Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 170 Not a soft persimmon

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The sound of artillery rumbled, and a salvo was fired every few minutes. The rhythmic sound of artillery continued for more than half an hour.

The 12-pound round solid shells whizzed towards the wooden fence camp, and the logs broke instantly, and wooden splinters flew everywhere. The white soldiers who were hit head-on were like ketchup, splattered everywhere.

It would be difficult to miss such a large target as the camp.

The American-made M1857 12-pound field artillery has a range of up to 2700 meters, which is a very comfortable artillery range at a distance of more than a thousand meters.

The fierce bombardment lasted for more than half an hour, with more than 80 shells fired, which directly blasted open the front side of the wooden fence camp, leaving about 20 meters of ruins, and more than Spanish officers and soldiers were killed or wounded.

Seeing that the situation was almost tense, Major General Huangshan raised his hand and ordered the shelling to stop. He ordered the commander of the Fourth Battalion, Qian Ahu, to take the lead in organizing the attack and wipe out the remaining enemies.

Qian Ahu's battalion of more than 400 musketeers were divided into three companies, with a total of three waves of attacks.

Each attack wave is organized into companies, totaling more than 120 people, forming a horizontal array.

Each musketeer formation consisted of about 60 men, divided into two rows, front and back, and they advanced towards the Spanish camp in a strict formation.

The sword and shield soldiers who assisted in the attack were located in the rear, with three of them providing cover, while four of them pushed a cart forward.

This cart was intended to fill the more than 2-meter-wide trench in front of the camp, which was equivalent to building a bridge across the trench.

A total of 7 carts were prepared, with 50 sword and shield soldiers participating in the attack.

Behind him were about 200 sword and shield warriors, who were the main force ready to break through the defenses of the camp and rush in for hand-to-hand combat.

Inside the camp

Colonel Fabian looked disheveled, with a bruise on his forehead and blood splattered on his face from someone unknown. His usual graceful and confident look was gone, and what was left was only despair and madness.

Seeing the Oriental army marching up to attack, he knew that he had little time left, so he drew out his sharp sword and shouted frantically;

"My Spanish warriors, the time has come to witness courage and honor. I will lead you to defend the glory of your kingdom.

Now assemble in formation and prepare for line battle."

Having lost the protection of the camp, the scattered Spanish soldiers were unable to stop the Orientals' overwhelming attack by shooting here and there with hammers and sticks.

The Spanish army was equipped with old-style smoothbore flintlock rifles with an effective range of two to three hundred meters. If one wanted to maintain a certain hit rate, it was best to fire within a range of one hundred meters, and a certain intensity of firepower was required.

Upon hearing the commander's order, Spanish soldiers from all over the camp gathered together and silently formed into two rows, front and back.

The expressions of these soldiers were a mixture of fear, hatred and anger, but no one retreated because of cowardice. They could not accept the tragic fate of being enslaved by the Orientals.

It only took two rows of more than 40 soldiers to plug the gap, and Colonel Fabian handed it over to Lieutenant Merino for command.

He ordered Lieutenant Olmo Perez to lead 40 men onto the patrol road, and from both ends of the gap that was blasted open, they fired a volley at the attacking Oriental army to curb the Oriental attack.

The order was quickly executed, and there were more than 50 people left to form a reserve force. Colonel Fabian held this last force in his hands and was ready to fill the gap at any time.

After the initial panic, Colonel Fabian's command was in accordance with the rules, reflecting the military qualities of the old European powers. This was bound to be a cruel and bloody battle.

Dong Gang, deputy battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion, personally led the first wave of attack companies, and they marched towards the enemy camp in formation to the rhythmic sound of war drums.

700 meters...600 meters...500 meters...400 meters...

In just seven or eight minutes, the first wave of attacking companies approached to within 400 meters of the camp. The expressions of the white soldiers on the opposite side were clearly visible, which put a lot of pressure on the other side.

at this time
The Spanish artillery position on the top of the hill opened fire. Four consecutive "boom, boom, boom" shots rang out, and the artillery on the top of the hill fired a salvo.

The 6-pound solid shells were about the size of small lead balls. They slammed down from a great height, and two of them accurately hit the queue, causing three Chinese officers and soldiers to fall to the ground with screams, their bones and tendons broken, and they screamed in agony.

A shell bounced and hit the cart behind, creating a hole as big as a small basin in the cart. With a sharp cracking sound, the shell grazed the leg of a man whose hand was broken by a knife.

It continued to roll forward for more than ten meters, then stopped when its remaining momentum was exhausted, with steam still rising from the shell.

