About 160 miles away from the port of Acapulco, northeast of Chilpan Singer, an important pass in the Sierra Madre Mountains, there is a newly established military camp.
This military camp in the wild is very different from other mercenary camps in the New Spanish colonies.
The mercenary camps of New Spain have always been set up in a scattered manner, with narrow and shallow trenches and hasty fences. Only the tents where the officers and soldiers rested were carefully set up, and the tents where the officers lived were even taller and more comfortable. There were always a large group of servants who had converted to Catholicism coming in and out to serve the senior officers. Sometimes there will be "military mistresses" coming in and out. It doesn't look like they are here to fight, but like they are here for sightseeing.
However, this casual attitude has not affected the mercenaries of the New Spain authorities from winning one victory after another in the past one or two hundred years - it is so good to abuse food! But when Geng Jingzhong crossed the sea and the republican city-state of Acapulco emerged, the colonial army of New Spain would not be able to deal with it! The opponent is no longer the extremely weak Indian farmers, but the heavily armed, well-trained, and highly morale American Republican Army!
How could the colonial masters fight against the New World Republican Army and win?
But this newly built camp has deep trenches and high fences, and is built closely and firmly. The tents in the camp are arranged in an orderly manner, and it is difficult to tell at a glance which camp belongs to the troop commander. The soldiers on patrol, no matter how sultry the weather was, were all neatly dressed, carrying very well-maintained flintlock rifles, following the command, taking steps, and patrolling meticulously. Naturally, he has the air of a veteran who has experienced many wars, and he does not look like an army from Spain's New World colonies.
The appearance of these meticulous Spanish soldiers is also very different from the colonial mercenaries. In the words of later generations, they are "so white that it is a bit incorrect." The entire army is white, and they are not "Spanish white" but German. "Exceptionally white." There was no mixed-race person in the entire army, let alone an Indian.
Of course, such a "white" army cannot be the army of the New World colonies. The colonial mercenaries are a hodgepodge. Senior officers are generally "first-class Peninsula Whites" (the "White Generation" from Spain), while middle- and lower-level officers are They are "second-class American whites", and the soldiers are generally "third-class mixed-bloods who are not very white". Sometimes they will capture a few fourth-class Indians as cannon fodder.
Such an army is relatively easy to assemble, but it is inherently disorganized and disorganized.
Especially when the Aztec Republic was put on the market and the Spanish royal family was brutally punished by the Catholic Church's ecclesiastical laws, those "second-class whites", "third-class whites", and "Indians" all had second thoughts, and many of them became Aztecs. The internal response of the Ztec Republic.
Therefore, in the previous three sieges, the mercenaries of New Spain were particularly vulnerable to ambushes and raids. This was probably because the enemy should know every move of the New Spain army through the inside!
It seems that this "Special White Army" with more than 10,000 people, which has arrived and camped near the Chilpan Singer Fortress, only 160 miles away from the port of Acapulco, has not been attacked by the Aztec Republic. Discover!
Chilpan Singh Fortress is now also under the control of this "Special White Army". The New Spanish mercenaries originally stationed here have been transferred when the vanguard of this "Special White Army" arrived. So they didn't know how many "special white troops" were coming. The commander of this sudden arrival of the "Special White Army" turned out to be the current commander-in-chief of the Spanish Army in the New World, the Duke of Villahermosa himself!
After all, this Duke had faced off against such masters as the Grand Condé, Durenne, the Duke of Luxembourg, and the Marquis Vauban on the European battlefield. Although he was defeated, failure was a success!
After being taught by a group of famous French generals, the Duke of Villahermosa finally found a way to win the war - cherish life and stay away from France!
Now that he is so far away from France, victory should be within easy reach, right?
The elderly Duke of Villahermosa was standing on the wall of the fortress with a few followers, looking at the sinking slopes under his feet and the open plains in the distance, feeling the sea breeze blowing from the Pacific Ocean, Recalling the classic battles that I participated in in the past few decades (classics of the Grande Condé, Durenny, the Duke of Luxembourg, and the Marquis Vauban, he is a classic), looking for the feeling of victory!
Suddenly, he heard the sound of hoofbeats, and his eyes widened subconsciously. His thoughts also returned to reality from the miraculous roundabout charge of the cavalry in the Battle of Rockvaru.
Then he took a closer look and found that there were dozens of priests riding horses wearing cassocks. The leader of the horse was also wearing a conspicuous red robe. Needless to say, he knew that they were visiting Acapulco. Cardinal Juan Don Sandoval of the road.
Although Catholicism was simply an accomplice to Spain’s conquest of the New World! But the power of religion is so miraculous. The bad guys in the New World now are the Spaniards, not the Roman Church. Even Geng Juyi, who doesn’t believe in Heavenly Father at all, has to cultivate a Catholic God-worshiping society and use the Spanish royal family to enforce the law of breaking the family. At the same time, a "corrective edict" came, pretending to be the order of Pope Innocent XI, and consecrating a cardinal.
