Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 601 Retreat ([-])

Asuncion, July 1647, 7.The East Coast Expeditionary Force of La Plata, which has occupied the city for a month, is organizing its retreat in an orderly manner. The Spanish residents in the city watched all this with excitement, but they did not dare to express it too violently. own emotions.Because the row of corpses dangling on the gallows outside the city constantly reminded them that these people were the occupying forces, the invaders who had massacred the Guarani people outside the city, and it was better to flatter them, Any attempt to provoke them is extremely stupid.

In all fairness, Asunción has not experienced massive unrest during the month.The army on the east bank restrained its actions very well. Except for a few slave troops such as the Kelandi and Gauchos who killed some white Spanish in the city at the beginning, the rest of the killings were strictly prohibited.However, their lives were saved, but the residents in the city would inevitably lose their money. The ransom of two pesos per adult and one peso per child had to be paid, and the people from the east bank came to collect them. looted supplies.

Compared with the small money collected from ordinary residents, the property of the absconding Spanish officers and town councilors confiscated by the East Coasters as enemy property is the bulk: gold and silver coins filled the cash box, expensive furs hung The walls were full, and the collection room was filled with art and jewelry, all of which were confiscated by the East Coasters without any ceremonies.

After searching the city, the army on the east coast turned their attention to the manors, farms and pastures outside the city.With the help of some white leading parties who volunteered in central and southern Europe, the east bank army quickly found these manors outside the city, and then defeated the weak resistance that could hardly be called a battle.After giving freedom to all the slaves in the manor, they pulled all the materials that could be transported to the pier in carts, loaded them on ships, and transported them to Santa Fe, waiting for the navy to transport them back to the mainland by large ships.

The Spaniards have been operating in Paraguay for a hundred years, and the accumulated wealth is extremely amazing. It is a pity that most of the Spanish manor owners did not participate in the attack on the people on the east coast. There is no objection to "purchasing" some materials from them.Therefore, the people on the east bank really can't pull their faces down and rob them directly. As long as they don't take any hostile actions, then they are safe.

But even so, in a month-long period, the east bank army still raised a large amount of supplies, livestock and money near Asunción, and piled up on the pier like a mountain.Many unimportant materials such as wood are even stacked in the open air, while materials such as leather and grain are covered with raincloths, waiting to be shipped.

In fact, people on the east coast have priority levels for the transportation of these materials, based on the degree of domestic shortage. The next turn is art, leather, livestock and other materials, and finally there are high-end goods such as wood.

Supporting war with war is the keynote set by the Executive Committee, so the East Coast Army will basically not engage in any construction in the occupied area, and everything will be plundered as the ultimate goal.At present, the materials collected in Paraguay have been transported back for nearly half a month, and many villages around Asunción have also been patronized by the army on the east bank, especially those Guarani villages, which have received special "care".People on the east coast have always been known for their ruthlessness towards the aborigines. Therefore, a large number of Guarani villages and fields were destroyed, residents were killed or expelled, and livestock property was robbed. The situation is much more miserable than that of the white people. Said to go back more than ten years.

Chang Kaisheng was woken up by his adjutant early in the morning, because today was the day when the troops began to evacuate, he needed to go to the pier to take a look.After putting on the military uniform with the help of adjutants and orderlies, Chang Kaisheng looked at a naked Spanish woman on the bed, touched her plump buttocks for the last time, and then reluctantly left the baroness room, surrounded by guards towards the pier.

Oh, speaking of which, by the way, Major Antonio Carlos of the Spanish La Plata Infantry Regiment escaped too hastily on the night of breaking the city, leaving his wife and daughter in the city alone to face the new heretics conqueror.Well, now the price has appeared. His wife, the baroness from Castile, was forced to warm Chang Kaisheng's bed every night within a month, in exchange for the personal safety of herself and her family.

"Detachment Captain, the last batch of about 12 cow hides has been shipped today. Five thousand Andalusian black cattle also set off along the road on the 2000th under the escort of cavalry troops. There are more than [-] logs, all of which are high-quality timber, and many of them can be used to build merchant ships. We have discussed these ships, and in principle we plan to tie them into rafts, and then go down the river to Santa Fe. After arriving there Then find a way to load it on the navy's big ship and transport it back to the mainland, and these wooden rafts can also carry a considerable part of the livestock and personnel, which can save us a lot of precious transportation space." Chang Kaisheng's adjutant followed closely behind , and began to report various situations to him.

