King Su Hu of Wei stood on the deck. With his telescope, he could vaguely see the mouth of a large river.
Next to the mouth of the river, there is a small port with several small warships in it.
Near the port, there is a bastion hidden in the mist.
The fleet stopped here because they captured the Spanish warships and knew the detection range of the Spanish telescopes.
The fleet was in a position where they could vaguely see the situation on the shore.
The Spaniards on the shore were unable to see the fleet through the telescopes they made.
King Su Hu of Wei looked at the land in front of him. This was their destination. He was preparing to establish his own country here.
He learned from the captives that the Spanish had developed this area for decades and built huge plantations. There was also a large-scale mining industry here.
This place is suitable for the development of both agriculture and industry.
When King Su Hu of Wei saw his future land, the anxious look on his face lightened a lot.
The land he is about to own is not inferior to that of his eldest brother Su Xiong.
King Su Hu of Wei issued an order: "Inform General Song Kangbo and the entire army will act according to the established plan."
The fleet left two armed merchant ships, as well as the flagship of Wei King Su Hu, to protect the fleet from harm.
The navy's steam warships and armed merchant ships rushed towards the mouth of the Amazon River at full speed.
Behind the navy, followed closely by the troop transport ship carrying the army, they were preparing to seize the beach and land.
King Su Hu of Wei used a telescope to observe. He could see that the soldiers were also very nervous.
They eat food to replenish their energy or drink water to relieve tension.
Some soldiers also carefully checked the weapons in their hands to make sure they were in good condition.
King Su Hu of Wei said confidently: "Thank you to the Spanish for the gift."
He used his telescope to observe the Spanish ports and bastions, and he knew that the Spanish were unprepared.
The few small sailing warships in the port, plus the Spanish soldiers hiding in the bastion, were no match for his soldiers.
His men have more advanced weapons and use sneak attacks.
King Su Hu of Wei believed that the final victory already belonged to him.
…………………………
General Song Kangbo stood on the deck of the steam warship. He used a telescope to look at the situation around the Spanish port.
In the port, there are five or six sailing warships, which should be Western destroyers.
The Spanish had no other maritime opponents in this place except the occasional pirates of the Caribbean.
They left only one army to maintain sufficient deterrence.
The Spaniards believed that if they were attacked by the enemy, they could quickly mobilize troops from the Caribbean.
There are bastions and inland as buffers here, so there will be no danger in a short period of time.
The Spaniards now encountered an enemy with a difference in weapons.
There are also coastal defense artillery batteries near the military port. There are seven or eight forts on the shore, which are the greatest threat to the attackers.
Steam warships can still withstand it, but wooden warships and troop carriers will be seriously injured if hit by a single shot. They will be hit by multiple coastal defense artillery shells and have no chance of survival.
General Song Kangbo observed the Spanish defense situation, and a smile appeared on his face.
The Spaniards were completely unaware of their arrival.
The navy could take a preemptive strike and use heavy artillery to destroy the Spanish coastal defense artillery batteries, creating opportunities for the army to land on the beach.
Chu Zhengmeng, a younger chief of staff, walked up to General Song Kangbo and pointed at the somewhat chaotic Spanish fishing boats ahead.
"General Song, regarding these Spanish fishing boats, we must prevent them from landing to prevent them from leaking our details to the Spanish.
I suggest sending armed merchant ships to destroy all these fishing boats."
When General Song Kangbo heard about this situation, he waved his hand and said: "They are just fishing boats, not worthy of our splitting our forces to pursue them.
Send semaphores to all armed merchant ships and rush to the port in the established formation.
If a fishing boat dares to block the front of the fleet, it will be knocked over directly.
The fishing boats ran away in all directions, ignoring them.
The semaphore specifically states that ships are not allowed to fire privately without orders."
General Song Kangbo was not worried at all about the fishermen leaking information.
In this war, if the landing cannot be successful in the first place, it means the failure of the war.
According to what Song Kangbo learned, once the news is passed on, the Spanish fleets in other places will soon be able to provide support.
When Staff Officer Chu Zhengmeng heard General Song Kangbo's instructions, he immediately sent these orders to other armed merchant ships through semaphores.
General Song Kangbo saw armed merchant ships advancing at high speed. When they encountered Spanish fishing boats ahead, they directly rammed them with their boats and used this method to drive away all the fishing boats blocking the road.
The steam warship hid behind the armed merchant ship to prevent the Spanish from noticing the unusual appearance of the ship in advance.
General Song Kangbo's expression did not change at all. He was still holding a telescope and observing the situation on the shore.
