While Igidok was contentedly waiting for the reinforcements to arrive, he did not know that the reinforcements he had pinned his hopes on were walking into the encirclement of the Chinese army.
The reinforcements from Puno traveled for two days and arrived at the small town of Hermodut, thirty miles away from Arequipa. The residents of the town had already fled without a trace in order to escape the war.
Pagoda was less than a few hours away, so Umato, who had been traveling for two consecutive days, decided to spend the night in the small town of Hermodut. Umato arranged vigilant soldiers around the town and then found a room to rest.
Outside the town of Hermodut, three black figures observed the situation for a while and then quickly left on horseback. They were scouts sent by Li Mingyuan and were scattered fifty miles around Arequipa to inquire about reinforcements.
In order to ensure the encirclement and annihilation of the reinforcements of the enemy, Li Mingyuan brought out the cavalry regiment, most of the artillery regiment, the first mixed brigade, three divisions, the broadsword team, and the reconnaissance battalion. The total number reached 45,000.
The Chinese Cavalry Regiment and the First Mixed Brigade of the Reconnaissance Battalion were the first to arrive around Arequipa, while the three divisions and the artillery regiment hurriedly arrived at noon today. The artillery regiment had many artillery pieces and transportation was inconvenient. Li Mingyuan sent all the mules and horses of the army
Equipped with the artillery regiment, it took a day and a half to meet up with Li Mingyuan's vanguard.
"Your Majesty, according to reports from brothers in the reconnaissance camp, enemy troops from the Puno direction are stationed in the small town of Hermodut." Liu Pudao, headquarters camp of the Chinese Independence Army.
"Emodut is less than twenty miles away from our army," Li Mingyuan drew a line on the map.
Then he said, "The whole army will set off immediately, and each unit will launch an attack after arriving on the battlefield."
"yes"……
Before dawn the next day, the assembled Independence Army soldiers took advantage of the pre-dawn time when the enemy was most relaxed to launch an attack.
Twenty heavy artillery were lined up in a row aiming at the town of Hermodut. Following Luo Cannon's order, the artillerymen next to the heavy artillery immediately lit the fuse, then covered their ears and moved aside. The sizzling fuse burned to the end,
Then twenty huge roars sounded, and twenty cannonballs landed in the Peruvian military camp along a parabola, immediately killing a large number of Peruvian soldiers in the tent. The Peruvian soldiers who were awakened by the sound of the cannons ran out of the tent in panic, but they ran out
The tent did not mean the end of misfortune. After the twenty heavy cannons were fired, hundreds of field cannons of various types followed. The sky-covering cannonballs covered the small town, and the Peruvian army could not find its way north.
Umato walked out of the room in the small town, grabbed a running soldier next to him, and asked, "Which army soldier are you from? Why are you running around in the military camp?"
"Commander, my humble position is the company commander of the third regiment of the first brigade. A shell just hit the brigade commander's room. The brigade commander was killed on the spot. Now the entire first brigade is in chaos and the commander can't be found at all."
"Deputy division commander, I order you to take over the first brigade now and organize the troops for defense immediately."
The Puno garrison was organized as a division, with Umato as the division commander.
"Others follow me to the artillery camp and must suppress the opponent's artillery." Umato shouted to the soldiers in the guard camp beside him.
Accompanied by the sound of artillery, Wang Dashan's 1st Mixed Brigade first launched an attack from the east of the town. To the east was the Peruvian 1st Brigade, commanded by Peruvian Deputy Division Commander Jose Biar. When Jose arrived, the 1st Mixed Brigade
When the brigade position was reached, Wang Dashan's mixed brigade had already attacked. Some old Taiping soldiers with long scarves on their heads rushed to the position first, with muskets in their hands. A Peruvian soldier in front fell to the ground and forgot. At this moment, nearby
A Peruvian soldier turned his gun and pointed it at the charging Taiping veteran. Just as the Peruvian soldier was about to shoot, a loud roar rang out, and a white light flashed, and a broadsword instantly slashed on the Peruvian soldier's neck. He was holding a broadsword.
The ones following were the soldiers from the Broadsword Brigade following the mixed brigade.
"Brother, thank you." The veteran of the Taiping Army realized that the other party had just saved his life and expressed his thanks.
"We are all our brothers, you're welcome." The swordsman team was replying. A Peruvian soldier sneaked up on him with a bayonet. The veteran of the Taiping Army had quick eyesight and quick hands. He pulled out the short knife and threw it out instantly, shooting the Peruvian soldier who was sneaking into the attack until he died.
.
"Now we are even." A cold sweat broke out from behind the soldiers of the Broadsword Team.
"Brother, the battlefield is not a place for talking. When the battle is over, we brothers will have a good drink."
"I agree. Let's have a competition to see who can kill more enemies. The loser will be treated to a drink." said the soldier from the Broadsword Team.
"It's a deal," the Taiping veteran said, shooting down a fleeing Peruvian soldier.
