The scattered gauchos made a decisive turn, and nearly a hundred Peruvian cavalry gave way to the Cossacks who rushed straight in. Their actions had a bad effect, and the Spanish infantry, who had long been overwhelmed by the continuous bombardment of the second field artillery outpost, immediately followed suit. When these well-pampered colonial armies had experienced such intense fighting, and had not collapsed by a quarter of the casualties, they were already worthy of their usual salary.

There is no doubt that the scales of the battle have been completely tilted in favor of the crossing side at this time. The Peruvian cavalry, who had no intention of fighting, fell under the fire of the pistols, and after a brief engagement with the cavalry battalion, they began to turn around and flee. Seeing this situation, Liao Meng was ecstatic and immediately ordered the mounted infantry post to immediately go back and ride their horses to pursue, and it was imperative to keep as many Spaniards as possible here today.

At this time, the outcome of the battle has been decided, and everyone will fight the tailwind. Zhu Liang's spearmen had suffered more than 20 casualties under the Spanish artillery just now, and the morale of this group of recruits had already been greatly demoralized.

The ground was littered with the corpses of Spaniards, abandoned cannons and muskets, and horses that had lost their owners, and Wei Aiwen pursued the Spaniards with a large number of well-organized mounted infantry posts. The gauchos in the Spanish formation fled the fastest, and by this time they were long gone; The remaining fifty or sixty Peruvian cavalry, pursued by Cossacks as numerous as them, did not dare to turn back even a little. As for the remaining 200 or so Spanish infantry, they were more embarrassed, they threw away their spears and heavy arquebuses, which were inconvenient to walk, and fled in the direction of Luocha. Many people simply stripped off their breastplates, threw away the light saber at their waists, and fled in vain.

It's a pity how two legs can outrun four legs. The soldiers of the cavalry infantry post circled in front of them like the wind, and after dismounting and firing a volley of guns, most of the Spaniards surrendered honestly, and a few of the recalcitrant were killed on the spot.

It took a long time to clean up the battlefield, and the weapons and horses scattered here and there were really not so easy to collect. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Cossacks who had pursued the Peruvian cavalry returned, and they were covered in blood and killed more than twenty Peruvian cavalrymen again, and then they returned. Of the 107 cavalry battalions before the battle, only 55 were left after the battle, and almost all of them were wounded, which can be described as extremely tragic. Xu Yu, who thought he would definitely hang up before the charge, was miraculously uninjured this time, but when he saw that nearly half of the brothers under his command were killed or wounded, his mood did not improve after all.

The flintlock musketeers of the two posts lost 12 killed and 7 wounded in the engagement; The spearmen lost 18 killed and wounded 10; The total number of casualties was 99, which was arguably the heaviest since the start of the war with the Spaniards. In addition, about 240 Spanish cavalry and 80 infantry were killed in this battle, 209 Spanish infantry were captured, and two four-pounder and eight-pounder bronze cannons, more than 150 arquebuses, more than 200 cuirasps, and several spears and light swords were captured.

After this battle, the most shady aura shrouded in the Spaniards was completely broken, and the morale of the troops on this side was greatly enhanced. The Spaniards' superior cavalry was devastated in the battle, with only 40 of the 200 regular cavalry captains from Peru brought home. The gauchos fled back with nearly a hundred horsemen, but their misdeeds had caused them to lose the trust of the Spaniards.

On the night of 17 July, news of the crushing defeat on the south bank of the Big Fish River reached the Spanish barracks on the north bank. Not only did the commander, Major Antonio Carlos, know what to say, but even many soldiers saw Captain Torres fleeing back with forty bloodied cavalrymen. The Spanish soldiers, who had long been impatient under Dingyuan Fort because of lack of food and clothing, suddenly rushed to pass on the gossip, and an uneasy atmosphere hung over the barracks.

"So you're defeated like that?" Major Antonio Carlos asked angrily as he looked at Captain Torres, whose face was covered in blood.

"The artillery fire of the Tatars was very fierce, their artillery had a long range and a fast rate of fire, and the infantry quickly collapsed under the blows of their 8 guns." Captain Torres explained with a grim face that he had just suffered the worst defeat of his life, and that he was no longer in the same way as before. Captain Torres, who was originally full of justice, elegant and temperamental, with always straight shoulders and back, seemed to be ten years old at this time, his shoulders were bent, and his legs trembled slightly, obviously the previous battle had greatly destroyed his spirit.

