Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2508 Sad River

On the night of May 1704, 5, the Army of Granada outside Gibraltar had just launched one of the largest attacks ever made against East Coast control.They mobilized tens of thousands of people, from the northwest and northeast directions, one main attack and one false attack—because of the huge advantage in troops, the false attack can also become the main attack—the attack took turns, and the momentum was huge.

Among them, the main offensive line directly broke through the canal defense line after paying a huge price, and then competed for the offensive of the people on the east bank one by one.The Spaniards really put their lives to the test this time. The soldiers rushed and fought like chicken blood. They changed their timidity and incompetence a few days ago, and caught some naval officers and soldiers who underestimated the enemy by surprise.

However, they were not vegetarians either. The qualities they had developed through years of hard training made them instinctively counterattack. The warships moored on the sea also woke up from a dream and started fierce artillery support.Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yafu, who had not yet fallen asleep, hurriedly climbed up a watchtower, and saw through the telescope a scene that was difficult to see during the day:

Large and small cannons fired intensively, and the shells exploded violently after landing, forming fiery red balls one after another, precisely sowing death.The starting position of the Spaniards was almost shrouded in the light of death at this moment. Countless limbs and broken arms flew into the sky, and blood spilled all over the ground.

The enemy soldiers who rushed forward also suffered heavy casualties from rifle fire and small-caliber shotgun fire.The sound of gunshots, artillery, explosions of hand-throwing bombs, and the roar of soldiers came and went, and the sound was suppressed.The waves of the Spaniards surged up wave after wave, and then shattered and receded in an instant as if hitting a solid breakwater.Every time the tide ebbs, corpses and wounded soldiers groaning convulsively will be left behind, just like playful little fish on the beach who have not caught up with the ebb tide, twisting and struggling, striking the eye.

"God..." Santana squatted behind a fortification with his head in his arms, his face pale.In front of him, there were more than a dozen laborers from southern Italy. They were terrified and trembling, as if the end of the world was coming.To be honest, some of them have also had combat experience, mostly small-scale wars between city-states or nobles.But how does the village chief's fighting with weapons compare with the grand and tragic situation now?

"Damn it, why don't you hurry up and move the shells?" A naval sergeant rushed out of the fortification and yelled at Santana, "Hurry up and get out! Don't you move until I have all the shells fired? Let me go now." Damn it, you eat more than anyone else, and you’ve only been active a few times, so you’re just pretending to be lazy here?”

When Santana and the others heard the words, they immediately scrambled and left the fortification, and ran towards the underground ammunition depot at the rear.The enemy is rushing too hard, it is safer to go to the ammunition depot than to the front line.This group of Spaniards who should go to hell, Santana was a little angry, and then he was a little stunned——Hey, am I not a Spaniard?Bah bah bah!

The Spaniards' ferocious offensive lasted a full three hours.After waves of attacks were repulsed, they finally became powerless and stopped their attacks, leaving corpses and wounded soldiers all over the ground.As for the people on the east bank, even though they had canals and fortifications, they also suffered many casualties.Especially in the area where the Portuguese mercenaries were stationed, two fortresses were seized—the Spaniards who occupied these two small fortresses were also miserable. On the other side, they are currently being beaten up by the furious Portuguese - more than 180 people were killed and injured, which is the largest casualty in a single day in recent days.In addition to them, the East Coast Marine Battalion also suffered more than 60 casualties, and the Jinghai County Security Corps suffered nearly [-] casualties.

After seeing that the offensive was fruitless, the Spaniards lost confidence and retreated decisively.They moved very quickly, as if they had planned it long ago, and they ran clean in less than two hours, without giving too many chances to the roaring naval guns on the sea.At five o'clock in the morning, the battlefield returned to tranquility, and there was no sound, except for the faint groans of wounded soldiers coming from the wind.

"The Spaniards are going to run away!" Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yafu came down from the lookout post and looked at the dark sky ahead, and choked out this sentence after a long time.The surrounding senior officers have rich experience in the battlefield, and they almost have similar guesses in their hearts, and they will nod one by one.Even, the intelligence staff has arranged several smart and capable spies to cross the river at night for reconnaissance.The warships on the sea will also put down the small boats and land at the right time to see how the situation on the other side is.

"Let's go, don't just stand here, follow me to visit the wounded." Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yafu waved his hand and said.

