Forty-eight years of Qianlong

In the early morning of May 1794, 5, an advance team of more than 27 Spanish troops reconnaissance on the outskirts of the San Jose Guadalupe stronghold found that all the Oriental troops in the fortress had withdrawn.Afterwards, they ventured to the Santa Clara Monastery not far to the north, only to find that it was also empty.

During this time, a soldier noticed something unusual.In the air about a mile away from them, there was a very strange "bird" floating in the air, and it was constantly buzzing.Relying on 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 such a situation in his more than 30 years of life.

However, the second lieutenant who led the team was obviously not interested in the strange bird, and he led his men to follow the horseshoe and wheel marks to continue to track northwest.When they came near a hill three miles west of Santa Clara, they finally engaged in a small-scale exchange of fire with members of the North Marine Overseas Corps.

The Spanish advance team was surprised to find that the weapons used by the enemy included bows and arrows in addition to muskets.And unlike the small bows and arrows used by native Indians, the arrows shot by the opponent were almost four feet (1.2 meters) long.From this, it can be imagined that the bow used by the opponent must be powerful and powerful, with astonishing lethality.After losing a few men, the Spanish advance team quickly withdrew to Santa Clara. After noon, the Northern Navy did not attack here.

At dusk, in the Spanish army camp ten miles to the south, a lieutenant adjutant listened to the report sent by the advance team, and then came to the commander's tent and reported to him.

"Bows and arrows?" All the officers in the tent showed strange expressions on their faces, and then burst out laughing suddenly.

A brigadier general held up a crystal glass full of wine, raised his glass to the highest-ranking general sitting at the end of the long table, and said, "Congratulations, Your Excellency General! The enemy retreated in a hurry, and our victory is in sight, so I salute you! "

This general is Pedro de Nava, the commander-in-chief of the western provinces of New Spain and the commander of this offensive force.

In 1776, in order to deal with the expansion threats of Tsarist Russia, France, and the United Kingdom 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: In New Spain Four military districts were established in the Governor's District, responsible for the vast area from the Pacific coast to Central America.The commander-in-chief of each military region only obeys the command of the provincial governor in name, and is in charge of all military and political affairs within the jurisdiction.The area under the command of the Western Commander-in-Chief includes the entire provinces of California, Sonora, and Sinaloa.

Although California Governor De Alilaga sent a request for help to the Governor's Palace in Mexico City before, and the New Spain Governor's Palace also gathered troops through temporary conscription, but it was the Western Command that was specifically responsible for solving this matter.

While speaking, a captain came in and reported to Denava: "General, our people found a lot of ironware in an Indian village. They said they exchanged fur with those orientals. People and things are all Bring it back."

"Let them draw lots, everything will be decided by God." Admiral Denava's tone was very flat, and he was determined to make an example. "Let them understand who is the real ruler of this land. Without our permission, this is the end of privately trading with invaders."

"Yes."

The captain bid farewell and left.Not long after, women's cries, men's shouts, and the drums of the firing squad sounded in an open space outside the barracks.When the beating of drums suddenly stopped, with the officer shouting loudly, more than a dozen muskets roared together.

Admiral Denava then ordered that the troops be stationed in San Jose Guadalupe tomorrow morning, rest for half a day, and continue to advance towards San Francisco.Two days later, at three o'clock in the afternoon, thousands of Spanish troops successively arrived at a position 7 kilometers away from the Golden Gate Fortress and set up camp. The defensive position set up by the Northern Navy was set between two hills one kilometer to the north.

The reason why they are so close is that the actual combat distance of the European army is so far these years. In order to maintain the physical strength of the soldiers, the distance from the starting position to the attack is generally not more than 300 meters; secondly, on the left wing of the Spanish army , is a freshwater lake covering an area of ​​nearly [-] hectares, which is convenient for people and horses to drink; in addition, this place is only three kilometers away from the west coast of California, and several Spanish warships responsible for transporting supplies are very convenient to provide support for the army.

Well, in fact, the location where the Spaniards camped is the campus of San Francisco State University in another time and space, and the small freshwater lake is Lake Merced.

While his soldiers and militiamen were repairing fortifications and building forts, Admiral Denava led his generals to observe the enemy's position on the opposite side.Expressed deep contempt for the behavior of all the troops of the Northern Navy shrinking in the parapets and trenches.According to the practice of European countries fighting in this time and space, he decided to send someone to deliver an ultimatum first, ordering the opponent to surrender.

