Wild North America 1846

Chapter 612 The Change of Tumaco Port
Early 1874
At this time, it is February, when the Lunar New Year has just passed.The southwestern border of Colombia borders the port of Tumaco in the Pacific Ocean. This is a traditional coastal agricultural area with many villages and towns and a dense population.

Continuing south from here, it is only 217 kilometers away from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, in the south. It is a coastal plain with a long history of development, and there are relics of the Inca Empire everywhere.

The 3rd Regiment of the Royal Mexican Musketeers stationed in the Port of Tumaco is the 3207rd Regiment of the Royal Mexican Musketeers under the Army of the South. Eighteen six-pounder field cavalry guns.

This force is the military force stationed at the southernmost tip of the Southern Army. After entering Tumaco Port, it was assigned a team of more than 1300 servants to maintain local law and order and suppress armed resistance groups.

Port of Tumaco is the southernmost coastal port in Colombia, with a population of about 8.6. It is a typical South American coastal city with many Spanish-style buildings and churches. It is an important distribution center for southern materials.

A large amount of materials transported from Panama and more distant imperial cities were piled up in the port area, including food and building materials such as steel and cement.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo is the lieutenant colonel commander of the 3rd Royal Mexican Musketeer Regiment, a shrewd and capable young and middle-aged officer who graduated from Chang'an Advanced Infantry School.It has been 9 years since he served in the grassroots army. He participated in the first South American War and has quite rich combat experience.

His father is a retired Chinese soldier, and his mother is an Indian, so he can use the Quechua language of the Inca family proficiently, and can communicate with the locals without barriers.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo has received a complete Chinese education and has been tempered in the imperial army for more than 10 years (including the military academy period). He strongly identifies with his Chinese identity in his bones and is a loyal believer in the imperial colonial expansionist policy.

In the early morning, the sky was not yet bright.

An urgent military report woke up the luxurious manor in the city. Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo got up from the messy bed of two delicate women with pink arms, hurriedly washed his face with cold water, put on his military uniform and hurried out.

According to the military information reported by the scouts;

In the jungle south and southeast of Tumaco Port, a large number of unidentified armed forces gathered. The number of people roughly estimated to have exceeded [-], which obviously posed a serious threat to the city.

Lieutenant Colonel Wu Zhengguo immediately ordered the entire Second Cavalry Squadron to dispatch to strengthen the investigation of the enemy's situation in the surrounding areas of the city to ascertain the situation of the incoming enemy.

When we came to the regiment headquarters, a dozen or so kerosene lamps lit here were brightly lit, dispelling the darkness of the early morning, and the officers hurrying back and forth seemed even more tense.

"My lord, good morning."

"Humble post welcomes the regiment masters. Several deputy regiment leaders and the regiment chief of staff have arrived and are discussing matters in the headquarters."

"Well, let's go in and talk."

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhenguo and the officers who greeted him hurried into the headquarters, and more than a dozen officers in the headquarters stood at attention and saluted.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo hurriedly raised his hand, returned a military salute, and asked, "Who knows the situation, can you give me a detailed introduction?"

"Report sir, Captain Qin has been on duty at the regiment headquarters. He knows the most detailed information about the situation. May I introduce it to you?"

"Well, Captain Qin will introduce the current military situation."

"Of order, sir." Captain Qin replied with a salute, he quickly stood in front of a simple map by the wall, and pointed to the direction on the map to report;
"Since yesterday afternoon, the regiment headquarters has received sporadic reports of gatherings of unknown people in subordinate villages and towns, ranging from dozens to hundreds of people.

The headquarters dispatched several "Brother Civil Armed Forces" teams to investigate, but no response was received.

What caught our attention was last night, a road construction site about 37 kilometers south of the city was attacked, according to the report of the supervisor who fled back on horseback overnight;
The construction site was attacked by hundreds of militants. The incident happened very suddenly, causing more than a dozen people on our side to be killed and injured.

This unusual sign caused the regiment headquarters to be highly vigilant, and it was found out after careful investigation;

This is a construction team for widening the main road from Tumaco Port to Avenida Quito. There are about 470 to 480 convicts in hard labor. A dissatisfied squadron of 63 people sent by the "College Civil Armed Forces" is in custody, and there are more than 20 others. Chinese engineers and supervisors are responsible for the construction of a 7.5-kilometer gravel highway bid section.

The one who escaped and reported was one of the supervisors of Chinese origin. According to him, this group of militants suddenly attacked in the middle of the night, hacked anyone they saw, and burned every tent they saw. They were caught off guard.

The convicts in the camp also rioted and cooperated, and many Chinese supervisors were beaten to death.

The situation was very chaotic at that time, he snatched a horse in haste and fled, only to save his life.

In view of the critical situation, the star officer of the regiment headquarters immediately dispatched three reconnaissance cavalry teams to search the roads in a fan shape to the south and southeast to ascertain the enemy's situation.

The latest scouting shows;
The reconnaissance cavalry teams in the south and southeast all found a large number of bonfires and unknown armed gatherings in their directions. The estimated number is quite large, exceeding the scale of [-] people.

Therefore, scouting horses were dispatched to report back, and the scouting cavalry team waited in hiding in the nearby jungle, hoping that after dawn, they could find out important information such as the number of unknown armed forces, equipment, and sources.

