On September 12, 1646, a large fleet entered the Río de la Plata. The tall masts, the plumes of smoke reaching into the sky, and the fluttering red flags all tell people that this is a fleet from the Eastern Coast Republic.

The entire fleet consisted of more than 20 ships, and at the front were four powerful battleships of the "10 August" class, namely the "10 August", the "Free Trade", the "National Will", and the recently completed "Kongzhì Dongfang". The four battleships were followed by as many as ten flute-type transports from the South China Sea Transport Company, which were loaded with army soldiers and all kinds of war materiel; And behind the transport, there were eight frigate gunboats. It can be said that the main forces of the First Fleet of the Navy of the Eastern Republic have been concentrated here.

The commander of this fleet is, of course, the famous lieutenant commander of the Navy and the commander of the First Fleet, Lu Ming. It is worth mentioning that this man was a rare anti-war faction in the military department, and was resolutely opposed to war with the Spaniards. If it weren't for the fact that his protégé was all over the two fleets, he would have been unable to sit in the position of commander of the main fleet. It's just that now that the country has made a choice, as a qualified soldier, even if he has any opinions in his heart, he can only go into battle at this time, use his experience and knowledge to destroy the Spanish fleet as much as possible, and at the same time minimize his own casualties and retain some vitality for the country.

The Spaniards should have received the news of the war by this time. It's just that according to the speed of the East Coast Fleet, they may have only received the news for less than a day. In fact, it didn't matter if they received the news or not, because their naval fleet had been in the harbor for months, and the soldiers on the batteries had been watching the river with vigilance. In case someone raids you.

Seeing that several warships of the enemy navy had made up their minds to stop in the harbor and store the zài fleet. The East Coast people didn't wait any longer. Several flute transports in turn headed for a small pier on the south bank of the Río de la Plata River. The pier is presumably a fishing pier, small enough to accommodate two boats at the same time. But fortunately, it is not like the port of Buenos Aires where there are many forts, not to mention the forts, and even the Spanish army is very small, which is suitable for the landing of the army on the east coast.

After two frigate gunboats came over and washed the ground with artillery, the East Coast army began a major landing. The first to land was the 1st Company of the Army, which landed on the pier without any hindrance, and it was like an outing.

After a successful login. Chang Kaisheng led his officers and soldiers to quickly occupy the entire dock, and there were no firefights during the whole process. The Spanish fishermen in the docks have long since fled, and the silence seems to be unreal. Had it not been for the occasional warning firing from the coastal defense batteries in the port of Buenos Aires in the distance, everyone who was landing would have suspected that this was a long-abandoned city.

With only a few hundred soldiers on the defensive, Buenos Aires simply can't muster more men to support it. At this time in history, there were only a few thousand white people in the whole of La Plata, although in this time and space, because of the existence of the people of the East Coast, there was a great development here far beyond the old time and space, and the whole La Plata at this time had nearly 20,000 white people from the Old World. But a large number of people were scattered over a vast area, and the population of Buenos Aires at this time was less than 5,000, and there were only about 1,000 strong white men. There may still be a large number of white men in the farmsteads and pastures in the country, but they will not be able to gather for a while. What's more, they're just a rabble. I can't afford to be hit head-on by the East Coast army, which I have been training hard for many years.

"Commander, look! The landing of the army was successful! The flag was raised on the pier! The young adjutant looked excitedly at the shore. Said.

Lu Ming turned his eyes and saw that the 101st Company of the Army had also landed, and at this time they were holding military flags and lining up in a neat queue towards the dock area. As if guessing that their every move was under the watchful eye of Lu Ming, the commander-in-chief of the operation and one of the veterans of the navy, the 240 officers and men of the whole company marched forward with their heads held high and marching neatly, and a burst of cheers of "Wan Sheng" broke out from time to time in the ranks, as if some officers were doing ideological mobilization.

Lu Ming looked at those young faces with fascination, looking at their facial expressions that were a mixture of excitement and nervousness, as if he was looking for a long-lost relative. After a long time, he sighed softly and looked away.

The landing operation is expected to last several days, and a large number of people, supplies and horses will be sent ashore one by one. The army, which was to be commanded by Chang Kaisheng, the commander of the 1st Company of the Army, who had been the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, would first sweep away some of the villages around Buenos Aires and then begin an attack on the enemy's coastal defense batteries outside the port. Chang Kaisheng's command was expected to gather four infantry companies, two cavalry companies, and two artillery companies, in addition to hundreds of militiamen serving as baggage soldiers, with a total strength of more than 2,000 men.