The last shell missed the target and was in vain.

Judging from this first round of salvos, the Spanish artillery's super gun technology is still good, achieving a hit rate of 75% in the first round.

The drawback is that the guns are too small and there are few of them, so the damage they can produce is very effective.

Even if all four shells hit the formation, facing two rows of Chinese attacking officers and soldiers, the best result would be killing or wounding only 8 people at most.

Faced with the Spanish concentrated artillery fire, the advancing Chinese soldiers did not riot, but quietly filled the gaps and continued to advance to the sound of military drums.

350 meters...320 meters...

When they advanced to this position, the Spanish artillery on the top of the hill fired a second salvo. Three shells in this salvo still hit the target, causing casualties among four officers and soldiers.

And then... no more.

The attacking company continued to advance under the artillery fire. When it approached within 150 meters, it suffered six rounds of artillery fire, resulting in 21 officers and soldiers being killed or injured.

Their efforts were rewarded. Deputy Battalion Commander Dong Gang raised his command knife and ordered, "Everyone stop advancing! First row, aim your guns! Fire..."

"Clap clap clap..."

After the dense volleys of gunfire, the Spanish soldiers blocking the gap fell down like wheat being cut. The dense firing of more than 50 muskets instantly caused casualties to more than a dozen Spanish officers and soldiers.

Most of the Spanish soldiers in the first row fell down. Such heavy casualties made Lieutenant Merino's face turn pale instantly. He did not expect that the Oriental army would open fire from such a distance.

At this moment, he widened his eyes in fear and shouted, "Raise your gun, aim! Fire..."

His order was almost in sync with the second row of attacking Chinese soldiers' firing. Only the crisp sound of volleys of gunfire was heard, and large clouds of gray-black smoke emerged from both camps at the same time.

Casualties fell in both camps, and the Spanish soldiers on both sides of the camp also opened fire, causing considerable casualties to the attacking Chinese company.

As smoke billowed, both sides took the opportunity to reload their weapons and prepare for the next round of fire.

Colonel Fabian watched as Lieutenant Merino, who was blocking the gap, was shot in the chest and abdomen. The bullets penetrated deeply into his body, and a large amount of blood quickly spread out. He fell down weakly.

More than 40 Spanish officers and soldiers at the gap were killed or wounded after being hit by two rounds of volleys from more than 30 musketeers on the opposite side. Only a few people were still blocking the gap, looking around in panic.

If there is no replenishment, it will collapse in an instant.

He gritted his teeth and ordered, "Second Lieutenant Enzo, take 20 men to fill the gap, block the Oriental attack, and buy time to continue to attack the enemy."

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Enzo gritted his teeth and led his men to block the way.

On the other hand
A company of the attacking Chu army suffered more than a dozen casualties in the concentrated fire just now, and the number of officers and soldiers in the entire company has been reduced to 77.

The company had to withstand not only the counterattacks from the Spanish soldiers at the gap, but also the concentrated fire from more than 40 Spanish soldiers standing on the patrol road inside the camp.

Because they were quicker, the Spanish soldiers blocking the gap suffered almost no casualties and fell one after another under the guns of the Chinese musketeers.

Most of the casualties among these dozen or so Chinese officers and soldiers were caused by Spanish soldiers standing on the patrol road of the camp.

at this time

Whoever finishes reloading first will gain the upper hand and have a better chance of survival.

The Chinese officers and soldiers were obviously faster. After they finished reloading, they saw Lieutenant Enzo leading more than 20 people and blocking the gap again.

"Aim! Fire!"

"Clap clap clap..."

The dense hail of bullets knocked down the Spanish officers and soldiers who had not yet formed up their formation like wheat being mowed, and most of them were killed or wounded in an instant.

The other officers and soldiers collapsed with strange screams, and the second round of volleys followed, knocking down several more white Spanish soldiers.

"Attack, charge..."

Upon seeing this, Deputy Battalion Commander Dong Gang immediately waved his command knife and issued an order for everyone to attack.

The musketeers changed into bayonets one after another, and the sword and shield soldiers in the rear shouted and pushed the carts to run, passing the musketeers' ranks and rushing to the front.

At this time, the Spanish soldiers standing on the patrol road of the camp had just loaded their bullets and fired a volley at the hurried command of Lieutenant Olmo Perez.

Bullets flew towards the sword and shield soldiers like flying lights, knocking down more than a dozen of them, and blood dyed the attacking road red.

The sword and shield soldiers who came from behind immediately took over and pushed the cart forward.

