In the early morning of May 27, 1794, an advance team of more than two dozen Spanish troops conducted a reconnaissance on the outskirts of the San Jose Guadalupe stronghold and found that all the Eastern troops in the fortress had withdrawn. Afterwards, they strengthened their
I bravely went to the Santa Clara Monastery not far to the north, and found that the place was also deserted.
During this period, a soldier noticed something unusual. About a mile away from them, there was a very strange "bird" floating in the air, and it kept making a buzzing sound. With his extraordinary eyesight,
The soldier observed for a while and found that the "strange bird" was hovering motionless in the air. This was the first time he had encountered this situation in his more than thirty years of life.
However, the second lieutenant who led the team was obviously not interested in the strange birds. He led his men to continue tracking northwest along the horseshoe and wheel tracks. When they came to a hill three miles west of Santa Clara, they finally met the Northern Navy overseas.
A small exchange of fire broke out between the men of the Corps.
The Spanish advance team was surprised to find that in addition to muskets, the weapons used by the enemy also included bows and arrows. And unlike the small bows and arrows used by the local Indians, the arrows shot by the enemy were almost four feet (1.2 meters) long.
It can be imagined from this that the bow used by the opponent must be powerful and heavy, with astonishing lethality. After losing several men, the Spanish advance team quickly withdrew to Santa Clara. It was past noon, and no one from the Northern Navy came here.
Launch an attack.
At dusk, in the Spanish army camp located ten miles to the south, a lieutenant adjutant listened to the report sent back by the advance team, then came to the commander's tent and reported to him.
"Bows and arrows?" All the officers in the tent had strange expressions on their faces, and then suddenly burst into laughter.
A brigadier general picked up a crystal glass filled with wine and raised his glass to the highest-ranking general sitting at the end of the long table: "Congratulations, Your Excellency General! The enemy retreated in panic. We are in sight of victory. We salute you!"
"
This general is the commander-in-chief of the western provinces of New Spain and the commander of this offensive force, Pedro de Nava.
In 1776, in order to deal with the expansion threats of Tsarist Russia, France, and Britain in North America and the increasingly severe Indian resistance, strengthen the defense capabilities of the northern states of New Spain, and promote territorial expansion and colonization, King Carlos III of Spain ordered:
Four military regions were established within the governor's jurisdiction, each responsible for the vast area from the Pacific coast to Central America. The commander-in-chief of each military region only nominally obeys the command of the provincial governor and has jurisdiction over all military and political affairs in the region. Among them, the commander-in-chief of the western region is responsible for the region.
Includes the entire provinces of California, Sonora and Sinaloa.
Although California Governor de Arrillaga had previously sent a request for help to the Governor's Office in Mexico City, and the Governor's Office in New Spain also raised troops through temporary conscription, the Western Command was specifically responsible for resolving the matter.
While he was talking, a captain came in and reported to Denawa: "General, our people found a lot of iron tools in an Indian village. They said they exchanged furs for those oriental people. People and things were all
Brought it back."
"Let them draw lots, and everything will be decided by God." Admiral Denava's tone was very calm, and he was determined to kill as a warning. "Let them understand who is the real ruler of this land. Without our permission,
This is what happens when you trade privately with invaders."
"yes."
The captain said goodbye and left. Not long after, the cries of women, the shouts of men, and the drums of the firing squad rang out from an open space outside the military camp. The drums suddenly stopped like a shower, and as the officers
With a loud shout, more than a dozen muskets roared together.
General Denava then ordered that the troops stationed in San Jose Guadalupe tomorrow morning. After resting for half a day, they continued to move towards San Francisco. Two days later at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, thousands of Spanish troops arrived at a position 7 kilometers away from the Golden Gate Fortress.
After setting up camp, the defensive position set up by the North Navy was located between two hills one kilometer away to the north.
The reason why it is so close is mainly because the actual combat distance of European armies in these years is so far. In order to maintain the physical strength of the soldiers, the distance from the starting position to the launch of the attack generally does not exceed 300 meters; secondly, in the Spanish army,
On the left wing, there is a freshwater lake covering an area of nearly 300 hectares, which is convenient for people and horses to drink; and it is only three kilometers away from the west coast of California. Several Spanish warships responsible for transporting supplies can easily provide support to the army.
Well, actually the location where the Spanish camped was the San Francisco State University campus in another time and space, and the small freshwater lake was Lake Merced.
While his soldiers and civilians were repairing fortifications and building forts, Admiral Denava and his generals observed the enemy positions opposite. He was deeply impressed by the behavior of all the Northern Navy troops huddled in parapets and trenches.
Contempt. According to the practice of war between European countries in this time and space, he decided to send someone to deliver an ultimatum first, ordering the other party to surrender.
