Early 1874

This is in February, just after the Lunar New Year. Colombia's southwestern border borders the port of Tumaco, which borders the Pacific Ocean, and is a traditional agricultural area along the coast, with many towns and villages and densely populated areas.

Further south, just 217 kilometres further south to Ecuador's capital, Quito, is a historically developed coastal plain with remnants of the Inca Empire.

Stationed in the port of Tumaco was the 3rd Regiment of the Royal Mexican Musketeers under the command of the Southern Legion, with a total of 3,207 men, three cavalry squadrons and one guard cavalry team, a total of 381 cavalry, as well as two field cavalry batteries, equipped with 18 six-pounder field cavalry guns.

This force was the southernmost military force of the Southern Army, and after entering the port of Tumako, it was accompanied by a servant army of more than 1,300 men to maintain local law and order and suppress armed resistance.

The port of Tumaco is the southernmost coastal port in Colombia, with a population of about 86,000 people, and is a typical South American coastal city, with many Spanish buildings and churches, and is an important distribution center for southern materials.

Large quantities of supplies from Panama and more distant imperial cities were piled up in the port area, ranging from grain to building materials such as steel and cement.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo was a lieutenant colonel of the 3rd Musket Regiment of the Royal Mexican, a shrewd and capable young officer who graduated from the Chang'an Senior Infantry School. He has been serving in the grassroots army for nine years, participated in the first South American war, and has considerable combat experience.

His father was a Chinese retired veteran and his mother was an Indian, so he was fluent in the Inca Quechua language and could communicate with the locals without barriers.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo received a complete education in the Chinese language, and had been tempered in the imperial army for more than 10 years (including the military academy period), and strongly identified with his Chinese identity in his bones, and was a loyal believer in the imperial colonial expansionist policy.

In the early morning, it was not yet light.

An emergency military situation woke up the luxurious manor in the city, and Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo got up from the messy bed of two delicate women, hurriedly washed his face with cold water, put on his military uniform and hurried out.

According to the military intelligence information reported by the scouts;

In the jungles south and south-east of the port of Tumako, there have been large numbers of unidentified armed groups, roughly estimated to number more than 10,000 people, and clearly pose a serious threat to the city.

Lieutenant Colonel Wu Zhengguo immediately ordered the entire Second Cavalry Squadron to be dispatched to strengthen reconnaissance of the enemy situation in the area around the city in order to find out the situation of the incoming enemy.

When I came to the regimental headquarters, the more than a dozen kerosene lights lit here were bright, dispelling the darkness of the early morning, and the officers who hurried to and fro seemed to be even more tense.

"Good morning, Lord Tuanza."

"Greetings to the regimental seat, several deputy regiment commanders and regimental chief of staff have arrived, and they are discussing in the command headquarters."

"Well, let's go in and talk about it."

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhenguo and the officers who greeted him hurriedly walked into the headquarters, and more than a dozen officers in the headquarters stood up and saluted.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo hurriedly raised his hand, returned a military salute, and then asked; "Who understands the situation, tell me more about it?"

"Report to the chief, Captain Qin has been on duty at the regimental headquarters, and he knows the most detailed about the situation, so would it be good for him to introduce it?"

"Well, Captain Qin will introduce the current military situation."

"Yes, sir." Captain Qin raised his hand in salute and replied, he quickly stood in front of a simple map by the wall, and pointed to the direction on the map to report;

"Since yesterday afternoon, the regimental headquarters has received sporadic reports of unidentified crowds gathering in subordinate townships, ranging from dozens to hundreds of people.

The command has successively sent several "brother and people" squads to investigate, but no response has been received.

What caught our attention was that yesterday night, a road construction site about 37 kilometers south of the city was attacked, according to the report of the overseer who fled on horseback overnight;

The construction site was attacked by hundreds of militants, and the incident happened very suddenly, resulting in more than a dozen casualties on our side, and the "Brotherhood Minwu" squadron, which was responsible for guarding the prisoners, scattered and fled.

This unusual sign aroused a high degree of vigilance on the part of the regimental command, which learned from a closer examination;

This is a construction team to widen the main line from Port Tumaco to Quitoma, with about 470~480 prisoners, 63 dissatisfied squadrons sent by the "Brotherhood Minwu" to guard them, and more than 20 Chinese engineers and supervisors, responsible for the construction of a section of about 7.5 kilometers long gravel road.

The one who fled back and reported it was one of the Chinese overseers, according to him; This group of militants suddenly attacked in the middle of the night, cut down people when they saw them, and burned tents whenever they saw them, and they were caught off guard.

The forced labor prisoners in the camp also rioted and cooperated, and many Chinese overseers were beaten to death.

The situation was very chaotic at the time, and he hastily grabbed a horse and ran away, only to save his life.

In view of the critical situation, the regimental duty officer immediately dispatched three reconnaissance cavalry teams to fan the roads to the south and southeast to find out the enemy's situation.

The latest reports show;

The reconnaissance cavalry teams in the south and southeast all found a large number of bonfires and unidentified armed gatherings in their directions, and the estimated number was quite large, exceeding the size of 10,000 people.

Therefore, the scout cavalry team waited in the nearby jungle in the hope that after dawn, it would be able to find out the number of unknown armed forces, equipment and sources.

