expand the occupied area.As for regaining lost ground, it's not impossible, but how much are you prepared to pay?Did all these 2 people die?

The difference in firepower and technology can sometimes not be filled by human lives alone!It's time for the Spaniards to think about strategy.

(End of this chapter)