"And what about the cavalry troops? You brought 385 cavalry with you before the battle, and now only 145 have returned safely. How did you fight this battle? You idiot! Major Carlos was still a little furious.

"The cavalry of the Tatars was highly skilled in horsemanship and brave in battle. And each of them was armed with a pistol, which took advantage of them when fighting. Their cavalry fought with flintlock pikemen, and my men fought valiantly, but suffered heavy casualties. And...... Sir, the cowardly, vile and shameless gauchos who fled first at the most critical moment of the battle, their shameless actions shook the will of the kingdom's army to fight, and led to the great collapse that followed. Sir, they must be court-martialed! "Captain Torres gritted his teeth at the gauchos' escape.

"Captain Juan Cruz Torres, your frivolous remarks are the greatest slander against the brave gauchos, and I ask for a duel with you!" A tall officer in the tent stood up and said with an angry face. He was the leader of the Gacho Volunteers, a middle-aged Wrangler who was very appealing among the Gachos.

"Captain Torres, this is a serious charge. Are you sure you're telling the truth? And not a lie that you made up at random in order to shirk responsibility for the defeat? Another middle-aged officer in the tent questioned. He was a lieutenant in the Navy, a liaison officer sent to the Army side by the commander of the Diego Garcia fleet.

"The 40 Kingdom cavalrymen who came back with me can testify!" Torres looked contemptuously at the gaucho man standing across from him and said, "That's why the gauchos suffered so few casualties." Because they are cowards, they have shirked their responsibilities and betrayed their comrades who are still fighting on the battlefield, and there is nothing more disgusting than that. God testifies that I am not lying! I implore the Army to investigate this egregious incident! ”

"Enough!" Major Antonio Carlos interrupted Captain Torres, "I will ask Commander Garcia to investigate this matter." And Captain Torres, as for whether you have any command errors in terms of operations, I will also investigate. "There are now about 150 gaucho cavalrymen under Major Carlos' command plus those left behind, and whether or not they have escaped from the battle, now is not a good time to pursue them. On the contrary, Major Carlos had to try to stabilize them first, after all, whether he continued to fight or retreated, he could not do without these gaucho cavalry.

"Gentlemen, this war has now reached a very delicate moment, and the situation seems to be very bad for us. After this frustrating battle, we have lost the initiative in the war, and our supplies have been completely cut off. Major Carlos took a deep breath and said, "In fact, our supplies have never been fully flowing, and in this damn weather, the soldiers have lost more than two hundred men due to cold and disease. The rest of the soldiers were not in very good condition, and their morale was extremely low. At this point, I don't think we have to deceive ourselves anymore. The Tatars are very combat-ready, and I am pessimistic about the resumption of transport lines behind us again. Gentlemen, this war, in fact, is very difficult for us to continue. ”

There was some silence. Only a dozen days have passed, and the nearly 1,700 Royal Army, who had crossed the river in high spirits, fell into such a predicament. Underestimating the fighting power of the Tatars is the biggest sticking point! They were familiar with geography and weather, they had strong fortresses, they were well supplied, they were stubborn in battle, their artillery was excellent, they were heavily armed with advanced rifles, and they innovated the tactics of cavalry...... The difference in each of these items has an impact on the outcome of each battle, which in turn affects the course of the entire battle.

"To-morrow, Leo, you will go to Rocha with my personal letter, to give His Excellency Commander García a detailed account of the predicament we are facing, and to ask him to grant our request for retreat. I have to be responsible for the children who are still on the north bank of this river, and I have a responsibility to bring them to La Plata and Paraguay. This war...... After all, I can't fight anymore. Major Carlos said with a gloomy face.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Leo, the adjutant standing behind Major Carlos, bowed slightly. The young adjutant Leo also sighed a little, who would have expected the war to become such an embarrassing situation at the beginning of the war a few months ago? His Excellency the Inspector-General had written that rash warrant for war in Peru, and perhaps in his mind the Tartars were no match for the kingdom's army in this little force.

Thinking of this, Leo couldn't help but secretly slander His Excellency the Inspector General Romero.

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