Chapter 360: Battle for the Colorado Wasteland

The Rocky Mountains, which traverse the western part of North America, are known as the backbone of North America.

The tall Rocky Mountains blocked the way westward for Westerners, and reaching the coastal areas of the eastern Rocky Mountains from the sea required a detour from South America.

Circumnavigating the western coast of North America from the eastern coast of North America is almost a circle around the world, so Western colonists rarely paid attention to the situation in the western Rocky Mountains, and even when the Spanish Empire was at its strongest, they only sent a fleet around and left. The Spaniards did not set up settlements there, except for leaving a few names and a cross that swore sovereignty.

A narrow coastal plain between the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, stretching across the western part of North America and extending to the Gulf of California in Mexico.

After the passage of time, more than a hundred years later, this rich land became the American settlement area of the Chinese Empire.

In the Golden State District, the completion of the Fog City Fortress brought a great sense of security to the citizens of the Empire. As a result, the number of imperial immigrants to the Americas increased rapidly. At the same time, as the war against Mexico moved southward, the imperial army occupied large areas of northern Mexico's territory and cities.

In order for the American Dispatch Army to be fully engaged in the battlefield, the Imperial Government urgently needed to expand the number of immigrants to rule these colonies.

'North America is full of gold and silver mines'

'North America is fertile and rich in products'

'The Empire occupied a large number of ranches, estates, and estates, and shops in North America, which were given away free of charge to Imperial immigrants'

……

The Imperial Government carried out large-scale propaganda in various parts of the country, portraying North America as a place rich in gold and silver. As a result of this, the call and desire of the Celestial Empire nationals to immigrate to North America was unprecedentedly high, and a large number of nationals applied to immigrate to the Golden State of North America, so that the Empire's strategy for the Americas could continue to expand.

The Chinese Empire continued to suffer natural disasters, and Deng Haonan, the Emperor of Shenwu, on the one hand, provided strong relief to the victims and continued to be tax-free. On the other hand, large-scale migration can only be relied on to relocate people in disaster-prone areas.

On the one hand, this benefit relieves the pressure within the empire and prevents the victims from blaming the government for resentment. At the same time, after the victims immigrated to the Americas, the land there was fertile, and there were more agricultural and pastoral estates, mines, and various shops that were plundered by the colonization to make a living, which was better than staying at home. But all the immigrants changed from proletarians to propertied people, and the abundance of life made them even more grateful to the imperial government. In order to defend their vested possessions, immigrants enthusiastically joined the colonial army to defend their new homeland.

On the other hand, the colonial wars of the imperial government required a large number of personnel to consolidate the interests of the colony, and with the expansion of the colonial land and the increase of cities, the imperial government needed a large number of personnel to rule them. These colonies were not enough to rely on the imperial colonial army alone, so when the mass migration wave began, this most pressing problem was immediately solved.

As the number of immigrants to the empire continued to increase, the imperial government established the North American colonial governor's palace, with its headquarters in Fog City, Golden State.

When the Colonial Governorate was founded, it had two states, the Golden State and the Silver State. The Golden State includes the historical states of California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington. The Silver State includes the historical states of Wyoming, Montana, and Utah.

After the establishment of the Colonial Governorates, in addition to the troops sent by the Imperial Government, the Colonial Governorates of North America established police forces from among immigrants to maintain law and order in the colonial cities.

In this way, the Imperial American Dispatch Army handed over the rear to the colonial police force, and could devote itself to the colonial war against Mexico.

In the southwest of North America, it is a perennial arid and semi-arid region, and the Colorado River, which runs more than 2,000 kilometers, has become the river of life here.

Colorado, the Spanish word for red. The Colorado River, named because of its dark brown color.

In North America, all major rivers except the St. Lawrence River originate in the Rocky Mountains. The same is true of the Colorado River, which has many tributaries and deep canyons in the upper reaches of the river. But by the middle and lower reaches, there are few tributaries, and the river becomes slow and shallow through the arid heath.

Rivers nurture life, and as a result, major cities in the southwestern region of North America are concentrated near the Colorado River.

