"Sir, we are still fifty miles away from Arequipa, should we speed up?"
A Peruvian officer said to Lu Stuart, the commander of the Moyando garrison who was riding a horse.
"Manuel, you are too young to understand the meaning of this matter." Lu Stuart looked calm and calm while riding on the horse.
"Please give me some advice, sir." Like a studious student, Manuel leaned forward and asked politely.
Lustuart just liked Manuel's submissive look, which would allow him to regain the dignity he had lost in front of Tomas Gutierrez.
Lustuart was not a direct subordinate of Thomas. He was originally a subordinate of Mariano Ignacio Prado, who was also a big warlord in Peru. In April 1865, he
He came to power through a coup, but lasted for more than two months before Mariano Ignacio Prado was ousted by others.
In order to maintain his position, Lustuart, who had no backer, joined Thomas after Mariano Ignacio Prado stepped down.
Thomas looked down on the half-hearted Lou Stuart and often laughed at him in front of others. However, Lou Stuart, who was attached to Thomas, could only forcefully smile, but he hated Thomas in his heart.
"Manuel, do you know the difference between us and the army in Igidok's hands?"
"I don't know what a humble job is."
"Haha, you know it in your heart, you just don't dare to say it."
"I don't dare to take a humble position." Manuel thought that Lustuart was dissatisfied with him, so he hurriedly expressed his position.
"Don't be nervous, I didn't doubt your intentions."
Lustuart reassured him, and then said, "The biggest difference between us and Iggydoc's troops is that the troops in Iggydoc's hands are the direct troops of Thomas, while we are a miscellaneous army. And although I am Mo
The chief of Yando's garrison, according to the established rules, Moyendo's port trade tax should be under my control, but Thomas sent a tax official specially, saying that it is not good for military personnel to interfere in economic and trade, and Moyendo's army
The military expenditures will be paid by him every month. It sounds nice, but in fact, it is not because I am afraid that I will control the trade tax and grow bigger, and escape his control."
"Sir, you are wise." Manuel flattered him appropriately.
"Manuel, I am telling you these words to train you as an heir to the army. You should think more about things in the future. Don't be sold by others and count money for others. Now you understand why I delayed rescuing Irequipa.
Is there a reason?" Lu Stuart encouraged him and thought about it.
Hearing that Lustuart had the idea of ​​appointing him as the successor of the army, Manuel immediately became excited. He carefully understood Lustuart's question just now and said cautiously, "Sir, you want them to fight in front."
, wait until the fight between the two parties is almost over, then we can go up and take advantage?"
"That's right. If we arrive in Arequipa too early and fight the rebels, no matter who wins or loses, our army will definitely suffer heavy losses. Without the army in hand, Thomas will worry about us. He will definitely
Find an excuse to drive us out of the army, and then distribute the remaining troops to his men."
"Sir, if you plan carefully, you will surely prosper one day."
"Haha, I hope this day comes soon." Lou Stuart laughed and followed the troops forward.
Due to the timely support of the Peruvian artillery in the small town of Hermodut, the shaky position on the east side was temporarily stabilized, but the temporary security contained the risk of destruction.
At the Independence Army Command Headquarters, after Li Mingyuan discovered the enemy's artillery position, he immediately ordered the cavalry regiment to assault.
"Captain Li, the enemy's heavy artillery has a longer range than the artillery I captured, so we can only rely on your cavalry regiment to destroy the artillery positions."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely complete my mission."
"When you attack soon, I will order the artillery to violently bombard the enemy positions to provide you with cover."
"I understand the humble position."
After solving the coordination problem, more than 900 cavalrymen of the cavalry regiment immediately dispatched and rushed to the battlefield like a whirlwind.
The Peruvian Artillery Corps is located in a large open space in the center of the town.
After repelling the attacking troops from the east, Umato ordered the artillery to suppress the Chinese artillery units. The artillery units of the two sides were too far apart. Even though the range of the artillery of the Peruvian army was greater than that of the Chinese Independence Army, the specific location of the opponent's artillery could not be seen.
Due to the location, the Peruvian artillery could only fire based on feeling. The two sides fired at each other, but with few results.
Hermodut is surrounded by the main attack direction of the Chinese troops to the east. Zhang Ansong and Luo Linshan's troops are responsible for the west and south respectively. Only the north has no troops. Outside the north of the town is a connected valley. Li Mingyuan is deployed around the valley.
Ten thousand troops were personally commanded by Chief of Staff Liu Pu.
As a counselor-type talent beside Li Mingyuan, Liu Pu was leading troops in combat for the first time, but he was still very confident about this final combat mission.
The winner has not yet been decided on the battlefield, but as the Peruvian artillery units were exposed, Liu Pu knew that the Peruvian army's defeat was not far away.
In order to strengthen the strength of Liu Pu's troops, Li Mingyuan strengthened Wang Xiaoshan's security regiment and Feng Erhu's regiment to him.
Feng Erhu was originally the platoon leader of the machine gun platoon. Later, as the army expanded, Li Mingyuan divided the machine gun platoon into various infantry regiments, and Feng Erhu was assigned to the infantry unit as the regiment leader.
Although Feng Erhu no longer leads machine gun soldiers, he still attaches great importance to the use of machine gun tactics. When Feng Erhu served as the infantry regiment commander, he specifically asked Li Mingyuan for an extra machine gun platoon, so that his regiment had two machine gun platoons and the other
The commander of the infantry regiment looked hot.
After arriving at the ambush site in the valley, Feng Erhu gathered the machine guns of other troops. There were four machine gun platoons in total. Two of the four machine gun platoons were arranged directly in the middle of the road in the valley, and the other two machine gun platoons were arranged on the mounds on both sides of the valley.
Above, after the layout is completed, the three machine gun positions will cross to provide cover, leaving no blind spots.
Feng Erhu is ready to use his special skills to show off his power, and Wang Xiaoshan also wants to prove himself through this battle.
When he first arrived at the ambush position, Wang Xiaoshan put down his words, "I made a mistake in my investigation last time and was beaten to the end by the Crown Prince. Now the Crown Prince has given me a chance to atone for my sins. When the war starts later, everyone will work hard."
Give me your envoys, if anyone can capture the Peruvian army general, I will personally ask the crown prince for him."
After Wang Xiaoshan's encouragement, the morale of the soldiers in the guard regiment was high, and they were waiting for the Peruvians to arrive and kill them.
"Chief of Staff, why haven't the Peruvians come yet?"
Feng Erhu said a little anxiously.
"Commander Feng, it's almost time." Liu Pu said, pointing to the cavalry troops galloping outside the town of Hermodut.
Li Dawei led the cavalry regiment in a circle and broke through from the western position in charge of Zhang Ansong.