Unlike Wang Yuan, who was a little conservative, Shi Yong believed in the elite combat effectiveness of the best of the best, so he did not intend to fully equip the entire 5,000-strong force and advance at the same time, but selected 1,000 officers and men of the Marine Corps who were the most outstanding in terms of combat performance and training level from the 8,000 officers and men who landed and formed the first wave of commandos with 2,000 recovered horses to form a "cavalry commando" of about 1,500 men

Fifteen hundred men with only 2,000 horses was already a rather conservative use in relatively fast cavalry or cavalry infantry assault operations, because horses were always more likely to be lost or attrition than men in combat operations for various reasons, so it was necessary to retain a certain amount of wealth. And another factor is that in the Viceroyalty of Mexico, although it is the most populous and densely populated place under the Spanish rule, it is still far from being comparable to the interior of the Central Plains, and even the population density of the old frontier or Qinghai near the river in this era may not be exceeded, so if you want to have more convenient access to hidden places and water sources during the march, you can't have too many troops. At that time, when Xue Rengui or Su Dingfang and others fought in some sparsely populated places at the border passes, they also often relied on only one or two thousand elite soldiers and cavalry to carry out effective operations. With the necessary horses, even if the battle situation is unfavorable, the majority of officers and men can avoid losses to the greatest extent.

These people were mainly archers who carried a lot of bomb and explosive equipment and even equipment for attacking the city, as well as those who were very good at ranging and firing with firearms.

Of course, even so, these can be regarded as a heavy burden for the actions carried out by light horses, and if you want to carry out a surprise advance with the fastest action, it is inevitable that you will have to reduce a lot of horses, but Shi Yong, who personally led the vanguard team to advance, did not hesitate much.

Although the entire cavalry team carried a small number of vehicles, there were still three groups of hot air balloon reconnaissance teams accompanying the team to carry the baggage in the vehicles. No way, the role of detecting hot air balloons in previous operations is too important.

Fortunately, these light horses were no ordinary horses, and the riding skills of the elite personnel had changed drastically compared to a few years earlier, and in only four or five days they had approached Mexico City in a place where the draft was not too easy to find, one step ahead of the enemy retreating from the port. Near the city, it seemed that the agricultural area was not much inferior to that of the Central Plains, and the whole team did not dare to delay, and soon approached the city and launched a tentative attack on the heavy Spanish troops stationed nearby.

Mexico City, as a heavy place with a population of more than 100,000 and about 20,000 troops stationed, saw that only one or two thousand cavalry who did not carry much artillery came to attack and harass, and they were very bold to divide into multiple units and come to attack in an extremely loose formation, so they did not hesitate to order about 3,000 cavalry and horses to cooperate with 5,000 infantry to attack out of the city as quickly as possible, focusing on the west, probably only a few companies with hundreds of troops, and the strength was not a very strong opponent.

At the same time, he began to order the artillery fire of the fortified area to open heavy fire, so as to minimize the heavy losses of the enemy troops before engagement. Of course, the Spaniards stationed in Mexico City at this time also had a lot of strength that had retreated from the large-scale changes a few years earlier, so they did not dare to underestimate the fighting power of those powerful enemies in the east. However, even according to the understanding of the time, no matter how strong the enemy army is, to a large extent, it is just relying on the fact that the army at that time did not have decent preparations in terms of protective means, and launched a concentrated attack in a local area with about ten times the force, which can quickly annihilate the opponent and completely change the entire situation.

As Shi Yong expected, because it is too inland rather than a coastal port with convenient transportation conditions, the firepower deployed here does not seem to be very powerful, although it seems that hundreds of artillery pieces are deployed, and inexperienced people will also feel a huge threat because of those rumbling cannons, but for Shi Yong, who is not lacking in this experience, and even many officers and soldiers in the team, it is easy to judge that the specifications of those artillery guns will not exceed the specifications of jack guns at most. And field artillery of about three or five hundred catties is more common. When the heavy shotgun shells fall at a relatively close distance, the scale of the six or seven projectiles that imitate one's own side is only about one or twenty pieces.

Of course, even so, it is obviously a lot of pressure on the cavalry team that does not count the troops, even if the formation is relatively scattered, it is still possible for the horses to suffer unnecessary casualties and losses, or dismount the front row with shields and bows in the back row to fight, forming two relatively thin semi-circular formations around the left.

The Spanish cavalry and horsemen rounded the front, allowing the infantry behind to a distance of about 100 paces, and opened up a fierce opponent with heavy arquebuses and light field artillery, and combat experience showed that such a defensive head-to-head encounter should be very unfavorable to the English longbowmen who seemed to be a replica.

This time, however, he underestimated the archery skills and might of the elite officers and men of the landing force. After several years of bow and arrow training, many of the more prominent elites at this time also had the same effective use as the Manchurian elite soldiers of that year, which was not common in ordinary armies at all, even among the English longbowmen of that year. With more than 200 joules and little energy at long range, even the most decent-looking protective equipment of the Spaniards seemed to be a real defense, equipped with the finest bows and arrows. Often, when the angle between the arrow hit and the plate armor is slightly tilted, it can also enter the flesh and form a not too light scar. The bows and arrows that came one after another from a hundred paces away also flew into the enemy group at a very tricky angle, bypassing the shield accurately.

Although there is only one row of elite strong archers, the effect is not inferior to that of the six rows of archers who are the main force of the volunteer army, even if the enemy forces who shoot at each other have a clear advantage, they have to retreat to a longer distance at this time, but at a distance of 100 paces, whether it is a shotgun fired by a light field gun or a projectile fired by a heavy arquebus, the threat of projectiles is also greatly reduced.

At this time, the battle sappers began to fire with firearms at the enemy cavalry, which was more suitable for attacking with firearms.

(End of chapter)