Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 71 Decisive Battle: Climax ([-])

On July 7, when the Spanish Army outside Dingyuan Fort was still anxiously waiting for news.The Liao Meng detachment on the south bank of the Dayu River received reinforcements. A mixed force consisting of the third infantry sentry as the main force, supplemented by 19 servant spearmen, a small number of naval battery gunners, and 100 artillery pieces arrived at the south bank area and The main force of Liao Meng's troops converged.

The victory in the South Bank area greatly boosted the morale of the Ministry of War. The staff of the Ministry of War were not completely ignorant, and they were keenly aware that the victory of this battle seemed to shake up the entire battle situation.After some discussion, Peng Zhicheng, a gambler, decided to increase the stake decisively. Not only did he send reservists to make up for the shortage of Liao Meng's detachment after the battle, he also decided to continue to strengthen the troops on the front line.

One of the two infantry posts left on hand by the War Office was dispatched.In addition, Peng Zhicheng also pulled down his old face and seconded a small number of gunners to Wang Qinian's navy. These gunners pulled out 4 freshly cast cannons from the armory, matched them with a certain number of spearmen, and went straight to the battle. front.

Liao Meng's troops now consist of two infantry posts, one mounted infantry post, one semi-artillery post (12 cannons), more than half of the cavalry battalion, and a full complement of 200 spearmen, plus some Logistics personnel, the total strength of more than 590 people.After replenishing a large amount of supplies, Liao Meng directly led his army westward. After a day's march, he arrived at the villages of the original Hope Brigade on the south bank of the Dayu River in the evening of July 7. Built near these villages.

Naturally, such a big movement of Liao Meng's detachment could not be concealed from the Spaniards, and the Spaniard's south bank bridge guard immediately put up a fierce resistance.These Spaniards hid in the fortification bunkers, and shot desperately at the third infantry post of Liao Meng who came to test the firepower with matchlock guns.At this time, it was almost dark, and the troops at the third post retreated after a little testing.Liao Meng was not in a hurry. His troops were standing here, and they had actually blocked the way for the Spaniards to return to the south.It doesn't make much sense to seize the ferry bridge or not. It's better to hurry up and set up artillery positions.

These villages in the station were greatly damaged by the Spaniards, and the bricks, tiles and wood on many houses were demolished by them to build fortifications.Liao Meng looked at all these scenes with a gloomy face, thinking in his heart that this time, all the Spaniards must be left here.

Nothing to say all night, the morning of July 7.The bridge guards on the south coast of Spain, which had been reinforced overnight, took out their bunkers and lined up in the open space.Liao Meng raised his binoculars to look over, and saw that the Spaniards had gathered about 20 people, most of them were musketeers, and only a few spearmen were at the front.Next to the infantry formation are four small cannons, and some artillerymen are putting horses on the cannon carriages, preparing to move forward.

"Array! Fight!" After Liao Meng issued a simple two-sentence order, five or six hundred officers and soldiers of the entire detachment also quickly moved.

With the assistance of the heavy soldiers, 200 spearmen put on the urgently transported Trinity-style full-body armor.They discarded the greaves that impeded movement, but kept the helmet, gauntlets, breastplate, and skirt armor. 200 spearmen formed a 40*5 phalanx in front of the musketeers. This spear formation composed of European prisoners of war and Charuyas held a moderately long 2.7-meter spear and stood in the cold In the westerly wind.

The 246 fusiliers of the three posts formed two 24*5 phalanxes on the left and right sides of the spear array in platoons, and the six post chiefs and deputy post chiefs stood at the head of the first right row of the musketeer formation. In the office, non-commissioned officers and officers above corporals are all wearing full body armor.In the gap between every two phalanxes, there are six artillery pieces.In addition, there are two flag bearers and two drummers.

The cavalry battalion stayed with the supply unit as a mobile force, ready to attack at any time.

Today's westerly wind is 5-6, and the visibility on the battlefield is good.The hour hand pointed to 7 o'clock in the morning. Seeing the Spaniard on the opposite side faintly start to move, Liao Meng gave an order, and hundreds of combatants in the three infantry phalanx shouted in unison: "Wan victorious!"

Two drummers took the lead. One of them took out his bugle and played "Victory Belongs to the Army March" adapted from the later "Military Song of the Chinese People's Liberation Army". snare drum.After the whistle chief heard the melody of the bugle, he picked up the copper whistle hanging around his neck and blew it, and then shouted: "Victory belongs to the army, go forward!"

With the sound of the sharp copper whistle, the soldiers advanced slowly amidst the roar of the platoon leader "one, two, one, left, right, left...".The red military flag with vultures embroidered on both sides fluttered high in the wind, and the soldiers seemed to be walking relatively steadily. Although they were a little nervous, they controlled their emotions well.

The artillerymen are the well-deserved protagonists in this battle.The eight four-pound guns and four eight-pound guns in the middle of the two infantry phalanxes of the Liao Meng Detachment fired first. The ultra-long range allowed them to cover almost the entire battlefield, so they did not need to be on horseback like their Spanish counterparts. Pull people on the ground and move the artillery forward to maneuver.

