March 1520, a desolate fjord in the Gulf of Mexico

The night was cloudless like black velvet, the stars shimmered crystal in the clear night sky, and a full moon leaped up to the treetops, emitting a soft glow, casting a silvery-white band of light on the dark sea, like a spread of white satin.

Tall coconut trees line the bay into the distance, the melodious chirping of seabirds from time to time among the foliage, and the white waves rush onto the beach, crashing against the sand dunes on the shore. Clusters of orange-red bonfires lit on the wide sand, and hundreds of ragged soldiers, armed with spears, swords and muskets, sat around the campfires to rest, and snoring was heard from time to time.

A middle-aged man with a scrimped beard stood quietly under a coconut tree outside the campsite, looking at the dark sea in the distance with a little anxiety.

He is Honan. Cortés, an expedition leader who betrays his superiors, a wanted criminal hunted by the Kingdom of Spain, and a crazed gambler who seeks to conquer all of Mexico with a rabble of a few hundred.

In recent months, his conquest has been full of ups and downs, one moment rushing into the clouds of victory, the next falling into the hell of destruction.

- After the departure of the Chinese, Cortés soon succeeded in kidnapping Emperor Montezuma II through a little trickery that could not be put on the table, leaving the hapless emperor as a prisoner in his capital. He then took Montezuma hostage and took initial control of the city of Tenochtitlan...... In this way, with almost no bloodshed, relying on astonishing audacity and cunning, a mere two hundred Spaniards managed to easily conquer the Aztec Empire, which had a population of millions!

Then these Spanish scoundrels, carried away by the victory, eagerly began to plunder the riches and commit all sorts of sins in the city of Tenochtitlan - they opened the treasury of the Emperor Montezuma, broke into every temple in the city, and even dug up the tombs of the emperors of the past, dug up every piece of gold from all kinds of crafts, jewelry, insignia, and weapons, and robbed the bazaars and aristocratic mansions of anything they liked, Chinese such as silk, porcelain, and spices that had been sold here not long ago...... Any nobles and priests who tried to stop them were mercilessly beheaded.

In addition, all the concubines and unmarried princesses of the Emperor Montezuma, that is, Comrade Wang Qiu's theoretical mother-in-law and sister-in-law, as well as some saints and priestesses in the temple, these noble and admired women turned out to be the playthings of the Spanish soldiers who took turns to rape and ravage. As a result, some women soon committed suicide in grief and anger.

Curiously, the warriors of the Aztec Empire largely watched the misery of their own royalty, nobles, and priests, and few tried to stop the Spanish violence...... Cortés then subjectively decided that these Aztec warriors, who claimed to be invincible in Mexico, were in fact nothing more than a bunch of cowards without guts, who could take what they wanted as long as they were scareless with the most brutal attitude.

However, since the families of these low-ranking samurai were generally poor, they did not have any decent gold and silver treasures. Therefore, when the splendid palaces, temples, and noble mansions of the city have not had time to be scavenged one by one, the Spaniards generally have no intention of harassing these poor people.

It is a pity that this kind of robbery and murder, and the happy days of prostitution and rape did not last long, and the commander Sandoval, who remained in the port of Veracruz, sent someone to bring the bad news of distress - it was only at this time that Cortés was stunned to learn that Montezuma had secretly sent an army to attack Puerto Veracruz; To make matters worse, the governor of Velázquez on the island of Cuba refused to forgive him for his betrayal and sent a crusade led by Navaez to exterminate himself; Worst of all, the Aztecs, Tlaxcala, and Chinese have all met with Navaez, thus exposing their true colors as the most wanted man in the Kingdom...... He can no longer use the name of the Kingdom of Spain to pretend to be a tiger! …,

This is over, if he doesn't think about a way, he is afraid that he will soon become the public enemy of all Shili in the whole of Mexico!

So, in a fit of rage, Cortés, while forcing the Emperor of Montezuma to recall Kakama, the general he had sent to attack Puerto Veracruz, then roasted the unfortunate man alive, who was still in the dark; While leaving his deputy, Arvaldo, with a small number of Spaniards and Native American allies in the city to guard the emperor's hostages, took all the mobile forces he could collect, traveled day and night, and quietly lurked near the port of Veracruz, trying to wait for an opportunity to break Navaez's raiding party and rescue the trapped Sandoval.

However, in the face of the 30,000-strong army besieging the fortress, Cortés, who had only a few hundred men at hand, really did not dare to touch the stones with eggs, so he could only sit back and watch Sandoval and his more than 100 men die in the battle, and the port of Veracruz was reduced to ashes in a sea of fire.

However, despite the perilous situation that had become, he did not lose faith and courage.

Because, long before the Battle of Puerto Veracruz broke out, Cortez was given a powerful hole card that was enough to turn him into a victory!

“…… Here it comes! Here it comes! ”

The sentry, sitting on the top of a coconut tree, suddenly let out a cry of excitement. At the same time, many shadowy galleons also showed their hazy posture from the end of the sea under the moonlight. Cortés hurried back to the camp, waking up the sleepy soldiers with punches and kicks, and ordering them to gather more dry wood at once to make the fire burn more intensely, so as to guide the fleet in the night.

