New World, City of God Beach, early morning on April 23, 1689 AD.
Off the coast of the City of God, there was a busy scene of troops landing on land at this time. A fleet of more than 20 large sailing ships was flooding the water to transport military supplies. The commercial port and adjacent docks, which were full of dead people, were all controlled by the Spanish.
A group of shirtless Spanish hemps were carrying corpses and burning them, cleaning up the half-built commercial port. Thick smoke billowed from the burning, and the stench was blown everywhere by the sea breeze.
The remaining Spaniards were divided into three waves, one wave was busy flooding the water to transport supplies.
One wave formed a small team, left the Spanish landing site, and searched around.
Another group of people set up camp outside the commercial port... Their deputy king, Earl St. Chris, had never had smallpox, so he had to stay away from the commercial port. Although the count believed in God, he did not intend to see God immediately.
This God is for worshiping, not for seeing!
The count's camp was set up on the beach. Early in the morning, he was sitting outside his tent, drinking coffee and looking at the pleasant sea view. He was also listening to his adjutant Garcia and Father Torres and others. Several adjutants and officers were reporting something.
"Count, we have translated the documents seized at the Commercial Port Government Office. Some of the documents mentioned that an unknown epidemic occurred in Xinchaoge and a large number of deaths...the death toll has reached the total population of Xinchaoge. More than 60%!”
"Count, there is another document saying that Shangdu has sent wizards, doctors and troops to Xin Chaoge to provide disaster relief. It also said that people will come to Hai grassland, which is the City of God, soon... and let Hai The governor of the grassland works hard to treat the sick, especially protecting the elderly and children. What a bunch of ignorant barbarians!"
"Count, our reconnaissance team also found some corpses and abandoned military camps on the north road leading to the Flood River Valley... It seems that the army sent to rescue by Xin Chaoge also broke out. From Analysis of the degree of decomposition of the corpses shows that this army just left the City of God area a few days ago."
"Count, we also found several abandoned Indian villages, which are also full of dead bodies!"
"By the way, some of the dead bodies found by our reconnaissance team on the road and in the military camps were Indians, and some were dressed in the clothes of Shang civilians. It seems that the Shang army is trying to transport smallpox patients... ..so ignorant!”
Hearing this, Count St. Chris frowned slightly: "They are still transporting patients, which shows that their army has not collapsed due to this plague... This is much better than the Aztecs!"
When Garcia heard what the count said, he immediately understood, so he took over and said: "Count, they also have advanced artillery and muskets, and probably a small amount of sugar-powder weapons. If their army can still encounter After the smallpox attack and the loss of more than 50% of the personnel in a short period of time, they still insisted on executing the order, which indeed requires vigilance. I suggest that troops be sent out immediately to launch a pursuit. They must not be allowed to return to New Chaoge City, otherwise the defense of New Chaoge City will be Strength will increase."
"Can we still catch up?" asked Earl St. Chris.
"We can definitely catch up!" Garcia said. "They are also bringing a large number of patients, and many of them are sick themselves, so their marching speed must be very slow. And they may not know that we are coming. They gave up here on their own initiative. There was no one here when we landed. And even if we can't catch up, we won't lose anything."
Count St. Chris laughed, stood up and patted Garcia on the shoulder: "Alfonso, you are right, we cannot let this barbaric and cruel Shang army return to Xinchaoge City. Otherwise, we will be in trouble." It may not be possible to capture this ancient castle quickly!" He then said to the adjutants and officers around him, "I will give you twenty-four hours to prepare. Tomorrow morning, I will lead 7,000 invincible Spanish officers and soldiers to fight for the emperor. Your Majesty and the glory of the Spanish Empire, go pursue and annihilate those Shang barbarians who have been abandoned by God and are destined to go to hell!
In addition, tell the Spanish warriors that those barbarians are not believers in God and therefore do not have souls, so there is no need to treat them as human beings... I order that all the males among the Shang barbarians they encounter must be collected. Kill no one, and never accept the surrender of these barbarians! "
The officers and adjutants below did not have the slightest doubt about this order which sounded very inhumane. They all stood on their feet and replied loudly: "I obey, Your Majesty the Earl!"
