Coming from Guatemala, there are plateaus and mountains all the way, but as you get closer to the river valleys and deltas, the terrain becomes lower and gentler.
In the rugged terrain, the governor's reinforcements were still cautious, fearing that they would suddenly be ambushed. After the terrain became low, these people's vigilance was greatly reduced, and the march became a bit like an outing - the Spaniards took off all their armor and gave it to their indigenous followers to carry on their backs.
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There's nothing I can do about it, the climate in this place is weird.
Half the year is dry, half the year is rainy, and the average temperature throughout the year is close to 30 degrees. The mountainous areas are relatively cooler. The closer to the flat coast, the hotter the weather is, and it is still uncomfortable and humid.
After leaving the mountainous area, you can't walk very far wearing armor, and your whole body will be soaked with sweat like a sauna.
The Spaniards not only took off their armor, but finally even took off their boots, because the boots were full of sweat. They came from Guatemala, and they really couldn't handle the situation here. They traveled less than a thousand miles in total.
, but they have to go through savanna climate and subtropical forest climate. If they go a little farther west, they will even encounter tropical rain forest climate.
"Your Excellency General, after crossing the river in front of you, you will see the indigenous tribes not far away." said a small town resident who successfully escaped.
Fredgonda asked: "Is the river deep?"
The resident replied: "It's not deep. It's the dry season now, and the river water is only as high as the waist. In three months, when the rainy season comes, the top of the head will be submerged, and then you will have to take a boat."
Fredergonda immediately ordered: "Rest for a while, and the whole army is ready to cross the river."
As the general of this force, Fredergonda also took off his armor and leather boots. He ordered a native guard to take off his straw sandals for him to wear, so that he would be cool enough and not hurt his feet when walking.
You can't do it without taking it off. This guy is wearing plate armor, which is the only plate armor in the army. Only his eyes are exposed during battle.
As for other Spanish soldiers, they mainly wore leather armor and chain armor, and their excellent equipment was one of the reasons why they crushed the natives.
They rested for a while in the woods by the river. As a result, the more they rested, the hotter they got. The hot and humid climate made it impossible to cool down in the woods. The soldiers wanted to go down to the river to cool off.
"Cross the river!"
Following Fredergonda's order, the Spanish soldiers and indigenous servants rushed to jump into the river, each one screaming in comfort.
However, the indigenous servant army was responsible for transporting supplies. They carried armor and food and carefully crossed the river. The Spaniards only had to hold up their weapons. Many of them were not even willing to go ashore, bending their knees and soaking their chests in the water.
It is like a paradise for those who are marching in the heat.
"You bastards, speed up and don't block the troops behind you!" Fredgonda yelled.
The curses didn't have much effect. The Spanish soldiers were still dragging their feet, but the natives who were transporting supplies walked very quickly.
The first batch of indigenous servants had just transported supplies to the other side, and were about to go back and continue moving things when a group of enemies suddenly rushed out of the dense forest on the other side.
"kill!"
One hundred Han archers, more than two hundred Han melee infantry, and three to four hundred indigenous warriors rushed from the forest to the river bank. Because of the hot weather, even the Han people only wore shorts and came out shirtless.
Whoosh!
The Han archers fired casually. Due to the high humidity, the bow strings were a little weak and the range became very poor, but they still killed several enemies.
The indigenous servants who had just landed were so frightened that they turned and ran for their lives into the river.
The Spanish soldiers in the river also returned the same way, but unexpectedly, the sound of firecrackers suddenly sounded behind them.
There were two hundred Spanish soldiers on the shore, responsible for guarding the supplies that had not been transported across the river. However, they wanted to cool off and went to the river to take a bath one after another. Even the general Fredergonda lost his vigilance.
Who would have thought that those hundreds of Chinese people, after looting the town, would not escape by boat but stay to lay an ambush?
Even if you want to conduct an ambush, you should choose a mountainous area. There are many places suitable for ambush there, and the climate is cooler. How can you ambush next to a hot and humid river?
Being in the river, being attacked from two sides and ambushed, the Spanish reinforcements collapsed instantly.
Fredergonda didn't have time to get his armor back, so he got on his horse with no shirt, drew his sword and shouted: "Crush the enemy!"
More than thirty knights, all soaking their feet by the river, came ashore one after another on horseback, charging towards the enemy with their shirtless swords.
