In the night, a fire dragon was rolling along the long coastline of Sinaloa Province in the Kingdom of New Spain.
The terrain of Sinaloa Province is high in the east and low in the west. The east is covered with densely forested mountainous areas, making it difficult to pass through. The coastal area to the west is flat land, which is very narrow. It is really a "belt", like a belt, stretching from north to south to the province of Nayarit. It is very easy to go south along this "belt". With the elite foot power of the New Zealand Army, if you march lightly and quickly, it is not difficult to cover one or two hundred miles in a day and night!
Of course, as a field army, the Army of the United States of New Zealand cannot achieve this speed at any time. It is necessary to march quickly while being completely light-armed in order to achieve a speed of one hundred or even two hundred miles a day and a night.
The 1st Division of the Xinzhou Army moving south along the coastline tonight was completely lightly armed.
First of all, none of these tens of thousands of officers and soldiers have helmets or armor - the Xinzhou Army has always been well-equipped. Of course, they are equipped with helmets and breastplates, but they do not carry them every time they go on an expedition, depending on who the opponent is. If you are fighting Indians, of course you must carry armor to minimize casualties. If the opponent is a European-style army like the New Spanish Army, which mainly uses firearms, there is no need to carry armor. To prevent the burden from being too heavy and reducing the mobility of the troops.
Secondly, the baggage carried by this army was incredibly small! All soldiers only carried five days' worth of rations, weapons, ammunition, water bottles and other necessary equipment.
Third, according to Zhu Hehao's order, all baggage vehicles and materials carried on the vehicles were burned! All artillery pieces weighing more than 6 pounds are also discarded! The artillery battalion of the Xinzhou 1st Division only carried 24 6-pound bronze cannons and headed south quickly.
Fourth, the First Division of the Xinzhou Army carried a large number of war horses, walking horses, pack horses, and draft horses. The cavalrymen all ride in pairs, and each artillery piece is equipped with enough draft horses. There are also some spare horses that can be used to carry supplies and the sick and wounded.
As for the officers who were originally equipped with walking horses, they all wore the same leggings as the soldiers and headed south along the coast together. Even Zhu Hehao was no exception. He was leaning on a walking stick and surrounded by soldiers. Under the torch, these soldiers of the United States of New Zealand saw that their king was following them, measuring the road with his feet. Everyone After reading the script, I couldn't help but speed up a bit - as a king, they seem to be relatively reliable!
It is really not easy for the great king Zhu Hehao to talk about it! Since childhood, he has received a military-style education in Nanjing Primary School, an aristocratic primary school that trains young officers. Then came the Nanjing Middle School with the same style but more severe... and then the Army Martial Arts Hall!
After graduating from the Martial Arts Hall, he was sent to the Army, led soldiers at the grassroots level, and then went to the Generalissimo's Mansion to be "gilded", and finally he was able to stand alone in the United States of New Zealand.
In terms of the military education and knowledge he has received, he far exceeds that of his opponent Tang Juan Jose, not to mention the "Qing King Zhu Cihuan". However, this is the first time for me to actually command an army and fight a decisive battle that affects the future and destiny of a big country!
"Bah, bah, bah..."
Faint gunshots came from behind. It should be that the black cavalry behind them were exchanging fire with the pursuing New Spanish cavalry.
On the night of March 26, Don Juan Jose did not realize at first that the army of the United States of New Zealand, which was facing him, would use the method of marching at night to bypass his camp and rush south... .That night, a small number of black lancers meleeed with the Spanish cavalry for several hours around the camp of the Legion of New Spain before evacuating before dawn. It was not until then that Don Juan Jose discovered that the Xinzhou Army had bypassed his camp and headed south.
In shock, Don Juan Jose quickly sent out cavalry to pursue him, but Zhu Hehao had already been prepared. He sent out black cavalry to intercept the rear, set up ambushes along the way, and fight the pursuing Spanish cavalry - they wanted to open up and fight. The black lancers could not defeat the Spanish cavalry.
The former is a light cavalry that does chores, while the latter is mainly an armored heavy cavalry! However, the Black Lancers also have advantages. First, they are good at night attacks and setting up ambushes; second, they have multiple horses per person and can take turns riding.
Therefore, the tactics of running, fighting and ambushing made the cavalry of the New Spanish Legion suffer a lot... and what was even more difficult than these cavalry was following Zhu Hehao's army. The gray Don Juan Jose is the main force.
The New Spanish Legion was a "heavy force", carrying a large amount of baggage and artillery, and half of the musketeers carried Spanish heavy matchlocks. There were also a lot of pikemen, and the soldiers also carried a lot of luggage. Unlike his opponents who dared to equip themselves lightly, Don Juan Jose did not have an entire fleet transporting supplies for him, so he did not dare to allow his troops to be completely lightly armed. His army will be completely light-armed, and there is a question mark as to whether it can even walk back to Mexico City!
Don Juan Jose, who did not dare to abandon supplies, did not dare to leave Zhu Hehao who had circled behind him, 15,000 Xinzhou Army troops! God knows what terrible things they might do?
So Don Juan Jose had no choice but to bite the bullet and urge more than 31,000 infantrymen under his command to pursue them day and night with artillery and baggage.
One side is completely light, and the other side is carrying a lot of pots and jars. Of course, it is not as good as the strength of the feet. After only two days of pursuit, Don Juan Jose's team was already exhausted. Not only was it thrown back more than a hundred miles by Zhu Hehao's army, but there were also a large number of laggards and attrition. There were 25,000 officers and soldiers (not counting the cavalry who went ahead) who were still chasing after Don Juan Jose.
Diego Don de Melo, the chief of staff of the New Spain Legion, had already rode to Don Juan Jose and reminded Jose in a low voice: "Your Highness the Regent, this cannot go on! We can't catch up with the enemy at all. .....”
Don Juan Jose had not slept for two days and two nights. The elderly regent of New Spain was a little unable to hold on, and he was complaining in his heart - these Asians are too good at running away, Jia Qingjun That's true, but what about the Xinzhou Army? It just refuses to fight properly. It's really outrageous.
"Your Highness," Diego Don de Mello said, "We can either select our elite troops and let them move forward completely lightly, or we can simply give up the pursuit!"
"Abandon the pursuit?" Don Juan Jose glanced at his chief of staff angrily, "Am I going to flee back to Mexico City in despair?"
"Your Highness," Diego Don de Mello frowned, "the troops are now in a very bad condition, very tired, and there are many soldiers who are falling behind or fleeing! The Indian militiamen are almost gone...many The knights from Sinaiyaro and Nayarit also deserted!"
"How could a knight desert?" Don Juan Jose looked very shocked.
"Your Highness, many people's estates are in Sinaiyaro and Nayarit. These two territories are under threat from the enemy..."
"Damn it!" Don Juan Jose cursed, but still refused to give up the pursuit. "We can let everyone take a rest until tomorrow afternoon..."
"But this rest," Diego Don de Mello said, "I'm afraid it will only make the distance between us and the enemy even wider!"
"No, not necessarily!" Don Juan Jose said thoughtfully, "Maybe... maybe as soon as we stop, the enemy will turn around and come back to fight us."
Diego Don DeMello thought for a while, nodded and said: "Maybe, now their advantage is not small..."
Don Juan Jose's face was ashen: "Let's give it a 50-50 shot. We still have a chance of winning. Because they ran so fast, they must have discarded a lot of baggage and artillery... If we continue to pursue them, they might not be able to win." There is no chance of winning! Not only is there no chance of winning, but I am afraid that even the strength to fight will be exhausted in the endless march."
