Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 590 Offensive Warfare and Defensive Warfare ([-])

"Boom! Boom!" In the large field north of Santa Fe, several shells landed on the ground and bounced violently.Several Spanish soldiers in messy uniforms screamed and fell to the ground, but more people remained unmoved, still guarding the four cannons and moving forward.And farther away, hundreds of Spanish cavalry are ready to go. As soon as the east coast cavalry is dispatched, they will also be dispatched to ensure the safety of their beloved artillery unit.

The artillery on the turret fired shells non-stop. When the four Spanish artillery arrived at the preset position, one of them had been destroyed by the artillery on the east coast, which made the Spaniards mad with hatred.They immediately fought back, only to hear a few "boom" cannons, and the roaring iron balls shook the brick-wood mixed-structure east bank blockhouse, shaking the ground and flying bricks, and the soldiers inside the blockhouse were also disgraced. .However, everyone's emotions were fairly stable, and their fighting spirit was quite high. Under the command of the officer, they immediately pointed the barrels at the Spanish artillery positions and quickly fought back.

After the two artillery pieces facing the Spanish attacking direction returned fire, the other two artillery pieces facing the west side were also being pulled over by the soldiers, ready to attack the Spaniards together.At the same time, the army commanders deployed around the gun tower immediately adjusted their deployment in response to the actions of the Spaniards. They quickly transferred two light howitzers from the rear, and then loaded explosive bombs into the barrels, heading towards the densely populated Spanish area. Hit, the intention is to kill and wound the personnel of the Spanish army.

In this way, the two sides launched a bloody fight on the front line.Thanks to the people on the east coast, the establishment of the Spanish Lima Colonial Legion has expanded over the years, and the total force has also recovered to 7000% of its peak period, about 4000 people.Not only that, but the rate of firearms equipment also exceeded [-]%: about [-] people were equipped with matchlock guns or flintlock guns.For historical and practical reasons, the penetration rate of firearms in the Spanish colonial legions has always been higher than that in mainland Europe, but the [-]% penetration rate of firearms is very rare even in the major colonies.

At this time, the army sent by the Spaniards to the city of Santa Fe appeared to be more elite, because it was a pure firearms unit—even the cavalry were equipped with short-barreled muskets, which could be said to have cost a lot.However, the equipment has been upgraded, but the fighting power and fighting will are not as good as the European legions. This is also a helpless thing. After all, the colonies will always face security warfare.

Of course, as their opponent, the East Coast Army, in addition to the rich combat experience of the main company, the combat experience of the majority of the militia is limited to the level of security warfare, which is not the same as these Spaniards.Their so-called advantage is only in the frequency and intensity of training, and their combat skills are higher and more proficient than the Spaniards.Therefore, the offensive and defensive battle between the two sides has been in a stalemate from the very beginning.

The Spaniards had only over 1000 infantry, but at the moment they had to attack the gun towers, and at the same time they had to divide their troops to defend against the flanking east bank army—the attack from the Rocha County militia brigade, so they fought quite hard.Today (May 5) the whole morning, they have just knocked down a corner of a gun tower on the left, and forced the people on the east bank to lose 21 soldiers and one artillery; but correspondingly, they have also lost Two artillery pieces and more than 18 soldiers—most of the soldiers were killed or injured by the east bank howitzers fired from the side.

But even so, the Spaniard's determination to remove the nails from the turret is strong.They organized a new offensive again in the afternoon. This time, in addition to the routine artillery bombardment, a large number of soldiers launched an infiltration attack on the east bank artillery towers with severely damaged walls, but they were all prepared by the east bank soldiers. They repel.When the sun was about to set, the two sides stopped fighting tacitly at the same time, and then each sent their hands to the middle of the battlefield with white flags to receive the wounded and exchange corpses at the same time.

"Commander, during the day the militiamen killed 11 people and wounded 15 people; the infantry of the 6th company guarding the gun tower killed 4 people and wounded 9 people; the artillerymen killed 2 people and wounded 3 people." Anda XV's adjutant reported to him in a low voice , "Those Kelandi people and gaucho people watched the show for a whole day today, let them have a blast tomorrow?"

The strength of the incoming Spaniards has basically been figured out.After repeated investigations by the gendarmerie intelligence investigators, arrests and interrogations, the intelligence staff has confirmed that the Spanish army attacking Santa Fe came from the Lima Colonial Legion, with a total of more than 1800 people, including about 500 cavalry and 100 artillery. There were more than 1200 infantrymen, in addition to about 2000 Indian slaves conscripted from Córdoba, Turkmenistan, and Jujuy—these people were responsible for logistics and transportation tasks.

Although I don't know what the idea of ​​the Spanish Peruvian Governorate is, and what strategy it is implementing, but now they have clearly sent reinforcements to support La Plata, which shows that they are unwilling to give up the La Plata area.In other words, they did not dare to give up La Plata under the strict order of Madrid, so they could only bite the bullet and organize the army to come from afar.But in any case, now they need to conquer the key city of Santa Fe, otherwise nothing will happen.