In view of the urgency of the military situation and the seriousness of the matter, I dare not be negligent in my humble position, so I will immediately report it to the officers..."

"Well, based on the above circumstances, it can be concluded that this may be a violent counterattack against our army by the armed rebels and foreign forces." Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo expressed his opinion with a stern expression. He looked around the crowd and saw most of the officers. They all nodded in agreement, and no longer hesitated in their hearts.

he commanded;

"Report to the division immediately;
The headquarters of the third regiment stationed in Tumaco Port encountered a premeditated attack by more than 1.5 local rebels and foreign forces. The follow-up enemy situation needs to be investigated and reported.

The third regiment discovered the enemy's situation in time and is mobilizing all the Chinese militia to participate in the city defense operations, concentrate on fighting the enemy, and vow to live and die with Tumako. "

"Obey, sir!" Immediately, an officer received the order, and after drafting the order, the flying cavalry issued it.

Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo then ordered: "Issuing an emergency summoning order, the officers and soldiers of the whole regiment and the affiliated army immediately entered the highest state of combat readiness, and entered the fortress and the city's concealed department according to the combat plan to wait for orders. The Chinese armed militia was called to cooperate with the city. A real-time curfew is imposed, and random actions of unrelated personnel are strictly prohibited."

"Obey, sir." Immediately, several officers came out after receiving the order, and acted resolutely.

"The first squadron of the cavalry, the third squadron of the cavalry and the squadron of the guard cavalry will set a [-]-kilometer radius around the city as a boundary, strengthen cavalry patrols, and report any enemy situation immediately."

"Obey, sir." Once again, several officers followed the order and left in a hurry.

At this moment

There are only a few majors, deputy regimental commanders and regiment chiefs of staff left in the regiment headquarters. Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo said after thinking about it; "I remember that a batch of munitions arrived at the port last week. Are they still there?"

"Yes, my lord, these are the reserve weapons assigned to our division by the superior. They use rifles, field artillery and heavy machine guns. What do you mean..."

"When it is not necessary, our regiment has no right to use these weapons. But if it is forced to a corner, then we can't take care of it. Deputy head Liu..."

"Here, I will obey the order."

"You take the brothers from the 4th Battalion and the Supply Battalion to hold on to the port area, set up a heavy machine gun position, and prepare to meet my brothers from the third regiment. This is the retreat route for the officers and soldiers of the third regiment, and I must guard it."

"Follow the order, sir, the people are in the position." Deputy head Liu immediately turned and left after receiving the order, and started to prepare.

After a series of orders were issued, most of the bustling headquarters dispersed just now.

Alarm bells and horns rang out in the dark night, and groups of heavily armed soldiers took to the streets and began to build barricades. The whole city was immediately filled with a tense atmosphere of war.

headquarters
Lieutenant Colonel Hu Zhengguo frowned and thought about it for a while, then he sighed and said, "Those who come are not kind, and those who are kind don't come. It seems that our three regiments are going to face a life-and-death battle."

Major Liao Changyuan, chief of staff of the regiment, also felt the same way, and said, "Since the imperial army marched south, the bandits all over Colombia have been invincible, and the whole territory has been awed and subdued. No one dares to disrespect orders.

At first glance, the situation looks good, but it is actually not.

Colombia, Peru, and Guatemala are all in the same spirit, helping each other secretly, undercurrents and undercurrents. The resistance armed forces who escaped the attack hid in the jungle and attacked the road construction team from time to time.

In the past two months, hundreds of casualties have been caused.

I guess...

The enemy has gathered a considerable force, and they are going to attack us three regiments first. This really looks down on us! "

The Port of Tumaco is located on the southern border of Colombia, only 217 kilometers away from Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Now the road is being widened to the south, which undoubtedly touched Ecuador's sensitive nerves.

It would be ridiculous to say that Ecuador turned a blind eye to this.

The so-called cold lips.

Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador were originally three brothers of the same family. Although they had a dispute and separated, their relationship with each other is far closer than other South American countries, and their exchanges are more frequent.

Colombia suffered such catastrophe. Many refugees and disbanded resistance armed forces crossed the border into Ecuador and Peru. There were also some fled Colombian politicians and social activists. And a wave of support for Colombia.

The attitudes of South American countries are also different. Brazil and Venezuela try to keep a low profile out of various concerns, restricting the voice of these exiled politicians, and even directly arresting and imprisoning them.

The Suriname region to which the British and French colonists belonged can speak freely, but its influence is negligible, and Brazil and Argentina have no relevant reports.

Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile all strictly control public opinion sympathetic to Colombia, and punish them severely if found.

Apart from Paraguay and Uruguay, the two hardcore younger brothers, the Chilean military government is more worried about getting burned.

Only the people in Peru and Ecuador were in high spirits, and the vast majority sympathized with and supported the Colombian resistance movement. Many people spontaneously carried weapons and crossed the border to join the resistance movement, overwhelmingly protesting the invasion of the powerful Datang Empire.

It is precisely because of this background of the regional situation that the situation facing the port of Tumaco, which is located on the border, is more complicated.

Based on experience;

It is impossible to gather an army of tens of thousands of people based on the local resistance armed forces alone, and there must be foreign forces intervening in it.

(End of this chapter)