1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 798 Santo Domingo City

It stands to reason that if it is only to achieve the purpose of reconnaissance, Qian Tiandun actually does not need to secretly transfer Chen Yixin from Kaohsiung to Penghu to carry out the mission. He can also complete the mission by directly dispatching Gaoqiaonan or even a battalion-affiliated reconnaissance platoon.Moreover, he already wanted Gao Qiaonan to be in charge of the official combat command at that time, so in fact, it would be more appropriate for Gao Qiaonan to go there.

The reason why it took a lot of trouble to give this task to Chen Yixin was, on the one hand, to take this opportunity for Chen Yixin to brush up his experience and practice the special combat capabilities he lacked in the past; Of course, Gao Qiaonan and other scouts have also received training in field environmental surveying and mapping, but their professional level is not enough to compare with Chen Yixin.Qian Tiandun attaches great importance to Taipei's combat plan, and has very high requirements for these details, and strives to make it perfect.

Because the weather was not ideal when leaving the port, Chen Yixin was a little worried that there would be troubles on the road, but after the sailboat left Penghu, the sea conditions improved quickly.At present, there are basically no traces of pirate activities in the strait, so Chen Yixin doesn't have to worry about any unexpected incidents on the way.

The reconnaissance platoon set off from Penghu in the evening, and it took a day and a half to reach the waters off Tamsui.The next morning when the sky was dark, Chen Yixin could already see the coastline near the mouth of the Danshui River through the telescope.During this period, he was not idle, and he had to regularly record information such as heading, wind direction, ocean currents and sea conditions, so as to confirm the marching time required in the combat plan.If it was Haihan's own sailboat, then the voyage could be shortened by at least a few hours, and the shorter the time required to project troops during combat, the less time left for the enemy to react.

The Tamsui River has a total length of more than 150 kilometers and a basin area of ​​more than 700 square kilometers. These two data rank third among the many rivers on Taiwan Island, and it is also the only river on Taiwan Island that is truly navigable.

Of course, Chen Yixin would not order the sailboat to sail directly into the Danshui River. If he did so, he would be discovered by the Spanish stronghold on the river bank, which was not in line with the mission purpose of this trip.After Chen Yixin determined the location of the Danshui River Estuary, he ordered to continue sailing northward and bypass it far away. Even if someone near the Estuary noticed the sailing boat passing by, they would only think that it was probably heading for Jilong Port .

After driving a certain distance through the mouth of the Tamsui River and confirming that there were no other ships on the nearby sea, Chen Yixin gave the order to turn closer to the coastline.On the coast about fifteen miles north of the mouth of the Danshui River, the sailboat slowly approached the shore, and then the scouts landed on the small sampan.In the next few days, this sailboat will cruise in the nearby waters, passing by here regularly once a day, so that the reconnaissance platoon can pick them up when they encounter unfavorable conditions on land.

Since this kind of reconnaissance operation will not be equipped with logistics personnel and transportation tools, all equipment and supplies have to be carried by the scouts themselves, and the load of an individual soldier exceeds [-] catties. It is difficult for troops to persist in marching in the field for days and performing reconnaissance missions in this state.

The coast where Chen Yixin chose to land originally belonged to the Guirou Society, an indigenous tribe. However, because the Guirou Society broke out in armed conflict with the Spaniards a few years ago and was defeated, they were forced to move out of this area and handed over control to the the Spaniards.In fact, the seaside area north of the Tamsui River and west of Yangmingshan, including the city of Santo Domingo, was originally controlled by the Guirou Society, but now the Guirou Society has moved into the Yangmingshan Mountains, and The Spaniards had a limited population and had no conditions to fully develop these areas. Therefore, the landing place chosen by Chen Yixin and the reconnaissance platoon had long since become an uninhabited area.The one who provided this information to Hai Han was the Spanish blacksmith José who was captured by Jin Ming in Jilong Port last time.

According to Jose, although the Spaniards have driven out the nearby indigenous tribes, their actual control area is still limited to within a radius of five miles from the city of Santo Domingo, which also provides great opportunities for Haihan's reconnaissance activities convenience.It took less than two hours for the reconnaissance platoon to arrive near the Spanish-controlled area after landing.

