The Marquis of Gasparra is in his fifties this year and is already a little exhausted. He has been busy with Don Juan Jose these days and has not had a good rest for a while. He has to work overtime to fight tonight, so he has to work again tonight. It was so exhausting. Even if he was marching on a horse, he still felt sleepy. Fortunately, this old man had been a soldier for half his life, and his equestrian skills were so good that he would not fall off even if he took a nap on the horse.
And the people who went on the road with the Marquis were mostly older men, and they were all a little down and out. If he hadn't been down and out, he wouldn't have come to the New World from Europe to become a knight at this age. If it had been ten or twenty years earlier, this group of people would have been very powerful on the battlefield of the Thirty Years' War. Even if they fought for three days and three nights, they would not have been unable to withstand it, but now they are really struggling. Can't stand it anymore.
In fact, it was not just the Marquis of Gasparra and the cavalry who protected him who could not bear the fatigue. Don Juan Jose's legion was made up of old men from the Old World and peasant soldiers from the New World. The former have rich military experience and are the backbone of the army, serving as almost all officers, non-commissioned officers, cavalry and artillery. However, they are generally older, and coupled with their long-term uncontrolled life, they do not have enough energy and energy. The physical strength to endure long and hard battles. Although the latter is young and physically strong, he lacks training and really doesn't want to fight.
Why are they fighting? For land? Will whites and mulatto whites in the New World be landless?
For the title? Can native-born white people and mixed-race white people from civilian backgrounds still get that stuff?
For military pay? In fact, white people and mixed-race white people in the New World are not very short of money, and they don't need money much - no matter how poor they are, they still have a rich and fertile land, and the land will provide them with everything they need for daily life, so no one cares about New Spain The few military pay issued by the kingdom.
For God? This is a reason. The Catholic Church in the Kingdom of New Spain worked hard to incite. But most of the "Americans" brought to the California front by Don Juan Jose were forcibly recruited by the New Spanish authorities...
Riding on horseback, the Marquis of Gasparra, who was drowsy and about to fall asleep, somehow thought of those "Americans" who were extremely pious when praying and cheated on them during training. This group of people is much worse than the German mercenaries.
It would be nice if they could all be replaced by German mercenaries...
"There's a situation!"
Just when the old man thought about the Germans, he heard the sound of shouting in German, which made him find the feeling he had when he participated in the Thirty Years' War.
When the old man was still half-awake, unable to distinguish between dreams and reality, a loud rumble like thunder echoed in the narrow valley, suddenly waking up the Marquis of Gasparra.
With this explosion, thirty or forty groups of fire suddenly flashed on the two hillsides, and then gunshots broke out, and lead bullets rained down on a group of German mercenaries walking in front!
A fierce rain of bullets swept past, and four or five mercenary cavalry immediately fell off their horses. The one who opened fire was an infantry platoon of the Young Guards that had just penetrated into place. Led by the platoon leader Liu Haoyong, more than thirty soldiers bypassed the Spanish camp and eliminated several more soldiers guarding the north exit of Changgu. The Spanish sentries finally climbed up the hillsides on both sides of the long valley and set up an ambush. As a result, they met the Marquis of Gasparra and the others.
Because it was too dark, the effect of the ambush was not very good. The grenade thrown out at the beginning did not explode, and a German mercenary saw the fire when it was lit. Afterwards, they used the fire produced by the explosion of grenades to fire a burst of gunfire, knocking down four or five cavalrymen. The cavalry company guarding the Marquis of Gasparra has 70 or 80 men, all equipped with flintlock pistols and swords, and all wearing half plate armor. If they dismount and rush up the hillside, Liu Haoyong and his more than 30 men will Most of the soldiers couldn't resist - in order to carry more marching rations and ammunition, all of them did not carry helmets and breastplates. If they really wanted to fight in hand-to-hand combat, they would not be the opponents of the Germans.
"Grenade! Throw a grenade!" Liu Haoyong, who just graduated from the Nanjing Martial Arts Hall last year, is worthy of more than ten years of military education. At this time, he still remained calm and made the most correct decision.
His small-banner-level platoon leader can be said to be "hard-won". He is the second generation of the Canal Regiment trained by Lu Zhenfei for Zhu Cixiang. His father worked in the New Army to overcome difficulties for fifteen years, serving as a deputy to thousands of households. After becoming an official, he now lives in Pukou for retirement. And he was born in the Army Middle School and the Martial Arts Hall, and had received military education for about ten years before receiving the rank of Xiaoqi!
He has long been trained to become a professional and cold-blooded career officer!
And this cold-blooded professional officer led a group of equally professional, equally cold-blooded professional soldiers...and they were still very young and energetic. Even after walking eight hundred miles of mountain road, they were still in excellent condition!
What's even more rare is that during their six to eight years as Scouts, these young Guardsmen not only have to exercise and practice various enemy-killing skills, but they also have to receive education - this is a group of people with at least primary school education. Professional soldiers who have a high level of education and have received non-commissioned officer training. Not only do they fight, they think about how to fight.
Before Liu Haoyong gave the order to drop bombs, except for a few "sharp shooters" who were loading bullets deftly, everyone else had already taken out grenades and fire bombs. Upon hearing the order, he immediately lit the fuse and dropped the bomb!
The rain of grenades and a series of explosions immediately caused the Marquis of Gasparra and his German mercenaries to have a false impression.
What they encountered was not a small group of enemies, but a rather large force, and it was also an elite grenadier unit!
This force actually bypassed the camp of the New Spain Provisional Third Regiment so quickly and occupied the north exit of Changgu... What a disaster, the Provisional Third Regiment had been surrounded by the Ming army!
The old Marquis of Spain was also confused. Based on his experience in the Thirty Years' War, the Eighty Years' War and the Franco-Spanish War, he must have bumped into the enemy's brigade. If we don’t retreat quickly, we may have to meet God.
Although he loves God, he is not in a hurry to see God. It would be better to wait a few years later...
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" the old man roared.
Upon hearing the order to retreat, the German mercenaries who were protecting him breathed a sigh of relief, turned their horses around, hugged the old Marquis and ran towards Don Juan Jose's camp.
And when they ran, a good round of encirclement and reinforcements turned into being surrounded and reinforcements.
Because an entire regiment of New Spanish Army officers and soldiers has been surrounded. Should Don Juan Jose save them or not?
"What? The north exit of Changgu is occupied by the enemy?"
After Don Juan Jose was woken up from his bed in a dazed sleep, he immediately heard a piece of bad news that made him want to vomit blood.
How did it happen? After just a short sleep, one of your regiments was surrounded by the enemy?
"Duke," the tired-looking Marquis of Gasparra suggested, "We must retake the valley immediately...otherwise the third regiment will be finished!"
"Right away? But it's night now!" Don Juan Jose said, "Marquis, do you think our people can fight at night?"
"Duke!" Marquis Gasparra shook his head, "Have you forgotten that the third regiment carried a lot of food and livestock to the center of the Flood Valley?"
Don Juan Jose's face suddenly turned pale. Because they didn't know how many days they would have to wait in the flooded valley, Jose's third regiment passed through Changgu with half a month's rations, and they also brought hundreds of large animals to carry luggage, tents and rations. . These big animals are all meat after being slaughtered! In addition to the rations carried by the third regiment, I am afraid that the tens of thousands of Ming troops who came from afar can comfortably eat for ten days...
