California, Flood Valley, September 10.

When the gunshots rang out sporadically, Don, who had been busy all day, was busy all day. Huang. José was having dinner with his senior officers in a large tent that had just been erected. The high-ranking generals of the European monarchies of this era were basically reincarnated nobles, and there was nothing like sharing the weal and woe with the soldiers in their concepts. Even if they are on the front line, they have to put on the spectrum of the great nobles and enjoy their aristocratic life. Tang Dynasty. Huang. Jose is no exception...... Tonight, in the tent where he dined, not only was there a large pile of well-prepared delicacies and fine French wines, but there were also several waiters in wigs and embroidered coats, and even a man playing the violin.

Just in the Don. Huang. José and the Marquis of Gaspara, as well as several other Spanish or German generals, were enjoying their delicious meals to the sound of the violins, when the faint sound of gunfire suddenly came from the north.

"What's going on?" Tang Dynasty. Huang. Jose put down his goblet and frowned slightly.

The Marquis of Gaspara, who was a little older, listened attentively, "It must have come from the middle of the Flood Valley...... Probably, the 3rd Infantry Regiment we had placed there had met the enemy's vanguard. ”

"But it's night!" An officer who fought in the Toyotomi War in Japan said, "The rate of night blindness among the Oriental is very high!" ”

"Not 100 percent!" Another Spanish officer who had served as an instructor in the Qing army shook his head, "There are almost no Eight Banners soldiers in the Qing army who are night blind...... I also heard that there are some units in the army that are particularly good at night fighting. ”

"Night battles?" Tang Dynasty. Huang. Jose's brow furrowed even tighter.

Night battles are too much a test of the troops' organizational ability and rustic spirit, and only well-trained troops with extremely high morale can conduct night field operations. The average unit could only hold the camp at night, and if they were pulled out, it would be difficult for the officers to control the soldiers, and the soldiers were either perfunctory or simply deserted...... Basically, they don't fight hard.

"The third regiment won't have a problem, right?" Tang Dynasty. Huang. José glanced at Marquis Gaspara.

"No problem!" The Marquis laughed, "The Third Regiment has a very strong camp, and unless the enemy carries artillery, it will not be able to break through the defenses of the Third Regiment at all. By daybreak tomorrow, the 3rd Regiment would be able to retreat south as planned. ”

"That's fine......" Don. Huang. José breathed a sigh of relief, picked up his glass again, and took a long sip of wine.

He knew how many pounds he had in the New Spanish Army—the backbone of which was from Europe, but most of the soldiers were recruited locally in the Americas, and many of them were mixed-race whites—that is, white men with some Indian blood (in later generations these people were called Indians, but now they prefer to be called half-blooded whites), and their fighting will and hard work were really good.

Boom Boom!

Tang Dynasty. Huang. Before José could swallow a sip of wine, a few muffled thunderous roars suddenly came.

"Well, it's ......" the Duke of Florida coughed twice, apparently choking on wine.

Boom Boom Boom ......

There was another dense roar, accompanying Don. Huang. José ate with him, and the Spanish generals were all nervous.

How many cannons does this need? So dense, I'm afraid there are dozens of 3-pounder guns firing, right? How did they get here?

It was still the Marquis of Gaspara who was experienced, and immediately reacted, "Duke, that's a grenade...... It's the grenadiers of the Chinese! ”

Grenadier had already appeared in the armies of European countries during this period, and without exception they were elite!

Marquis Gaspara had already put down his dishes, took off his napkin, and stood up, "Duke, I'd better go to the garrison of the Third Regiment and have a look." ”

Tang Dynasty. Huang. Jose nodded: "Take a cavalry company and be careful on the road!" He thought for a moment, and then said: "You let the third regiment hold on as much as possible, if it really can't hold on, take them to the south, and I will arrange ambushes on the slopes on both sides of the valley to delay the enemy army." ”

In the Don. Huang. José seems to have set up the perfect set-up, and there is no need to give up completely, just a little adjustment.

After the Marquis of Fagaspara went to supervise the battle and sent two more battalions up the mountain to set up an ambush, Don. Huang. José finished his meal and prepared to sleep in good spirits for tomorrow's decisive battle.

......

Tang Dynasty. Huang. When José went to bed, he had no idea how terrible the enemy he had lured by the third regiment in the middle of the Flood Valley!

His third regiment met the four Young Guards infantry regiments of the Ming army led by Qi Yuanbi and Yu Daren this evening!

Nearly 10,000 officers and men of the four regiments set out from the riverside fort, each carrying 50 catties of marching food and ammunition, plus their weapons and all kinds of necessary equipment, and did not carry armor, and walked in the 800-mile mountain terrain for 20 days, and the number of people left behind was less than 1,000.

By this afternoon, the vanguard of them had reached the northern part of the Flood Valley, and had spotted the Spaniards on their way north.

However, instead of immediately entering the battle, they withdrew from the valley and rested on a relatively gentle hillside outside the valley, waiting for the arrival of the follow-up troops and the arrival of night.

Unlike the Hematite Artillery Army, which preferred to fight in the middle of the day, the Young Guards of the Ming Army, although they could also fight in formation, preferred to engage in melee under the cover of night. Because they have a higher degree of organization and a stronger will to fight, they can consciously plunge into battle without much supervision, and they are able to carry out infiltration operations in platoons and squads.

Zhang Cheng and Zhang Qianhu, commanders of the Sixth Regiment of the Young Guards Army, who commanded the troops to take the lead on the night of the 10th day of September, seemed to be in a daze if they put their regiment out and play with the enemy to shoot them. This regiment was formed to carry out all kinds of difficult and complex tasks.

Attacking the camp in the valley, where an unknown number of Spanish infantry were stationed at night, was obviously a more difficult and complex task.

Of course, this kind of task is not difficult for the officers and men of the Young Guards!

Their tactics were not complicated, that is, to take advantage of the darkness of the night, then use flintlock muskets to lure the enemy's fire from a distance, and after the enemy exposed the target, let the grenadiers crawl forward, and throw grenades with wooden handles when they got closer.

Because there was no way to carry artillery over the mountains and mountains, Zhang Cheng's subordinates brought a lot of grenades with wooden handles, each of them brought eight, and the entire regiment brought 20,000!

So tonight they had enough grenades to throw.

In addition, all Young Guards officers and soldiers could act as grenadiers - except that in battle in formation, grenadiers were usually pikemen with strong arms.

And tonight, there were as many as a thousand officers and soldiers responsible for throwing grenades!

Thousands of grenadiers, under the cover of almost the same number of flintlock musketeers, crawled from the west and north directions (east of the camp was by a river) to less than 20 paces from the camp wall (consisting of mounds of earth and wooden fences), and then in a kneeling position they threw grenades with lit fuses, throwing four or five thousand of them, two-thirds of which were successfully exploding, and in an instant blowing the Spaniards on the front line staggered.

Seeing that the grenadiers' surprise attack had been successful, Zhang Cheng, who was in command on the front line, immediately made a decision and gave the order for a general attack.

The order was conveyed by suona, and with a burst of piercing and sharp suona sounds, the thousands of flintlock musketeers who had been shooting at medium distances (sixty or seventy paces) in a skirmish formation all completed a reload as quickly as possible, then inserted bayonets into their flintlock pistols, and then rushed towards the camp of the Spaniards, who had been blown up by grenades.

The first climax of the Battle of Flood Valley has arrived!