I have to say that white Westerners in this era are indeed qualified to dominate the world! When they face other civilizations, especially those that they can exterminate at a relatively low cost, the resolute, decisive, and ruthless methods they adopt are comparable to the laws of the dark forest. In contrast, the East Asian circle, which was full of civilized barbarians, and the Ottoman Empire, which only wanted to collect more poll taxes and recruit slave guards, were really far apart.
And Shang Fang, a "mysterious power" that suddenly appeared almost overnight, made all Western colonial powers, including Spain, Portugal, England, and France, feel a dangerous atmosphere... This should be A dangerous opponent they could exterminate, not now, but when?
Since the Shang Fang Kingdom must be exterminated, there is nothing to say. I have to kill you while you are sick!
Under the strict orders of the Count of St. Cris, seven thousand elite New Spanish mercenaries completed all preparations for the expedition in less than twenty-four hours. In the early morning of April 24, under the leadership of Earl St. Chris, we embarked on the journey together.
After leaving five hundred people to guard the camp of the City of God, a marching team composed of large groups of infantry, cavalry, horse-drawn three-pound artillery and baggage vehicles formed a mighty march formation. Following the road that passed between the mountains and dense forests, we marched rapidly northward.
Although the "Shang Fang people" also have the characteristics of infrastructure madmen, and they also have "sugar medicine", a sharp tool for digging mountains, building roads and quarrying rocks, they are limited by the small population and the time to reach the New World is too short. Therefore, except for Xinchaoge and its surrounding areas, the infrastructure in other places is almost as if it does not exist.
Therefore, it is simply impossible to find a road between the place called "Sea Grassland" by Shang Fang Kingdom and Chaoge City that can allow the army to march in a wide array. Especially in the hilly areas north of the "Sea Grassland" and south of the Flood River Valley, don't even think about a wide formation. It would be great to find a winding road in the mountains and forests that can allow troops to pass in three or four columns - that is a road opened by the "Shang Dynasty Mongols" with axe after axe!
This road is fine for animals with legs, but it is not so easy for animals with "long wheels", and they have to be pushed by horse-drawn people.
However, although this road is not easy to walk, from time to time there will be scenes on the roadside that boost the popularity of the Spaniards - dead bodies wearing various colored cross-collar cloths lying there!
Although judging from the appearance of these corpses, almost all of them were Indians who died of smallpox. But everyone believed that the army composed of Shang Fang people must have suffered heavy losses. Most of them are also marching with the corpses of dead officers and soldiers, which will cause more infections.
So as long as you can catch up with them, you will definitely win!
At the thought of the impending victory, everyone's steps became brisk. The army of more than 7,000 people marched quickly on the mountain roads in the rugged area... It was not until the afternoon of the next day after the Spanish launched their pursuit that they were blocked by hundreds of felled trees.
"What's going on? Why don't you move forward? Who's going to look ahead?"
Count Santa Cruz, who noticed that the team suddenly stopped moving, shouted loudly.
"Count! The exit of the valley has been blocked with felled trees!"
What? Blocked? There won't be an ambush, right?
Jiubei Liangjiang immediately became nervous. He looked around and found that he was in a long and narrow valley. The hillsides on both sides are covered with towering ancient trees, which are very dense. This place is very suitable for an ambush!
Thinking of this, he immediately ordered: "Alert! All companies are on alert...send musketeers to occupy the high ground on both sides!"
As soon as his voice fell, there was a rush of horse hooves ahead, and at the same time, Adjutant Garcia's call came: "Get out of the way, get out of the way quickly... Earl, there is a situation ahead!"
Garcia, who was previously sent by the count to lead the team to clear the way, now shouted while advancing, and soon arrived in front of Count Chris.
"Alfonso, what's going on? What happened?"
