Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2487 St. Augustine's Bell ([-])

"It's time to act!" On August 1706, 8, it was another dark night.

Wang Shen took out his pocket watch and looked at it. It would be midnight in 5 minutes. He pouted at a team member, who nodded silently and left the room.

This is the basement of St. Augustine Church. It is very secretive, but at the same time it makes people feel a little uncomfortable, because there are more than a dozen coffins parked in this vast basement, most of which are dead local nobles or officials of considerable status. .The boys from the East Coast Action Team lived here for several days, and one can imagine the feeling.

St. Augustine's Cathedral is a cathedral with a regional core, but all the clergy are from the local area.There used to be a bishop from the peninsula—in fact, it is normal for people from the peninsula to seize the main religious power—but this bishop happened to be Juan, who was born in Florida. He had traveled and studied in Europe for many years and managed religious affairs in Spain.The man was a local aristocratic sympathizer, though he hid it well.

Bishop Juan provided great convenience to the actions of the rebels.More than a dozen action members plus three times the number of local noble children almost all hid in a few days in advance.The church provided them with food and water, and even an inconspicuous shipment of weapons, which enabled them to hold on to the church for a long time.

This morning, the intelligence station sent people (Hispanic intelligence agents) to pass on the information, asking them to find a chance to ring the church bell late at night.In this case, the insurgents who have moved to the outskirts of the city in advance will immediately mobilize. With the help of the internal response, they will rush into the city and control the general's mansion, weapon depot, material depot, barracks and the top officials with lightning speed. Residential.As long as this is accomplished, the uprising can be said to have been successful, and St. Augustine will usher in a new life.

Time passed minute by minute.All the members of the action team had already arranged their equipment, left the oppressive and dirty basement, and stepped onto the ground in full armor.About fifty insurgents who got the news also came out from other hiding places with loaded guns. After talking to the people on the east coast, they immediately split up and acted.

The people in the church had already gathered together, and Bishop Juan persuaded them.The expressions on these people's faces are different, some are full of horror, some are calm, and some can't hide their joy, revealing their different political stances.Overall, most people support the uprising, which may be due to the continuous propaganda over the years, but no one has ever taken the initiative to think that after driving out the peninsula people, their living standards will really usher in a qualitative improvement. the leap?Sorry, ordinary people don't have enough knowledge and experience to analyze all this, and their education level is too low to support them to think rationally.As for the people in the upper class, well, their interests will definitely be guaranteed, and they may even become richer with a high probability. Under the circumstances, if the rich want to become richer, they can only take the part taken by the Peninsulars into their own pockets. As for sharing a little bit with ordinary people who are currently preparing to fight for independence, it is hard to say up.

"Ring the big bell immediately to send a signal." Wang Shen drew a flintlock pistol from his waist and ordered.Behind him, the action team members had rushed to the door and piled up all kinds of heavy objects behind the door.Every window has also begun to be reinforced to prevent people from rushing in.Although the ambush insurgents would start after the bell rang, and the soldiers loyal to the King of Spain in the city might not have time to come and check, but it was better to be prepared in case of any emergency.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The dull bell sounded in the night sky, splitting the heavy darkness like thunder.In various farms and warehouses outside St. Augustine, groups of soldiers jumped up and rushed towards the city.Because there is no city wall, the entire St. Augustine is undefended in front of them. They can easily rush into the city, and then go straight to their respective goals under the leadership of their guides and commanders.

Messy and fast footsteps soon sounded in the streets and alleys.This was not the insurgent army from outside the city, but the troops from the city influenced by the local nobles. To be precise, it was an infantry regiment stationed near the arsenal in the west of the city.This infantry regiment currently only has a few hundred people, and its composition is relatively mixed. There are Peninsulars from the Old World, Mestizos and a small number of native whites, and the latter two account for more than half.

After hearing the church bell ringing, the deputy head of the regiment led several officers, tricked the guards away, and then captured the sleeping head.In fact, the head of the group had heard the movement long before they rushed in, but after thinking about it, he threw the pistol hidden by the bedside under the bed, and then captured him without a fight.After finding out that his subordinates only put him under house arrest and had no intention of harming him, he was very relieved. After all, they had eaten, drank, prostituted and gambled together, and this was the right bet.

The uprising officers who controlled the head of the regiment directly cleaned the barracks, disarmed the officers or soldiers they considered unreliable, temporarily locked them up, and then took the remaining more than 400 people to the arsenal.The dozens of soldiers guarding here barely fired two shots, and then wisely gave up resistance and surrendered.Everyone is living for a living, and they are still owed military pay, so there is really no need to beat them to death.