After a few more hours, the dinghys full of soldiers were lowered from the anchored sailboats, and then, guided by the campfire, they split the waves and rushed to the beach, finally joining Cortés' expedition in a cheer of excitement.

Moments later, in a thatched hut next to the beach, Cortés met once again his most capable and trusted confidant, Bernal, the clerk he had sent back to the island of Cuba to find a way to clear relations and recruit reinforcements. Dias. Bender. Castillo.

After more than half a year, Castillo, who left with a large amount of treasure, finally lived up to expectations and brought valuable reinforcements to his boss!

“…… Dear Commander, although I have not been able to seek the pardon of the Governor of Velázquez on the island of Cuba, I have brought you the letter of appointment of the Governor of Hispaniola, and three thousand five hundred warriors who are willing to follow you in your quest for wealth and honor! ”

Castillo, dressed in a new linen uniform, took out a beautiful scroll and handed it to Cortez, "...... From now on, you are no longer a Kingdom criminal wanted by the Governor of Cuba, but the leader of the Mexican expedition under the Governor of Hispaniola! And the Church, having accepted a large donation, also promised to write to the king for the position of Governor of Mexico! ”

“…… You brought three thousand five hundred people this time?! Oh! This is amazing!! I'm so glad to have a subordinate like you! ”

Cortez was still able to remain largely calm as he reached out to take the letter of appointment. But as soon as I heard this number, I couldn't help but be moved.

You must know that this era was less than 30 years before Columbus discovered America, and Europe had not yet introduced high-yield crops from the Americas on a large scale, and the population was far less dense than in later generations. Even the entire territory of Spain itself had a total population of only about five million, and the islands of the Caribbean, which had not been colonized for a long time, were even more sparsely populated. For example, Havana, which became famous for its cigar smoke, was still a small village with fewer than 100 households. Therefore, not to mention three thousand five hundred, that is, fifteen hundred, in the Spanish colonies of the Americas, they were already a trembling and powerful army! …,

Thus it is evident how wonderful the spice and silk trade routes to the rich Orient were to the Europeans of this era, and how powerful and superb the registrar Castillo's ability to propagandize or deceive.

In short, after getting this valuable reinforcement, Cortez, who was already at the end of his rope, had the capital to turn the tables again.

“…… Hehe, although many of these people were black slaves, and there were also some Indians who were baptized and converted to Catholicism, but this was the result of my best efforts! The Governor's Palace of Hispaniola has also done everything it can to do so......"

Castillo chuckled a few times with some smugness and helplessness, and then changed the subject, "...... By the way, dear commander-in-chief, weishenme, you do not let this fleet go to the port of Veracruz, but to dock in this desolate place where there is nothing? The conditions of the port here are much worse than those of Velacruz, and there are many reefs in the offshore shoals, and in the event of a hurricane, there is no guarantee that the fleet will not be damaged......"

“…… Alas, it's hard to put into words! Castillo! A lot has happened during your absence! ”

Cortés was silent for a moment, and then he couldn't help but sigh faintly, his face looking very old and haggard in the flickering firelight, "...... You don't know yet! The Governor of Velázquez has sent troops to fight us......"

――――――――――――――――――

“…… The situation of our army is very bad at the moment, and although we temporarily control the city of Tenochtitlan, the governor of Velázquez on the island of Cuba has sent a strong army to fight against us, and the commander is Navaes, the old fellow we all know.

Alas, it is really unimaginable that Navaez actually co-opted the local Indian tribes in a very short period of time and cobbled together a full 30,000 allied troops! At present, the port of Veracruz has been captured, and Sandoval and more than 100 of his men have all been killed. Some of the Indian tribes in Mexico also fell to this expedition, and even the Chinese decided that we were liars and cooperated with Navaez......"

In the dim candlelight, Cortés pointed to a rough hand-drawn map and explained the recent battle to Castillo, who had just returned, "...... Although, by a few small means, I have temporarily stabilized our allies, the Tlaxcalas. But if it drags on too long, there is a risk that things will change again. So, our immediate priority now is to defeat Navaez and retake the port of Veracruz......"

“…… Wait, sir! You say Navaez has 30,000 people on his side? And the Chinese native army was armed with guns and steel weapons," Castillo exclaimed when he heard it, "...... With such a powerful force, just three or four thousand people on our side can't gnaw it! ”

“…… That was ten days ago, and now this coalition has been disbanded! Cortez smiled and waved his hand, "...... After the annihilation of Sandoval's remaining detachment, the Aztecs, the indigenous army of the Chinese, and some of the Tlaxcalas, who were our enemies, all left the port of Veracruz, leaving only about a thousand people brought by Navaez himself to stay behind, and because the old camp was completely burned down in the war, all the people of Navaez are now living in tents on the beach, and the latest fortifications have not yet been completed! ”

Speaking of this, Cortez couldn't help but wave his fist confidently and hit the map hard, "...... Castillo, please contact the commander of the fleet on Hispaniola as soon as possible, so that he can pull anchor and set sail tomorrow, and act with our ground forces, both by land and sea, to attack the port of Veracruz! Fight to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and eliminate Navaez's Cuba Island Raider first! ”