Chapter 101 Where is my Italian gun, please support)
Mount Soldiles is more than 800 meters above sea level and is the edge of the Andes. It is a series of hills covered with green grass. In another world, this is the famous "Central Valley", which is the most famous grape-growing area in South America. Many Chinese people Familiar wine brands all come from here.
And this is also the reason why the Chileans want to go here - the Central Valley of Araucania has extremely fertile land, and for Chileans with limited arable land, its temptation is conceivable.
This area, two months ago, belonged to the Mapuche people. They graze here and grow corn and potatoes. The river water from the Andes Mountains provides ample water sources here. Now the passes of the valley have A stone fortress was built, and a village was even formed around the fortress. In just two months, dozens of Chilean families arrived here and were protected by the garrison in the fortress.
This conquest method of military occupation, allocating land to immigrants, forts to protect immigrants, and immigrants to support the forts is a method of conquest that the Chileans have tried repeatedly. Although this method of occupation is clumsy, it leaves the Mapuche people helpless - they can't even Conquer a wooden wall, and it is a "fortress" made of bricks and stones.
Standing on the edge of the forest, Chief Bagal looked at the fortress in the distance, his eyes filled with helplessness. This land once belonged to his tribe, but it was occupied by the Chileans two months ago. The existence of this fortress, It is impossible for him to return to the tribal land,
Now, the "Orchid Club" from the other side of the mountains gave him new hope. The hope of returning to the land where his ancestors lived and were buried.
"Sir, you see, there is the Chilean magic castle. Even the bravest warriors can't get close to it. Even if they get close to it, they can't break through the thick stone walls."
Looking in the direction of Bagal's finger, Zhu Xianhai was stunned, blinked in disbelief, and then picked up the telescope again.
"That's it……"
Along the way, he had imagined countless times what the fire-breathing "devil's fortresses" called by the Mapuche people looked like, and imagined how Chile would use fortresses to advance and force the Mapuche people into the valley. Now, when it appeared When he was in front of him, his heart was full of mixed emotions.
That's it……
This is also worthy of being called the "Devil's Fortress"!
Even the little devil's turret is probably better than this. It's just a broken stone courtyard at most!
Not at most, but basically - a stone wall built with stones, and behind the stone wall there are several stone houses and several wooden and stone towers.
This is actually a "fortress"... The so-called "fortress advance" is just this thing. Even the landlord's compound is probably better than this.
...I really think highly of them!
With a fortress like this, we can beat them 20 times a day...
"Second Battalion Commander, where is my Italian cannon?"
There really are no Italian guns!
However, the "Expeditionary Force" led by Zhu Xianhai had two Armstrong cannons.
These four 12-pound Armstrong cannons were the "feast" he prepared for the Chilean fortress.
The 12-pound Armstrong cannon looks "big", but in fact it is not "big" at all. It can even be described as light. The weight of this breech-rifled gun is only 406.4 kilograms, and its caliber is three inches, which is 76.2 mm. .It has an effective range of up to 3100 meters. Its shells and propellants are separated. The shells include explosive shells with delayed fuses, shrapnel shells, and solid shells.
Following an order, four Armstrong cannons opened their formation two kilometers away.
That is to say, the rifled gun can aim at such a distance, but the front-loading smoothbore gun cannot hit this far, let alone aiming.
When the artillerymen pushed the cannon into the gun position, Wang Deqian had already led a company of infantry to approach the "fortress".
"Be careful and stay hidden..."
As they approached the fortress along the cornfields, Wang Deqian kept reminding the soldiers to take cover.
In fact, they don't need to be so vigilant at all, because even if the Chileans discover them, they can't do anything to them. After all, their muskets have a limited range. Unlike European countries that have switched to a variety of front-loading rifled guns, The equipment of the armies of various countries in South America is diverse, from "Brown Bess" muskets to French m1842 "Migne" rifled guns, muskets account for the vast majority. Some are even equipped with older flintlock muskets, while Chilean soldiers are equipped with Basically, they are British-made "Brown Bass" muskets with flash cap firing devices.
The accuracy of those muskets at a distance of a hundred meters is absolutely impressive. This is even the reason why Zhu Xianhai dared to lead a thousand-man "expeditionary force" on the expedition to Araucania - this was a crushing advantage in technology.
Standing above the stone castle, Alfonso leaned lazily against the wall. Occasionally, he would cast his gaze at the surrounding fields - the corn in the fields was almost ready for harvest.
These corns were planted by the Mapuche people, but as the owners of the fields changed, they became the owners of the corns.
"With these lands, Sophia can give herself a child next year..."
Just when Alfonso was looking forward to a better life in the future, suddenly, Hansen on the side spoke in blunt Spanish.
"Look, there's someone there!"
As he spoke, he who had participated in the Schleswig War immediately picked up his rifle and pulled the trigger towards the cornfield.
Gunfire rang out from the fortress.
"Their response is very fast!"
Zhu Xianhai sighed.
"Fire!"
With an order, the Armstrong cannon burst into joy for the first time in the central valley of Araucanía.
The first test firing fully demonstrated the high accuracy of the rifled gun - it accurately hit the stone wall. With a "boom", a door-sized gap was opened in the one-foot-thick stone wall. During the explosion, fragments of shells and rubble roared in the air and flew around.
"They actually have cannons!"
Alfonso shouted in horror.
The Chilean soldiers who had just been startled by the gunfire had not figured out what was going on when there was a dull whistling sound in the air - the small shells fired from the grenade may not be very powerful, but for the Chilean soldiers who had just rushed into the yard For officers and soldiers, it is extremely deadly.
"Why is there shelling?"
As soon as this idea came to Second Lieutenant Salas' mind, the shells landed. In an instant, the yard was enveloped by the sound of continuous explosions. In the violent explosions, fragments flew across the sky, and the whistling fragments were like twisted sharp blades. It tore apart everything around it.
In the smoke, there were screams of the wounded everywhere, and the grenade fire stunned dozens of soldiers in the fortress. They didn't even know the enemy was there, and more than half of them were already dead or injured.
"boom……"
There was another loud noise, and another door-sized gap was opened in the stone wall.
"superior!"
While the Chileans were avoiding the shelling, Wang Deqian rushed over with a Spencer rifle. As he rushed, he aimed the rifle at the wall.
One hundred meters, but only ten seconds. After rushing to the wall, he did not rush in, but directly threw a grenade.
With a "boom" sound, he rushed in amid the smoke of the grenade explosion, and pulled the trigger just as he saw the figure in the smoke.
For a time, the fortress was filled with gunshots and the soldiers' shouts of killing.
Who are they?
Obviously not Mapuche.
The Mapuche people would not have cannons, nor would they have so many muskets, even continuous-fire ones.
"kill!"
In the choking smoke, Lin Dahai thrust his bayonet into the Chilean's chest. At such a close distance, bullets were not necessarily more effective than bayonets.
Bayonets, bullets, everything subverted their consciousness. Such a lightning-fast attack was absolutely unconventional.
Can a war be fought like this? "
The stunned Second Lieutenant Salas faced the enemy rushing towards him from the smoke. Before he could figure out who the enemy was, he raised his hand on his own initiative.