The Imperial Chinese Army's Americas Dispatch Army marched south, and the army walked in the uninhabited Colorado wilderness, which seemed very small, but along the Colorado River, you could find Spanish towns and cities.

With the surrender of Santa Fe, the Spaniards lost all of their territory to the north of Mexico. At the same time, the gateway to the central region was opened, and the 3rd Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire went south in two ways.

The 3rd Division advanced along the east bank of the Colorado River, and the 4th Division advanced along the west side of the river.

Since the infantry divisions all used war horses for transportation, the advance was very fast, with an average of 120 miles per day. Again, this is due to attacking towns along the way while slowing down in order to maintain horsepower.

The infantry division is slower, but the jaguar and leopard ride faster

As the vanguard, the jaguar and leopard rode like two giant attack arrows on the map, advancing rapidly southward.

At the end of February, the Jaguars and Panthers and the American Infantry Division met at the city of Warrèz.

Ciudad Juris, the center of the Spaniards in central Mexico, is also the gateway to the city.

The Spaniards stationed more than 120,000 troops here, led by Tiqueiras himself, including more than 70,000 infantry troops, 30,000 cavalry, and more than 20,000 other supplementary troops.

Tiqueiras never dared to engage the Chinese Imperial Army head-on, because he was afraid of losing the battle and losing face. For this reason, Tiqueiras allowed the Chinese Imperial Army to attack the cities of northern Mexico without sending heavy reinforcements.

Of course, as a military strategist, Mexico was suddenly invaded by the powerful Chinese Empire, and Tiqueiras needed to make a sufficient assessment of the strength of the enemy before he could act. Because the Chinese Empire, a mysterious empire in the East, has never been known by the Spanish army in Mexico. Fighting an unknown enemy, Tiqueiras was right to choose to sacrifice the Northern Territories in exchange for the necessary information as a brilliant military strategist.

In response to the military invasion of the Chinese Empire, Tiqueiras had already formulated a set of battle plans at this time. Against the Chinese Empire's jaguars and leopards, Tiqueiras trained 30,000 cavalry to contain them. To deal with the American Infantry Division of the Chinese Empire, he organized 70,000 elite troops to deal with it, and also recruited a reserve of more than 20,000 people to prepare for everything.

Tactically, Tiqueiras studied the methods of combat in the Imperial Chinese Army. The three-stage tactic of echelon attack by artillery, cavalry, and infantry was a typical tactical form of the Imperial Chinese Army.

In response to its three-stage attack, Tiqueiras mobilized 300 artillery pieces to temporarily equip the army. It allowed it to engage in an evenly matched artillery battle with the artillery units of the 3rd and 4th Divisions of the Imperial Chinese Army, with a total of 200 guns. End the dominant position of the Imperial Chinese Army in artillery battles.

After the artillery battle problem was resolved, the 70,000 elite infantry in the hands of Tiquelas could form an absolute numerical and firepower superiority over the Imperial Chinese Army.

In order to prevent the cavalry of the Chinese Empire from attacking and harassing, Tiqueiras organized 30,000 cavalry to contain the other party, so that Tiqueiras thought that he had an absolute military superiority, so he set up a position in the city of Huaruiz to prepare for the main decisive battle with the Chinese Imperial colonies.

On March 3, the Chinese Imperial Americas sent troops to the Mexican army to fight the First Battle of Huaruiz. The confrontation between the more than 100,000 troops on both sides was magnificent.

Since Tiqueiras was well prepared, and the distribution of troops and forces was all directed against the Imperial Chinese army, in the battle of March 3, the Imperial Chinese army encountered a strong enemy for the first time, and the attack on Yan Zòng was blocked, and no advantage was taken.

Since the Chinese Imperial Army used artillery as the main means of attack in the first wave, if the artillery did not have an advantage, or if the artillery battle was lost, then the infantry and cavalry would take cautious action and basically would not rush to attack.

In this way, the direct main battle that Tiqueiras had expected did not take place. The Chinese Imperial Army did not take advantage of the artillery battle. Instead, it was suppressed by the Spaniards' 300 guns, so no direct infantry attack was launched, and Tiqueras's plan for a decisive battle was ruined.