The transcendent status of Catholicism in the Spanish colonies in the New World also allowed the priests of the Catholic Church to communicate between the two camps, act as intermediaries, mediate conflicts, and communicate with each other - exchanging silver for silk, porcelain, etc., and exchanging prisoners. .
Of course, the clergy sent by both sides will also serve as spies to spy on the other party's intelligence.
Standing on the city wall and watching Cardinal Juan Don Sandoval coming on horseback, the Duke of Villahermosa knew that something must have happened in Acapulco. It was probably that damn Aziz The Turk Republic received reinforcements from the East again!
And there are a lot of them!
The suspicion of the Duke of Villahermosa, who began to "predict enemies" after being away from France, was soon confirmed.
"Duke, no, the Ming Empire has sent reinforcements to the Aztec Republic!"
In the headquarters of Chilpansingh Fortress, the cardinal, who had just returned after a long journey, sat down and took a few breaths, and then said to the Duke of Villahermosa in an urgent and fast tone: "It's enough to come back." There are probably 15,000 reinforcements from 60 ships! Geng Juyi has already announced that he will attack the Mexica Valley next spring!"
"Damn the Invincible Armada!" Duke Villahermosa cursed immediately after hearing what the Cardinal said. He was criticizing the Spanish Armada. The performance of this Armada was indeed very stable. After defeating the British, they lost to the Netherlands, and after defeating the Netherlands, they lost to France. Now they can't even do the small thing of preventing the Ming Navy from transporting a large number of people to the New World!
"Duke, I'm afraid there are 30,000 enemies in Acapulco right now. Our 10,000-odd people can't defeat us at all. We'd better retreat!" This cardinal doesn't understand military affairs. He only knows that 30,000 is bigger than 10,000. , so the advantage lies with the enemy.
"Cannot withdraw!" Duke Villahermosa shook his head, "Now is the last chance to eliminate the Aztec Republic!"
"But the enemy's reinforcements have arrived!"
The Duke of Villahermosa shook his head, "So what if they arrive? They have been wandering on the Pacific Ocean for at least two months! Most ordinary people cannot bear the two-month voyage across the ocean. After they get off the ship, they must After a period of recuperation and recovery training, we can return to battle. Our troops came from Europe and only drifted at sea for a month. They were recuperated for half a month and trained for another month before they recovered. Now it's the Chinese. It will take at least three months to fully recover! If we march immediately, it is impossible for these people to go to the battlefield. Even if they barely go to battle, they will not be able to defeat my German mercenaries!"
It seems to make sense!
Cardinal Juan Don Sandoval asked: "Shall we march immediately? It takes almost three days from here to Acapulco."
The Duke of Villahermosa nodded and said: "We must march immediately! Geng Juyi has defeated the mercenaries of the Viceroyalty of New Spain many times before, and he does not want his land to be ravaged by us. So when he found out When we only have 10,000 people, we will definitely take the initiative so that we can defeat them in the field!
After that, even if we can't take down Acapulco, we can still destroy eleven other cities! Those cities had no walls at all, but they provided Acapulco with a large amount of food and soldiers. Once these city-states were lost, Geng Juyi's republic would be in ruins! "
This commander-in-chief is really good at calculations. Among the twelve city-states of the Aztec Republic, only Acapulco has a truly solid city defense. The other cities have no city walls. It is said to be a city, but in fact it is just a small town. It is surrounded by large rural areas - the land occupied by the current Aztec Republic is a narrow plain between the Sierra Madre del Sur and the Pacific Ocean. This area has abundant rain and sunshine, and a warm climate, which is very suitable for farming. In the Aztec Republic Driven by the policies of equally dividing land and supporting agriculture, many prosperous agricultural city-states emerged.
The Indians and Indo-Europeans from these city-states are more willing to serve as soldiers, so there are a large number of soldiers from these city-states in the army of the Aztec Republic. Once these city-states are lost, Acapulco will be in great crisis!
Japan, Miura Peninsula, Yokosuka Port.
This small fishing port prospered at a speed visible to the naked eye after Japan joined the Eleven-Nation Alliance! Military ports, military camps, shipyards, arsenals, and a prosperous castle town all rose from the ground at an extremely fast speed.
By 1682, the second year of the Tenwa reign of Emperor Reigen of Japan, this place had become the largest military camp in Japan, and the size of the garrison far exceeded that of Edo!
However, the nature of the army stationed in Yokosuka is a bit special. It is not a complete Japanese army, nor a foreign mercenary, but a combination of the two. Or it can also become an "inter-state mercenary", that is, one country hires the army of another country to help it fight its wars.