It didn't take long to charge across a distance of 150 meters. After just twenty or thirty seconds, a large number of sword and shield soldiers had rushed to the edge of the trench and pushed the cart out with force.

The cart got stuck at the edge of the trench with a bang, the wheels were stuck in the trench, and the long cart board was just resting on the edges of the trench at both ends, forming a path for attack.

The gatekeepers with swords and shields rushed forward and met Colonel Fabian who led the remaining men to block the gap. The two sides immediately started fighting.

Swords were waving, blood was splattering, screams and shouts of killing were endless, and the officers and soldiers on both sides were fighting each other like crazy.

The Spanish officers and soldiers who were patrolling the road above the side of the camp reloaded their guns and fired downwards, but a small number of them misfired.

This is because the round iron bullet that was loaded rolled out from the muzzle, and even the black gunpowder spilled out, making it naturally impossible to fire.

The remaining muzzle that could fire fired more than twenty deadly bullets, which exploded into blood flowers among the attacking group of swordsmen and shieldmen. More than a dozen Chinese officers and soldiers were shot to the ground on the spot.

More than seventy Chinese musketeers rushed to the nearby area, raised their guns and aimed upwards, then fired a series of uneven volleys, knocking down the Spanish soldiers standing on the high ground and sending them falling from the patrol road with screams.

The close combat and bloody battle were so cruel.

Colonel Fabian's claim that one Spanish soldier could defeat ten Oriental soldiers turned out to be a lie.

When he stabbed the second Chinese soldier with a knife, there was a flash of the knife and his entire arm was cut off.

Before Colonel Fabian could even let out a scream, two big swords chopped down on his head, blocking his screams in his throat and directly chopping him into a bloody mess.

Accompanied by a burst of suppressed cheers, more than 200 sword and shield soldiers eliminated the more than 30 Spanish officers and soldiers blocking the gap, rushed in like a flood, and searched everywhere for the enemy.

Shouts and screams continued to ring out.

The Spanish resistance was very tenacious. They knew they had no way out and could only fight once to break even, or fight twice to make a profit.

However, in the face of the attack of the sword and shield soldiers, the Spanish soldiers armed with spears and bayonets were at a disadvantage.

As soon as a thrust was blocked by the shield, several swords would fly and instantly knock the white soldiers to the ground. The coordination was tacit and skillful.

The second and third waves of troops poured into the camp like a tide and engaged in close combat.

With an absolute advantage in military strength, the Chu army fought hand-to-hand for more than ten minutes, and the Spanish soldiers in the camp were completely cleared out.

The sword and shield soldiers, with high morale, took the initiative and rushed up the hilly path. This rash attack caused them to suffer a lot.

After suffering thirty or forty casualties, the attack was fruitless and they were forced to retreat.

This Spanish artillery position on the hill, with more than 70 soldiers stationed there, was also built with wooden fences, but its area was much smaller.

It was probably similar to an ordinary farmyard, surrounded by a calf-thick log fence. After the gun port was closed, it was these fences that blocked the attacks of the sword and shield soldiers.

"Pull the cannon over here and blow it up."

"The fourth battalion will withdraw and rest, and the fifth battalion will prepare to attack. We will wipe out this damn place in one fell swoop."

Major General Huangshan gave the order with a bad look on his face. The Fourth Battalion paid a lot of price to break through the camp, but unexpectedly suffered a setback at the artillery position on the top of the mountain.

Although it was just an artillery position with a wooden fence, it was not something that the musketeers and swordsmen could break through. Even if they piled a thousand lives on it, it would be in vain.

The artillery team quickly followed up and stopped about a thousand meters away from the artillery position on the top of the hill. They began to raise the muzzle and prepare for a salvo.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Spaniards immediately opened the gun ports and opened fire at the scattered Chinese artillery positions. The first round of salvo was in vain, and all four shells fell into the air.

This is not surprising. A distance of over a thousand meters is already within the maximum range. In today's era where artillery fire depends entirely on experience, concentrated fire coverage is the kingly way.

Point-to-point precise bombardment is really too much to ask.

On the other hand, the artillery team commanded by artillery captain Zheng Jiaben fired six shells after preparation, five of which accurately hit the high Spanish artillery positions.

Amid the unpleasant sound of logs breaking, the rolling shells pierced the air, and the remaining force opened up several bloody alleys, making the Spaniards scream in pain and causing the onlookers Chinese soldiers to cheer excitedly.

Keep up the good work and continue to do your best!
It’s not that the Chinese artillerymen have higher technology, but that the difficulty of the artillery fire on both sides is not at the same level.