Half an hour later, a cavalry team of about 30 people came to the front of the North Navy formation. At a position 100 meters away from the position, the cavalry stopped, and then an officer rode away from the team with a flag bearer. out.When the two came to the parapet fortifications, they did not dismount, and the officer directly opened a paper tube full of handwriting, and began to read to it.

Although the members of the Overseas Corps have been here for half a year, they can’t speak Spanish except for a few words such as "Hello", "Thank you", and "Goodbye", so the Spanish military officer who came to read the letter of war I don't even know that I am playing the piano against the cow.

When he finished reading the contents of the scroll, he saw a guy who looked like an officer behind the parapet on the opposite side, showing his yellow teeth, and said with a smile: "De acuerdo! De acuerdo! I have been waiting for you for several days , this time, none of you will be able to go back!"

As soon as this remark came out, the officers and soldiers of the Shanghai Foreign Corps burst into laughter.The Spanish officer was a little confused, thinking that you kept saying yes, yes, yes, should you surrender or not?Our admiral just gave you an hour.

The company commander of the Overseas Corps who spoke just now saw that the two Spaniards did not respond, and then remembered the gesture that Lu Qi taught him, so he raised his hand and gave the middle finger to the opposite side.

The vertical middle finger originated from the "Hundred Years' War between Britain and France", which is a rumor. In fact, it has existed since ancient Rome, or even earlier.According to the historical data of ancient Rome, the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes compared the orator Demosthenes in the fourth century BC.

Now the Spanish officer would be a fool if he didn't understand it!

There was no need to say anything else, they were turned livid by the other party's rudeness, and immediately turned their horses and went back.

When receiving the report, Admiral de Nava and a group of Spanish generals under him were drinking coffee leisurely. When he heard that the group of Chinese on the opposite side actually gave him an ultimatum, the admiral was silent for a moment. Suddenly burst out laughing.All the officers looked at each other when they saw this, and after a while, De Nava laughed enough and asked the general, "Gentlemen, is your coffee ready?"

After a while, I heard a brigadier general hesitantly say: "Very good, general."

Denava said with a blank expression: "Then everyone, hurry up and prepare. First use the cannon to show our attitude, and launch an attack tomorrow morning to completely wipe them out!"

Half an hour later, a red cross on a white background with diagonally crossed jagged teeth and a battle flag with the crown emblem of the Bourbon dynasty at the four corners was erected in the Spanish camp.That is the Burgundy cross flag, the red "X" on it represents the cross of St. Andrew, one of Jesus' disciples, when he was tortured.

At sunset, a brass military band composed of more than a dozen people came up from the rear of 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.

"Yeah! There's even a band! What are they doing?"

Lu Qi, who came after hearing the news, held up his binoculars and looked at it for a while, then listened for a while, making sure that he had never heard of it.What he didn't know was that what was being played on the opposite side was a cavalry march called "Desangró", which originated from the Moors and means "cut throat".

"Chief, the enemy is about to fire!"

Hearing what the officer behind him said, Lu Qi turned around abruptly, and walked quickly into the semi-underground headquarters built of wood.Sure enough, on the screen sent back by the drone, at a distance of 900 to [-] meters, more than a dozen cannons are being loaded, and heavy iron balls are being stuffed into the muzzles by the Spanish artillery. .

Lu Qi was about to order his own artillery to fire, but he heard someone behind him say: "Wait a minute!"

He turned his head and saw that the speaker was a battalion commander of the Overseas Corps, surnamed Li and named Changyu.Before Lu Qi could ask, he heard the other party say in a deep voice: "Sir, the sun is about to set. I thought the enemy fired their guns just to show off their prestige, not to attack us. They just arrived today, so they won't attack right away. If I Fang fired prematurely, exposing his strength, and if they retreated overnight, wouldn't the previous plan come to naught."

As soon as Lu Qi heard that it made sense, he hurriedly said, "What do you think?"

Li Changgeng said: "Immediately tell everyone to evacuate the parapets, enter the trenches to hide, and survive this round of shelling! Our parapets are all built with sandbags. If they collapse, they can be built again."

Lu Qi looked around at the other officers and asked, "What's your opinion?"

"The humble staff thinks what Li Battalion Commander said makes sense."

"Then do it! Order everyone to enter the trench and hide!"

A few minutes later, more than a dozen 600-pound guns and mortars of the Spanish army fired one after another. The heavy shells made a shrill roar and landed on the ground [-] meters away with huge kinetic energy, and then bounced high again. , smashed into the parapet fortifications.

Insufficient words will be filled tomorrow