In view of the urgency of the military situation and the importance of the matter, I dare not slack off on my duty and immediately report it to the commanders......"

"Well, based on the above situation, it can be judged that this may be a fierce counterattack against our army by the rebel armed forces and foreign forces." Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo expressed his opinion with a cold expression, his eyes looked around the crowd, and when he saw that most of the officers nodded in agreement, he no longer hesitated in his heart.

He commanded;

"Report to the division immediately;

The headquarters of the 3rd Regiment stationed in the port of Tumaco encountered a premeditated attack by more than 15,000 local rebels and foreign forces, and the follow-up enemy situation has yet to be ascertained and reported.

The 3rd Regiment discovered the enemy situation in time, and is mobilizing all the Chinese militia to participate in the defense of the city, concentrating all their efforts to resist the enemy army, and vowing to live and die with Tumako. ”

"Yes, sir!" Immediately, an officer received the order, and after drafting the order, the flying horse issued it.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo then ordered again; "An urgent summoning order was issued, and all officers and men of the regiment and its subordinate troops immediately entered the highest state of combat readiness, and entered the fortress and the city concealment department in accordance with the operational pre-order. Convene the Chinese armed militia to defend the city, and the whole city will have a real-time curfew, and it is strictly forbidden for unrelated people to act at will. ”

"Yes, sir." Immediately, several officers took the order and acted resolutely.

"The 1st Cavalry Squadron, the 3rd Squadron and the Guard Cavalry Squadron will strengthen cavalry patrols within a radius of 15 kilometers from the city, and report any enemy situation immediately."

"Yes, sir." Again, several officers came out as ordered, and left in a hurry.

At this time

There were only a few majors left in the regimental headquarters, the deputy regimental commander and the regimental chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo said after thinking about it; "I remember, last week a shipment of arms arrived at the port, is it still there?"

"Yes, Lord Tuanza, this is a reserve weapon assigned to our division by the superiors, with rifles, field guns and heavy machine guns, you mean ......"

"Our regiment has no right to use these weapons unless necessary. But if you are cornered, you can't take care of it. Deputy Head Liu......"

"Here, lowly obey orders."

"You took the brothers of the 4th Battalion and the Baggage Battalion to hold the port area, set up heavy machine gun positions, and prepared to meet my brothers of the 3rd Regiment. This is the retreat of the officers and men of the Third Regiment, and I must defend it to the death. ”

"Yes, sir, the men are in position." After receiving the order, Deputy Head Liu immediately turned around and left, and began to prepare.

After a series of orders were issued, most of the headquarters that had just been lively dispersed.

In the darkness of the night, alarm bells and trumpets sounded in the city, and groups of heavily armed soldiers took to the streets and began to build barricades, and the whole city was immediately filled with a tense atmosphere of war.

In the Command

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo thought for a while with a frown, and then said with a long sigh; "Those who come are not good, and those who are good are not coming, it seems that my three regiments are going to face a vicious battle of life and death."

Major Liao Yuanyuan, chief of staff of the regiment, also felt the same way, and said; "Since the southern expedition of the imperial army, the bandits in Colombia have been invincible, and the whole territory has been intimidated, and the orders dare not be disrespectful.

At first glance, it seems that the situation is good, but in fact it is not true.

Colombia, Peru, and Guatemala are in the same vein, secretly helping each other, and the resistance forces that have escaped the blows have taken refuge in the jungle and attacked the road construction teams from time to time.

In the past two months, hundreds of casualties have been caused.

Estimated ......

The enemy has gathered considerable strength and wants to take our three regiments first, which is really worthy of us! ”

Located on Colombia's southern border, just 217 kilometres from Ecuador's capital, Quito, the port of Tumaco is now being widened southward, undoubtedly touching a sensitive nerve in Ecuador.

It would be a stretch to say that Ecuador is turning a blind eye to this.

The so-called lips are dead and the teeth are cold.

Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador were originally three brothers in the same family, and although they later split up, they were far closer to each other than other South American countries, and they exchanged more frequently.

Many refugees and scattered resistance groups crossed the border into Ecuador and Peru, as well as some fleeing Colombian politicians and social activists, in South American countries to try to set off a wave of condemnation of the Tang Empire's aggression and sympathy and support for Colombia.

South American countries have different attitudes towards this, with Brazil and Venezuela trying to keep a low profile out of various concerns, restricting the voices of these exiled politicians, and even directly arresting and imprisoning them.

The Suriname region to which the British and French colonists belonged could speak freely, but their influence was insignificant, and there were no reports of it in Brazil and Argentina.

Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile all tightly control public opinion sympathetic to Colombia and punish them if they are discovered.

In addition to Paraguay and Uruguay, the Chilean junta is more worried about setting itself on fire.

Only Peru and Ecuador are in high spirits, sympathizing with and supporting the Colombian resistance movement, many people spontaneously carry weapons, cross the border to join the resistance, and one-sidedly protest against the invasion of the Tang Empire.

It is precisely because of this regional context that the situation facing the border port of Tumako is further complicated.

Based on experience;

The local rebel forces alone cannot gather an army of tens of thousands of people, and there will inevitably be foreign forces involved.