Half an hour later, a group of about thirty cavalrymen arrived in front of the Beihai Navy formation. One hundred meters away from the position, the cavalrymen stopped. Then an officer led a flag bearer from the team.
The horses came out. When the two came to the parapet fortifications, they did not dismount. The officer directly opened a paper tube full of writing and muttered to it.
Even though the people from the Overseas Corps have been here for half a year, they can't speak Spanish except a few words like "hello", "thank you", "goodbye", etc., so the Spanish officer who came to read out the declaration of war
Little did he know that he was playing the piano to a cow.
When he finished reading the content on the scroll, he saw a guy who looked like an officer behind the parapet opposite, showing his yellow teeth and saying with a smile: "De acuerdo! De acuerdo! I have been waiting for you for several days.
, this time none of you can go back!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As soon as these words came out, the officers and soldiers of the Overseas Corps on the position burst into laughter. The Spanish officer was a little confused, thinking that you kept saying yes, okay, okay
, Surrender or not? Our general will give you just one hour.
When the captain of the overseas corps who spoke just now saw that the two Spaniards did not respond, he immediately remembered the gesture that Rucci taught him, so he raised his hand and gave a middle finger to the opposite side. If the Spanish officer did not understand this, he would be a fool.
Got it!
The middle finger originated from the "Hundred Years' War" between England and France. Those are all rumors. In fact, it has been around since the ancient Roman era, or even earlier. According to the historical data of ancient Rome, the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes in the fourth century BC
At that time, he made gestures to the orator Demosthenes.
There was no need to say anything more. Their faces were livid at the other party's rudeness, and they immediately turned around and went back.
When the report was received, General Denava and his Spanish generals were drinking coffee leisurely. When he heard that the Chinese people on the opposite side gave him an ultimatum, the general was silent for a moment.
Suddenly he burst out laughing. All the officers looked at each other in shock. After a while, Denava had enough laughter and asked his generals: "Gentlemen, are you ready for your coffee?"
After a while, I heard a brigadier general say hesitantly: "Very good, general."
Denava said expressionlessly: "Then everyone, hurry up and get ready. First use cannons to show our attitude, and launch an attack tomorrow morning to completely eliminate them!"
Half an hour later, a battle flag with a white background, a diagonally crossed zigzag red cross, and the Bourbon crown emblem on the four corners was erected in the Spanish camp. It was a Burgundy cross flag with a red "X" on it.
Represents the cross on which St. Andrew, one of Jesus' disciples, was crucified.
At dusk, a brass military band composed of more than a dozen people came up from behind the Spanish artillery position. After they took their positions, they played a very high-spirited song under the command of the man holding the scepter.
song.
"Oh! They even brought a band! What are they going to do?"
After hearing the news, Rucci held up his binoculars and looked at it for a moment, and then listened for a while to make sure that he had never heard it. What he didn't know was that what was playing opposite was a cavalry march called "Desangro", the earliest cavalry march.
Originated from the Moors, meaning "cut throat".
"Chief, the enemy is going to fire!"
Hearing the words of the officer behind him, Lu Qi suddenly turned around and quickly walked into the semi-underground headquarters made of wood. Sure enough, in the picture returned by the drone, he was 700 to 900 meters away.
Above, more than a dozen cannons were being loaded, and Spanish artillerymen were laboriously stuffing heavy iron balls into the muzzles.
Lu Qi was about to order his own artillery to open fire. Unexpectedly, just in the middle of speaking, he heard someone behind him say: "Wait a minute!"
He turned around and saw that the person speaking was a battalion commander of the Overseas Corps, his surname was Li, and his given name was Chang Yu. Before Lu Qi could ask, he heard the other party say in a deep voice: "Chief, the sun is about to set. I thought the enemy's artillery fire was just
To show off their power, not to attack us. They have just arrived today and will not attack immediately. If we fire too early and expose our strength, if they retreat overnight, wouldn’t our previous plan be in vain?”
When Lu Qi heard that something made sense, he hurriedly said: "What do you think?"
Li Changgeng said: "Immediately notify everyone to evacuate the breastworks, take cover in the trenches, and withstand this round of shelling! Our breastworks are made of sandbags. If they collapse, we can just build them up again."
Rucci looked around at the other officers and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think what Battalion Commander Li said makes sense."
"Then let's do it! Order everyone to go into the trench and take cover!"
A few minutes later, more than a dozen 12-pound cannons and mortars of the Spanish army opened fire one after another. The heavy shells roared shrilly and landed on the ground five to six hundred meters away with huge kinetic energy, and then bounced high.
He got up and smashed into the parapet fortifications.