Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1470 French Santo Domingo ([-])

April 1667, 4, sunny.

God seems to be giving face to the people on the east coast these days. Except for a little rain on one day in the vicinity of Cape-France, the rest of the time is scorching sun, and the sun is shining brightly, roasting a piece of land until it is almost oily. .And such weather, to be honest, is actually very beneficial for the people on the east coast to drag some spare artillery on the naval battleship up the hillside. After all, not everyone is willing to roll in the mud.

Of course, although these 18-pound naval long-barreled naval guns (caliber 135 mm, actually slightly heavier than 18 pounds) are not light, they are definitely not so heavy that they are not easy to move.After all, the cannons made on the east coast have always been famous for their lightness due to the ratio of materials, which is much stronger than the cannons of the old continent.Therefore, with the hard work of the engineering company, Fengguo army and some naval soldiers, it only took six days for the people on the east coast to transfer these two weapons from the bilge armory of the light cruiser "Southern Cross". The spare cannon that was released was sent to the small soil bag where Captain Lan Fei was (its height was only a few tens of meters), and then the dark muzzle was aimed at the urban area in the corner of France.So far, the bombardment of the French city is ready to start at any time, and the last straw that breaks the camel's back is in place!

In the past few days, the French also removed several relatively lightweight small-caliber artillery from the port fortress, and then transferred them over to start an artillery battle with the people on the east coast.It’s just that their old bronze artillery is not as good as the 105mm (similar to the 8-pounder guns of the Old World) and 120mm caliber field guns of the East Coast Army, so the results of the battle can be imagined-in After one bomb exploded, one malfunctioned, and three were destroyed, the French stopped completely and gave up the unwise idea of ​​launching an artillery battle with the people on the east coast. What's more, their shells and ammunition seemed to be insufficient, so This will only passively wait for the attack of the people on the east coast.

The French were able to dismantle their cannons and come over to engage in artillery battles with the people on the east bank. Naturally, the army on the east bank would not just sit still. In fact, they have organized several tentative offensives on the Cape of France in the past few days, but they were all rejected. Just called back.In fact, this is also normal. The offensive of the people on the east coast is not firm, which is a bit tentative. On the other hand, the French, although they lost more than 100 people on the small soil bag outside the city, are still quite determined to defend their homeland. of.In addition, Cape de France was originally the simultaneous center of French Santo Domingo, the only place in the entire colony that could be called a city. Stick to it.

Today, if the installation of the artillery is delayed, Captain Lan Fei may be a little restless and give up the current "big health care" method that some naval officers and soldiers ridicule in private, and replace it with some more drastic methods.To be precise, he was going to send the infantry of the two companies of the [-]st Mixed Battalion who had been watching from the sidelines for the past few days.

These regular army soldiers equipped with Mini guns and undergoing rigorous training have always been Lan Fei's heart, and they have been kept by his side as the general reserve team before, planning to deal with emergencies at any time.At this moment, Feng Guojun's tentative attack was not effective, so he moved it to the front line, trying to catch the French by surprise.Fortunately, the artillery was installed smoothly later, and the muzzles of the two long-barreled 135mm cannons were aimed at the corner of France in the field of vision. It seemed that the battle would become much easier so far, so they were temporarily removed. these two companies.

At exactly one o'clock in the afternoon, just after everyone finished their lunch and all the ministries around the hill entered the fortifications and took their positions, two 135mm cannons roared and made speeches. The speed slammed into the French corner city.Among them, the first shell was slightly deflected, and hit a certain pond in the city, splashing a column of water soaring into the sky, which could be clearly seen outside the city; On the steeple of a certain church, it was directly cut off a thin layer, which made people look very exciting.

"There is no problem that two cannons can't solve. If there are, then four!" Lan Fei turned his head and looked at the two 24-pound heavy naval guns that were still carrying them desperately, thinking silently: "And The cannon weakens the morale of the enemy army, and then slowly advances on the land to clear the obstacles. The key is not to let the French see their hope of victory, so that breaking the city will be easy. Hmph, the big health strategy is great Let's play health care, this is safe, at least it is much better than Zhou Yafu's strong soldiers rushing to fight against the strong fortress? Our manpower is already a little short, and we have to fight here and there, and occupy places , don’t worry about using it…”

In this way, the shells were sent into the city one after another, causing a lot of chaos and panic.In fact, in all fairness, just two long-barreled heavy guns should not cause much casualties, because the bullets fired are usually iron bullets, which will not explode, and can only cause damage to buildings, even some solid buildings. Neither can cause much trouble, because the distance is a little bit far.

The crux of the problem is that, except for the time to cool down the barrels, the two cannons are fired non-stop. Even taking into account the factor of cherishing the life of the barrels, they can send almost a thousand rounds of shells into France every day. In the corner city.These shells are rampant in the city. It is bad luck for them to hit people and animals. They may also cause certain secondary damage when they hit buildings. After a long time, it is likely to cause a nervous breakdown, and of course it may make people numb and adapt.

Moreover, after the other two terrifying 24-pound naval guns were pulled up, one can imagine how the Frenchman would collapse.But before that, the army can also move forward appropriately, and of course the artillery still plays the leading role!