The Spanish artillery position was a small camp more than 30 meters wide. Within a kilometer range, the probability of the American M1857 12-pound field artillery hitting a barn was more than %. This small camp was obviously much larger than the barn.

In contrast, the target of the Spanish artillery's bombardment was only a 12-pound field artillery with a front area of ​​no more than two square meters. The difficulty of this high-precision point-to-point bombardment was more than increased several times.

If you hit it with one shot, you would be really lucky.

Based on the first round of hits, Zheng Jiaben's artillery team was greatly encouraged and started bombarding continuously. After only more than 10 rounds of artillery fire, the Spanish artillery position on the top of the mountain was shattered into pieces, and the corpses lying all over the place were extremely miserable.

Seeing that it was almost done, Major General Huangshan ordered to stop the shelling and let Zheng Jiaben's artillery team, who were still reluctant to leave, take a break.

The Fifth Battalion, which had been preparing for a long time, sent a company to rush forward and eliminated the remaining Spanish white soldiers like cutting melons and vegetables, which took less than ten minutes.

At this point, the Spanish armed forces entrenched in the Cagayan area were eradicated, most of them were killed, and only a dozen or so people in two beacon towers escaped. There was no need to worry about them.

The sailing fleet sailed up the river and anchored in the middle of the river, allowing the transport cargo ships to move closer to one side of the river and begin transporting supplies to the shore.

Mu Qing, who was appointed as the new Cagayan County Magistrate, disembarked with more than 80 clerks and set foot on the ground. He looked at the surrounding terrain with joy and couldn't wait to carry out his grand plan.

"Your Excellency, it's not possible these few days. We have to wait and see." Major General Huangshan persuaded with a smile.

Mu Qing bowed and replied, "Excuse me, General. Seeing my colleagues making great progress, I just can't wait to get back to work. Every day I delay, I fall further behind."

"That won't work either. There are 20,000 to 30,000 indigenous barbarians in the Kajiayan area. If we can't completely conquer them, they will always be a dangerous hidden danger."

"Are you surveying nearby?"

"No, please be patient, Your Excellency. Tomorrow, after our army has had its fill, we will split into four groups to sweep the indigenous barbarians. We estimate that within four to five days, we will have the situation stabilized and can accommodate the subsequent Chinese immigrants."

"In that case, General, please allocate 200 laborers. I will lead my men to build the sawmill, brick kiln, and lime kiln first, so that there will be no delay."

"Yes, we expect a large number of native captives to arrive tomorrow. They'll be no problem as laborers, and we can handle their duties."

"That's great. I'll have to trouble you, General."

The soldiers were now cleaning up the battlefield, clearing the ruins, and throwing the bodies of the killed Spaniards into the river one by one. The bodies naturally flowed into the sea along the river and became food for the fish and shrimp in the sea.

Thousands of people worked together and the speed was very fast.

When County Magistrate Mu Qing landed, the originally messy battlefield had been cleaned up. Large amounts of bright red blood were buried in the sand, broken logs were gathered for burning, and the corpses had been dealt with.

Rows of tents were set up and sentry soldiers were placed several kilometers away to prevent sneak attacks by the indigenous people.

The bodies of our fallen soldiers were lined up in a long row. According to statistics, 203 people were killed and 175 were injured. The number of casualties was not low.

The fallen soldiers needed to be dealt with on the same day. Many broken logs were cleared out of the camp, stacked up in an interlaced manner, and the bodies of the fallen officers and soldiers were placed on top and burned.

The intense flames were more than ten meters high. All officers and soldiers lined up to salute and set up an altar on the riverbank to send off these brothers who had fought side by side.

After cremation, the remains will be placed in an urn.

Tombs and monuments were erected here, and a temple was built to enshrine the tablets of officers and soldiers, enjoying the honor of continuous incense and worship from future generations.

Compared with the rich results of annihilating 357 enemies, seizing 6 4-pound cannons, more than 400 muskets, a number of other supplies, and occupying two camps (one large and one small), it was a real victory.

Among the 213 people killed, 124 were musketeers and 89 were sword and shield soldiers. The sword and shield soldiers suffered heavy casualties mainly in the close combat when breaking through the camp and in the attack on the artillery positions.

Despite having advantages in manpower, weapons and artillery firepower, they suffered a casualty ratio of almost 1:1.

From this we can also see that the Spaniards are not easy to bully.

If it were a solid stone fortress, the 12-pound field gun would be difficult to shake, and it would be hard to say how much it would cost to defeat the enemy.

(End of this chapter)