A light rain fell in the sky, which made Chang Kaisheng snort secretly. I'm about to attack, God, it's really bad luck for you to suddenly give me such a play!

The artillery brothers hurriedly set up rain shelters for the artillery positions, and the Spanish artillery had already opened fire in twos and threes, and the cadet staff officers of the military academy who accompanied the army carefully noted the location of the enemy's artillery -- basically some civilian houses, and then handed them over to the artillery company commander.

The superiority of artillery caliber and firing range was manifested at this time. On the artillery positions laid by the people on the east bank, it was difficult for the small-caliber bronze artillery of the Spaniards to strike effectively. Even if some long-barreled cannons were able to attack the occasional cannon, the iron bullets that came were the last of the crossbows, and the soft muddy soil on the riverbank and the light rain were still falling, so the shells only rolled on the ground a few times before losing their kinetic energy. If it weren't for a direct hit, it would have been difficult to do any damage to the people on the East Coast. By now, the Spaniards had fired several rounds of artillery, and only two hapless militiamen on the east bank had been grazed by the artillery, resulting in one dead and one wounded, with negligible casualties.

The artillerymen on the east bank were soon ready to fire, and under Chang Kaisheng's order, the 24 guns of the three artillery batteries opened fire one after another, and the dense shells rained down on the city of Santa Fe. The position of the enemy artillery given by the staff officers was the main target, so after only two rounds, one of the Spaniards' artillery was hit and destroyed on the spot.

"That's the power of a cannon!" Sun Wen, the commander of the 1st Company of Independent Field Artillery, who commanded the entire artillery battle, said with a grin. He was a staunch artilleryist, advocating that the infantry, cavalry, and engineers on the battlefield must serve the artillery unconditionally, with artillery as the core. Because artillery is the god of war.

The roaring artillery battle continued. Although he was beaten to hide in Tibet. But the Spanish artillerymen did not admit defeat. Instead, they fired two luck rounds that directly destroyed the artillery carriage of an 8-pounder gun on the east coast, and caused casualties to three soldiers of the 2nd Company of Independent Field Artillery. This made Sun Wen so angry that he smoked, but he was helpless.

The artillery battle continued until ten o'clock in the morning, when the Spaniards destroyed two more guns, and at this point they had only one 8-pounder gun still able to fire. The ratio of artillery numbers was 1:23, and such a huge contrast made the Spaniards tremble. Everyone will probably be smashed into meat sauce one by one by the cannonballs falling from the sky, right?

The Spaniards apparently did not want to see such a situation happen. Soon, about a thousand Guarani men rushed out of the streets of Santa Fe and, after finishing their lines, rushed to the positions of the East Bank army with a shout. Most of the men were holding cold weapons, and on this rainy day, the small number of arquebuses they were originally equipped with were no different from burning sticks in the field, so it was better to use wooden spears and swords.

When Chang Kaisheng saw these Guarani people attacking, he immediately guessed the intention of the Spaniards. They wanted to take advantage of the rainy and humid climate to use Guarani cannon fodder full of religious fervor to deplete the strength of the people on the east coast. This was the only way for them to be bombarded with such brawn by the artillery of the East Coast. Sooner or later, the whole city will be in ruins, so what are they going to fight? It was buried directly under the rubble.

After seeing the Spaniards make a move. Chang Kaisheng immediately took countermeasures. Twenty-four musketeers from the 1st Company rushed into the canopy of the artillery, where they were to shoot at the Guarani who were coming from afar. The 101st and 103rd companies of the army, as well as about a thousand militiamen, all had their guns bayoneted, and they lined up in close formations wearing infantry cuirasses, quietly waiting for the arrival of the Guarani. As for the 106th Company of the Army, as well as 600 militiamen from Rocha County, they were on standby in the dock area as the general reserve for the campaign.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Even though it was raining and wet, the 1st Company of the Army, which was hiding under the canopy, was still nearly sixty percent fiery green, and forty or fifty of the charging Guarani fell silently, but many more still charged forward without hesitation. Some small-caliber 4-pounder guns also relied on the advantage of agility to quickly turn their muzzles and fire at the surging crowd of Guarani, and the solid iron balls, explosive shells and even chain bullets that flew out caused terrifying damage in the crowd, and more Guarani screamed and fell to the ground, and the people behind them trampled past them and continued to rush forward.

