Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 64 Decisive Battle: Theme ([-])

Lin Youde stood on the top of Dingyuan Fort, staring at the Spanish positions in the distance.It has been raining and snowing for the past few days, and the Spaniards are also very honest, and have been slowly building a camp outside the east wall of Dingyuan Fort.In this boring and dreary atmosphere, Lin Youde, who woke up for a routine inspection in the morning, suddenly discovered that the Spaniards had built two artillery bunkers in the wild last night.

"Fuck! Play tricks on me!" Lin Youde slapped the top of the wall angrily, "Old Niu, can you get those two places? Get rid of them! The Spaniards may have some kind of conspiracy. Otherwise, just rely on their A few small army artillery, not so fat enough to come here to build artillery positions, they have heavy artillery!"

Niu De, the chief artillery commander of Fort Dingyuan, and the second chief of the artillery post, estimated the distance and azimuth, and nodded: "Give it a try, I think we can hit it."

There are two towers on the east wall of Dingyuan Fort, both of which are built on the protrusion of the city wall.One 18-pound and two 12-pound long-barreled cannons are installed on each tower, and the three cannons are all mounted on four-wheeled gun carts and can be moved.At this moment, under Niu De's command, the three cannons were pushed to the front of the protrusion. Niu De took out a telescope to measure the distance, and then began to test fire the cannons.

“1号、2号、3号炮组统一装3磅发射药包，身管俯角－1度。开始装填弹药！”牛德不慌不忙地开始下令。

The gunners took out the weighed 3-pound ammunition package from the ammunition box behind the gun carriage, began to load it into the gun barrel, then stuffed it with iron bullets, and then rammed it hard. "Fire!" Niu De slammed a red-hot iron rod into the cannon door in front of him.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The three cannons retreated violently, long tail flames sprayed out from the muzzles, and three iron projectiles flew out of the muzzles, piercing through the dense wind and snow, forming a single character. The type falls around the target.

"The No. 3 18-pound gun group is loaded with ammunition, replaced with a 4.5-pound charge pack, and the rest remains unchanged; the No. 1 and No. 2 gun groups are equipped with a 4-pound charge pack, and the barrel depression angle is adjusted to 0 degrees." Niu De began to modify the parameters.You have to keep your eyes wide open to observe the impact of the shells in heavy snow, because you will miss the impact of the shells if you are not careful because of the visibility.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The artillery fired rumblingly, and the three shells flew towards the Spanish artillery bunker again.The landing point of the shell was much better this time. The nearest 18-pound shell narrowly skimmed over the bunker, and then plunged into the snow on the ground behind the bunker.

"The No. 3 gun pack remains unchanged, and the barrel depression angle is adjusted to -2 degrees; the No. 1 and No. 2 guns are assembled with 4.5-pound charge packs, and the rest remain unchanged. Prepare...to launch!" Niu De raised the binoculars and ordered slowly.

As soon as the voice fell, 3 shells flew out of the barrel.This time it really lived up to expectations, and an 18-pound shell and a 12-pound shell scored hits. The 18-pound shell hit the enemy's front bunker, and several red bricks were blown away, while the 12-pound shell smashed through the top building, and then fell into the snow behind.

"Haha! Good fight!" Lin Youde slammed down the city wall and laughed loudly: "Keep fighting! Smash their two cannons to pieces!"

Niu De fired so many cannons on the tower, and the Spaniards were not dead. Under the order of the officer, their artillery quickly entered a combat state and began to reload ammunition to fight back.Soon, the two artillery shells in the two bunkers fired one after the other. One shell fell about a few meters away from the city wall, and the other shell just landed in the moat. After breaking through the ice layer, it splashed There was a big water column.

"18-pound gun!" Niu De frowned and said, "It's still a navy long-barreled naval gun. These Spaniards really don't mind the trouble. To remove the gun from the ship and transport it here, people and horses will be exhausted! "

The Spanish artillery fired very quickly, showing that their artillery was quite professional.The two 18-pound shells in the second round both hit the city walls on both sides of the tower on the protrusion, knocking down a large layer of cement lime plastered on it.As for the degree of damage to the city wall, it is not obvious at this moment.

Niu De quickly went to another tower on the north side of the east city wall, instructing the three cannons there to join the battle.So, in the early morning of July 7, the battle between the two sides began with such an artillery battle.Fort Dingyuan has six artillery pieces, including two 12-pounders and four 18-pounders, while the Spaniards only have two 12-pounders.

The strength comparison between the two sides is obvious, and the performance of the artillery on the battlefield is indeed directly proportional to the strength.The Spaniard's two cannons fell into a disadvantage from the very beginning, six against two, and the shells from the head of Dingyuan Fort fell like raindrops around the two cannons.At [-] o'clock in the morning, the outer bunker of one of the Spaniards' artillery was completely bombarded, and the busy artillerymen were pressed down by heavy masonry, causing heavy casualties.At this time, the artillery on the two towers on the east wall of Dingyuan Fort had not been substantially hit. The column, just a brick fell off.

