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Chapter 1337: The Battle of Panama City

Compared with the southbound fleet that was calm and collected both money and prisoners, the northbound fleet led by the two deputy commanders encountered trouble outside Panama City and a fierce battle was in full swing.

According to Settle's plan, this battle should first use three captured local cargo ships and one urgently repaired Spanish warship as a Trojan horse, load 3 army soldiers to approach the Panama port, wait for an opportunity to go ashore and seize the dock and nearby artillery positions, and cover the landing of subsequent troops.

Unfortunately, the plan was not precise enough. The fleet successfully arrived off the coast of Panama, but the disguised ship encountered trouble when entering the port. The port was blocked by ships. Looking around, there were only large and small ships, and the masts were like a forest. There was no waterway to get close to the dock.

The later Panama City is located next to the Panama Canal. The port area is very large and can accommodate all kinds of ships under 20 tons, and sailboats with a displacement of several hundred tons are no problem at all.

But there was no canal in the 17th century, and the Panama City built by the Spanish was not located in the same place as later times, but was located further east, guarding the mouth of a small river. The port area was not only small but also silted up, and the channel that could accommodate large sailing ships was very narrow, so it would naturally be congested when there were many ships.

Although the city and port are not big, Panama City has been the most important transportation hub in the Americas for a long time. Most of the precious goods collected from the Viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain had to cross the isthmus from here and wait for the arrival of the silver fleet at the port on the Caribbean side.

With more wealth, commerce naturally developed, and many daily necessities shipped from Europe would be first gathered here, and then shipped away by big merchants from all over the country. To put it simply, this was the cargo distribution center of the Americas.

The news that the port of Guayaquil had been captured by the Ming army had spread. Not only did the rich and officials in the Viceroyalty of Peru flee or prepare to flee, but it also alarmed some people in the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

People in central and eastern Mexico can enter and exit through ports such as Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. For people in the west who want to return to the Atlantic side, the easiest way is to go ashore in Panama City and use mules and horses to transport people and goods across the isthmus to Porto Bello on the Caribbean side.

Then the Panama Port was suddenly overcrowded with ships. The number of ships docking every day was dozens of times more than before, and the loading and unloading from morning to night could not be completed. In order to prevent accidents, the governor of Panama announced that the port was under military control, and every ship had to be inspected before being allowed to dock, which made the congestion even worse.

The Ming Navy, disguised as a colonial merchant ship, certainly did not dare to allow the Spanish army to board and inspect, so it had to leave the port temporarily and report the situation to Settle and Du Wenhuan.

The two men discussed it and decided that since a surprise attack was hopeless, they could only use a strong attack. However, they could not capture the dock from the port area because the channel was blocked. Now the ships inside could not get out and the ships outside could not get in, forming a very effective anti-landing barrier.

Since the port area and the docks could not be approached, they had to find another way. The west of Panama City was first rejected, as there was a dense network of water and wetlands there, which was very unfavorable for army operations.

Then there is only the east side left. According to the information provided by the navy, the water depth is the deepest 23 kilometers away from the shore, but the cargo ship can only be moored 200 meters away and personnel and equipment can be transported ashore by small boats.

At this time, we have to thank the exploration crews who have been cruising along the west coast of America all year round at all kinds of risks. Without their tireless reconnaissance, measurement, and recording, the landing fleet would have to drop anchor several kilometers away and use small boats to transport personnel and equipment ashore, which would slow down the journey several times.

The naked eye can see no more than 30 kilometers from the mast on the sea surface. Even with the help of a telescope, the distance will not increase, but the clarity will be higher. However, there is a mountain behind Panama City, and the Spanish set up an observation point on it a long time ago. The cargo ship was discovered as soon as it approached the landing point, and the bells in the city rang loudly.

What followed was the beach landing battle. The commander here was obviously more capable than those in other places. The colonial troops and mercenaries quickly left the city and engaged in a firefight with the small group of Ming army troops that had just landed on the beach.

The colonial army had the advantage of numbers and terrain, and used muskets to cover the cavalry's charge. The Ming army was small in number but had an advantage in weapons. They did not have time to build fortifications, so they dug pits on the beach and fought back. For a while, the battle was back and forth, with casualties on both sides. At this time, a large number of cavalry rushed out of the city. Judging from their attire, they were not the army, but the armed forces spontaneously organized by the local people. Behind them, there was a group of black slaves dragging several cannons with ropes.

Seeing that the landing troops were obstructed and even a small boat lost balance and tilted due to artillery fire, Settle had to grit his teeth and order two Qin-class warships to approach the battlefield, risking running aground and suppressing the enemy's attack with naval guns.

Unfortunately, a Qin-class battleship did run aground, but there was no way to rescue it at this time. They could only send more warships, anchor them in the waters that had been explored, and use them as artillery positions for long-range shooting.

Fortunately, the Spanish did not make full use of the geographical advantage to build forts on the hillside. If there were, they would not have built too many. Five or six would have been enough to defeat Settle.

The landing battle lasted for about three hours. Faced with the intensive fire from dozens of naval guns, the enemy troops leaving the city finally couldn't hold on anymore and retreated back into the city, leaving behind a pile of corpses.

But it was almost dusk at this time, and the army could no longer launch a large-scale attack except to continue expanding the beachhead. The first wave of fighting between the two sides came to an end.

In this battle, the Ming army lost 38 men and 41 were injured. The two centurions who first landed on the beach were almost crippled. The enemy left 2 bodies and three blown-up bronze cannons on the beach, and the wounded should have been taken away.

Overall, the defenders had a slight advantage. They used relatively backward weapons to successfully curb the landing speed of the Ming army and caused considerable casualties.

Although there may be more casualties, don't forget that the Ming army is a professional army, and the cost of training and equipment is very high. The Spanish colonial army and mercenaries may not even be qualified to be the Ming army reserve, not to mention the spontaneous civilian armed forces.

"I have an unshirkable responsibility for this battle, and I have implicated the army!"

Standing on the rear deck of the flagship, the two deputy commanders witnessed the entire battle. Although the navy had already towed the stranded warship out and no major damage was found, Settle took the initiative to apologize and was willing to take the main responsibility.

"Whoever is responsible for it, it's their responsibility. You should understand that one general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers. Don't take responsibility for nothing. Your suggestion of a disguised raid is very good. The failure is not due to human error in the design and execution, but destiny cannot be violated.

There was nothing wrong with the army's offensive process, but there is no war without casualties. As a commander, you can only try to reduce them but cannot eliminate them. You certainly cannot fight simply to reduce casualties.

Seeing each other with blood on the blades, they never care about honors when they die. From ancient times to now, no one can escape death as a soldier. Since your majesty established the army, the soldiers have been very satisfied. If it were the previous dynasty, I am afraid they would still be wandering around the Great Wall. Every time there was a war, thousands of lives were lost in an instant, and there was no one to support the old and the young at home. How sad! "

Du Wenhuan and Settle are not only two generations apart in age, but also in experience. He was born in a military family and grew up in the frontier. He followed his father and brothers to fight on the battlefield when he was in his teens. He saw many bloody scenes and had a different understanding of life and death than ordinary people.

The casualties in the afternoon were not worth mentioning in his eyes. If the emperor had not created new weapons and combat methods, hundreds or thousands of people would have died in attacking any fortified city.

(End of this chapter)