Seeing the terrifying cavalry charging towards them, hundreds of indigenous warriors panicked. At least half of them turned around and ran away, while the remaining half also trembled in fear and fired at random with flying rocks and javelins.
Chen Li hit 50 musketeers and fired volleys at more than 30 Spanish knights. Unfortunately, his marksmanship was terrible, and he fired before he even entered the range. One round of shooting only knocked down one cavalryman.
"Spearman!"
There are 150 spearmen at the top and 200 swordsmen behind them.
Facing the charge of more than 30 cavalry, these spearmen who had become monks on the way were all trembling with fear. If Chen Li had not established prestige and had the precedent of supervising and killing people in battle, these spearmen might have collapsed.
Since the spearmen could barely hold their ground, it was the Spanish cavalry's turn to catch them blind.
They are not wearing armor at the moment, they are all shirtless, and they only have a sword in their hands. Are they charging into an array of spears five times their size?
Unwilling to seek death, Fredergonda suddenly turned around halfway and led his cavalry into the dense forest by the river.
Chen Li shouted: "The spearmen formed a formation to protect the rear, and the other brothers rushed to me!"
At this time, two to three hundred enemies had come ashore, and they were in a chaotic formation. Chen Li led 200 swordsmen, 50 fire gun soldiers, and hundreds of indigenous friendly troops to rush over.
Those indigenous friendly troops were very interesting. They were not afraid of anything but the Spanish cavalry. They ran away when they saw the cavalry. After the cavalry ran away, they came back, flying rocks and javelins and shooting wildly at the Spanish infantry on the shore.
"Bang bang bang!"
The firecrackers who had finished loading their ammunition also followed suit and fired at the enemies on the shore.
Chen Li was so angry that he yelled: "I told you beforehand that no muskets are allowed, and the musketeers must be reserved to deal with the cavalry!"
Qi returns to Qi, and the results of the battle are still there.
Faced with flying rocks, javelins and lead bullets, as well as the rushing Han infantry, the enemies who had just landed on the shore fled in an instant.
Seeing all his men running to chase him, Chen Li could only shout: "The spearmen and gunmen are not allowed to move, move closer to me and form a formation!"
The order was ineffective, and most of the spearmen ran to chase the enemy. Only the gunmen were still obedient and were hurriedly reloading their ammunition.
Most of the enemies were in the river at this time and were attacked from both sides. They did not dare to go ashore and hurriedly fled downstream.
More than 30 Spanish cavalrymen saw that Chen Li's spear formation was in disarray and rushed out from the dense forest by the river again.
"Form up, form up!" Chen Li shouted.
At this time, there were only about forty spearmen left, and they were already trembling with fear after barely forming a formation.
Chen Li simply stood in front of the spear formation and shouted: "You will not retreat until I die. If I die, you will not be able to survive! Form a formation and kill the enemy!"
The spearmen who did not run to chase the enemy were already relatively disciplined. When they saw Chen Li's bravery, their morale was instantly boosted. They all crouched down and pointed their spears at the cavalry.
The gunmen kept reloading their ammunition, but the more they panicked, the more confused they became, and nearly half of them couldn't load the ammunition.
Chen Li squatted and drew his sword. When the cavalry approached, he immediately shouted: "Fire the gun!"
"Bang bang bang!"
There were less than thirty muskets, but the ammunition was successfully fired, but this time the distance was closer, and six cavalrymen were killed. Fredergonda was one of them.
As soon as the general died, there was a spear formation in front, and all the friendly troops fled in the river. There were more than 20 Spanish knights left, who were still willing to fight? They all reined up their horses and fled back to the dense forest. They had no food or armor, and returned to Guatemala.
It is six to seven hundred miles long, and there are many plateaus and mountains. It is impossible to ride a horse all the way. It is not known how many people can make it back alive to report to the governor.
Chen Li didn't know if these cavalrymen had really run away, so he still let the spearmen and gunmen form a formation.
As for the other Han Chinese and natives, they were all killed madly. They pursued along the river bank. No matter which side the enemy landed on, they immediately rushed up and killed them. The enemy swam at first, but when they were tired from swimming, they could only wade and walk, but
It is difficult to walk in waist-deep river water. It is really frustrating for the sky and the earth.
"Surrender, we surrender!" Countless Spanish soldiers raised their hands and shouted.
