June 30th. Clear. Early South American winters during the Xiaoice period were cold. More than 20 ships, large and small, were moored in the waters off the coast of Luocha, and the crown flag of the Spaniards hunted and flew in the cold wind. The sailors shouted a trumpet to hoist a heavy cannon or a horse through a block of pulleys to a small boat that was drifting on the sea, and the sailors of the boat secured these things and rowed towards the shore.

A considerable number of soldiers had already landed on the shore at this time, and the soldiers, under the command of the officer, had set up a loose guard position to protect the main force that was in the chaos of the landing.

Captain Torres rode his horses and led a group of gaucho volunteers through the low hills near the coast of Rocha in case of the prying eyes of enemy scouts or a surprise attack by the enemy's main force. More than 40 gaucho riders have been landed, and Captain Torres has divided them into six groups and distributed them in all directions to guard and patrol. These gauchos were poorly armed, but they were immediately skilled, fought bravely, and were generally of good quality.

Leonid led his war horse and crouched on the hilly meadow, carefully gazing at the landing scene of the Spaniards on the sea more than a thousand meters in front of the hill. Having received a basic military education in a short-term crash course at the Dingyuan Army Military Academy, he struggled to discern what he saw of the number and composition of the Spaniards.

"Victor, now begin to record, the Spaniard landing infantry consisted mainly of cuirassiers, spearmen and arquebusiers. The ratio of musketeers was high, about 2:1 compared to spearmen, and in addition, there were about a hundred flintlock pishiers. The dense sea boats were still transporting people and supplies back and forth towards the shore, Leonid said as he held up his monoculars and turned to the soldiers behind him.

He was followed by four Cossack cavalrymen from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, one of whom took out a pen and paper and began to take notes, on which he drew crookedly symbols and numbers that only he understood, while the remaining three rode on horses and carefully guarded the surroundings.

"The number of infantry that has landed so far is about 1,000 people, in addition, some horses have also been transported to the shore, and it is expected that there will be a considerable number of cavalry in the enemy formation." Leonid continued, "A total of four guns have been seen being removed from the ship, visually 4-pounder Army field guns. ”

Leonid and the others observed and recorded, and at this moment, a vigilant cavalry suddenly issued an alarm: there was an enemy sentry in front of him approaching quickly. Leonid quickly slipped the monocular into his saddle bag, turned on his horse, and looked in the direction his men were pointing, only to see a group of men in colorful costumes rushing towards him from a distance.

"It's a gaucho!" Leonid must have said. Before they set out, they were trained in the composition of the Spanish army in the La Plata area, so he was well aware of the existence of the gauchos, a special group in the Spanish army.

Like the São Paulo or Mameluco people in Brazil (1), the gauchos are of mixed Spanish and Indian descent. They are a blend of Indian and Spanish cultures, live in the vast pampas, and have their own unique way of life, mostly herding for their livelihood. Fierce and fierce by nature, they can draw their swords at the casino or at the wine table, and have always been a headache for the local Spanish sheriff in the La Plata area. Now this group of proud sons of the Pampas steppes met the Cossack warriors from the Ukrainian steppes, and almost from the moment they found each other, Leonid understood that today's battle was going to be endless.

"Prepare for battle!" Leonid pulled out the cavalry-standard 1633 flintlock pistol from his waist and began to reload and load, while the four men behind him did the same. There were about six or seven men on the side of the gauchos, all brandished with sabers, and rushed down a gentle slope. It was a hilly and gently sloping area, and there was not much room for the cavalry to maneuver.

It was too late to retreat, and only by first eliminating or defeating the gaucho cavalry in front of them could Leonid and the others calmly withdraw.

"Ulla!" Leonid took the lead in charging forward with the reins in his left hand and the 1633 flintlock pistol in his right hand, which was already in a state ready to fire. Due to the low production of pistols, each cavalryman was currently only equipped with a Type 1633 flintlock pistol, and in order to compensate for the lack of firepower, they also had a cavalry pistol and a saber in the saddle bag under the saddle as supplementary weapons.

Neither side wore armor, the gauchos wore a variety of national costumes, while the Ukrainian cavalry wore uniform dark blue army uniforms. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, and Leonid could even tell that some of the other side were holding in their hands the 32-year-old non-commissioned officer knives that were sold in the La Plata area.

