Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 59 Decisive Battle: Episode ([-])

June 6.clear.Early winters in South America during the Little Ice Age were cold.There are more than 30 ships, large and small, moored on the sea near Luocha, and the crown flag of the Spaniards is hunting and flying in the cold wind.The sailors chanted and hoisted heavy cannons or horses to the small boat that was drifting on the sea through the pulley block. The sailors on the small boat fixed these things, and then rowed towards the coast.

A considerable number of soldiers had landed on the shore at this time, and the soldiers established a loose security position under the command of the officers to protect the main force that was in the chaos of landing.

Captain Torres rode a war horse and led a group of gaucho volunteers to patrol the low hills near the coast of Rocha, in case they were watched by enemy scouts or suddenly attacked by the enemy's main force.More than 40 gaucho riders have already landed. Captain Torres divided these people into 6 groups and distributed them in various directions for guard and patrol.These gauchos were crudely equipped, but they were skillful immediately and brave in combat, and their overall quality was not bad.

Leonid led the horse and lay down on the hilly grassland, staring carefully at the scene of the Spanish landing on the sea more than 1000 meters ahead of the hill.Having received basic military education in the short-term crash course of the Dingyuan Army Academy, he tried hard to identify the number and composition of the Spaniards he saw.

"Victor, let me record now. The Spanish landing infantry is mainly composed of cuirassier spearmen and arquebus soldiers. The proportion of musketeers is relatively high, about 2:1 compared with spearmen. In addition, there are about a hundred There are more than a few fusiliers." The densely packed small boats on the sea were still transporting personnel and supplies back and forth to the shore, Leonid said to the soldiers behind him while holding up his binoculars.

There were four Cossack cavalrymen from Zaporozhye, Ukraine, who followed him. One of them took out a pen and paper and began to record, on which were crookedly drawn symbols and numbers that only he could understand. The remaining three rode on Immediately, he carefully guarded his surroundings.

"The number of infantrymen who have landed so far is about 1000. In addition, some horses have also been transported to the shore. It is expected that there will be a considerable number of cavalry in the enemy's formation." Leonid continued, "So far, we have seen a total of Four guns were removed from the ship and were visually identified as 4-pounder Army field guns."

Leonid and the others were observing and recording. At this moment, a vigilant cavalry suddenly issued a warning: Enemy sentry cavalry was approaching rapidly ahead.Leonid quickly stuffed the binoculars into the saddle bag, turned on his horse, and looked in the direction pointed by his men, only to see a group of people in colorful costumes rushing towards this side from a distance, shouting.

"It's a Gauchos!" Leonid said with certainty.Before setting off, people from the Ministry of War trained them on the composition of the Spanish army in the La Plata area, so he knew very well the existence of the special group of gauchos in the Spanish army.

Like the Sao Paulo or Mameluco in Brazil, the gauchos are of mixed Spanish and Indian descent.They are a fusion of Indian and Spanish cultures, live in the vast Pampas grasslands, have their own unique way of life, and most of them live by grazing.They are brave and staunch by nature, and they can draw their swords at each other if they disagree at the casino or the wine table. They have always caused headaches for the local Spanish sheriff in the La Plata area.Now this group of proud sons on the Pampas met the brave Cossack from the Ukrainian steppe. Almost from the moment he found each other, Leonid knew that today's battle might not end.

"Ready to fight!" Leonid pulled out the cavalry-style 1633 flintlock pistol from his waist, and began to load and load it. The four people behind him were doing the same.There were about six or seven people on the Gauchos side, all brandishing sabers, rushing down a gentle slope.This is a hilly and gentle slope area, and there is not much room for the cavalry to maneuver.

It was too late to retreat. Leonid and the others could retreat calmly only by eliminating or defeating the gaucho cavalry in front of them.

"Ulla!" Leonid held the rein in his left hand and the Model 1633 flintlock pistol that was already ready to fire in his right hand, leading the charge forward.Limited to the low output of pistols, each cavalry can only be equipped with one 1633 flintlock pistol at present. At the same time, in order to make up for the lack of firepower, they also have a cavalry gun and a saber in the saddle bag under the saddle as supplementary weapons. .

Neither side had armor on their bodies, the gauchos wore a variety of national costumes, while the Ukrainian cavalry wore uniform dark blue army uniforms.The distance between the two sides was getting closer, and Leonid could even see that some of the opponents were holding the [-]-year-style non-commissioned officer's knife that was sold in the La Plata area.