Chen Li rode a captured war horse, carefully ensuring that he did not fall off, and proudly issued an order: "Those who surrender must not go ashore immediately. Take off each other's belts and tie their hands behind their backs!"
Seeing that his men were accepting a large number of prisoners, Chen Li smiled bitterly.
Although they had snatched eight horses in the small town, no one knew how to ride. They waited for reinforcements from the enemy for half a month. Several leaders sharpened their guns before the battle, but they could only run on the flat ground and did not dare to ride horses to kill on the battlefield.
And what the hell are those soldiers under me?
Although he usually trains well, he is always disobedient in battle. This time the ambush almost turned over.
Clean the battlefield and tally the results.
They captured 784 Spanish soldiers and 2,397 native servants. It is difficult to estimate how many they killed because there were corpses floating everywhere in the river.
Seized were a full-body plate armor, nearly a thousand pairs of chainmail, and leather armor, hundreds of swords, 4 small cannons, 52 muskets, 2 war horses, and a lot of grain and rum.
Chen Li was very speechless. These Spanish soldiers actually marched long distances with rum.
There were also a lot of trophies that were lost in the river in the panic of the enemy. The friendly indigenous troops were salvaging them, and Chen Li did not intend to take any more. All the salvaged items were distributed to the indigenous people.
As for the losses of the Han people, well... two people were slightly injured.
This battle damage ratio is very unscientific, just like using a plug-in. It is not like what a ragtag group of people can do. Even Chen Li himself can't believe it.
It can only be said that the Spaniards underestimated the enemy too much. They were used to being arrogant in America. After the fall of the Aztec Empire, they have not encountered any decent resistance. In normal wars, the muskets are fired and the cavalry charge, and all they have to do is chase.
The natives ran all over the ground.
In three consecutive battles, Chen Li's biggest casualty was actually the first battle where he was ambushed.
Twelve people died that time, and eight of them were hacked to death by Chen Li and his close confidants...
Three battles and three victories, brilliant results.
No matter which private soldier was sent by the maritime merchant, they were all convinced of Chen Li at this moment, even to the point of blind worship.
Next time we fight, the troops will probably be more obedient.
Lu Fang was equally impressed and respectfully asked for instructions: "Dah, how should we deal with the prisoners?"
Chen Li said with a smile: "Those Spaniards will be interrogated separately, and those whose confessions do not match will be killed immediately. After all the confessions are extracted, the captured natives will be allowed to kill their masters with their own hands. By the way, leave a few who understand Portuguese.
Don't kill me, I still need a guide when I fight."
The captured Spanish soldiers were tortured in turn and more than a hundred were killed on the spot. Dozens more were also beheaded by the Han people because their confessions were obviously inconsistent with their confessions.
On the third day, more than 600 Spanish prisoners were tied to trees and left to die.
The more than two thousand native captives were forced to point their knives at their masters. Each man was stabbed twice, and even if he died, he would be stabbed. On average, each Spanish prisoner would be stabbed eight times in turn. He was lucky to die, but some were unlucky.
Dan's body was stabbed eight times, but he was still holding on.
Four Spaniards who knew Portuguese were left by Chen Li to lead the way. They witnessed the execution of the petition and were so frightened that they wet their pants and cried out to God.
Throwing the four knives over, Chen Li said with a smile: "You guys should do it too, I've just left a few of them unkilled."
The four of them picked up the knives bravely and stood there in a daze, not daring to do anything.
Chen Li said: "Whoever doesn't take action, I will release the tied people, and then I will tie you up and kill you!"
The four of them rushed forward with knives and quickly hacked their former comrades to death, successfully completing their declaration of surrender.
From now on, the four people will be guarded separately. Any information they provide must be verified. If the information is conflicting, various tortures will be served.
Their value is not limited to being a guide, but also because they can communicate with the indigenous people.
Chen Li wanted to conquer more indigenous people, so he took more than 700 Han people (already less than 800) as the core and led tens of thousands of indigenous people to attack Guatemala, the core of Central American rule. The Spanish were too cruel and the indigenous people had long since
The grievances are deep and this is the American version of "King Wu conquers Zhou".
When the Aztec Empire fell, the situation was similar. The same group of Spaniards led countless indigenous tribes to fight because the Aztec emperor was unpopular.