Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 453 Flesh Mill ([-])

On March 1645, 3, the northwest wind suddenly blew up.

Teams of cavalry appeared in the wilderness to the southwest of Yantai Fort. As the supreme commander of Yantai Fort, Mo Ming stood inside the tower and looked out. All he could see was the cavalry in the brigade wearing foam nail cotton armor and lightning rods. Army cavalry.Some eastern bank scouts wearing warm sweater linings and simple cavalry breastplates fought with him from time to time. They were a group of five or six, and they could often beat more than ten Manchu Eight Banners cavalry and fled in embarrassment.However, they quickly withdrew to the distance under the chase of the large group of Manchu cavalry who came from Xiaoju.

The two sides have been playing such a bloody and cruel game in the wild these days.According to statistics, the remaining 186 scouts of the security team have lost more than 30 people in the fighting these days.Of course, they also caused the loss of more than 50 veteran Manchu hunters who grew up in the white mountains and black waters.These people are almost all elite white-armored soldiers who have fought old battles. Their loss made Hauge, the coach of the Qing army and the owner of the Zhenglan Banner, very distressed. Cole's anger deepened.

He has already decided that after capturing the city of the people from the east bank, he will order the massacre of the city, leaving no one behind!He is very confident that he now has more than 6 troops, close to [-] troops, and more than a dozen red cannons urgently transported from Jinzhou. It will not be a problem to destroy a city guarded by only a few thousand people.Moreover, he must also destroy this city, otherwise some people in the court will find excuses to be unfavorable to him. Thinking of this, he is even more furious, the throne originally belonged to me!

"Have Qin Shangxing's troops been settled?" Mo Ming turned to Li Wenchang, the captain of the Yantai Fortress Guard who was following him.Li Wenchang was born as an artillery officer. When Mo Ming led the army to attack, this gentleman had been in charge of staying behind. This time, Mo Ming's appointment as the captain of the garrison team is well deserved.Now he has a lot of troops on the books, including 400 gunners, 390 musketeers (including 150 supplementary soldiers), and the second brigade (2000 people) of the stand-up team, with a total strength of about 2800. A city wall with a front width of only more than 200 meters is not a problem.At least, the sixteen cannons deployed by the people on the east coast are unimaginable for many Qing troops, not to mention four 12-pound long-barreled cannons and two 18-pound long-barreled cannons for long-range suppression.

"Qin Shangxing brought 4000 people, but only half of them are capable of fighting. The training staff has sent the eliminated people to Zhifu Island to build lighthouses, coastal defense forts and other facilities. The remaining 2000 people are currently undergoing training. The maintenance of the four transport ships that came back from Jeju Island has been completed, and it is almost time to transport them to the island for training. After they go up, the combined forces of the three families will be 500, and the number of Koreans on the island is only 4 to [-]. , it doesn't take much effort to control it." Li Wenchang replied immediately.

"Zhai Cong'e, who was the first to join us, has the closest relationship with us and the highest loyalty, so let him lead the Jeju Prefecture. Wang Jiazhong defeated Jingyi County, and then assisted Zhai Cong'e to attack Dajing County. Jingyi County, which is considered affluent, let him take it. Qin Shangxing is a poor person who came to vote. Although his attitude is respectful, he should not be too trusting at the moment. Besides, he has not done much to get Dajing County. Let's have fun by yourself as soon as you get the collar." Mo Ming put down the binoculars hanging on his chest, turned around and walked down the wide stairs.

A young trainee staff officer was leading a group of standing soldiers with daggers to the tower. When he saw Mo Ming and others, he immediately leaned against the edge of the escalator to salute.Mo Ming returned a military salute, and then continued to go downstairs. After they went down the stairs, the intern staff officer and the squadron leader of the stand-up team continued to lead the soldiers to garrison on the top of the city.These people were all just transferred from the land defense fortress and military camp on Zhifu Island to Yantai Fort.So far, the number of soldiers in Yantai Fort has been quite a lot, including 1 soldiers from 4 Brigade and 1000 Squadrons, 500 from 700 Army Companies, and 3000 from a Battalion of the Eight Banners, plus artillery, government personnel, and military officers. , almost nearly [-] people, filling this military fortress with an area of ​​less than [-] square meters to the brim.

"At present, the number of gunners is only barely enough to be divided into two shifts, which is not enough. Let's recruit a group of smart, studious, and good-hearted people from the Ming people here. Let's tentatively set the number at 200 people. Divide them first. Go to the forts of Zhifu Island and Kongtong Island for training, and then transfer to Yantai Fort to take rounds after being proficient in business. Remember, artillery is our foundation. We are different from the Qing army. 'The professional quality of the army and artillery directly determines the level of our combat effectiveness, so train them well." Mo Ming told Li Wenchang.

Li Wenchang is an old artillery officer, so he naturally understands the importance, and at the same time, he takes it seriously. He is going to take people to the refugee area of ​​Zhifu Island to slowly select personnel later.