"The Spaniard's offensive is nothing more than that." Anda Fifteen stood on a small dirt bag outside the city, holding a white handkerchief while wiping his ancestral samurai sword, squinting his eyes and observing the battlefield that still exudes smoke and dust, said. : "In the past two days, more than 200 Gauchos and Kelandi people have come back one after another. Tomorrow, you will lead the army to urge them to take over some army fortifications on the periphery of the gun tower. These guys dare to be deserters, it is simply not enough to die It's a pity, let them face the Spaniard's offensive to atone for their sins."

"Yes." The adjutant stood at attention, then took out his notebook and wrote down the order.After writing it down, he continued to accompany Anda Fifteen to inspect the position. The militiamen who were sitting inside and outside the fortifications were snoring and eating dinner. After seeing Anda Fifteen, surrounded by a group of officers, they immediately all Stand up and stand at attention.

Anda Shiwu walked up to them and looked at today's dinner: a bowl of noodles in clear soup, two pieces of meat pie, a spoonful of soybean beef, and a plate of spiced whale meat. Then he asked: "Where's the salted cod? Why haven't you seen it?" ?”

"Commander, there are only 2 pickled cods a month, and it's not yet the end of the month." The adjutant reminded softly, "A batch of soft cod just arrived the day before yesterday, and they have already been distributed to everyone."

Anda Fifteen looked at these soldiers who looked like mud monkeys. Their faces were serious and their bodies were tense like sculptures standing in place. This made him very emotional and said: "At first I wanted to say something to encourage everyone not to relax. The words of fighting bravely, but seeing everyone working so hard, I can’t say what I want to say. Lieutenant Li, starting tonight, cancel the overration of all officers. The saved cod, beef, shredded tobacco, Cane sugar and fine wine are all distributed to the brothers, everyone has worked so hard, it is really unreasonable for us to enjoy them wantonly."

After saying this, he walked up to each soldier one by one, straightened their caps, straightened their collars, and comforted them from time to time.Although these people were all militiamen from Luocha County, Anda Fifteen was not familiar with them, but this did not prevent him from chatting with these peasant children about their daily life, and then saying a few words of encouragement.

After shaking hands with more than [-] officers and soldiers in the fortification, Anda Fifteen directly asked the adjutant to bring his bowl and chopsticks. Together with the soldiers, he scooped up half a bowl of noodles in the wooden barrel, and then poured soybeans and beef into the bowl Mix it with rice, and while eating, greet the soldiers to sit down and eat together.At the same time, the adjutant also brought Anda Fifteen's wine and distributed it to each soldier on the spot, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

"The Spaniards dare to violate the taboo of military strategists and travel long distances to attack my strong position with only 2000 people. This time, it is impossible to make them suffer a big loss." Anda Shiwu took two mouthfuls of noodles, and then held up his chopsticks to the soldiers. Cheer up.

"Destroy these Spaniards and go to Cordoba!" An older-looking non-commissioned officer responded first, his face was flushed, as if he had taken a sip of strong alcohol reason.

"Go to Córdoba and take all the Spaniards!" cried a young soldier, and everyone laughed.But this is the truth. Everyone is different from the regular army. They don’t even have military pay. Since the expedition, everyone has only received two yuan when they set off to board the ship.If it weren't for the huge gains from this battle, everyone sent hundreds of yuan of bank acceptances to their homes, I am afraid everyone's morale would not be so high.

"If the higher-ups really intend to attack a bustling city like Cordoba, you don't need to mention it at that time. I will also ask your Excellency the detachment leader for my department to take the lead. At that time, you should fight bravely without fear of life and death. Once you break the I will use my old face to ask Your Excellency, the detachment leader, to allow my troops to enter the city first." Anda Fifteen knew what the soldiers liked to hear, so he tried to pick out words that could arouse everyone's interest.

Sure enough, the soldiers were very excited after hearing this, and the glory and benefits of taking the lead in entering the city are simply indescribable.

"But first we need to hold back the Spaniards' offensive here." Anda Fifteen saw that everyone's faces were full of smiles, and suddenly changed the subject: "The Spaniards came from afar, and they cannot last long. We only need Let us defend with peace of mind, and when their blades become blunt and their morale is low, we will make a massive attack to defeat this group of Spaniards and achieve an incomparable feat. For this, first of all, we need everyone to be sincere and united to hold the Spaniards in the next few days. offensive."

"Don't worry, Commander, we will never let the Spaniards take advantage of us." Everyone immediately chattered.

On May 1647 and 5, 22, the Spaniards launched a large-scale attack for two consecutive days. One artillery tower in the north of Santa Fe was destroyed and the other was seriously damaged. The Spaniards made no progress, suffered heavy casualties, lost half of their artillery (23), and suffered a serious drop in morale.

(End of this chapter)