Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 66 Decisive Battle: Theme ([-])

On July 7, it was sunny and the temperature was -16 degrees Celsius.

Just when Lin Youde and others in Dingyuan Fort were having a headache because the Spaniards added two more cannons overnight, Peng Zhicheng was seeing off a team that was about to set off more than ten kilometers away.

The core combat strength of this unit is the 82 officers and soldiers of the fifth infantry post. In addition, in order to strengthen its strength, it is also equipped with a spearman servant army composed of all the first artillery post and some Charuya and European prisoners of war. The total strength exceeds 250 people.The commander-in-chief was Liao Meng, the deputy commander of the First Infantry Battalion and Captain of the Army, and the deputy commander was Zhu Liang, the training officer of the First Battalion and Captain of the Army.

Liao Meng and others and Peng Zhicheng paid the last military salute, then turned around and stepped on their horses, heading southwest.The main force of the Spaniards was hoarded on the front line of Fort Dingyuan, and only a hundred musketeers were sent to defend the capital.That being the case, it is naturally impossible for the Ministry of War to leave the troops on hand idle.Following the horse-mounted infantry post dispatched last time with the sixth infantry post as the team, this time the Ministry of the Army sent the Liao Meng detachment with the fifth infantry post as the core.

The Liaomeng detachment has 32 musketeers equipped with 82-B flintlock rifles, 100 spearmen (these 100 people are equipped with a small number of matchlock guns and 32-A flintlock rifles), 45 artillerymen (8 artillery pieces), Including some support staff, there are 256 people in total.In addition, it is also equipped with 40 carts, 150 draft horses, and more than 30 horses for riding.According to the latest order of the Ministry of War, Captain Liao Meng unified command of all troops including the cavalry battalion, horse-riding infantry post, and the fifth army post.After marching southwest for about half a day, Liao Meng's detachment joined the cavalry battalion and mounted infantry post here, and its military strength suddenly swelled.Liao Meng is confident that if he encounters the Spanish cavalry of Captain Torres again at this time, he will have the confidence to fight him.

On the morning of July 7, the merged Liao Meng detachment began to enter the area where the Spanish convoy often walked, preparing to cut off the Spanish supply line.At 17 o'clock in the morning, the sentries of the cavalry battalion returned to report that they had spotted the Spanish troops.This is not much surprising news. Captain Torres's 8 cavalry have been operating in this area. They are not blind, and they will definitely discover their large army in the first place.

At noon, the two armies finally met on a plain.Surprisingly, the Spaniards had more than 300 infantry in their formation.It seems that the Spaniards attach great importance to their lifeline, Liao Meng thought.

"Array, fight!" Liao Meng began to order.The logistics logistics personnel parked the carts on the left side uniformly, then took out the equipped 32-A flintlock rifles, matchlock guns and other weapons, and stood in the car formation to defend the left wing; 100 spearmen in the middle road held three-meter-long Spears, a 20*5 square formation was formed in front of the car formation.There are five rows in the phalanx, 20 people in each row, and the distance between people is 1.5 meters.Behind the spear formation, there are 164 musketeers from the cavalry infantry post and the sixth post; 107 officers and soldiers from the cavalry battalion are on the right flank.Between the left wing and the center, and between the center and the right wing, there are four cannons on each frame, and the artillerymen are busy loading ammunition.

The officers shouted loudly and the soldiers under them began to line up.The cavalry battalion and musketeers are lucky to say that basically everyone has received regular military training, and many of them are veterans who have fought in wars.These veterans seemed calm and relaxed under such circumstances. After all, many people have experienced bigger scenes, not to mention this small battle where the total number of troops invested by both sides was less than a thousand people.Their composure was well transmitted to the recruits, making them less nervous.

Compared with these regular troops, the temporarily recruited spearmen looked a bit unbearable.The officers whipped vigorously with their sheathed sabers, and it was only then that the group of pirates and soldiers of aboriginal origin dragged their feet to complete the formation.In order to boost morale, the officers announced loudly to these people that anyone who persisted until the end of the battle and did not flee would be pardoned for all his past crimes, given the status of a free citizen, and rewarded with ten yuan.This slightly restored the morale of these soldiers.

The Spaniards' more than 300 infantry seemed to be temporarily strengthened from the north bank of the Big Fish River, more than half of them were musketeers. These people also formed a loose formation on the opposite side, and there seemed to be a few small cannons in the formation.But this force should only serve as a foil to the cavalry. If the Spaniards want to win the victory, they still have to rely on the cavalry.

Sure enough, after a while, the cavalry unit on the opposite side began to accelerate slowly, and the direction was impressively the right wing of Liao Meng's detachment - the cavalry battalion.As long as they defeated the cavalry battalion, they could fight and leave whenever they wanted, completely grasping the initiative in the battle.After the cavalry was dispatched, the more than 300 infantry also began to move forward.The battle has officially begun!

"Boom! Boom!" The artillery of the first sentry of the field artillery began to show its power first, and the 8 cannons focused their fire on the cavalry units that were slowly accelerating by the Spaniards.The results of the first round of shelling were mediocre, with only four shells hitting the moving horse herd.But it was these four solid iron bullets that caused a lot of chaos among the four hundred cavalry.Although the ground was a bit soft due to continuous rain and snow, the shells could not form ricochets, but it still cost the Spaniards more than ten cavalry casualties.

