Chapter 357: Battle of Praias

Westerners always like to engage in gentlemen's wars as a symbol of their escape from the brutal dark ages of the Middle Ages and their entry into the age of civilization.

However, war is a symbol of evil, and if it is ??? Gong Lu Mu Cai Osprey? Throw the oracle bud 阕臃牌ā?br>

Bang bang bang

Nearly 300 soldiers of the first echelon of the Chinese Imperial Marine Corps took the lead in firing, and a volley of projectiles was fired at the Spanish militia, and the hot lead bullets hit the body, and immediately flesh and blood flew everywhere, causing huge casualties.

The Marine Corps platoon was lined up in three platoons, each with about a hundred guns, firing in turns. The Spanish militia was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.

Whichever side shoots first will take advantage, especially since the two sides are less than 100 meters apart, and the penetration of the projectile is strong and full of lethality.

By the time the Spanish militia counterattacked, hundreds of men had already been killed and wounded, and all kinds of miscellaneous muskets were fired at the same time, crackling and chaotic.

The gap between the militia and the regular army was immediately apparent, and after the Spanish militia lit the arquebus, they quickly turned their heads and closed their eyes, and there was very little aiming action, so that most of the muzzles of their guns were already aimed at the sky at the moment of firing.

Even if a part of the projectile was fired at the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps soldier remained as motionless as a bell, and even if a soldier was occasionally shot and fell, the soldier next to him still organized the fire in an orderly manner.

On the other hand, the Spanish militia, after firing a shot, opened their eyes and saw that many people had died around them, and their hands trembled in fear, unable to reload gunpowder and projectiles. Some even threw away the muskets and turned around and ran.

The army was rigorously trained, and the firmness that came out of it at this time was the biggest difference between it and the militia.

"Forward"

Seeing that the opponent's position was in disarray, the marines quickly advanced and fired methodically, hitting rows of projectiles and killing the enemy in large numbers.

Seeing the other side moving forward, the Spanish militia became more frightened and couldn't help but start retreating.

The hands and feet are more flustered, and the head is also greatly reduced.

As the two sides got closer and closer, the lethality of the Marine platoon increased dramatically, and the casualties of the Spanish militia became even greater.

"Kill"

When the bugle sounded, the Marines stopped firing and made a short charge at the enemy with their bright bayonets.

Some of the Spaniards who were fleeing in rout, seeing that the marines were charging, immediately stopped and prepared to fight.

In their eyes, the Orientals were clearly inferior to them, so they looked forward to a battle with guò.

However, when the Marines approached, they were stunned to realize that the other party's musket had a long sharp weapon on it, which they ignored.

The length of the Marine bayonet plus the length of the rifle allowed the entire rifle to be used as a spear.

On the other hand, the muskets in the hands of the Spanish militia themselves could only be used as burning sticks at this time.

A few unbelieving Spanish militiamen chose to pounce on them, only to be pierced by bayonets.

The three-in-one combat formation of the officers and men of the Marine Corps has given the Spanish militia more insight and the difference between them.

Surrender, the only way out.

"Don't Kill Me"

A Spanish militiaman immediately threw away his musket and raised his hand high.

"Kneel with your head in your hands"

Spaniards do not understand Chinese, and their eyes look left and right.

At that moment, a Marine stepped forward and kicked him in the ankle.

The Spaniard screamed and fell to his knees.

Then another soldier stepped forward and kicked him in the back, and the boot pressed down hard, stomping him to the ground.

The Spanish militia was bleeding from the corners of his mouth, screaming to resist, but when he looked up and saw a bayonet pointed at his head, he immediately shut up.

The Marine who had kicked him in the wrist untied the belt around the Spanish militiaman's waist and trapped his hands.

The belt tightened violently, and the Spaniard screamed as if the bones of his hand had been broken.

Leaving one soldier in custody, the other two continued to move forward, chasing the Spaniards.

By this time, most of the Spaniards had run back to their homes, so the Marines went from house to house and drove the men, women, and children into the streets.

The militia, the militia, is that one moment you can fight as a soldier, and the next moment you can hide in your home as a civilian.