At noon, another Spanish artillery was also declared dead.A 12-pound luck bullet penetrated the shooting window on the half-damaged bunker and directly hit the artillery carriage of the artillery inside, completely breaking up the Spanish cannon. It is conceivable that this cannon was repaired before Don't even think about using the cannon.

After the two guns were destroyed, the Spaniard's surviving gun crew members withdrew from the bunker and returned to their camp.In the afternoon, and there was no more fighting between the two sides, the stalemate continued.

The afternoon snowstorm gradually intensified, and the cavalry battalion led their horses and walked with difficulty in the low hills to the south of Dayu River.The north bank of the Dayu River was the main battlefield for both sides, but it was calm at this time, while on the south bank of the Dayu River, the bloody fight between the cavalry of both sides became more and more intense.

Most of the 200 Spanish cavalry from Peru and the remaining 200 gauchos were sent back to the south bank, looking for the Cossack cavalry to fight, and assisting the logistics and transportation department to transport materials and artillery.The attack on the transport convoy on July 7 not only caused the Spaniards to lose more than 10 personnel and a large number of draft horses, but also lost a large amount of gunpowder, shells, food and supplies to keep out the cold.

Many soldiers on the front line were forced to cut their ration supply by one-third, and many soldiers in the army were downsizing due to illness due to cold.The morale of the soldiers was extremely low, but their grievances were heavy. Some jokes and rumors satirizing the incompetent officers began to circulate in the army.Captain Torres, who was in charge of distributing supplies, was shot while lying down and became the number one target of ridicule by the soldiers.One of the classic jokes is: Major Carlos inspected Captain Torres' professional knowledge and asked, "If you were patrolling in the dark field, and suddenly the Tatans hugged your arms tightly from behind, what should you do?" Torres Captain back: "Honey, let me go." And so on.

In order to reverse this passive situation, and to boost morale, Major Antonio Carlos ordered Captain Torres to lead most of the cavalry to cross the Great Fish River south, and began to capture the traces of the Tatan cavalry, waiting for an opportunity to destroy the opponent.

In contrast, after analyzing the current situation, the Ministry of War decisively decided to strengthen the cavalry.Not only made up for the losses of the cavalry battalion in recent times, but also temporarily recruited 82 infantry who could ride horses, and allocated them some draft horses and miscellaneous horses to form a temporary cavalry infantry post equipped with 32-type B flintlocks. The rifle, the 2.7-style non-commissioned officer's knife, and the [-]-meter lance were all under the command of Xu Yu, an army lieutenant and acting battalion commander of the cavalry battalion.

The two warring parties unanimously stepped up to the south bank of the Dayu River. Hundreds of cavalry haunted the hills and grasslands of more than [-] kilometers along the line from Luocha to Dingyuan Fort, constantly looking for opportunities to deal a fatal blow to the enemy.

Xu Yu took out the binoculars and looked into the distance, and there was a vast expanse of whiteness everywhere in his field of vision.Uruguay was cold during the Little Ice Age, and it had been snowing heavily for several days.The road is full of criss-cross ruts, which were left by the Spanish transport convoy.

"I don't know where the Spaniard's convoy is? How many troops are there to escort?" Xu Yu wondered, "Leonid, when exactly did you detect the Spaniard's convoy?"

"Ten o'clock in the morning. They have 25 carts and four drawn cannons. The combined strength of coachmen and escorts is about 120 people. Most of them are spearmen, and only a quarter of them are musketeers." Leonid, who also led the horse on foot, replied.

"Ten o'clock in the morning... Well... It's just been three hours, and they haven't gone far. Everyone hastened their pace and must catch up with this group of Spaniards." Xu Yu ordered decisively.The movements of the 189 riders in the whole team suddenly accelerated. They led the horses and began to cross the hills and move towards the flat ground.In addition, there were more than 20 Cossack cavalry who turned over and mounted their horses and scattered around. They were elite cavalry acting as scouts.

Three o'clock in the afternoon.The wind and snow gradually stopped. At this time, the entire team had been pulled into a long loose formation of three rows, and the cavalry detachment was still chasing the targeted Spanish transport convoy in front.At this moment, several Cossack cavalry galloped back and roared as they galloped: "Spanish cavalry! Behind! They found us! Spaniard cavalry behind!"

"Hula la!" A large number of Cossack cavalry mounted their horses without waiting for orders, and then began to draw out their sabers and reload their pistols.The 82 officers and soldiers who temporarily made up the horse-mounted infantry post quickly gathered the horses together, and then lined up in front of the horses. Everyone rode their guns on their sides and began to load the 32-B flintlock rifles.

The battle is imminent.

(End of this chapter)