"Boom! Rumble! "In the middle of a large field north of Santa Fe, several shells landed on the ground and bounced violently. Several Spanish soldiers in disheveled uniforms screamed and fell to the ground, but many more remained unmoved, still guarding the movement of four cannons. Farther away, hundreds of Spanish cavalry were ready to go out, and as soon as the cavalry units on the east coast were dispatched, they would follow suit, to ensure the safety of their beloved artillery units.

The guns on the turrets were firing non-stop shells, and by the time the four guns of the Spaniards reached the preset position, one of them had already been destroyed by the East Bank artillery, which made the Spaniards hateful. They immediately returned fire, only to hear a few "boom" cannon shots, and the whistling iron balls shook the ground and the brick debris of the mixed brick and wood structure of the east bank turret, and the soldiers in the turret were also disgraced. However, everyone's feelings were quite stable and their fighting spirit was quite high, and under the command of the officers, they immediately pointed their guns at the artillery positions of the Spaniards and quickly returned fire.

After the two guns that were facing the direction of the Spaniards' attack returned fire, the other two guns facing the west side were also being pulled by the soldiers, ready to attack the Spaniards together. At the same time, the commander of the 6th Army, which was deployed around the turret, immediately adjusted his deployment in response to the actions of the Spaniards, and they quickly transferred two light howitzers from the rear, and then added explosive shells to the barrels, and fired them at the crowded places of the Spanish army, with the intention of killing and injuring the personnel of the Spanish army.

In this way, the two sides engaged in a bloody battle on the front line. Thanks to the people of the East Coast, the establishment of the Spanish Colonial Legion in Lima has been expanded over the years. The total number of troops has also recovered to eighty percent of its heyday, about 7,000 people. And that's not all. Its firearms armament rate is also over 60 per cent: more than 4,000 people are armed with arquebuses or flint guns. For historical and practical reasons, the firearms penetration rate of the Spanish colonial legion has always been higher than that of Europe itself, but the firearms penetration rate of 60% is very rare even among the major colonies.

At this time, the army sent by the Spaniards to Santa Fe was more elite, because it was a purely firearms force - even the cavalry was armed with short-barreled muskets, which can be said to be more expensive. However, the equipment is up, but the combat effectiveness and fighting will are not as good as the legions in Europe, which is also a helpless thing, after all, the colonies are always facing a law and order war.

Of course, as their opponents, the 6th Army on the East Coast. In addition to the fact that the main company has rich combat experience, the combat experience of the vast number of militia members is limited to the level of law and order warfare, and it can be said that they are half a pound and eight taels with these Spaniards. Their so-called advantage lies only in the frequency and intensity of training, and their combat skills are higher and more proficient than those of the Spaniards. Therefore, this offensive and defensive battle between the two sides has been in a stalemate from the beginning.

The Spaniards' infantry numbered just over 1,000 men, but at the moment they had to attack the turrets while dividing their forces to guard against the attack of the 6th Army on the east bank on the flank, the militia brigade from Luoqia County. So it was a hard fight. Throughout the morning of this day (May 21), they had just knocked down a corner of a turret on the left, and forced the easterners to lose 18 men and a piece of artillery; But correspondingly, they themselves had already lost two guns and more than eighty soldiers - most of them killed or wounded under the guns of the East Coast howitzers fired from the side.

But even so, the Spaniards' determination to pull out the nails in the turret was strong. In the afternoon they again organized a new offensive, this time in addition to the routine artillery bombardment. A large number of soldiers also launched an infiltration attack on the east bank turret, where the wall was damaged, but they were all repelled by the prepared East Bank soldiers. When the sun was about to set, the two sides tacitly stopped fighting at the same time, and then each sent men with white flags to the middle of the battlefield to contain the wounded and exchange corpses.

"Commander. During the day, the militia lost 11 killed and 15 wounded; The infantry of the 6th Company, which was guarding the turret, lost 4 killed and 9 wounded, and the artillerymen lost 2 killed and 3 wounded. Anda Fifteen's adjutant reported to him in a low voice. Those Klandians and gauchos watched a day's play this year, and let them rush tomorrow? ”

The strength of the attacking Spaniards has basically been figured out. After many investigations and summaries by the intelligence officers of the gendarmerie, and the arrest and interrogation of prisoners, the intelligence staff has now confirmed that the Spanish army attacking Santa Fe came from the Lima Colonial Legion, with a total of more than 18oo people, including about 5ooo cavalry, 1ooo artillerymen, 12ooo infantry, and about 2ooo Indian slaves recruited from Córdoba, Turkmenistan, Jujuy, etc. -- these people are responsible for logistics and transportation tasks.

Although it is not known what the idea of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru is fighting and what strategy it is implementing, it is now clear that they have sent reinforcements to support La Plata, which shows that they are not willing to give up the La Plata area. Or maybe they didn't dare to give up La Plata under the strictness of the Madrid side, so they had to organize an army to come from afar. But in any case, now they need to conquer the key of Santa Fe City, otherwise they will not be able to talk about it.