In fact, when the artillery battle was going on, He Zhi and Li Kai did not realize that the Spaniards were coming. Although he saw that the number of infantry on the other side had reached tens of thousands, he was murderous, but he still had no worried expression. This was mainly due to the fact that they still had two heavy cavalry in their hands, and the fact that the Spanish army had been vulnerable in previous battles made them a little proud.

However, just as Li Kaiti sent out his infantry to defeat the enemy on the opposite side in one go, He Zhi suddenly felt a little uneasy. That was the sixth sense of being a soldier, and He Zhi suddenly mentioned that he would send heavy cavalry to test it first.

In this way, He Zhi's temporary hesitation saved the American dispatch army from a catastrophe. The infantry of the Chinese Empire did not rush to press up, so that Tiqueiras could not get the opportunity to fight the main battle with the Chinese Imperial army.

After the jaguar and leopard cavalry were dispatched, they attacked the Spanish artillery units in two directions, and as long as the opponent's artillery positions were eliminated, the battlefield situation would be immediately clear.

At this time, Tiqueiras quickly sent spearmen to guard the artillery position, and carried out large-scale antler obstacle arrangement for the Chinese Imperial Jaguar and Leopard Cavalry, as well as horse traps, inverted piles and other facilities to prevent the Jaguar and Leopard Cavalry from rushing into the artillery position.

At the same time, Tiqueiras sent 30,000 cavalry to contain the jaguar and leopard cavalry.

Seeing that the other party came prepared, He Zhi and Li Kai suddenly gasped. Li Kai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling ashamed of his pride just now.

Although the jaguars and leopards were heavy cavalry, the Spaniards had placed a large number of antler obstacles, horse pits, inverted piles, and spearmen around the artillery positions, and they would have to sacrifice considerable forces to attack.

And the most surprising thing for the jaguar and leopard riders was that they encountered a large-scale Spanish cavalry for the first time, and because they didn't know the details of the other party, Ma Guangyuan and Shi Tingzhu did not dare to take the risk lightly.

In turn, the Spanish cavalry outnumbered the jaguars and leopards of the Chinese Empire, but because of the shortness of the formation of the army, Ticcheras strictly ordered that they should not engage in battle, but could only be contained. Therefore, the Spanish cavalry did not dare to approach the jaguar and leopard cavalry lightly, and the two sides maintained a distance of seven or eight hundred meters, adjusted their formations with each other, and left after a tactical competition for half an hour.

After Ma Guangyuan and Shi Tingzhu returned, they told He Zhi and Li Kai about the situation, and neither of them built a decisive battle with the Spaniards.

For this reason, He Zhi and Li Kai immediately ordered the whole army to retreat.

Seeing that the Chinese Imperial Army did not fight a decisive battle with him, Tiqueiras immediately ordered the whole army to pursue quickly. Helplessly, the Chinese Imperial Army was all on horseback, and the Spanish army was soon left far away, until they could not see each other.

Tiqueiras put down his binoculars, his face was full of envy, and secretly said that the army of the Chinese Empire was really well treated, and he could see two or three points from the top of his clothes, two or three points from his equipment, and two or three points from the soldiers equipped with war horses to travel, and finally came to a conclusion.

Thus ended the first Battle of Wallaz, and there was only one large-scale artillery battle between the two sides, with casualties on each other, and neither of them took advantage of each other.

However, tactically speaking, Tiquelas succeeded in stopping the myth of the Chinese Imperial Army's siege of the city, and for the first time allowed the other side to return in vain, so that the city of Huaruiz could be preserved.

But from a strategic point of view, Tiqueiras realized a huge problem, and that was the high mobility of the Chinese Imperial Army. At this time, Tiqueras's mobility ability made it impossible to actively find the Chinese Imperial Army for the main decisive battle, and could only passively carry out defensive operations, and then wait for the opportunity to carry out the main decisive battle. As a result, it will be quite difficult to expel the other party from Mexican territory.

Apparently, Tiqueiras knew that the other side had discovered his tactics, so he abandoned the decisive battle and turned around and retreated. This made him worried, because he knew that the other side would definitely find another way to crack his tactics, and the well-equipped Imperial Chinese army would become even more difficult to deal with.

