Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 60 Decisive Battle: Episode ([-])

On the night of July 7, at the mouth of the Valdivia River.The Yunsheng No. 1 and the "Eagle of the East Coast" were wandering on the sea, and the "Galicia Flying Fish" was moored in the distance, and small boats were released one after another.Looking from a distance in the dark night, soldiers like ants are quickly climbing down the rope ladder from the deck.After each boat was filled with soldiers, the charuya who operated the boats untied the cables that tied the boats, and then the boats began to row forward slowly.Due to the effect of the tide, the speed of the boat on the sea is quite fast.

Xie Hansan lightly jumped onto the beach, nodded to the Charuya people who were pushing the boat forward, and then led the soldiers to form a team.After arranging four rows of nearly 1000 soldiers hastily into two horizontal lines, Xie Hansan led the troops towards a settlement set up by the Spaniards more than [-] meters away under the leadership of two English pirate guides.

The settlement had more than 400 inhabitants and was roughly located near Corral, the outer port of later Valdivia.The scale is not very large, but it is a very important place.Because the minerals collected in the inland area were transported to Valdivia for initial processing, and then transported to this place via the Valdivia River, and then shipped from here to the big cities in the north.

In addition, the most critical point for Xiao Bailang's fleet is that the Spaniards built a fort here, facing the central channel of the Valdivia River.In other words, if this nail is not pulled out, it will be difficult for everyone to go up the river and attack the city of Valdivia with confidence.

The team of nearly 200 people walked forward with difficulty between the hills and the bushes. It was not until the middle of the night that the whole team finally crossed the last hill and saw a place with a faint fire below the hill, which was a small town of Spaniards.

"Rest for 10 minutes!" Xie Hansan ordered in a low voice.The soldiers sat down on the ground, turned on their military kettles, and began to drink and rest.

While drinking water, Xie Hansan discussed with several platoon leaders under his command: "The primary goal this time is to capture the fort. As for the Spaniards in the town, let's leave it alone. We will talk about everything after we capture the fort."

Several platoon leaders and deputy platoon leaders under Xie Hansan were all veterans of the crossing, so they nodded silently.

After 10 minutes, the whole team stood up with low passwords.Xie Hansan ordered: "The first platoon, line up between the fort and the town, and contain the Spaniards who may appear to assist the fort; the second, third, and fourth platoons, concentrate their forces, and push along the side of the fort. Be careful not to disperse, the Spanish fort may have a small amount of garrison troops, our goal is to capture the fort, not wipe out the Spaniards here. Alright, let's act now!"

Two hundred men marched down the hill in silence.Perhaps because they had been at ease for many years, the Spaniards' defenses were extremely lax. After the team marched for about ten minutes to reach the outer edge of the town, they did not encounter any sentries.After thinking for a while, Xie Hansan couldn't help laughing. After all, this is just an ordinary town of Spaniards, not a military camp. Where did the sentries come from?Moreover, the Araucan people here have been wiped out for many years, and the rest have become obedient citizens under the colonial rule of the Spaniards. No wonder the Spaniards are so lax in their defenses.But even if the security is tight, so what, a small town with a population of hundreds of people can't defend against this well-equipped and experienced army.After the troops bypassed the town, the first row chose a position to defend on the spot, and the other three rows quickly approached the fort several hundred meters away.

The moonlight is quite bright tonight, the river ahead is sparkling, and the white breath from the soldiers' mouths is clearly visible under the bright moonlight.The Valdivia River is a tidal river, and the river slams against the shore under the action of the tide, making a loud noise.If it is not in the midst of war, in the summer at the mouth of the Valdivia River, with the cool sea breeze blowing, under the bright moonlight, drinking wine from local vineyards while watching the sea and listening to the waves, it must be a good thing Pleasure in life.

"Use rank units to form three horizontal lines, with an interval of two meters between each row, reload and move forward!" After reaching the ground, Xie Hansan began to give orders.

The Spaniard finally noticed the movement outside at this time, and there was a faint voice of Spanish questioning from the opposite side.The tide was too loud to be heard clearly, but Xie Hansan and the others were not going to answer them in Spanish. The soldiers in the second row, under the command of the officer, rushed to the first artillery position and responded collectively with a row of gunshots. .

The Spaniards' artillery positions are all fully open, and the heavy artillery is mounted on a four-wheeled artillery carriage, protected by the natural terrain.There is a bunker next to the gun position, where gunpowder barrels and shells are stored, and the gunners usually rest here.The soldiers lined up in a tight formation and cleared the artillery positions one by one.The resistance of the Spaniards was extremely weak. After the first few artillery positions fell, the gunners in the rear artillery positions simply ran away, regardless of the cannons.