This kind of "mercenaries between countries" is also very common in Europe. Some unworthy monarchs of small German countries often do this kind of thing, forcing their subjects to serve as soldiers, and then taking them to fight for rich countries such as the Netherlands, England, and Spain. fight. Most of the money earned goes to oneself, and the subordinates can only get a small amount of military pay. Now this "mercenary system between countries" has been successfully introduced to Japan again - this is also the first time that Japan has done so after the reform and founding of the country. A place that is in line with international standards!
There are three mercenaries organized based on this advanced international experience. One is the "Japanese Mercenaries of the Qing Dynasty", which are now undergoing the test of severe cold in Kharkov! The second is the "Japanese mercenaries of the Ming Nanyang Trading Company", who are now fighting against malaria and their compatriots in Luzon - another Japanese mercenary; the third is the "Spanish-Dutch Japanese mercenaries", some of whom went to After leaving Luzon, the others are still at the Yokosuka camp.
One part of them, about 10,000 people in the 10th Battalion, was standing in layers at the foot of a hillside, shouting high cheers to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the Japanese general who conquered the barbarians.
"Hey, hey. Ho. Hey, hey, hey!"
I saw that these ronin, who originally lacked food and clothing because they had no establishment and were too lazy to work, were now not only well fed and warmly clothed, but also became "temporary warriors" and could receive generous military pay. It will cause trouble for the shogunate. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi finally showed a satisfied smile. No matter what, at least he didn't have to worry about something suddenly happening in Edo Castle where ronin gathered!
But these people seem to be going to be Japanese pirates to rob the wealthy coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty! This... won't cause more trouble for Japan, right?
The shogunate leader Tokugawa Mitsukuni standing next to him seemed to have guessed Tsunayoshi's thoughts, so he joined in and said: "My Lord, you can rest assured. The Ming Dynasty will not attack the Spanish because they hired our ronin." They are attacking us along the coast!"
"Yao Xi." The general finally felt relieved.
And Tokugawa Mitsukuni added: "Actually, they have already started a war with us!"
"The war has already begun? How come I didn't know?" Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was shocked - he was the famous "Inu Gongfang" in history. He was not a wise and heroic leader, and he was not very courageous. He didn't even think about going to fight with him. Ming Dynasty fights.
Even Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn't accomplish this, so he still wanted to conquer the Ming Dynasty?
Tokugawa Mitsukoshi said: If you knew this, would you still dare to be a public servant? If you don't want to be a public official, how can I, a big boss, be the official? God, please tell me, I, the head of the Mito family, can only choose a general, not a general.
"My Lord, you don't have to worry. This is a world-wide war, and Japan will inevitably participate in it, either on the side of Ming Dynasty or on the side of Ming Dynasty's enemies." Tokugawa Mitsukuni patiently explained, "But because We cannot integrate into the vassal system dominated by the Ming Dynasty, so becoming an enemy of the Ming Dynasty is an inevitable choice. Now that we can advance and retreat together with the other ten great powers, we still have a great chance of winning. And all we need to pay are some worthless ronin life."
In Tokugawa Mitsukuni's view, the biggest danger in Japan is that there are too many ronin. No matter who becomes a general, it is impossible for so many ronin to become samurai.
The tragic fate of Japanese farmers made these ronin who clearly could not become samurai refuse to give up hope, so these ronin became a huge social problem, which exploded after accumulating to a certain extent.
Now that there is an outlet to vent to the outside world, at least it can prevent Japanese society from imploding and falling into the Warring States Period of cannibalism again.
As for how many ronin will die on the battlefield, it doesn't matter at all, because those people are superfluous to Japan.
Thinking of this, Tokugawa Mitsukuni said to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi: "My lord, letting them die overseas is actually the best choice. Even if Ming Dynasty wins in the end, as long as Ming Dynasty knows the bravery and fearlessness of our Japanese samurai, they will also Will not invade rashly.
Besides, even if we do nothing, Ming Dynasty will not let us go when the time comes. This is the fate of Japan!
Moreover, the shipyards and arsenals here were all donated by the Dutch. With these things, Japan can gradually strengthen itself and be strong enough to resist the Ming Dynasty in the future. "
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi nodded and finally made up his mind: "Boss, I know what to do. Now, please say a few words for me."
"I said? But you are the official!"
"You said, you are the boss, you are good at talking, and my throat is uncomfortable, cough cough."
Seeing the pained expression on the general's face, Tokugawa Mitsukuni had no choice but to raise his right hand just now to ask the people below to quiet down, and then shouted violently: "Gentlemen, His Majesty the Emperor has already expressed his gratitude to the Ming Empire and its vassals. North Korea has declared war!
Today, you will join the Spanish and Dutch warriors on an expedition to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty! There are the richest towns, the weakest people, and the most useless officials."
(End of chapter)