From this distance, he could clearly see the situation on the shore.
The telescopes used by the Spaniards could only see ships approaching the shore.
They couldn't tell which faction the ship belonged to.
The Spaniards didn't understand it clearly and would never launch an attack immediately.
Because this sea area, a large number of ships in the past belonged to Spain.
The armed merchant ships selected by their navy have a rather deceptive appearance. They are similar in shape to cargo ships. They are very different from warships.
The steam warship followed behind, but the smoke from the boiler was a little unusual and could not be hidden.
But it was the first time the Spanish came into contact with steam-powered ships, and they didn't know what it meant?
This situation is beneficial to the attacker, who must not fire cannons to reveal their identity.
The later the identity of the fleet is exposed, the shorter the time left for the Spaniards to prepare, and the lower the casualties they will suffer in taking this place.
General Song Kangbo continued to listen to the reports of the artillery staff until the Spanish coastal defense artillery battery entered the range of the steam warship's heavy artillery.
He immediately issued an order: "Slow down the steam warship, lower the anchor and let the steam warship stop, and try your best to stabilize the hull without causing too much shaking.
The heavy artillery is aimed at the coastal defense artillery emplacements next to the port. Our task is to destroy all the coastal defense artillery emplacements.
Order the navy to continue the offensive, seize the dock and cover the landfall of the army."
General Song Kangbo's order was issued and began to send semaphores to the navy.
The navy followed the semaphore's instructions and began to prepare for battle.
General Song Kangbo is not worried about the situation of the navy. The ships of the navy are all armed merchant ships.
But the breech-loading rifled guns they equipped had far greater range and power than the Spanish front-loading guns.
As long as the steam warships can suppress the Spanish coastal defense artillery batteries.
The navy had no problem dealing with the Spanish destroyers in the port.
The main shaft of the steam engine of the steam warship was disconnected from the propeller, the propeller stopped rotating, the warship lost power and began to slow down slowly.
The navy soldiers threw the heavy steel anchor into the sea via a steam crane.
The water near the shore is shallow, and the anchor quickly touches the bottom of the sea.
As the steam warship moved forward, it pulled the chain, causing the anchor to get stuck on the seabed.
Pulled by steel hinges, the ship is firmly anchored on the sea.
The steam warship had just stopped and the hull was still shaking slightly.
The artillery staff began to direct the skilled artillerymen, load the heavy guns of the steam warships, and adjust the firing parameters of the cannons.
He aimed at the distant coastal defense gun emplacement according to the wind direction at the scene.
The artillery staff prayed in their hearts for the blessings of their ancestors, and the first artillery shell must hit the target to enhance the morale of the entire army.
The firing of heavy artillery will cause the hull to shake, and the process of loading the heavy artillery shells and re-aiming will take more than ten minutes.
The artillery staff took aim repeatedly, and he was sure that nothing would go wrong.
Give the order immediately.
"Cannonball fired."
He then added another sentence.
"This is a school-fired artillery shell. It is normal that it did not hit the target."
The gunner pulls the gun rope, the firing pin fires the primer, and the gunpowder pushes the shell out of the barrel.
The huge recoil of the heavy artillery fire directly caused the hull of the steam warship to continuously shake in the sea.
The shells flew towards the coastal defense gun emplacement with a huge scream.
Soon a huge roar sounded, and the Spanish coastal defense artillery battery was directly hit by a precise shell, completely destroying the coastal defense artillery battery.
When the officers on the steam warship saw this situation, they immediately cheered.
General Song Kangbo praised loudly: "You played very well, and you hit the target in the first try.
I will ask Wei Wang Su Hu for credit for you."
General Song Kangbo felt relieved when he saw this situation.
The armed merchant ships ahead saw the Spanish coastal defense artillery batteries destroyed, and their morale was high.
The officer took the opportunity to boost morale and said: "Brothers, the time has come for us to make contributions.
General Song was responsible for destroying the coastal defense guns, and now the Spanish only had a few small wooden boats left.
We must use our strength and occupy this port in front of us at all costs."
The naval officer shouted: "The King of Wei is a thousand years old, victory belongs to us."
The soldiers followed the officers and shouted slogans.
"The King of Wei is a thousand years old, victory belongs to us."
At the bow and stern of the steam warship, two heavy guns fired alternately.
Six shells were fired, destroying a total of three Spanish coastal defense artillery batteries.
Only then did the Spaniards react, and their shore guns opened fire, targeting the fleet of armed merchant ships rushing towards the port.
The Spanish coastal defense guns seemed huge, but their range was too close to hit steam warships.