"Your Excellency, General, it seems that your tactics are very effective, and the enemy army has fled."

Tiqueras's men hurriedly stepped forward to compliment, they were still worried about the possible Armageddon of the main force just now. Since setting foot on American soil, their opponents have always been natives, so the combat effectiveness of the Mexican army more than a hundred years later can be imagined.

"Why didn't the general take advantage of the victory to pursue, regain the lost territory in one fell swoop, and drive the enemy army back?"

Seeing that the Chinese Imperial army had retreated, many officers were confident enough and were no longer afraid.

Tiqueiras sighed, "It's not hard to get them out, but before we can do that, we have to find a way to get through the Colorado Wasteland."

The arid Colorado Wasteland, stretching for thousands of miles, is the first difficulty for Tiqueiras to enter the army. Because in the wasteland, it is difficult to supply, and there are no mountains, castles and other dangerous places, once it encounters sandstorms and rainy days, it will be quite dangerous to encounter the attack of the jaguar and leopard riders of the Chinese Empire.

Because the firearms used by the Spanish army at this time were fired by fire ropes, wind and rain would severely affect the performance of firearms. Obviously, in cold weapon combat, the cavalry that had just formed an army was no match for the jaguar and leopard cavalry of the Chinese Empire. So the problems facing Tiqueiras are still serious.

"It would be nice if Santa Fe City held out a little longer"

At this point, Tiqueiras regretted that he had not reinforced Santa Fe in time, leaving the door of central Mexico open and falling into the hands of the enemy.

It is said that the Chinese Imperial Americas sent troops to retreat and camp for thirty miles, and in the military tent of the headquarters, the commanders of the four armies met to discuss countermeasures.

"I'm going to review, I almost ordered a decisive battle this time, in that case, I'm afraid the loss will be quite large"

Li Kai, commander of the Fourth Division, took the lead in breaking the dull atmosphere and doing self-examination. He almost put the whole army in danger because of his pride, which made him feel guilty.

"We are not like Zhuge Liang, everything is like God"

Shi Tingzhu comforted Li Kai and said: "You don't have to blame yourself too much"

Ma Guangyuan nodded and said, "Is it true that you will be careful after eating a trench and growing wise?"

Fortunately, there was no damage to the main force, and several people comforted Li Kai before getting to the point.

"It seems that the Spaniards are not as vulnerable as we thought, and from today's situation, it seems that the other side is quite well prepared. I think in our previous battles, we found that they had no reinforcements, and they were all fighting against the local defenders, and I am afraid that the other side is finding out our hole cards before making a move."

Everyone thought about it and felt that what He Zhi said was not unreasonable.

"In this way, the other side is indeed deliberately not reinforcing us" Li Kai analyzed: "Our previous battles, no matter how big or small, have gone all out, so it seems that the other side has become familiar with our tactics."

"Yes" Ma Guangyuan nodded and said, "If they are not familiar with our tactics, they will not arrange so many obstacles to prevent cavalry charges on the artillery position."

"The other side has figured out our troop allocation, specially prepared hundreds of artillery pieces to suppress our artillery, and also prepared tens of thousands of cavalry troops, the opponent has an advantage in numbers and firepower, and it is very difficult to defeat them."

Shi Tingzhu said: "Previous intelligence has shown that the Mexican cavalry unit has long existed in name only. This time I estimate that they have 30,000 cavalry, and so many cavalry suddenly appeared, obviously aimed at us"

He Zhi nodded and said, "We have to think of a way, if we don't take Huaruizi City, we can't move forward."

Li Kai thought about it and said: "A few Jianyi are to mobilize artillery and increase troops from the base camp. The second is to find a way to defeat the opponent's cavalry troops"

He Zhi shook his head and said, "It is thousands of miles from here to the base camp, and it is unrealistic to mobilize artillery and increase troops. ”

Ma Guangyuan said: "I think the cavalry units of the Spaniards should be formed not long ago, and their combat strength is limited, and we can completely defeat them in a frontal battle." ”

Shi Tingzhu added: "The problem is that the other side will not fight with us lightly"

He Zhi suddenly said: "Then lead them out" M