Half an hour later, the soldiers finished clearing the seven artillery positions in this area, and then began to advance to an adjacent hillside, where there were still about six or seven artillery positions that had not been cleared.

Xie Hansan was very careful all the way, until he rushed to the small hill, the expected Spanish fort garrison never appeared.Most of the gunners here have also fled, and only a few courageous Spaniards are still resisting.Armed with arquebus or cold weapons, these Spaniards persisted in vain in the dark night.Xie Hansan gathered two platoons of soldiers, and launched a concentrated fire attack on the place where the fire rope was shining in the dark night. The last resistance of the Spaniards finally collapsed.

At this point, all the Spaniards' forts announced that they had changed hands.The entire battle took less than an hour, and the crossing people occupied all fourteen gun positions at the cost of three deaths and two minor injuries. The whole battle was as easy as a child's play.

There was some movement gradually in the small town of the Spaniards. Xie Hansan ordered the soldiers in the second row and the third row to run to the first row to meet up immediately, and he led the soldiers in the fourth row to light a fire to the sea. The Yunsheng [-] and the "Eagle of the East Coast" on board reported the news, while interrogating several captured Spanish prisoners.Father Pedro was very active at this time. He threatened and beat his Spanish compatriots to his heart's content, and soon obtained the information Xie Hansan wanted.

It turns out that the Spaniards here have been at peace for a long time. The gunners on the fort and the officers and soldiers of the garrison would go back to their homes in the town to rest many nights. Only a small number of soldiers remained on the fort, not even a single officer.The dozen or so people who were shot to death on the hillside just now were a small number of garrison soldiers left behind.In addition, the Spanish armed forces in the town are also very weak. There are only a few dozen militiamen, equipped with some matchlock guns and cold weapons.

After receiving the information, Xie Hansan ordered the platoon leader of the third platoon to temporarily act as the supreme commander here, and he quickly rushed to the first platoon to take command, to see if it was possible to take down the town.

Fabian Klingemann and his comrades in the first row had just finished a round of volleys, and the Spaniards on the opposite side suddenly fell down.Fabian took out the fixed ammunition wrapped in oiled paper from the cowhide ammunition bag, and started the intense loading work.This wave of Spaniards came in a hurry after seeing what happened to the fort. They seemed to be preparing to support the fort, but just halfway, they were hit by a volley of more than 40 flintlock rifles from the first row.More than a dozen Spaniards who rushed to the front fell down immediately, and the rest of them saw so many muskets shooting at them in the dark night, they were a little scared, and they all looked for places to hide.A few brave Spaniards fired at this side with their matchlock guns, but the bullets went to nowhere in the dark.However, the flames from the burning matchstick exposed his hiding place. Under the command of the officer and the old non-commissioned officer, several flintlock guns fired a salvo there, which immediately broke the courage of the Spaniards.

When Xie Hansan arrived, the three platoons of soldiers had completely defeated the Spaniards by firing alternately. Looking at the twenty or so Spaniard corpses scattered on the ground, Xie Hansan decisively ordered to attack the town.

The town was already brightly lit at this time, and shouts, cries, and roars rang out.The whole town is surrounded by a fence of tall trees, and there is a gate for people to enter and exit.It took three platoons of more than a hundred soldiers more than half an hour to find the wooden gate of this Spanish town in the dark. Spanish soldiers hid behind the gate and shot, trying to resist.Xie Hansan's trip was light-packed and he didn't carry any cannons. For a while, he didn't have a good way to deal with the Spaniards hiding behind the door.

However, it was almost dawn at this time, and the three warships crossing the sea were slowly entering the Valdivia River.When the dozens of cannons on the three warships aimed at the town, let's see how these Spaniards still resisted.Thinking of this, Xie Hansan simply stopped trying to storm the town, but withdrew his troops and retreated, occupying some key points around the town, waiting for the arrival of the navy to solve the problem.

After dawn, the "Eagle of the East Coast" sailed into the Valdivia River first, followed by the "Galicia Flying Fish" and the Yunsheng No. [-].Yunsheng No. [-] has been shutting down the main engine these days. At this time, relying on the strong southwest wind, it slowly sailed into Hanoi, and then anchored in the channel facing the town. wooden fence fence.

There are three enemy warships moored in the river, flying the red-bottomed double-sword goshawk flag, such a deterrent is more effective than any pale words.Soon, a burst of confusion broke out among the Spaniards in the town who saw this situation, and there were faint gunshots.Half an hour later, just as the crossing crowd lost patience, the wooden gate of the town finally opened, and several Spaniards walked out slowly holding a white flag.

PS: Continue to make up yesterday's chapter.Posted this evening.

(End of this chapter)