Just like what Western colonists did in other places in the Far East, the Spaniards developed here by building fortress-style strongholds, and then using them as the core to reclaim land around them and build plantations. The same is true near the city of Santo Domingo.The Spaniards cleared large areas of clearing from the forest, and then planted food and cash crops.However, since most of the people who work for it are natives attached to Luzon Island and Taiwan, they are not good at farming, and the Spaniards rely on their status and are unwilling to do the work of farmers in person, so the agricultural development here is not good. Not ideal, this is also one of the main reasons why the Spaniards have established themselves in Taipei for several years, but still need Luzon Island to provide logistical supplies.

Chen Yixin did not intend to take the risk of exposing his whereabouts through these developed plantation areas, and led the team to continue to circle the forest. It took more than two hours to circle the upper reaches of the Tamsui River and beyond the city of Santo Domingo. East area.It was already noon at this time. After Chen Yixin set up the perimeter guard, he ordered all the staff to rest for an hour and have a meal.

The field rations of the reconnaissance platoon are mainly compressed biscuits and self-heating military rations. These foods do not need to be cooked on fire, so it is not easy to expose their whereabouts.However, due to the limitation of production methods, the taste and texture of these marching rations are indeed not very ideal. The feeling in the mouth can only be described as "tasting like chewing wax".Apart from providing the heat needed by the body, there is basically no sensual enjoyment at all.This is even far from the food that can be eaten during a real war. After all, there will be a special cooking team to provide fresh hot food during the war, and the quality is much better than this ration.

After a short rest, the reconnaissance platoon continued to move towards the target area.However, because he was already close to the area controlled by the Spaniards, Chen Yixin also consciously slowed down his marching speed, and arranged several soldiers to explore the way ahead.

Soon they came to the edge of the dense forest, and further out was the Spanish plantation, and it was very close to the city of Santo Domingo, and the outline of the castle in the distance could be seen with the naked eye.Chen Yixin ordered to be vigilant on the spot, while he unloaded his backpack and prepared to climb up a tree to have a look.

What he saw through the binoculars did not make Chen Yixin feel relaxed, on the contrary, he frowned unconsciously.The external condition of the castle is somewhat different from what Jose said, or there are some important details that Jose did not mention in the description.

The city of Santo Domingo was indeed very close to the bank of the Tamsui River. Chen Yixin estimated that it was only about 30 meters away. Haihan's firepower advantage at this distance was almost invincible.But what Jose didn't mention is that the city of Santo Domingo is located on a hill, with a height difference of more than ten and 20 meters from the river bank.Such terrain is not a convenient position for naval guns to exert their attack power.

Due to the limited deployment space on the ship, the naval guns arranged on the artillery deck do not have much room for adjustment of the firing angle.In other words, the original plan to directly attack the city of Santo Domingo with naval gun fire may not be effective, and the naval guns on the lower artillery deck are basically useless in this link.

The city's fire defenses in Santo Domingo obviously focus on threats from the water. Although the number of artillery deployed on the city wall is unclear, the densely packed crenels on the city wall on the side of the river are enough to illustrate the Spaniards' ability to suppress firepower on the river. Not to be underestimated.Even if their artillery has a limited range, with such a height bonus, at least they can cover nearly one-third of the Danshui River.

"If I hadn't come here to take a look in person, I would have been tricked by the little blacksmith!" After Chen Yixin got down from the tree, he couldn't help muttering a few words.Of course, he also knew that Jose might not be scheming, because even if Jose knew that the Haihan people wanted to attack Santo Domingo, he couldn't imagine what kind of tactics the Haihan people would use, whether they would conduct on-the-spot reconnaissance before the battle. As far as the Haihan militia is concerned, it doesn't make much sense to use such small brains, and it is unlikely that they will be really tricked.

Throughout the afternoon until sunset, Chen Yixin repeatedly observed the terrain outside Santo Domingo.He had to admit that the Spaniards did have a certain strategic vision, because the land they picked to build the city was the only hilly highland on the north bank of the Danshui River near the mouth of the sea.By guarding this key point, the access to the sea of ​​the Tamsui River is basically controlled. It is no wonder that the Spaniards have successively subdued the indigenous tribes along the Tamsui River in the past two years.