At the entrance of the church was an open field, where the poor Spaniards, who had reverted back to civilian costumes, were concentrated.

It was also the priest who came forward, but at this time he was no longer arrogant, so he could only do what Kong Ze said.

All the houses were to be vacated for the officers and men of the Imperial Chinese Marines, while the Spaniards had to live in churches.

Forty miles of advancement, ahead of which was the city of Praias, the first echelon without siege weapons could not advance any further. So Kong Ze chose to return to the town, and it was already evening.

After Kong Ze set up sentry posts in the north and south of the town, the whole army was stationed.

The next day, a large force of Imperial Marines arrived, and the town tunnel became the home of the Marine Corps headquarters.

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In Guayaquil, Peruvian Governor Julian Assange learned that the Chinese Empire had occupied Puna and was already actively preparing for army resistance. By the time the Imperial Chinese Marines landed in Guayaquil, Assange had mobilized more than 6,000 regular troops, as well as tens of thousands of militia troops.

"Taking advantage of the fact that the invading army of the Chinese Empire is not firmly established, we should take the initiative to attack"

Castro, the counselor of the Peruvian colonial government, put forward his opinion, and as a loyal subordinate of the army-born colonial governor Assange, Castro's construction was very effective.

At least it worked against the remnants of the indigenous people of the Inca Empire.

"Their outpost army has advanced to the city of Praias, and they will attack once the heavy artillery unit follows up"

"According to intelligence, the Chinese empire has a strong navy, but their army troop carriers have not arrived," Castro said. I think the army where they landed should be a musket corps made up of the navy, and there won't be too many of them"

Assange nodded and said, "Even if it's not much, we should be careful."

As a lesson learned, Assange regrets his previous arrogance. For the misjudgment of the Chinese Empire's maritime strength, the Peruvian fleet was wiped out in one day, and he could not escape the blame for this.

Now Assange has learned to be obedient and no longer underestimates his opponents, even if the opponent is only a Marine ashore, he pays enough attention to it.

"Taking advantage of the fact that the other side is not firmly established and is not familiar with the situation in Peru, we will mobilize heavy troops and eliminate them in one fell swoop, which will definitely allow the Chinese imperialists to withdraw from Peru."

Castro was a brilliant officer, and his image of the Chinese empire was rudimentary, so he was not afraid.

"Now that we don't have a navy, we don't have much bargaining chips, and we must win the first battle on land, otherwise if the Chinese Empire wins, it will increase their desire for military invasion. We must not fuel their arrogance."

Assange's words resonated with Castro, who nodded frequently and said that the first fight must be won.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I have given orders to the Crusade of Iquitos, and they should be on their way back by this time today"

Assange nodded and said, "They better come back soon, we need a victory to boost morale, otherwise the enemy in the Gulf will be even more arrogant"

"But we don't have a navy, and this war can only be fought to a draw," Castro continued: "We have a geographical advantage, and it will not be difficult to defeat the Chinese imperialist army from land." But it will be difficult for us to get them out of the Gulf, unless we ask for help from Mexico."

Assange shook his head and said, "Mexico can't reinforce us, let's not mention that they are in the Caribbean, and if they want to get to us, they have to come in a big circle, and it is a long way." Now I have received news that there has been an invasion of the Chinese Empire in northern Mexico, and they are now busy protecting themselves and will not take care of us."

Castro sighed: "If the Mexican fleet does not come to help, then we will suffer this war"

As long as the Imperial Chinese Navy blockaded the waters off the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean in South America, any maritime ships and trade in Peru would be disrupted. Of course, Peru could also choose to transport its treasure overland to New Granada, and then load it on a ship in the Caribbean Sea to the mainland, but that would obviously be quite a heavy undertaking. It is too difficult to transport by land compared to the sea because of the steep mountains and treacherous routes from Peru to New Granada, and the risks and costs are too high for many indigenous people.

"How about we try to negotiate with them?"

Assange suddenly came up with this idea and said: "The Chinese Empire sent a large army over, I am afraid that because we intercepted their ships before, we will lose some money, and promise not to stop or attack their ships, there should be room for maneuver"

Castro shook his head, glanced at Assange helplessly, and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, your idea is good, but unless we win the land war first, we don't have any room for negotiation."