The Spanish could only do the next best thing and prepare to use shore cannons to repel the incoming warships.
The coastal defense guns opened fire one after another, and the big hot iron balls flew towards the armed merchant fleet.
The accuracy of the muzzleloader gun is very impressive, but it is difficult to aim at an armed merchant ship moving at high speed.
Most armed merchant ships can avoid incoming iron balls.
Only a few armed merchant ships were injured by the iron balls.
But there was an armed merchant ship that was hit by two iron balls. The key thing to note is that the location was not good.
One of the missiles destroyed the mast, sending sawdust flying across the ship, injuring many people.
One hit just below the waterline.
The hull made of hard wood was directly penetrated by the iron ball.
Sea water followed the breach and poured directly into the cabin.
The speed of this armed merchant ship has obviously slowed down.
The slow-moving armed merchant ship was taken care of by the Spanish coastal defense guns, but was soon riddled with holes by large iron balls and sank directly into the sea.
The navy soldiers jumped into the sea to escape before the ship was about to sink.
When a naval officer saw an armed merchant ship leaving the fleet, he immediately used a semaphore to notify the ships.
"All ships accelerated towards the port."
He knew that coastal defense artillery was only suitable for attacking long-distance targets.
As long as they rush to the dock, they won't be hit by coastal defense artillery.
General Song Kangbo used a telescope to watch the changes on the battlefield.
He saw an armed merchant ship that had been hit by the Spanish and was about to sink into the sea.
He immediately issued an order, saying: "Don't worry about the life of the cannon. Use the fastest rate of fire to destroy the coastal defense artillery for me."
The firing speed of the steam warship's heavy artillery was greatly increased shortly after Song Kangbo gave the order, and the overheating of the gun barrel was ignored at all.
The Spanish coastal defense artillery batteries were quickly destroyed by the heavy artillery of the steam warships.
The steam warship pulled up the anchor, took the troop transport ship following it, and began to approach the port.
While slowly accelerating, it also used artillery fire to support the battle ahead.
General Song Kangbo also arranged small boats to rescue the navy in the sea.
The fleet of armed merchant ships quickly approached the Spanish port without the interference of coastal defense guns.
Spanish warships in the port looked at the menacing enemy ships.
They immediately sailed out of the port, preparing to deal with enemy ships in the sea.
They must not be allowed to be blocked by enemy ships in the port, unable to move.
There is a generational difference in the artillery technology used by the two sides, and the attacking side is supported by steam warships and heavy artillery.
The Spanish destroyers were quickly defeated.
They were surrounded by armed merchant ships and after destroying three warships, the other warships chose to surrender.
General Song Kangbo saw that the Spanish sea resistance had been destroyed.
He led the troop transport to prepare for disembarkation.
At the same time, he sent someone on a speedboat to inform King Su Hu of Wei who was waiting offshore.
They have achieved a staged victory, and Wei King Su Hu can lead the immigrants to land.
After the armed merchant ships took control of the port, they sailed along the mouth of the Amazon River and directly into the river.
Armed merchant ships carried naval guns and began to attack the Spanish soldiers on the shore.
After the Spanish soldiers were shelled, they immediately chose to huddle in the bastion and did not dare to go out to face the terrible enemy.
General Song Kangbo organized troop transport ships and landed through the pier of the port.
The army soldiers who had been wandering at sea for more than half a year finally set foot on solid land.
Everyone exudes down-to-earth joy.
General Song Kangbo disembarked from the steam warship and came to the shore to direct the army operations.
The armed merchant ships that entered the inland river were already using the naval guns on the ships to suppress the Spanish troops in the bastion.
General Song Kangbo finished gathering the army, and they dragged the artillery and surrounded the Spanish bastion.
The soldiers set up camp, built artillery positions, and prepared to attack the city.
When General Song Kangbo saw the bastion in front of him, he showed disdain in his eyes.
In the cold weapon era or the muzzleloader gun era, the bastion can effectively prevent enemy attacks.
Even tens of thousands of troops may not be able to break this small bastion.
But times have changed now, and the bastion cannot withstand the attack of breech-loaded artillery.
The huge energy contained in the explosion of the cannonball can directly destroy the walls of the bastion.
Song Kangbo commanded the soldiers to prepare for a large-scale artillery attack.
He then heard Wei King Su Hu leading the immigrants ashore.
He immediately went to the dock to report the war situation to Wei King Su Hu and asked for instructions on what to do next.
He should not overwhelm the guest and usurp the title. This fortress should be captured by Wei King Su Hu himself.