In addition to these troops, the East Coast Fleet at this time also carried a cavalry company, an artillery company, an infantry company, more than 300 military students of the 35th Regiment of the Guards Cadet Corps, and more than 300 militiamen who served as baggage troops, with a total strength of more than 1,100 people. These men will be commanded by Xie Hansan, the commander of the Army's 4th Company, and they will decide whether to enter the battle or not according to the situation, and they will be regarded as the general reserve of this campaign.

The landing Chang Kaisheng detachment had almost 2,000 troops, complete infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and it was not a problem to attack a battery defended by more than 100 soldiers. As long as the enemy's coastal defense batteries were captured, then they could even use these captured cannons to bombard the Spanish fleet in the harbor, and then see how they could hide. As long as the Spanish fleet of La Plata was annihilated, the navy of the people on the east coast would be freed up, after all, they still had many important tasks to do, such as escorting trade fleets to Europe.

The landing operation lasted two and a half days, and when the last barrel of gunpowder was also sent ashore, on September 15, Chang Kaisheng led the main force of the detachment along the coastline towards the enemy's coastal defense batteries a few kilometers away. As for the more than 600 militiamen, they stayed behind to guard the docks and were responsible for transporting supplies to the front. In the space of two or three days, the fleet unloaded a large number of wagons and horses at the wharf, and at the same time they collected some horses and cattle abandoned by the Spaniards in this small fishing port, which could also be used to transport goods.

The Spaniards had not made any attack on the port where the easterners had landed for three days, and it seemed that they had abandoned it, but it was more likely that they were not strong enough to retake the lost fishing port. According to the information obtained by the naval reconnaissance of Guò, they seem to have strengthened the defense of the coastal forts, improvised a large number of fortifications of mixed civil and engineering structures, and at the same time seem to have sent more than 200 armed peasants and several small-caliber army guns from the city to the forts to strengthen the defenses there.

The fort is located on the left bank of the later Riccuelo River, where the port of Buenos Aires is located, just a few kilometers from the city. To be honest, at this time, although the population of the port area in Putrajaya was not as large as that of the main city, its prosperity was far greater than that of the main city. Originally, the Spaniards' general's palace and other facilities were located in the port, but due to the threat of the people on the east coast, they moved the city government and the general's palace to the main city many years ago, and built many solid stone buildings there.

When Chang Kaisheng's detachment arrived at the outskirts of the fort on 15 September, it first scattered more than 220 men from two cavalry companies to cut off the battlefield and prevent the east bankers from being attacked by enemy cavalry - although this was unlikely. After constructing a temporary camp, on 16 September the East Bank Army launched a tentative assault on the Spanish forts.

Of the three hundred men who were stationed at the fort, only a third were regular soldiers. It is actually very reluctant to say that it is a regular army, and the training intensity of the colonial army has always been very poor, and the combat effectiveness and will to fight are just like that. However, if they are allowed to engage in field battles, it may not be possible, but it is still barely possible to hold the fortifications.

The entire daytime of the 16th ended with the exchange of artillery fire from both sides. The four bronze cannons of the Spaniards could not compete with the sixteen field guns of the two artillery batteries on the east bank, and they were all destroyed on the same day. The victorious East Coast Army had tried to attack the enemy's forts, but whenever they approached, they were hit back by shells fired from Spanish warships anchored in the river.

Fortunately, they also had a plan before the war, and they brought with them two siege guns converted from the Navy's 24-pounder long-barreled naval guns. The gun wagon, towed by eight horses, is expected to arrive here tomorrow. With this siege cannon with a range that surpassed the longest-range naval guns on Spanish warships, it was not a problem to take down the Spanish batteries.

But Chang Kaisheng is not willing to wait until tomorrow. That night, he selected 150 soldiers from the 1st, 101st, 103rd, and 106th companies of the army to join the Brave Brigade and attack at night.

The results of the night raid can only be described as unsatisfactory. The soldiers on the east coast tried to seize the fort while throwing bombs everywhere, but in one night they only destroyed three pieces of the Spaniards' guns, killed and wounded dozens of soldiers, and suffered more than 20 casualties themselves. After hearing the news, Lu Ming, commander of the naval fleet, immediately sent someone to severely reprimand Chang Kaisheng, asking him not to attack at night without authorization, so as not to increase casualties. Chang Kaisheng, who was scolded by a stinking meal, could only endure and wait for the arrival of the siege artillery.

On 17 September, two siege guns arrived at the front. They carefully set up their guns outside the range of the guns of the Spanish warships, and named the guns on the Spanish batteries by direct sight, and as a result, they hit two gun emplacements within two hours, and at the same time destroyed two coastal defense guns, they also killed and wounded seven or eight Spanish artillerymen, and the Spaniards were immediately shocked. (To be continued......)