Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 534 Fort, down in three days! (two)

The Spaniards couldn't sit still at this time. They only had 16 coastal defense guns in total. Last night, they lost 3 guns in the night attack by the people on the east coast. Can China's 2 artillery pieces stop the East Coaster's fleet?I'm afraid it will be difficult!

After coming to this conclusion, the Spaniards guarding the fort land defense fortress could no longer hide there with peace of mind.Due to various reasons, the heavy coastal defense fortress guns could not turn their heads to shoot at the people on the east coast—in fact, it would be useless even if they turned around, the range was too far away—they were unwilling to sit still, and sent a few people to the city. After asking for help, the remaining 200 Spanish soldiers walked out of the fortifications and launched an attack on the artillery positions of the people on the east coast.

The result of this shock is naturally a failure.The East Coast Army, which was waiting in full battle, didn't give them any chance. The Spaniards retreated back to the starting point in a hurry after dropping more than [-] corpses.During this period, another coastal defense heavy artillery battery was destroyed, which made their morale even lower.

Before the end of the morning, the two siege guns of the East Coasters knocked out two artillery positions again, and the army also took advantage of the chaos to attack and also destroyed two Spanish sea artillery.So far, there are only 6 artillery pieces left on the Spanish coastal defense fort that can still be fired.After receiving the news from the army, the 4 battleships of the east coast naval ships moored in the Rio de la Plata began to heat up and pressurize the boilers, and the 8 escort gunboats moored at the rear also began to make pre-war preparations.After all, in this operation, regardless of the navy or the army, the elimination of the Spanish Navy's La Plata fleet is the top priority; as for the occupation of towns such as Buenos Aires, it is a secondary goal.

Seeing that his amulet was not safe, the La Plata fleet moored in the port hurriedly raised sail and anchored, intending to escape from the port.However, the narrow access to and from the port restricted their movement. Seeing the battleships of the people on the east coast lying there, they all hesitated to move forward.After all, apart from the flagship "Cadiz Rock" which has thirty or forty guns docked in the port, the other major warships such as "Bison", "Judge", and "Glory" have only four guns. With a displacement of 20 tons, there are generally only more than [-] artillery pieces, and the caliber is generally not very large.How can these four warships plus four other small-tonnage offshore frigates with only seven or eight guns engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the First Fleet of the East Coast Navy?That's not going to be wiped out every minute!

The Spaniards were caught in a dilemma at this time. The coastal defense forts were no longer defensible, and the passage of the fleet out of the port was blocked by the enemy's powerful fleet. This was to catch them.While the Spaniards hesitated, the 101st and 106th companies of the East Coast Army once again launched a large-scale attack under the cover of artillery and seized an artillery position.After repelling a counter-impact operation launched by the Spaniards, they firmly occupied the artillery position, and then notified the rear to immediately send artillery technicians to repair the artillery that was hastily destroyed by the Spaniards.After the repair is completed, this 12-pound long-barreled heavy gun can be used to bombard the Spanish fleet parked in the harbor.

After two days of fighting, more than [-] Spanish soldiers guarding the fort had been killed or injured. Last night, about [-] or [-] Spanish farmers who had been forcibly recruited escaped with weapons. The remaining one hundred people in the fort Also demoralized, they are already asking the navy to allow them to retreat to warships.But the La Plata Fleet is now in danger. How can it save the army that is trapped in the fort?Difficulty is imminent, everyone should do their own thing, our navy is about to break through now!

After the Spanish army officers and soldiers guarding the fort were refused their request to retreat to the warship, they decided to hold out until the evening. If no reinforcements arrived by then, they would try to surrender to the people on the east coast.Everyone is a member of the civilized world, so they should not commit barbaric incidents such as slaughtering captives.

However, the Spaniards did not resist until the moment the sun set. After the La Plata fleet moored in the harbor began to prepare to break through and had no time to support them, they quickly entered the battle with two artillery companies on the east coast with sixteen field artillery pieces. Under the bombardment, they were so beaten that they couldn't lift their heads, and they persisted until four or five o'clock in the afternoon. After the commander, Captain Moreno, was injured and more than [-] soldiers were killed one after another, they raised the white flag and surrendered decisively.

However, their desperate resistance finally won a precious opportunity for the Spanish La Plata fleet in the harbor to break through.It gets dark earlier in the southern hemisphere in winter, and as long as they persist for another hour, they can take advantage of the darkness to forcefully break through.Although the success rate is still not high, it is more reliable than breaking out in broad daylight.

Of course, the East Coast Navy knew the wishful thinking of the Spaniards, so how could they make them happy?Therefore, under the command of Fleet Commander Lieutenant Colonel Lu Ming, the 4 main battleships of the East Coast First Fleet and 4 escort gunboats began to march into the harbor, oppressing the activity space of the Spanish La Plata Fleet.At the same time, the other four escort gunboats were cruising outside to prevent the Spaniards from escaping elsewhere.