The 101st and 103rd companies of the army and a total of 1,500 militia members roared "Wan Sheng" with solemn faces at this time, and resolutely met the direction of the Guaraní people. They first raised their rifles flat, and after firing the bullets in the chamber in turn, they rushed forward with bayonets in the rousing "Victory Belongs to the Army" march. On both sides of them, the brothers of the 1st and 2nd companies of the cavalry had turned over and mounted their horses, although there was not much space outside Santa Fe, and the ground was slippery and soft, not suitable for cavalry to attack, but at this time they would not sit idly by and watch the infantry fight the enemy, they decided to play their part and go into battle at the critical moment, and instantly defeat this group of daring Guarani.

There was a "click" sound, and the sharp East Coast 41-year-old steel bayonet collided violently with the sabers and wooden spears of the Guarani, and the array lines of the two sides also collided fiercely. There were thousands of Guarani people when they set out, and after being baptized with muskets and cannons on the way, there were probably only about 600 people who rushed to the front of the east bank formation. How could the more than 600 unarmed, fairly well-organized Guarani men withstand a 1,500-strong East Bank army in infantry cuirasses and rifles armed with bayonets?

So they were hit back hard in the first place. The rifles and bayonets of the East Coast Army were a terrifying 1.75 meters long, and if the wooden spears and sabers of the Guarani did not hit the enemy's vital points, their unprotected chests would soon be pierced by more than two bayonets at the same time.

The screams were heard one after another, but mostly from Guaraní. Their wooden spears could not penetrate the high-strength curved steel armor at all, while the opponent's bayonets could penetrate their bodies lightly, so they were crushed in an instant. The East Bank militia on both flanks gradually gathered around, trying to surround this force that underestimated the East Bank Army's ability to fight with cold weapons, and they did not seem to intend to let any enemy go back alive.

The cavalry also moved at this time. The 1st and 2nd Companies slowly outflanked from both flanks, and lightly intercepted a small number of Guarani soldiers who had successfully escaped from the center of the battle and were trying to escape back to Santa Fe. They slowly controlled their horses' speed to make sure they didn't fall on the slippery and fluffy muddy ground of the river, and whenever they came across an escaped Guarani, they stabbed them up. The sharp blade slices lightly through the enemy's body, as easily as slicing through the smooth tofu. The 110 officers and men of the 3rd Cavalry Company kept an eye on the direction of Santa Fe to prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements again. If that happens, then the 106th Company of the Army, which is on standby, and 600 militiamen from Luoqia County will be sent into battle.

The Spaniards did not send any more reinforcements, and perhaps they were also shocked by the defeat of the Guarani, who did not seem to have expected that a thousand barbarians, who seemed to them to be very "brave", would be defeated so quickly and so cleanly, which was completely unexpected.

The fighting and shouting gradually subsided, and the last hundred or so Guarani were surrounded by the east coast in the center. Their faces were filled with fear and despair, their eyes blurred by the fine rain, and their scarred bodies trembled slightly, they were in a desperate situation.

Even fanatical and courageous believers are still terrified when they are in a desperate situation!

The raindrops continued to hit the battlefield, and the mud that had been trampled by countless people was full of puddles, some of which were muddy rain, and some of which were blood-red blood. The ground that had been trampled into mud was black with bright red, and occasionally you could see some fragments of human organs, which made people feel disgusting to watch.

"The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a hero! Kill! The deputy company of the 101st Company, who led the team, shook the water droplets on the bayonet and rushed forward with a loud roar. He was followed by countless bright bayonets, shouting slogans, cursing the enemy with the most vicious incantations, and then plunging the sharp bayonets into the enemy's body.

The battle was soon over, and the last Guarani fell to the dirt, reduced to lifeless corpses. Warm blood gushed from the wound, creating a large pool of glaring blood on the ground.

After quickly eliminating the Guarani, there was a moment of silence on the battlefield. The Spaniards don't seem to have recovered from the shock, while the East Coasters need to calm their minds a bit.

However, the artillery brothers were still not idle, they kept sending shells into Santa Fe City, and after finally destroying the only small cannon left by the Spaniards, Chang Kaisheng ordered the army soldiers to cooperate with the artillery and start the final offensive against the cowards who were cowering in the La Plata Infantry Regiment in Santa Fe.

The ensuing battle was lackluster, with the East Coast taking the trouble to destroy the houses held by the Spaniards one by one. They didn't even bother to engage in close-range musket fire with the Spaniards, but concentrated on using a large number of artillery pieces to scrub the floors and clear the streets house by house.

The Spaniards could not cope with this offensive, and after holding out until dark, they took advantage of the darkness of night to withdraw from the city of Santa Fe and hurriedly fled north. After sending all three cavalry companies out for a limited pursuit, Chang Kaisheng led the main force into Santa Fe, which was in ruins for half of the city. (To be continued......)