After nightfall, Chen Yixin led a few people slowly out of the woods and sneaked towards Santo Domingo City.They did not use lighting tools, but walked slowly by the moonlight in the sky.All of these people had dark oil paint on their faces, and with the camouflage uniforms on their bodies, it was indeed difficult to detect their presence in the wilderness at night.

The Spaniards all lived in the castle, and they would not come out after nightfall, and there were only a few night laborers staying behind in the plantations outside the city.Since the gradual surrender of the surrounding indigenous tribes in the past two years, the Spaniards no longer have to worry that the natives will enter the plantation in the middle of the night and destroy it, and they no longer organize night patrols to guard the plantation. Conditions for easy action.

Chen Yixin and others bypassed the wooden huts where the laborers lived, and approached the hill where Santo Domingo City is located.In the night, the outline of the city wall on the hillside and the scattered residential areas under the hillside can be vaguely seen.However, since there was a special person on duty at the top of the city, Chen Yixin, who didn't want to expose his whereabouts, didn't intend to go close for reconnaissance. He just used the moonlight to carefully observe the surrounding terrain, looking for natural conditions that could be used.

Since the manpower deployed by Spain in Taiwan is very limited, it is impossible to carry out large-scale projects. Therefore, although this castle is called a "city", the actual size of the castle is indeed only a "fort".According to Chen Yixin's visual inspection, the city of Santo Domingo is actually a circle smaller than Fort Victory, and according to Jose's information, the city wall here is only a rammed earth wall, less than two meters thick, and the city defense is obviously not as strong as cement concrete. Blessed Fort Victory.

If bombarded with the 48-pound heavy artillery currently equipped by the Army, this kind of rammed earth wall will definitely crack or even partially collapse in a few strokes, but the problem is that this height difference allows the opponent's artillery to completely cover the entire river bank, which will make it difficult Haihan's firepower advantage disappeared.

"If it doesn't work, we can only launch an offensive in another direction." With such thoughts in mind, Chen Yixin beckoned his men to retreat into the night again.

Although the city of Santo Domingo itself is not big, it is located on a higher terrain, and the surrounding area it can radiate is relatively large.Chen Yixin wanted to change the direction of reconnaissance, but it was inconvenient at night, so he could only go back to the forest and wait for the next day to act.

However, a small accident occurred in the early morning of the next day. The sentinels on duty at the outskirts issued a warning with the sound of birds, causing the group of people who had just woken up from their sleep to hide in the bushes in a hurry.After a while, it was discovered that the tribes in the upper reaches of the Tamsui River used bamboo rafts to pack a lot of mountain goods, and went down the river to Santo Domingo to trade with the Spaniards.This long row of bamboo rafts lined up on the river was probably nearly half a mile long, so it was no wonder that the sentinel issued a warning.

Chen Yixin squatted in the grass and used binoculars to observe the natives supporting the bamboo rafts on the river. He muttered: "I went to the enemy's territory to do business, and I didn't even bring a self-defense weapon. As expected, my back has been broken..."

Of course, Chen Yixin knew that this was actually because the Spaniards in Santo Domingo prohibited the natives who came here to trade with weapons, even non-metallic weapons such as bamboo spears and arrows. Regarding these situations, the blacksmith Jose It has already been explained in detail.However, as an indigenous tribe that was once brave and aggressive, these natives actually chose to completely give up resistance and submit to the Spaniards, which indeed made Chen Yixin a little disappointed.But after thinking about it, although they cannot be expected to cause more trouble for the Spaniards, this may not be a bad thing.After this waist softens, it will be difficult to straighten up again. When Haihan conquers these areas in the future, he should not encounter too strong resistance.After all, at that time, in the eyes of the natives, the Haihan militia was a powerful existence that drove away the Spaniards.

After watching the bamboo raft team go downstream, Chen Yixin gave the order to gather and leave last night's camp.When the veterans left, they carefully packed up all the traces of last night's camp, so as not to be spotted by anyone who broke in here and reported to the Spaniards.Similar to dealing with such details, only the scouts of the special warfare battalion reconnaissance platoon who were brought out by Qian Tiandun had such a habit.

(End of this chapter)