Perhaps shocked by the super-long range of the artillery of Liao Meng's detachment, the Spanish cavalry on the opposite side sped up again and rushed straight towards the right wing. The dense sound of horseshoes was breathtaking.The cavalry battalion could no longer hesitate at this time. Xu Yu, the cavalry commander who was a nightclub security guard, gritted his teeth and drew out his saber, and shouted, "Damn it, you have to go through life and death like this after time travel! I'm so fucking at a loss! I'm dead!" The bird is facing the sky, afraid of a ball. Brothers, after I die, you must avenge me. When the time comes to sweep Mexico, don’t forget to burn some paper for me when the horse hits Madrid! Wansheng, go!"

"Hula!" The [-] cavalrymen of the cavalry battalion drove their horses and bravely greeted the Spaniards.

The brethren of the first artillery sentry fired another round of artillery, creating a dozen corpses in the Spaniard formation.At this time, the distance between the cavalry of both sides was already very close. The brothers of the cavalry battalion fired the 1633 flintlock pistols in their hands, and knocked down more than [-] Spanish cavalry in an instant. Ultimately, it collided fiercely with the Spanish cavalry.

"Infantry fifth post, sixth post, advance!" A whistle sounded, and the fusiliers of the two posts passed through the sparse spear jungle, and then formed a tight formation, rushing towards the edge of the cavalry battle. Go; the artillerymen also switched to explosive bombs at this time, and shifted their targets to bombard the Spanish infantry formation that was moving this way.

"The fifth post and the sixth post, all of them are there. Quickly step forward and fire the spear, prepare...to release!" The battle has entered the most critical moment almost right after it started, Liao Meng didn't care about it at this time, and personally directed The riflemen of the two posts stepped forward to support the cavalry in the fight.The ground where the cavalry of both sides fought was only a few hundred meters away from here, and it took only a moment for the infantry of the two sentries to rush to the edge of the battlefield.

At this time, more than 100 cavalrymen of the cavalry battalion were retreating to the middle of the battlefield after paying a lot of casualties, and the Spaniards followed closely behind.Liao Meng saw such a good opportunity for shooting, how could he let it go! 164 fusiliers lined up more than [-] meters away and fired a salvo. The Spanish cavalry who were chasing behind suffered heavy casualties. There was quite a bit of confusion.

"Reload...free fire!" Liao Meng ordered loudly.In fact, he could shut up now. The soldiers standing scattered on the noisy battlefield could not hear his password. They had actually entered the state of free shooting.

A plume of black smoke billowed from the battlefield, it was the riflemen who were firing.The violent westerly wind quickly swept away the diffuse gunpowder smoke, and there were more than 32 Spanish cavalry corpses on the battlefield again.At this time, the cavalry on both sides had disrupted their formation during the chase, and the remaining dozens of cavalry from the cavalry battalion crossed the entire battlefield, bypassing the chariot formation on the left wing and coming to the rear of the infantry formation.The Spaniards chased after them, and when they bypassed the car array, they were shot indiscriminately by dozens of support personnel with matchlock guns and [-]-A flintlock rifles, and more than ten riders fell down again tragically.

On the frontal battlefield, the Spanish infantry formation suffered heavy casualties under the attack of 8 artillery pieces, especially the more than 100 arquebus soldiers lined up on both sides, which were taken care of by explosive bombs. At least a quarter of the soldiers lost their lives. combat ability.

"Spearman, go forward!" After observing the situation on the battlefield, Zhu Liang, the deputy commander, finally decided to invest the last combat force, and there was no need to hold back at this time.

"Pfft!" A pot of hot blood splashed on the face of Zhu Liang who had just given the order. It was the blood of a soldier next to him.An iron bullet penetrated the left half of his body, and the blood spurted out by his powerful heart splashed all over the ground.

The Spanish artillery fired!

"Go ahead! You cowards!" The spearmen officers who were veterans took out their sabers or loaded 1633 flintlock pistols, and stared viciously at these recruits who were hesitant to walk.Under the threat of reality, these recruits finally took stiff steps, advancing mechanically under the sound of rhythmic copper whistles.

The fusiliers of the two posts had gradually gathered together at this time, and there were not many targets ahead for them to choose from.The number of Spanish cavalry has dropped sharply to less than two hundred at this time, and they have been divided into two groups.And their opponent, the cavalry battalion of the crossing crowd, still has more than [-] cavalry at this time.Relying on the infantry of the two sentries, these remaining cavalry temporarily got rid of the Spaniards' pursuit. After they loaded their pistols with ammunition, they roared and rushed towards the enemy again.

The 8 cannons of the second post of the field artillery have been replaced with chain bombs at this time, and they are divided into left and right sides.The four gates on the left were still shooting at the Spanish infantry formation, while the four gates on the right seized the opportunity to shoot at the Spanish cavalry who had slowed down due to repeated battles.The high-performance artillery caused terrible damage to the Spanish cavalry. The Gaucho cavalry with weak fighting will took the lead in retreating, leaving the Spaniards to the cavalry battalion cavalry who were charging at high speed.On the frontal battlefield in the distance, the four Spanish artillery pieces were also firing towards this side, but their infantry fell down dozens of people again under the attack of chain bombs, and the formation was about to collapse.

The Spaniards have shown signs of decline.

(End of this chapter)