However, the fierce attack of the coalition forces on the northern position did not seem to last long, and under the fierce pressure of the other two regiments from the flank and rear directions, they could only devote more and more troops to the defense, so that they finally had to change from the original offensive state to rely on a circular position within a radius of only about two or three miles to carry out on-the-spot defense.

Of course, since the expedition since the confrontation also let the coalition forces learn a lot and improve a lot in many aspects, in the siege battle lasted for most of the day or so, until near dusk, it still formed a continuous miles of trench fortifications that can be quite simple to accommodate, but in the case of fighting while withdrawing manpower for fortification work, it is obvious that it is impossible to form a truly effective covered protection, and it is impossible for the anti-artillery cliff hole to be perfected in such a short period of time.

In order to effectively encircle the enemy, the casualties suffered by the three regiments were not small. The regiment responsible for the defense on the back had about seven or eight hundred casualties in less than one day's battle, and more than half of the casualties were lost, and the regiments in the other two directions also suffered about 300 casualties each, but the loss of about 4,500 troops in one day was as high as 1,300 people, although the besieged coalition forces also suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, but Shi Yong, who came to the battlefield and was personally responsible for directing the battle, understood, During the day, the advantages of your own army in projection training can be fully utilized, but if it is night, it is unknown whether they can resist the enemy's desperate breakthrough with all their might. Therefore, when night had just begun to fall, and the enemy's breakthrough counterattack had not yet begun, a fierce round of blasting attacks began at this time. In order to maximize the lethality, although the projectile used to launch the blasting attack this time was a heavy shrapnel that had been prepared for a long time, the direction of the launch crater was adjusted as much as possible and the charge was increased, and the whole team also took the risk of accidental injury.

Under the fierce burst of gunpowder, more than 500,000 heavy shotguns of six or seven taels were attacked with a wider spread than before, and they also brought ricochets of one kind or another among the rocks in the mountainous areas near Potosí, where the soil was not soft.

If we were faced with a relatively well-defended defensive position, these more than 500,000 heavy bombs of about six or seven taels might not be of much use at all. However, for the coalition forces, which had just barely formed a hasty defense, hundreds of thousands of bullets that rained down suddenly in the night caused casualties and losses of about 12,000 out of more than 30,000 in a very short period of time. The team that was just ready to launch a counterattack also suffered a loss of about thirty percent in a short period of time, and the last trace of morale of the team also obviously suffered a big blow, and a large-scale counterattack was blocked in the bud before it could take shape.

Shi Yong did not take advantage of this opportunity to launch a full-scale assault, so he still dedicated one-third of his men to continue to strengthen the fortifications and build simple earthen or stone ramparts to prevent the enemy from escaping.

It wasn't until near dawn that the morale of the besieged coalition forces finally recovered, and in the early hours of the morning, a full-scale counterattack was launched again. This time, the enemy was greeted by a continuous rain of arrows and firearms supported by a continuous stream of black powder grenades. The light black powder grenade is not very powerful, but at close range at night, it can make the enemy in the night flash for a short time, giving the attacking projectile class a chance.

Of course, even so, the officers and soldiers on the back of the attacking enemy's assault focus also ushered in a close and fierce confrontation, but at this time, the officers and soldiers stationed in the positions of the regimental groups in the north were no longer the previous teams that had suffered heavy casualties and losses, but the elite of the new rotation.

This also made the breakthrough prepared by the coalition forces ultimately have to end in failure. As the sky began to lighten, with the continuous rumbling of artillery, the coalition forces in the encirclement seemed to begin to understand that the end they were likely to face was coming.

The siege and confrontation near the Potosí silver mine lasted several days or so, and finally ended with the total defeat of the coalition forces, almost completely annihilated, except for the capture of thousands of prisoners who were not too badly wounded.

At this point in the battle, the three temporary regiments engaged in the battle suffered casualties of about 2,200 casualties, almost half of the troops invested. However, Shi Yong did not feel a trace of pressure from the casualties in the fierce battles near Potosí, because this was not only because of this, but also because from now on, except in some port areas, the coalition land and sea forces in the New World should not have much ability to launch a counteroffensive deep into the interior after suffering heavy blows one after another.

This large-scale defeat also quickly made the remnants of Veracruz's 30,000 naval fleet and even more than 20,000 ground troops still fall into the rumor, I don't know if those strong eastern enemies who have won consecutive battles will storm Veracruz the next night.

However, in the months that followed, Shi Yong abandoned a truly large-scale attack on Veraclus, and almost abandoned any intention of a full-scale counteroffensive on land, in addition to the continuous mining of minerals around Potosí, even if the enemy seemed to have withdrawn from the sizable fleet at sea for the time being.

In the following months, the defenders of Veracruz also strengthened the defense system in this area through not too small manpower and fortifications, in addition to the great change of the fortification system, the original medium and heavy artillery positions on the shore also increased from the original scale of about six or seven hundred to about fifteen hundred guns, and the entire port began to become the most important force support for the remnants of Europe in the New World at this time.

However, to the surprise of Veracruz's coalition forces, the reinforcement fleet that bypassed the far continent to the south seemed to have bypassed the southernmost point without taking as long as expected, and gradually began to approach from the south after a long coastline voyage.

The decisive battle at sea, which was not too small, also seemed to be about to break out at this time. For Wang Yuan at this time, although the long-term voyage made the team's state seem to be a little bad, his confidence also began to become more sufficient at this time.

(End of chapter)