"Bang! Bang!" After entering the pistol range, the five cavalry fired their flintlock pistols almost at the same time, and then they quickly drew their sabers from their saddle bags.Three of the oncoming gauchos fell off their horses in the first wave of pistol fire, and the remaining four continued to charge forward, and the two sides quickly staggered together.Relying on his skillful horsemanship, Leonid easily dodged the saber of the oncoming Gauchos. While dodging, he slashed his saber lightly on the opponent's body with a "poof", That was the sound of blades rubbing against flesh.At this moment, Leonid seemed to have regained the pleasure he had when traveling across the Crimea Peninsula.Back then, countless Tatans, Turks, Poles and even Russians died in this way under the saber of the brave Zaporozhye Cossack.

After charging a certain distance, Leonid, whose horse speed slowed down, turned his horse's head and found that there was one less cavalry behind him.There were only two gauchos left on the opposite side, and instead of running away, these two turned around and rushed over, as if they wanted to continue fighting with Leonid and the others.

"A real warrior!" Leonid praised, and led the remaining three cavalry to meet him.At this time, he didn't have time to reload the pistol, and he didn't bother to reload the pistol again. The battle between warriors should be resolved with a saber.

The saber fluttered and blood spurted.The last two remaining Gaucho cavalry fell off their horses feebly. Behind them, a Ukrainian cavalry also clutched his stomach, vomited blood and fell on the grass.Leonid turned his horse's head and galloped back to the battlefield where the two sides had just confronted with the only two remaining cavalry.After dismounting, a cavalryman rushed to the cavalryman who had been stabbed and fell off the horse at the first moment. While checking his injuries, he called out the names of his comrades in arms.After a long time, he put down his comrade-in-arms and slowly shook his head towards Leonid.

"Victor, Oleg, go and gather up the corpses of your brothers, and gather up all the horses scattered around, do it quickly!" Leonid ordered silently, and then rode his horse to the first place on both sides. A place of war.Four people fell on the ground, three gauchos were shot and died, and a Cossack cavalry had a large gash in his abdomen, and he was already dying.Leonid dismounted and held the soldier's right hand tightly, listening to him whisper something in his weak voice and native slang until his voice faded away.

The war horse didn't leave, it snorted and licked its master's face, as if calling the master to wake up and continue fighting side by side...

After tying the corpses of his comrades to the horse, Leonid checked the corpses of several Gauchos on the ground.The gauchos are indeed poor herdsmen, who have almost no other daily necessities except a saber—except a leather bag.There are some salt, dry food, yerba mate tea and lighters in different categories in the leather pocket, but there is nothing else, and it seems that it is no better than a beggar.

After cleaning up the battlefield, the three of Leonid did not dare to stay for long.One was because they were worried about meeting the second team of Spaniard scouts, and the other was to send back important information about the Spanish landing as soon as possible, so the three left the battlefield in a hurry.Three people and twelve horses galloped towards Dingyuan Fort, the nearest stronghold of the crossing crowd.

The morning of July 7st.Lin Youde, Chang Kaisheng and others stationed at Dingyuan Fort received the news of the massive Spanish landing. In the afternoon, the news was sent back to the Executive Committee and the Ministry of the Army, and the Army immediately began pre-war mobilization.

Up to now, the regular main force of the army has a total of nearly 500 infantry posts with six posts, more than 700 cavalry posts with three posts, and two artillery posts with nearly [-] soldiers, with a total force of about [-].In addition, since the critical moment of life and death has come, some [-] or so civil servants, skilled craftsmen, better-performing captives, and Charuyas who crossed the border were also mobilized urgently as the general reserve team for the battle.These people usually have less training, their equipment is a mixture of hot and cold weapons, and their fighting will is average.However, once the situation on the front line is unfavorable, these people will go into battle no matter what.

The first and second infantry posts, the second artillery post and about a hundred reserve troops are stationed in Dingyuan Fort at the moment, and the rest are stationed in the capital.Everything is ready now, just waiting for the Spaniards to come.

The smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield is finally about to enter its strongest moment.

① Sao Paulo people and Mameluco people refer to the mixed descendants of Portuguese and Brazilian Indians.

PS: Just got back.This chapter is to make up for yesterday, and today's is trying to catch up.

(End of this chapter)