It is said that since the occupation of Santa Fe, the Navy has organized personnel to conduct a relatively detailed inspection and measurement of the lower reaches of the Parana River, and then found that the distance from Buenos Aires at the mouth of the sea to the upper reaches In Santa Fe, this section of the river has a wide surface and abundant water flow, and the water depth of the central channel generally reaches more than 4 meters.Such excellent conditions do not even require dredgers from the local area to dredge the river to allow large naval ships to navigate here. Therefore, the people on the east coast have already started to drive the large ships directly to the restored Santa Fe Port wharf to transfer supplies. Efficiency is greatly improved.

"This method is feasible." After hearing the adjutant's report, Chang Kaisheng immediately commented briefly, and then said: "In terms of security, we must not take it lightly. The Spaniards around the Paraguay River—the Parana River system must not It has been completely wiped out, as can be seen from the sinking of the collier in the city of Corrientes in the night, and we must be careful. There are still a small number of Spanish troops in Paraguay, and these days we have not been able to If we find them, they may jump out at this time, we must take precautions. Large-scale retreat is a systematic project, and there can be no mistakes."

After the East Coast captured Asunción in early June, they immediately dispatched elite cavalry units to pursue the fleeing Spanish army.The Spanish army, whose morale collapsed and panicked, suffered heavy casualties. More than 6 people died under the sabers of the cavalry on the east bank during the retreat, and more than 300 people were captured. If you count the Spanish soldiers who deserted and died of starvation and illness , the La Plata Infantry Regiment and some Lima Legion soldiers (a total of 1400 before the war) that originally guarded Asunción now have only about 300 left, and they can hardly become a threat.

In addition, the loss of the 300 Guarani believers who came to Asunción to help in the war under the instigation and organization of missionary groups such as the Jesuits and San Franciscans was even more astonishing.They had already lost [-] people outside Asunción, and they suffered heavy losses in the defense of the city. Almost a thousand people died under the guns of the people on the east coast.After the city was broken, they were foolishly left in the city again. No one notified them to retreat, and they were cut off for the Spaniards in vain.

So far, most of their troops have been lost, and most of the rest have been captured. Only a mere 600 people have successfully escaped from the east bank cavalry. In fact, the main target of the east bank cavalry is the white Spanish army.These 600 people did not try to join the Spanish army, but returned to their tribe with scars all over their bodies and low morale. They had lost the courage to continue fighting against the people on the east coast.

The people on the east coast know about the strength of the Spaniards in Paraguay today.Therefore, even though Chang Kaisheng told him so verbally, he only said so subconsciously. No one would take the Spanish soldiers who had hidden in the old woods to be bitten by mosquitoes to heart. These defeated generals no longer posed any threat ability.

But their luck is good, because the people on the east coast are about to retreat, and they can no longer take care of them.The latest order from the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been issued. After collecting supplies, the whole army abandons the occupied Asunción front line, and then retreats to Santa Fe City.A militia brigade stationed in Corrientes City will join the Changkaisheng detachment that has retreated here, and then retreat to Santa Fe together.

After these troops retreat to Santa Fe, the Army's Changkaisheng Detachment will be disbanded on the spot.At the same time, the Ministry of the Army will send people to deploy a large number of main forces to Buenos Aires, and then head to the southern Baleen Whale Harbor with some of the naval ships that arrived here, preparing to carry out a sabotage operation to the towns on the Pacific coast of the Viceroyalty of Peru in Spain. task.

This raid mission is extremely critical, and to some extent even affects the direction of the entire battle situation. Therefore, the Executive Committee has ordered the Joint Staff Headquarters to formulate a detailed and reliable combat plan, and some materials for maintaining the early stage operations have also been transported to the front. Baleen Whale Harbor Storage.In the next step, they will establish another large-scale material transfer base in Araucan City (Puerto Natales), which is under the control of the Araucan guerrillas, as a rear supply base for maintaining operations along the Pacific Ocean.

Of course, considering that some of the troops have been fighting in the La Plata area for several months, they have worked hard and the casualties are not very light, so they will rotate with some of the troops that have been stationed in the mainland, and by the way, let these troops that have been stationed in the mainland for more than half a year A chance to go out and fight with live ammunition - well, and make them a small fortune by the way.

On July 1647, 7, as the army's 20rd company finally withdrew from Asuncion City, the strategic contraction of the East Coasters in the La Plata area finally entered the substantive operational stage, and the new Phased combat adjustments also started at the same time.

ps: It was uploaded after 24 o'clock yesterday, and I subconsciously chose to update it at 9 o'clock the next day, but it ended up on the 16th, sorry. . . .

(End of this chapter)