"Bang! Bang! "Having entered the range of the pistols, the five horsemen fired their flintlock pistols in their hands almost at the same time, and then they quickly drew their sabers from their saddlebags. Three of the oncoming gauchos fell off their horses in the first wave of pistol fire, and the remaining four continued to charge, and the two sides quickly intertwined. Leonid easily dodged the swords of the oncoming gauchos with his skillful horsemanship, and slashed his saber on the opponent's body while dodging, and there was a "poof" sound, which was the sound of the blade rubbing against the flesh. At this moment, Leonid seemed to have regained the pleasure of crossing the Crimean peninsula. In those years, countless Tatars, Turks, Poles and even Russians died in this way by the saber of the brave Zaporozhye Cossacks.

After charging some distance, Leonid, who had slowed down, turned his horse's head and found that the cavalry following him was already missing one man. There were only two Gachos left on the opposite side, and these two people not only did not run away at this time, but turned around and rushed over, as if they wanted to continue the fight with Leonid and others.

"A true warrior!" Leonid praised it and led the remaining three cavalrymen to meet him. At this time, he did not have time to reload the pistol, and he did not bother to reload the pistol, and the battle between the warriors was settled with a saber.

Sabres fly, blood gushing. The two remaining gaucho cavalrymen fell off their horses weakly, and behind them, a Ukrainian cavalryman also clutched his stomach and fell to the grass foaming at the mouth. Leonid turned his horse's head and galloped back to the battlefield where the two sides had just clashed. After dismounting, a cavalryman immediately rushed to the cavalryman who had fallen from the horse with the most stabbed knife just now, and called the names of his comrades while checking his injuries. After a long time, he put down his comrade's body and slowly shook his head at Leonid.

"Victor, Oleg, go and put away the corpses of the brothers, and the horses scattered nearby, go and do it!" Leonid commanded in silence, and then rode his horse to the first place where the two sides were fighting. There were four people on the ground, three gauchos were shot and died, and a Cossack cavalryman was already on the verge of dying, having a large cut in his abdomen. Leonid rolled and dismounted, clasped the soldier's right hand, and listened to him whisper something in a faint voice and native slang until his voice faded inaudible.

The war horse did not leave, it snorted and licked the face of its master, as if calling the master to wake up and continue to fight side by side......

After tying the bodies of his comrades to the horses, Leonid examined the corpses of several gauchos on the ground. The gauchos were poor herdsmen, with scarce household items other than sabers—except a leather bag. The leather pouch was divided into salt, dry food, yerba mate, and lighter, but nothing else, and it didn't look much better than that of Hanako.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Leonid and the three did not dare to stay for long. First, they were worried about encountering the scouts of the second team of Spaniards, and second, they wanted to send back important information about the landing of the Spaniards as soon as possible, so the three of them hurriedly left the battlefield. Three men and twelve horses galloped towards the nearest stronghold of the crossing people, Dingyuan Fort.

On the morning of July 1. Lin Youde, Chang Kaisheng and others, who were stationed at Dingyuan Fort, received the news of the large-scale landing of the Spaniards, and in the afternoon, the news was transmitted back to the Executive Committee and the War Department, and the army immediately began its pre-war mobilization.

Up to now, the regular main force of the army has nearly 500 infantry posts, more than 100 cavalry posts, and nearly 100 artillery posts, with a total strength of about 700 people. In addition, since the critical moment of life and death had already arrived, some of the civilian personnel, skilled craftsmen, prisoners and charruas who performed better were also urgently mobilized as the general reserve of the campaign. These people generally have less training in peacetime, their equipment is a mixture of hot and cold weapons, and their will to fight is also very average. However, once the battle situation on the front line is unfavorable, these people will also go into battle no matter what.

The first and second outposts of infantry, the second outpost of artillery, and about 100 reserves were stationed in Dingyuan Fort at this moment, and the rest were stationed in the capital. Everything is ready for the Spaniards to come.

The smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield is finally about to enter the most intense moment.

(1) The São Paulo and Mameluco are both descendants of mixed Portuguese and Brazilian Indians.

PS: Just came back. This chapter is made up for yesterday, and today is trying to catch up.

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