The main force of the rebel army was a gentleman group composed of native whites.The head of this regiment was not so lucky. He was newly appointed and belonged to General Dorado's confidant.After discovering that the situation was wrong, he and several followers chose to fight in the end.He was joined by nearly a hundred native whites - don't think that all native whites are natural rebels, in fact there are still some who are loyal to the king - they shot and shouted, asking the "rebel" soldiers to lay down their weapons .But the rest are determined to rebel. Even if someone hesitates, they will soon be scolded and suppressed by the officers.

After the rebels pushed the artillery, the head of the gentleman group quickly gave up resistance and ordered the soldiers to break out in the direction of the general's mansion.Let’s just give up on the material depot here. It’s impossible to hold on anymore. There is also a small warehouse in the general’s mansion, which should be enough for them to hold on for a while and wait for possible changes in the situation—if not, there is no doubt that they will Just die, no one can escape St. Augustine.

After the Infantry Regiment and the Gentleman Regiment left part of their personnel to control the situation, the rest, under the leadership of the military management, rushed to the General's Mansion in the center of the city from the east and west respectively, and met the Peninsular Infantry Regiment who rushed over halfway. When they collided, the two sides engaged in a fierce exchange of fire relying on houses in the city.Outside the city, a large number of nobles' private armed forces are also pouring in. Under the guidance of the East Coast consultants, their first goal is not to capture the symbol of St. Augustine's rule - the general's mansion - but to destroy the enemy's vital force. There are more than a thousand peninsula infantry regiments from the old continent.

As long as this army is wiped out, just relying on the guards of dozens of people from the general's mansion, isn't it at the mercy of others?And if it cannot be eliminated, then even if the general's mansion is captured, the enemy may face counterattacks. In the end, it is still unwise to concentrate forces to kill them, and pay a higher price.

The fighting power of the Peninsular Infantry Regiment is certainly unbearable in the eyes of the people on the east coast, but they are well-deserved big brothers on St. Augustine's side. Their skillful volleys made the native white soldiers of the Gentlemen's Regiment unable to hold their heads up. Backed away, almost giving way to the general's mansion.Fortunately, after the arrival of more than 400 infantry battalions in the west of the city, they launched an attack from the flanks, causing a lot of confusion to the peninsula people. Only then did the Gentlemen have time to reorganize and launch a counterattack against the enemy.

At one point, General Dorado rushed out with fifty guards to try to respond, but was quickly shot back with random shots.His number of people is really too small, and after the gentleman group assigns more than a hundred people to take care of them, it is difficult to play a role.After the first group of more than 300 private armed forces from the Nunez family arrived from outside the city, the general's mansion became a dead place, and more than 50 people were firmly sealed inside, waiting for the judgment of the god of death.

The rest of the indigenous white aristocratic armed forces are also pouring in.Many of them even held old-fashioned matchlock guns, but it didn't matter, the projectiles they fired were still deadly under the absolute superiority in numbers.Soon, with the addition of these new forces, even though the combat effectiveness was higher, the Peninsular Infantry Regiment was still unable to withstand the bullets fired from all directions—many later Mestizos rushed into the houses on both sides of the road, or simply climbed Shooting on the roof made the peninsula people experience a 360-degree three-dimensional attack with no dead ends.

So they lost, and they lost very simply and completely!Many soldiers died on the unblocked streets, and many fled around. They frantically knocked and smashed into the gates of the houses on both sides, but no one paid attention to them. They found every obstacle that could block the door of the house and prevent the desperate peninsula from escaping.

Of course more Peninsulars surrendered.Seeing the hopelessness of victory, they simply shouted to surrender. Everyone came to the New World to make a fortune, and they didn't die in street fighting for no reason.In fact, they were also very confused tonight. They were kicked out of bed by the officer ignorantly, and then fought an unimaginable battle with others.Now I find that the people who are fighting are all Spaniards, so there is really no need to fight anymore, we admit defeat!

After taking care of the group of peninsula people, the soldiers of the rebel army cheered and rushed to the last fortress of the enemy, the general's mansion.General Dorado didn't resist any more. Dejectedly, he announced his surrender, and was then taken into custody.So far, St. Augustine, the capital of Florida, has basically fallen into the hands of the rebels.The city is restored!

(End of this chapter)