"The Spaniards' offensive was nothing more than that." Anda Fifteen stood on a small earthen bag outside the city, wiping the ancestral katana with a white handkerchief, while squinting at the battlefield that was still scattered with smoke and dust, and said: "In the past two days, more than 200 gauchos and krandis have been running back in the past two days, and tomorrow you will lead the army to urge them to come forward and take over some of the 6th army fortifications outside the turret." It is not a pity that these fellows dare to be deserters, and let them go into battle to face the Spanish offensive to atone for their crimes. ”

"Yes." The adjutant replied immediately, then took out his notebook and jotted down the order. After finishing the note, he continued to accompany Anda 15 to inspect the position, and the militiamen who were sitting on the inside and outside of the fortifications were snoring and eating dinner, but when they saw Anda 15, surrounded by a group of officers, approaching, they all stood upright.

Anda 15 walked up to them, looked at today's dinner: a pot of clear soup noodles, two meatloaf, a spoonful of soybean beef, a plate of spiced whale meat, and then asked, "What about pickled cod?" Why didn't you see it? ”

"Commander, there are only 2 pickled cod in a month, and this is not yet the end of the month." The adjutant reminded softly, "I just shipped a batch of slippery fish the day before yesterday, and I have already distributed them to everyone." ”

Anda Fifteen looked at these soldiers who looked like mud monkeys, their faces were stern and their whole bodies were tense and stood in place like sculptures, which made him say with emotion: "Originally, I wanted to say something to encourage everyone not to relax and fight bravely, but seeing everyone working so hard, I couldn't say anything when it came to my lips. Adjutant Lee, starting tonight, cancel the ration of all officers. The cod, beef, tobacco, sugar, and wine we saved were all given to the brothers, who worked so hard that we could not justify enjoying them as much as we wanted. ”

After saying this, he went up to each soldier one by one, lifted the brim of their hats, straightened their collars, and comforted them from time to time. Although these people were all militiamen from Luoqia County, Anda 15 was not familiar with them, but this did not prevent him from chatting with these peasant children about family life, and then saying a few words of encouragement.

After shaking hands with more than 20 officers and soldiers in the fortifications one by one, Anda 15 directly asked the adjutant to bring his own dishes and chopsticks, scooped half a bowl of noodles in the wooden barrel with the soldiers, and then poured the soybean beef into the bowl and mixed it, and beckoned the soldiers to sit down and eat together while eating. At the same time, the adjutant also brought over Anda Fifteen's wine and distributed it to each soldier on the spot, and the atmosphere became warm at once.

"The Spaniards only have one or two thousand men who dare to commit a big taboo and travel a long distance to attack my fortified position, and it is impossible to say that they will not suffer a big loss this time." Anda Fifteen ate two bites of noodles and then held up chopsticks to cheer up the soldiers.

"Destroy this group of Spaniards and kill them to Córdoba!" An older-looking non-commissioned officer was the first to respond, his face flushed, as if from taking a sip of the spirits.

"Go to Córdoba and rob the Spaniards!" A young soldier shouted out his heartfelt words, which caused everyone to laugh. But this is the truth, everyone is different from the regular army, not even military pay, so far everyone only received two yuan when they went out to board the ship, and the rest of the time they really didn't take a penny to fight for life and death. If it weren't for the fact that everyone sent hundreds of dollars of bank acceptance bills to their homes, I am afraid that everyone's morale would not have been so high.

"If there is really an intention to attack a prosperous city like Córdoba, I will also ask His Excellency the detachment commander for instructions from my department to take charge of the main attack. When the time comes, you must fight bravely without fear of life and death, once the city is broken, I will ask His Excellency the detachment leader with an old face to allow my troops to lead the city first. Anda XV knew what the soldiers liked to hear, so he tried his best to say something that would arouse everyone's interest.

The soldiers were greatly excited when they heard this, and the glory and benefits of leading the city were simply indescribable.

"But we need to hold off the Spaniards here first." Anda Fifteen saw that everyone's faces were full of smiles, and immediately changed his words and said: "The Spaniards have come from afar, and it is impossible to last. We just need to defend in peace, and when their blades are dull and their morale is low, we will strike again to defeat this Spaniard and achieve immortal success. And this, first of all, we need to unite sincerely to withstand the offensive of the Spaniards in the next few days. ”

"Rest assured, Commander, we will definitely not let the Spaniards bargain in the future." Everyone immediately said in a gossipy.

On May 22 and 23, 1647, the Spaniards launched a large-scale attack for two consecutive days, one of the turrets north of Santa Fe was destroyed, and the other was damaged, but under the united defense of the officers and soldiers on the east bank, the Spaniards did not make any progress, and suffered heavy casualties, lost most of the artillery (4 guns), and their morale also fell very badly.

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