There are more and more Qing army cavalry outside the city, and the combat space of the scouts of the security team has been greatly reduced. Seeing that they can no longer take advantage of it, they bypass the east city of Yantai Fort with the assistance of the cavalry brigade led by Lieutenant Yang Mingyang , Passed through the wooden gate between the two barbed wire fences and galloped to the pier northeast of Yantai Fort.A small barracks with brick and wood structure was built here, which is the resident of the cavalry battalion.To the north of the camp is a large sandbar grassland. The people on the east bank built a low wooden fence here with wood. The fence is full of livestock such as cattle, sheep, mules, horses and pigs captured in previous battles, and a forage field is also built next to it.

This camp (including livestock pens and fodder fields) was built on the coast near Zhifu Bay, with an open field about 300 meters wide in front of it.Apart from a shallow trench and two barbed wire fences erected by people from the east coast, there is nothing else on this open land.However, the Qing army did not dare to come here to pick up bargains at this time. They are not stupid. Once their brigade enters this unobstructed open land, they will be flanked by the tower on the left and the warships on the sea on the right. Blow them up to death.

Since the cavalry brigade lost a lot in the Battle of Anqiu, Mo Ming incorporated all the remaining 103 Polish mercenaries into it, plus some officers and soldiers who returned from injury, and the current strength has returned to about 500.Among them, there were more than 300 Poles and nearly 200 cavalry from the Shun Army. Their strength was even slightly improved compared to before the war.They lined up neatly, wearing silver cavalry breastplates, all kinds of weapons in their saddle bags, and a loaded pistol hanging from their waists.After confronting seven or eight hundred Qing troops at a distance, they slowly turned their horses, retreated behind the barbed wire, and then all dismounted, but still watched the Qing cavalry in the distance vigilantly.

Zamparini leaned against a sheltered place at the corner of the city wall, took out a pipe from his pocket, and carefully took out a pinch of shredded tobacco from his pocket, stuffed it into the pipe, pressed it tightly, and smoked fiercely on the brazier next to it. After taking a sip, a satisfied expression appeared on his face.On his left is the old buddy An Dahai. This Guarani man still has a bitter and bitter expression on his face. He is holding his rifle and fiddling with his military cap unconsciously.Senior soldier Lin Xiaohu was sitting on his right side, sharpening his bayonet on a green brick poured with water.During the Battle of Anqiu, this young man fired two shots at the cavalry of the Qing army outside the formation of the Eight Banners New Army, but unfortunately nothing was gained, which made him not very satisfied.

Deputy company commander Gao Shan walked over wrapped in a military overcoat.Zamparini saw him from a distance, and immediately complained, "Deputy Gao Lian, there hasn't been any new shredded tobacco for a long time, and even the frequency and quantity of beer supply have decreased a lot. Brothers are very frustrated."

Hearing this, Gao Shan kicked Zamparini's ass hard, then snatched the pipe from his mouth, took two puffs, and said angrily: "Everyone is like this, why are you complaining?" Ah! I haven't received shredded tobacco for a long time, and now I can't help but smell this smell."

Zamparini gave him a blank look, turned his head and glanced outside the city wall through the observation hole next to him, and then shouted excitedly as if he had discovered a new continent: "Hey, look, their troops are coming. By God, Why do they have so many cavalry! There are at least two... well, more than 3000 people."

"No, there are at least 4000 people." Gao Shan, who had reached his head and glanced outside, immediately corrected, "The 4000 people are all armored light cavalry. The riding skills seem so-so, but the morale should be good, and the organization is also good. Very high. Look at them, thousands of cavalry shuttled outside the city, and they were able to avoid major chaos. This kind of obedience and organization is not something that can be achieved by any army. At least The gauchos in La Plata couldn't do that, and of course they never organized cavalry on such a scale."

"This should not be all the cavalry of the Qing army. They probably haven't shown up yet." General An Dahai put on the military cap he had been fiddling with, and said with a sad face: "So our cavalry brigade has become a display in an instant. More than 500 people against thousands or even tens of thousands of cavalry, they will die miserably, no matter how much advantage they have in training, morale and equipment, they are absolutely superior in numbers, and the cavalry of the Qing army are not something they can provoke .”

"I haven't seen their artillery unit yet. Maybe it's still behind?" Zamparini still looked outside without blinking, and said subconsciously: "Oh, what is that? Volunteer civilians on horseback? They There is no uniform, so it should be civilians? Oh, it looks like they conscripted a considerable number of civilians, are these civilians here to dig fortifications and artillery emplacements? It looks like this, look, a lot of them started digging there .”

"No, you are not familiar with the situation in the Qing Dynasty. Those people are called slaves, and they are usually prisoners of war or looted civilian slaves." Gao Shan was startled when he heard Zamparini's words, and then explained with a sneer.

(End of this chapter)