Assange sighed and said, "I'm really not sure about dealing with the Orientals"

"As long as they're not invulnerable, we'll always have a way"

Castro was eager to try, Assange nodded, and said, "Then please"

"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor"

Castro got up, saluted, and turned to leave, leaving Assange alone in his chair.

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Castro organized an army of 30,000 men and carried 90 artillery pieces and quickly marched to the city of Playas, where he prepared to stop the Chinese Imperial Marines.

The scouts sent by Wang Zhiguo came back to report on the situation of the Spaniards' reinforcement of Praias, and in view of the more than 30,000 Spanish troops, Wang Zhiguo chose to avoid head-to-head confrontation and adopt the tactics of luring the enemy to annihilate the enemy.

The reason for this decision was that Wang Zhiguo did not know the strength of the Spanish colonial army, and could only make a preliminary judgment from the number of the other side.

Obviously, the number of Spanish troops of more than 30,000, plus the army in the city of Praias, would be about 40,000. At this time, there were only more than 10,000 marines in the corps, so they needed to be careful to avoid being doomed.

The Spaniards were anxious to increase their troops in Praias, apparently with the aim of driving out the Chinese emperor with all their might.

To this end, Wang Zhiguo sent Kong Ze to lead 2,000 marines to attack the city of Playas head-on, attracting the enemy to fight out of the city, and then feigned defeat and fled to lure the enemy deeper.

After receiving the order, Kong Ze led two thousand marines to the city of Prayas.

Unexpectedly, before arriving in the city of Praias, he encountered a musket team of more than 30,000 people commanded by Castro.

It turned out that Castro was eager to take advantage of the unstable foothold of the Chinese Imperial Emperor after the landing to eliminate the landing army in one fell swoop.

This is good, and Kong Ze of the province ran all the way to the city of Praias.

It's just that the other side is advancing quickly, and its own ambush troops are estimated to be not ready. For this reason, Kong Ze had to smile bitterly, hurriedly sent someone back to inform, and then lined up on the spot to meet the enemy.

After the arrival of Castro's army, these Spanish soldiers saw the Oriental army for the first time, and were obviously surprised and surprised by the appearance of the Imperial Chinese Marines.

Castro took a look through the binoculars and then ordered his troops to line up.

More than 30,000 Spanish troops could not form a formation in front of them. For this reason, Castro had no choice but to send 6,000 men to form a large phalanx, ready to attack the Chinese imperialist army opposite.

Of course, Castro fought regular battles. Having fought in the Second Spanish-Dutch War, he knew how to fight more advantageously.

Of the ninety gun carriages that came with the team, Castro transferred thirty. After calculating the position of the two armies, Castro placed thirty guns on a dirt slope a mile away from the point of engagement.

Here, Kong Ze quietly watched the deployment of the Spanish army, and he originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the opponent's formation to launch an attack and test the opponent's combat level. However, considering that the rear base camp was rushing to set up an ambush position, in order to gain time, he had to resort to delaying tactics.

Kong Ze understood his current situation, two thousand marines could not defeat the opponent's tens of thousands of horses no matter what.

Therefore, when he began to arrange artillery firing positions with the Spaniards, he immediately ordered his troops to retreat 500 meters to avoid the enemy's artillery coverage.

Castro saw that the other party had retreated 500 meters, and secretly scolded the Chinese imperialist army for being as cowardly as a mouse.

"Forward 500 meters"

The order was given, the Spanish army advanced 500 meters and stopped, and then Castro chose a suitable artillery position again, preparing to bombard the Chinese and Imperial troops after a short battle. Because he knew the power of artillery, and the Chinese imperialist army on the opposite side did not carry artillery, he had to take advantage of this huge advantage.

However, just as Castro had set up his artillery position, the opposing Chinese imperialist troops again retreated five hundred meters and then relined themselves.

Castro was so angry that he ordered the Spanish army to advance five hundred meters and then rearrange the artillery positions.