In short, the Spanish La Plata fleet must be completely wiped out this time, otherwise if they escape, they will be in great trouble in the future, so the people on the east coast must keep a considerable number of warships in the local port to prevent domestic coastal waters. The lines of communication were cut off, which they could not bear.After all, the task of the navy is still quite heavy, but the number of warships is not enough, so the Spanish fleet that is close at hand must be eliminated in order to liberate the main force of the navy.

In this way, a total of 12 main warships from both sides launched an artillery battle in the narrow Buenos Aires port.Relying on steam propeller power, the four powerful battleships of the First Fleet on the East Coast seized the T-head in an instant at a speed that surprised the Spaniards, and then met the enemy with side artillery.Naturally, the Spaniards had no intention of fighting the people on the east coast at this time. Led by the flagship "Cádiz Rock", they rushed out in a group, intending to forcibly break through.

The fierce artillery battle at sea began. A total of 4 artillery pieces of the 264 battleships of the First Fleet on the East Coast fired uninterruptedly.The bowsprit of the "Rock of Cadiz", which was at the forefront, was interrupted; two bow guns were destroyed, one of which even rolled over into the sea; The gun deck on the third floor of the stern building was also swept aside, and all 8 artillery pieces were destroyed; the bridge on the second floor of the stern building was also hit by two shells, resulting in five casualties, two of whom were officers.

The "Cadiz Rock" was in such a miserable state. Although the other ships were a little better, they were all hit by multiple shells and suffered heavy losses. Among them, a small-tonnage offshore frigate was sunk on the spot.And more importantly, their breakout operation actually failed, and the La Plata fleet was blocked back into the port.

After night fell, the First Fleet of the East Coast Navy did not press any further, but continued to wait outside the port, closely monitoring the movements of the Spaniards.At the same time, the artillery technicians of the East Coast Army who had occupied the fort had also repaired the artillery that was slightly damaged by the Spaniards.They began to turn their guns and fired at the La Plata Fleet warships in the harbor that were still lit.

The embarrassment of being attacked by the enemy made the Spaniards extremely depressed. After a few shells fired from the fort, they mustered up their courage and started a second forced breakout.It's just that it's not yet the Spanish's turn to make any moves, and the East Coast Army, which has already occupied the port area, has made new moves.They filled some small fishing boats collected in the Riachuelo River Channel with firewood and other inflammable materials, and after igniting them, they floated along the river water into the harbor.

The La Plata fleet, which was preparing to break through in the harbor, was in chaos and had to disperse its formation.In a panic, some ships accidentally ran aground in the shallow waters on the left and right sides in order to avoid the fire ship, and several other ships rushed outward like headless chickens. Naturally, the battleship of the First Fleet of the East Coast Navy greeted them That deafening cannon.

The less intense artillery battle finally came to an end after midnight, and the Spaniards lost two more offshore frigates and a capital ship "Bison", all of which were captured by the First Fleet on the East Coast at close range. A battleship with a total of 8 artillery pieces was beaten to death.In addition, another capital ship "Glory" was captured by the people on the east coast, but it sank quickly because of the heavy damage, which made people happy.

After the first ray of sunlight appeared on the eastern horizon on September 9, the main force of the First Fleet on the East Coast began to march into the harbor.After firing artillery to demonstrate, the Spaniards finally couldn't stand it anymore. They sent a small boat with a white flag to negotiate the surrender.At this time, the only Spanish battleship in the harbor was the severely damaged flagship "Cádiz Rock". He strayed into shallow water and ran aground on the shallows, unable to move.

In the case of clear strength and weakness, the two sides quickly negotiated the surrender and signed the "Surrender Statute".The book stipulates that the people on the east coast will protect the personal property and life safety of the surrendered officers and soldiers of the La Plata Fleet of the Spanish Navy, and provide humane treatment to the injured Spanish naval officers and soldiers; the two sides will immediately hand over the surrendered ships and the port.

After the "Statute of Surrender" was signed, three officers including the commander of the Spanish La Plata Fleet and the captain of the ship on the scarred battleship "Cádiz Rock" sadly left the ship and went to the prisoners set by the people on the east coast. inside the camp.So far, the battle for the port has finally come to an end.

After sending people to take over the captured Spanish ships, Lu Ming roughly counted the casualties and results of the battle.Among them, the army killed 17 people and injured 32 people, 8 of whom were seriously injured; the navy killed 40 people and injured 66 people, including 15 seriously injured; a total of 155 casualties.The result of their battle was that they killed, wounded and captured 209 people from the Spanish army and 492 people from the navy, captured two main enemy warships and one auxiliary ship, and captured a large amount of supplies from the Spanish La Plata fleet in its port.

Victory in the first battle!After confirming the collected information, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Ming wrote a short report in the captain's room, and then handed it over to his subordinates to return to Dongfang Port on the captured Spanish ship. The title of the report was: "The enemy fleet has been destroyed! Forts, ports, three days down!"

(End of this chapter)