******

On the wilderness northwest of Gibraltar, an army was on its way overnight.Their scale is very large, about 3 to [-] people, and there are many vehicles, mules and horses, which are full of supplies and wounded.The morale of the officers and soldiers does not seem high, or a little low, most of them are downcast.Some slightly wounded soldiers were bandaged, with cigarettes in their mouths, and their eyes were dull, as if they had lost their souls, leaving only an empty shell.

The defeated army is like this bird!

Carroll rode on a tall horse, surrounded by cavalry he brought from France.These people are of high quality, have rich combat experience, and are tenacious. However, the people on the east coast are completely huddled in the solid fortifications, which makes them useless.The rest of the legion looked down on them very much. Why are others killing people and killing them? Only your 4000 people passed through this period of time without any injuries.Don't talk to me about cavalry being unable to attack the city. This is only part of the reason. The real factor is because you are French, right?It just so happens that the commander of the legion is also French, hum!

Carol also faintly felt the disharmony in the atmosphere of the army, so he decisively announced his withdrawal.It's just that before retreating, he still needs to fight. Firstly, to give an explanation to all parties (mainly the Marquis of Argou, who trusts him), and secondly, to avoid being chased by the people on the east coast during the retreat-some people say that the people on the east coast There are not many troops, and it is impossible to pursue them, but can you really guarantee that they have not increased their troops during this time?Spain has no control over the sea. The ships of the people on the east coast come in and out. Who knows what they are transporting.

In the last attack, to be honest, Carroll had tried his best, and the Spaniard also tried his best to cheer up and launched an offensive that was worthy of his professional ethics.Reluctantly, the enemy's fortifications were solid and their firepower was fierce, so the attack failed without accident.Things have come to this point, there is nothing to say, retreating and leaving is the only feasible strategy.

But as soon as they retreated, all kinds of contradictions that had been barely suppressed broke out.First, an army from Cadiz left without saying goodbye. The excuse was that they had received an order from their superiors. The people on the east coast might attack Cadiz from the sea, so they needed to go back and deploy their defenses.Later, another force from Madrid escaped. Their commander was a great aristocrat, and he was not angry at being climbed on the head by a Frenchman of pariah origin. commanded him to go directly north to the plains of Aragon, saying that he would return to Madrid via there, but no one knew the real reason.

As soon as the two troops left, nearly ten thousand people went there, and the troops commanded by Carroll shrank again.Facing such a severe situation, he was a little discouraged and even more disappointed.Spain is so different from France, they are more casual, less disciplined, and they prefer to play with shady things.As an outsider myself, it is too difficult to command.What's more, he was not from aristocratic background, which was a flaw, very fatal, and eventually led to many things going to the side that he didn't want to see.

Carol looked back at Gibraltar for the last time, where there was only one light spot left.That is his sad place, that river is his sad river, where he experienced the unparalleled firepower of the army on the east bank, as well as three-dimensional offensives on land, sea, and air (don't forget the huge role of hot air balloon observation posts) Because of the enormous power, he failed, and he was defeated simply and speechlessly.

The only gain from this battle is probably that I can sort out my experience during this period of time, and then submit it to my superiors to contribute to the construction of the French Army and the innovation of strategy and tactics.There is no doubt that the East Coast Army is already at the forefront of the European countries. They are well-equipped, well-trained, and determined. The key is that their tactical thinking is also beyond the generation of others.

Times have changed, and the army's tactics should also be changed. This is Carroll's biggest impression of this battle, which he pondered over during the bombing of the East Coast people.He vaguely felt that whoever could realize the need for change the fastest and grasp the essence of it first would get huge benefits.For example, is it beneficial to defeat the elite main force of the empire in a decisive battle and make it unable to recover within ten or twenty years?

Thinking about it this way, Carol didn't feel so uncomfortable in his heart, and the insurmountable river of sadness didn't disgust him so much.At least it was enough that the Spaniards died and the Kingdom of France learned a valuable lesson.

The procession continued and marched until the next morning, when the troops stopped at a small town called Los Barrios.They are exhausted and need to rest urgently. In addition, by the way, let's wait for the broken army. The army has about three to four thousand people. They stayed in ambush near the original camp last night to prevent the people from the east coast from chasing them.Now that the mission is complete, it's time to return.

And it was at this time that somewhere more than 100 kilometers north of the Granada Legion's garrison, an army of around 5000 people had just set up camp.That's right, this is the famous First Mixed Regiment of the East Coast Army. After they captured Seville, they pretended to go north, then made a detour and quickly went south, heading straight for Gibraltar.They will rest here tonight and continue marching the next day on the same route as Carroll's troops.

(End of this chapter)