However, as soon as Castro deployed artillery positions, Conze, on the opposite side, ordered the withdrawal of troops for 500 meters and then regrouped.

After a few times, Castro was annoyed.

"Damn a bunch of cowards"

Castro was a little frustrated, and only then did he realize that as soon as he placed his artillery to join the battle, the opposing Chinese imperial army would retreat and refuse to fight.

"Well, I won't use artillery to defeat you"

"Attacking in formation"

Castro gave the order almost with a roar.

Drums sounded, and the Spanish army went on the attack.

"Defense"

Kong Ze shouted, and the marines formed a rectangular defensive formation, with five rows of four hundred people each. The first three platoons are firing platoons, and the three platoons are used to attack the enemy in turns. The fourth platoon is used to fill the empty space left by the first three platoons of soldiers who were killed and wounded in battle. The fifth platoon is in reserve.

"Fire"

When the two sides were about 120 meters apart, the Chinese Imperial Marines took the lead in firing.

Although 120 meters is also within the effective range, the optimal distance should be around 30 or 40 meters. Regardless of which of the effective ranges of the muskets on both sides was longer or shorter, when fifty or sixty meters away, the trajectory of the smoothbore guns would cause the circular projectile to drift at a large angle, resulting in an extremely low hit rate. Although the range of the Shenwu two-year-old rifle used by the Chinese imperial army was longer than that of the Mushkert arquebus of the Spanish army, the hit rate was basically the same on both sides, but the difference in the soldier's combat quality and luck was just a difference.

The Royal Marines of the Chinese Empire had an advantage in terms of equipment and combat, but the problem now was that if they chose to shoot at the best firing distance of thirty or forty meters, it would be easy for the Spanish army to stick to it, and it would be difficult to get out again.

Obviously, Kong Ze realized this at this time, after all, he had few people, and once he was attached, not only would the two thousand officers and soldiers be reimbursed, but the most important tactical purpose would also be lost. Therefore, Kong Ze chose to shoot at a distance of one hundred and twenty meters.

In this way, although the hit rate is reduced, it can still take advantage of the enemy by relying on weapons and equipment and soldiers' combat skills.

Sure enough, the Spanish army did not expect the Chinese imperial army to open fire from such a distance. At this distance, the Spanish soldiers were still carrying their guns, and had not yet entered the range of their guns.

Bang bang bang

The first platoon of the Chinese Imperial Marines shot on one knee and tried to keep the projectile flying close to the ground, so that the hit rate would be higher.

Smoke spewed like clouds, and projectiles rained down.

In the dense formation of the Spanish army, soldiers were shot one after another.

After the first row of Marines fired, they quickly retreated to the back, and the second row of soldiers fired more than a meter from the position of the first row before. This arrangement was made by Kong Ze, because he had to always maintain a distance of more than 100 meters from the enemy, so after each platoon of fire, the position of the whole army was moved back more than a meter and adjusted according to the opponent's advance and distance.

Rows after rows of muskets were fired, and countless hot lead bullets were fired at the Spanish soldiers, causing considerable casualties.

Castro was stunned for a while, and at first thought that the Chinese imperial army was in a panic, and it was obviously a loss to shoot at such a long distance.

However, when he realized that the range of the opponent's musket was far from it, the timing and rhythm of the opposing soldiers' fire were very appropriate, and they could form a fairly dense network of firepower, causing considerable casualties to the Spanish soldiers.

Castro really wanted to get close to the other side and fire, and after firing a few rounds, he ordered the whole army to charge and engage the opponent in a scuffle. Because the Spanish army was superior in numbers, Castro had this idea.

Now it seems that the other party is not a simple character. From the beginning of evading artillery to the current evasion of hand-to-hand combat, it shows that the commander of the opposing side is not an easy person.

The Spanish army continued to advance for a few minutes, the number of casualties was increasing, but they could not get close to the other side because they kept retreating.

Castro understood that the other side would not give him a chance to engage in close combat, so he had to order the Spanish army to return fire.

With Castro's order, the Spanish army quickly lowered their shoulders and began to counterattack more than a hundred meters away. U