Count St. Chris was already very nervous.
"Count, someone cursed His Majesty the Emperor!" Garcia said angrily.
"What? Curse His Majesty the Emperor?" Count St. Chris was stunned. "Alfonso, what on earth are you talking about?"
"Count, just come with me and have a look!" As he spoke, Alfonso Garcia turned the horse's head and ran forward again.
It was a matter of His Majesty the Emperor, and the Earl of St. Chris did not dare to neglect it. He had to call his guards and adjutants to follow Garcia and go forward. After turning two corners on the winding mountain road, the Earl Garcia led him to a large pile of felled trees on the mountain road. Oh, not all the trees fell on the road. There was also a tree with its bark peeled off, revealing a white wood embryo, standing among a pile of fallen trees. There were Latin letters on the white wood embryo!
Count St. Chris's eyesight is not very good and he can't see clearly what the Latin text on it is? So he asked the lieutenants around him: "My boys, can you see clearly what is written on the tree trunk?"
"Count, it says...Emperor Leopold I of Spain will die here! God, he cursed His Majesty the Emperor! It's really unforgivable!"
"Yes, this is an unforgivable crime!"
"These savages deserve to be exterminated!"
"Earl, please let me chop down that big tree for you!"
"Okay, go and chop down this tree that cursed His Majesty the Emperor!"
Earl St. Chris still didn't study enough about defeating the battle. He didn't know how Pang Juan defeated the battle in the Battle of Maling, so he immediately had people cut down trees. In fact, this tree does not need to be cut down at all, because it will fall down as soon as it is pushed - this unlucky tree has been cut down once, and now it is just stuck in the soil, and other fallen trees are used to prevent it from falling. Fall down. But as long as someone pushes hard, the tree will fall.
And as soon as the tree fell, there was a "boom"!
"Boom boom boom..."
Three cannon blasts suddenly sounded, and then there was a burst of crackling gunfire like fried beans.
Earl St. Chris quickly rolled off his horse, then used his war horse to protect his right side. He also grabbed a stick boy to protect his left side, and then calmed down and looked around.
After looking around for a while, Count Santa Cruz felt relieved. Because he found that the white smoke that appeared with bursts of gunfire was located on the mountainside on both sides of the mountain road, at least 200 yards away from the Spanish soldiers on the mountain road... At this distance, the accuracy of the musket was very poor. , and the muskets that were firing were not firing volleys, but disrupting the guns. The gunshots were messy and dense, almost continuous. Although it sounds a bit scary, the damage caused should be very limited.
Obviously, these merchant musketeers who set up an ambush on the mountainside did not really master the know-how of flintlock rifles, so they posed no threat.
Thinking of this, Count Santa Cruz gave a loud order: "Order each company to form a shooting formation... After forming the formation, advance up the hillsides on both sides. Be sure to maintain shooting discipline!"
But what happened next was far beyond Earl Santa Cruz's imagination. Before his order could be conveyed, the good guys around him were hit by bullets fired from high places one by one, and they all cried out miserably. cried out.
"As you command, Earl......Ah!"
"Ah! God!"
"Earl, I've been hit!"
"God, Mike is dead!"
"my God......"
It was not just the people around Count Santa Cruz who were wailing and screaming, but the whole valley was filled with screams. The bullets fired from above were not only dense, but also very accurate! In a short time, the Spaniards in the valley suffered heavy casualties. There were corpses and screaming wounded everywhere. The remaining people also fell into panic. They raised their muskets and fired randomly, and they formed groups. They rushed toward the exit at the other end of the valley, desperately trying to escape from those surprisingly accurate bullets. But those bullets were like having eyes, knocking them down one by one.
Count Santa Cruz was also protected by a few good guys who could still move and fled out of the valley on foot. The defeated general was completely confused at this time, and he also lost control of his subordinates. He couldn't think of anything. Understand, how do these merchants shoot so accurately with their muskets? Are they shooting with rifled guns? But how could a rifled gun fire so fast?