"Brother, I'm a bigger killer than you."
"Haha, brother, don't be too proud, look at me." The soldier from the Broadsword Team said and rushed forward.
"Deputy division commander, the enemy is attacking fiercely and we can hardly stop it," a regiment commander in charge of the defensive position east of Hermodut reported to Jose.
"You must hold it back, or we will all be doomed." Jose's face was completely blackened by the gunfire, with only a pair of eyes exposed.
"Deputy division commander, please ask the commander to send artillery support, otherwise you won't be able to hold my position even if you kill me."
"Commander, ask for reinforcements from the division commander and ask the artillery battalion to shell the opposite side of our army's position to the east."
The Peruvian artillery battalion was hidden at night and was not attacked by the Chinese Independence Army. Umato commanded the artillery to set up positions. Before suppressing the artillery of the Chinese Independence Army, he received a report from Jose asking for help.
"What does He Sai do for a living? I can't stop the enemy's attack even if I give him a brigade."
Umato reprimanded the messenger loudly, but reinforcements were needed, otherwise the east gate position could not be maintained and everything would be over.
"Order the artillery to turn around and aim in the direction of the enemy in the east." Umato gave the order, and the soldiers moved the position of the artillery that had just been set up again.
Li Mingyuan stood on the mound outside Hermodut, using a telescope to observe the situation inside the town. It had been an hour since the attack began. After the initial chaos, the Peruvian army reorganized its defense. Now the battle situation has initially stabilized.
The front position was crumbling under the attack of the mixed brigade and the swordsman team.
Li Mingyuan invested 30,000 soldiers in the first wave of attacks. After breaking through the enemy's defensive positions, he would put the remaining 15,000 soldiers on the battlefield.
The battle lasted for an hour, and Li Mingyuan initially estimated that the enemy had suffered at least 2,000 casualties. Most of these casualties were caused by the Chinese army taking advantage of the enemy's confusion after the shelling.
Although the artillery was powerful, the impact on the enemy was mainly psychological. About five or six hundred Peruvian troops died directly under the shells.
"Your Majesty, brothers from other troops are about to capture the enemy's positions. The cavalry regiment can't just stand and watch the show." Li Dawei, the commander of the cavalry regiment, asked.
"Don't worry, wait until the enemy's artillery troops appear before you take the stage."
Wang Dashan's 1st Mixed Brigade and the Broadsword Brigade attacked sharply, and the positions to the east of the town had broken through several gaps. More than 200 Chinese Independence Army soldiers rushed to the Peruvian positions and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
When they were on the mainland, the Taiping Army mostly used cold weapons to fight the Qing soldiers. Therefore, Chinese soldiers had an inherent advantage in hand-to-hand combat. Most of the more than 200 soldiers who rushed to the Peruvian position were veterans of the Taiping Army, and a small half were machetes.
Soldiers, facing the Peruvian soldiers who were several times their own on the battlefield, the Chinese soldiers were not timid. They worked in groups of three and used the hand-to-hand tactics taught by Li Mingyuan to cover the attack back to back.
In the Chinese Independence Army, soldiers in the machete team learned specialized hacking and machete techniques, while ordinary Chinese soldiers practiced bayonet tactics.
Both machete and bayonet tactics have their own advantages and disadvantages.
A qualified swordsman soldier can kill two ordinary soldiers with bayonets without any effort. However, in order to master sword skills, soldiers of the swordsman team need to undergo long and hard training, and the requirements for selecting soldiers of the swordsman team are also higher than those of ordinary soldiers.
It's much more strict. Soldiers who are not physically strong and have excellent arm strength cannot use a broadsword flexibly.
The requirements for bayonet tactics are not so high. Many people know that during World War II, Japan's bayonet tactics were so powerful that a group of three Japanese soldiers could fight against fifteen Chinese soldiers without losing.
However, few people know that the Japanese learned bayonet tactics from France. Li Mingyuan, who served in the French Foreign Legion in his previous life, also knew a lot about French bayonet tactics. So after fighting, Li Mingyuan wrote a set of hand-to-hand combat tactics for soldiers.
The manual is distributed to each company's troops, and the squad and platoon leaders below extract it from the company commander. And every night after explaining tactics to senior officers, Li Mingyuan will also spend half an hour explaining the tactics to the company commanders of the Chinese Independence Army.
The art of bayonet tactics.
After more than 20 days of assault training, the Taiping soldiers with a foundation in cold weapon combat have made the most rapid progress. Now they are able to master the general three-man tactics, while the newly joined Hua Gong is still far from being proficient in it.
The Peruvian soldiers on the position were no match for the Chinese soldiers with their bayonets. More than two hundred Chinese soldiers killed a thousand Peruvian soldiers and kept retreating. As time went by, more and more Chinese soldiers poured into the Peruvian army's position. Aymo
Outside of Duterte
The eastern defense line was about to be completely broken through by the Chinese army.