The landing point of the first round of shelling was not good, but it didn't matter, it was just a test shot.Of course, the firing of these artillery from such a long distance did have a blow to the morale of the Spaniards, because it meant that they had to withstand a few more rounds of shelling than their opponents.

The distance between the two sides is getting closer.The artillery of Liao Meng's detachment opened fire again, and the almost straight trajectory passed through the space of hundreds of meters between the phalanxes of the two sides, and rushed straight into the tight phalanx of the Spaniards.

"Puff! Puff!" There were repeated sounds, the sound of blood splattering, and the sound of penetrating soft flesh.A few shells caused terrible damage to the crowd, and the Spanish officers yelled and cursed, trying to stabilize the slightly shaken morale of the soldiers.They rode tall horses and galloped in front of and behind the phalanx, ensuring that every soldier could see them clearly.

"Control the rhythm! Walk according to the rhythm of the drums! One two one...one two one..." Lan Guo, who had been promoted to the acting head of the third post, shouted loudly. He was wearing a bright and thick three-year-style full-body armor. An ammunition bag, a saber and a flintlock pistol are hung on the hooks at the waist, and a 32-B flintlock rifle is slung across the shoulder.The steps of the soldiers were a bit stiff, and many people gradually stopped walking according to the melody and drumbeat. The queue began to appear a little skewed, and Lan Guo had to remind him loudly.

The artillery continued to bombard, creating gaps in the Spaniard's formation, but they were quickly filled by the people behind. The Spaniard, who was almost in a desperate situation, finally showed the rare courage to fight desperately.

The bugle player kept repeating "Victory Belongs to the Army March", and when the bugle player began to play the opening "Forward, Forward, Forward!" section again, the Spanish artillery finally opened fire.

A four-pound projectile pierced through the phalanx of spearmen on the right side of Languo with a whistling sound. The powerful iron bullet grazed the bodies of four or five soldiers continuously before finally exhausting its kinetic energy and falling on the grass.The soldiers who were rubbed by the iron bullets were either dead or injured. It was okay to say that the dead were dead. A wounded soldier whose thigh was scraped off by the shells lay on the ground and wailed mournfully.The artery in his leg had ruptured, and hot blood flowed out like a spring. He, who could not die for a while, tried in vain to cover the wound with his hands, but this did not stop the blood from spreading on the grass.

Lan Guo turned his head away, the survival rate of wounded soldiers in this era is very low.What's more, the soldier's thigh was blown away by the shell, and his artery was ruptured. Even the gods could not save him.The enemy's artillery fire is still raging, there are two four-pound copper cannons and two six-pound copper cannons, the Spanish gunners quickly carry out the steps of clearing, charging, and loading ammunition, and they seem to be as skillful as they are. Doing a training session.

"Boom! Boom!" This time it was replaced by the fusiliers' phalanx.A six-pound iron bullet landed obliquely in front of Languo, and then jumped up and hit a soldier. The right arm of the unlucky soldier was completely knocked out in front of the iron bullet that jumped up and rushed forward. The reduced projectiles continued to roar towards Lan Guo.

"Not good!" Lan Guo yelled inwardly, but it was too late to avoid it.At this moment, his mind flashed flashes of his college career in his previous life, his military career after time travel, and his newly married wife. When it was over, Lan Guo subconsciously closed his eyes.

"Huh!" A gust of wind blew past his ears, and the iron bullet slanted across less than ten centimeters in front of him, then bounced on the ground and hit the belly of a spearman behind him on the right.The remaining kinetic energy of the iron bullet was completely absorbed by the soft belly, and the ex-pirate spearman from Holland fell to the ground screaming.A big hole was knocked open in his abdomen, and several pieces of intestines flowed out of the big hole, scattered all over the ground.He fell to the ground and hissed for help from his comrades, but at this moment no one stopped to help him.Maybe when the war is over, if he is still alive, the two priests from the Religious Affairs Department who accompanied the army will come to save him, but he obviously won't survive that time.

Lan Guo felt that he was covered in cold sweat. At that moment, he thought that he would definitely die.It's just that he didn't expect God to take care of him at the last moment, making him miss death.This feeling is not good, Lan Guo calmed down, now is not the time to be distracted, the enemy is still ahead!At this time, Lan Guo's anger towards the Spaniards gradually ignited. He raised his saber and shouted: "Don't be afraid! Hold on! The shells will only find cowards! One two one...one two one...Steady pace! "

The 8 cannons of the artillery post finished another round.At this time, the infantry on both sides had already entered the range of the opponent's muskets, and the Spaniards lined up with a hundred or so fusiliers at the forefront. They gradually leveled the muskets loaded with ammunition and began to aim.

"Raise the gun...aim...ready...let it go!" A sharp copper whistle sounded, and Zhu Liangqing, the battalion training officer of Liao Meng's detachment who commanded the front battle, swung down the saber in his right hand.

(End of this chapter)