"Deputy division commander, the enemy has occupied one-third of the position. The brothers could not resist and retreated one after another."
"No one is allowed to retreat, artillery support will be here soon." Jose, the deputy division commander of the Peruvian army, roared, waving the revolver in his hand.
"Deputy Commander, we have been surrounded by the enemy. If we continue to fight, we will be dead. We should surrender as soon as possible."
The Peruvian regiment leader was frightened by the ferocious fighting style of the soldiers of the sword team. Just now, a Peruvian soldier was split in half by the sword, and blood spattered on his face. If it were not for the desperate protection of the guards around him, he would have died.
Under the sword of Chinese soldiers.
"If you say anything that disturbs the morale of the army again, I will kill you." Jose pointed the revolver at the Peruvian regimental commander.
Jose and Umato are the core members of Thomas's faction. If they lose their fifteen thousand troops, Thomas will not spare them even if they return alive. That's why they are so proactive on the battlefield.
While the two were confronting each other, a roar of artillery sounded from behind the position, and a group of artillery shells flew over the heads of Jose and the Peruvian regiment commander, hitting the advancing Chinese troops.
"No, the enemy is shelling, get down quickly"
The Chinese officers on the position heard the enemy's artillery fire and immediately gave orders.
The Chinese soldiers who charged forward were all veterans who had experienced many battles. They immediately fell to the ground without any orders from their officers. The Chinese soldiers responded quickly, but the Peruvian artillery shells still injured more than a dozen unlucky people. Any Chinese soldier who was hit by the artillery shells
No one could survive, they all died on the spot.
"Order the frontline soldiers to retreat immediately."
In the east command post, Wang Dashan calmly gave orders.
"Brigadier Wang, brothers are about to capture the enemy position. Isn't it a pity to retreat now?" Wu Feipeng, captain of the Broadsword Team, was also at the command post.
"Letting the brothers continue to attack now will only increase unnecessary casualties. The prince said before the war started that no matter which unit encounters enemy shelling, do not hesitate and retreat immediately."
"Since the Crown Prince has informed us in advance, we must have a way to deal with it. We will do it according to the Crown Prince's request."
After the Peruvian artillery was fired, the hundreds of soldiers who invaded the enemy's position quickly retreated, and the riddled eastern position returned to the hands of the Peruvians.
"Deputy division commander, the soldiers of the first brigade suffered 2,000 casualties, and there are less than 2,500 soldiers left to go to the battlefield." After the Chinese soldiers temporarily retreated, the combat staff around He Sai reported the battle situation to him.
"Deputy division commander, two of my three battalion commanders have been killed. If the enemy launches another attack, we may not be able to withstand it."
"Don't worry, as long as we hold on, reinforcements from Moyando and Cusco will definitely come to rescue us."
The casualty rate is nearly half. If they had fought with other South American countries, they would have surrendered long ago. Because they did not understand the Chinese Independence Army and were afraid of retaliation if they fell into the hands of the Chinese, they insisted on not surrendering. However, this persistence was also
It didn't last long, and the Peruvian regiment leader who was frightened by the swordsmen just now shouted to surrender, so He Sai did not dare to threaten his opponents blindly, but gave them a hope of salvation.
In fact, what Jose didn't know was that Moyando's reinforcements were suffering a similar fate to them. The four thousand Moyando troops did not carry heavy equipment such as cannons, but only carried a dozen machine guns and came for reinforcements.
Moyando was closer to Arequipa than Puno, but the commander of the Moyando garrison had some conflicts with Iquidok, so it was delayed deliberately. When the Puno garrison struggled against the attack of Chinese soldiers
At that time, Moyando's reinforcements were still more than fifty miles away from Arequipa and had not yet entered the ambush circle of Chen Guozhu and Zhou Daniu's troops.
"Mr. Chen, the fighting has been going on over there for more than an hour, why is there still no movement on our side? Could it be that Mo Yando's reinforcements are not coming?" asked Zhou Daniu, commander of the Second Mixed Brigade.
"Damn it, I don't understand. Moyando is the closest to Arequipa, but reinforcements from Puno have been arriving for more than an hour, and they haven't moved yet."
"Could it be that Moyando's general had a grudge against Arequipa's garrison commander, so he refused to save him?" Zhou Daniu speculated.
"It is possible. We encountered this kind of situation when we fought against the Qing army in the mainland before," Chen Guozhu agreed.
"But if Mo Yando's reinforcements don't come, we don't have to wait in vain," Chen Guozhu said suddenly.
"Division Commander, Brigadier Zhou, discovered enemy troops in the direction of Mo Yanduo." While the two were thinking wildly, a soldier reported.
"Where are they?" Li Guozhu asked.
"The enemy is still fifteen miles away from us."
"Brothers, be prepared and strive to annihilate all the enemy forces later."
"Yes," the soldier next to him responded loudly after hearing that the enemy troops finally arrived after resting for a day.