Beginning on April 4, under the pressure of the second company of the first mixed battalion, hundreds of officers and soldiers of the Fengguo army, with the cooperation of the first company of the independent field artillery and four light artillery pieces of the navy, tentatively moved towards the port. The coastal defense fort attacked, but was blocked by the enemy's land defense fortress guarding the fort.

The French hid in strong fortifications and used fixed heavy artillery or mobile light artillery to confront the east bank, making the offensive extremely difficult. After paying dozens of corpses, they finally captured only a small position and captured It's just a cannon, which is quite tasteless.Captain Lan Fei finally had to order to stop the attack attempt on the enemy's strong fortifications. After leaving two companies of the East Bank regular army as a reserve team and carefully watching the French army on the other side of the fort, the rest turned to concentrate on attacking The corner of France is gone, no other ideas.

By the way, an 18-pound heavy sea artillery that was just seized by the people on the east coast, because of its special position, was quickly turned around by the people on the east coast to bombard the corner of France, which further reduced the morale of the French .The only pity is that the ammunition is not enough. The caliber of the eastern-made artillery is somewhat different from that of the French. This French coastal defense heavy artillery can only be fired for a day before it dies due to lack of shells.

But in any case, if there is no strong foreign aid, the failure of the French in the corner of France is almost certain.In the face of Captain Lan Fei's "big health care play" that spares no expense and money (relying exclusively on superior artillery to bully people and avoid casualties as much as possible), the French really don't have many options, they can only be a little bit by the people on the east coast Crushing and flattening, you can't even cause major damage to your opponent, because they seldom give you a fair chance to fight.

As for saying that other French troops came from Santo Domingo, France to support the corner of France, this is purely overthinking.In such a large area of ​​Santo Domingo, France, the area that was actually colonized and developed by the French is not as large as people imagined, and it is basically concentrated near the coast. The environment is also very harsh, so no one has ever settled or opened a plantation in the past.

On this point, before the war, people from the East Coast had already known Julien and Mathilde, who had been naturalized on the East Coast for many years.Although their information is more than ten years ago, I believe that even after so many years, with the colonial attitude of the French, the local situation should not change much, so there is really no need to worry too much about reinforcements coming to support the Cape of France. , most of the strength of the French has been gathered here. Taking the French Cape is basically equivalent to occupying the entire French Santo Domingo.

On May 1667, 5, after several days of arduous fighting, after consuming a large amount of ammunition reserves, flattening a large number of buildings in the corner of France, and greatly killing the defending French soldiers and militia, these colonists finally had some support. Can't stop.They sent representatives to demand that they be allowed to "gloriously surrender", that is, the east coast promised their lives, financial security and personal freedom, and allowed them to keep a certain number of self-defense weapons in exchange for the change of ownership of the French corner city-it is worth mentioning Yes, this happened after the people on the east coast finally worked so hard to put two 1-pound naval guns on the small soil bag, and made a tentative attack on the city.According to the report from the observation post, there seemed to be a fierce quarrel in the corner of France at that time, which led to a small-scale riot, but it seemed that no casualties were caused. In the end, the French seemed to have unified their opinions, and then sent people to wave the white flag Talk to East Coast and ask for an honorable surrender.

However, after so many days of siege and a certain amount of casualties, how could the people on the east coast allow the French corner city to surrender honorably?What they want is unconditional surrender, otherwise where will they get rich?Where can I get the loot?Isn't this nonsense!Therefore, Captain Lan Fei, who was carrying the expectations of more than 1000 soldiers in the army, naturally rejected the French's request for an honorable surrender, and instead demanded their unconditional surrender, which would save their lives; but if they refuse now, once the East Bank The soldiers caused heavy casualties due to the storm, so neither gentlemen (whites) nor slaves in the corner of France could get their lives guaranteed.

"...Your Excellency Governor, please think carefully about this point. In many cases, it is difficult for us to control the emotions of the soldiers, because after all, they paid the price of death and injury in the battle. Just like the Battle of Rocroix in 1643, Your country’s army slaughtered the soldiers of the Spanish Flemish Legion who surrendered (later ordered to stop by Prince Condé), isn’t it because they caused heavy damage to your country’s army in the battle? After all, the emotions of the soldiers must be vented , We can do nothing." At the end of the first negotiation, Captain Lan Fei said to the representative of Governor Cranmont.

Although the words are rogue, they are the facts. The French representative was ashamed after hearing this, and kept nodding, saying that he would truthfully report to the Governor-General to know when he went back.In addition, from the mouths of some newly captured French soldiers, the people on the east coast also knew the source of the previous chaos in the city: the religious forces headed by Father Victor and a small number of conservative nobles strongly opposed Governor Claremont and some nobles and businessmen. He did not hesitate to react violently to his proposal of peace talks with people on the East Coast.Of course, they failed in the end. The desire to survive overwhelmed everything. The French finally went out of the city to negotiate the surrender. Although their request was very unrealistic, Lan Fei rejected it on the spot.

After the French envoy with the white flag left, the people on the east bank immediately resumed their bombardment of the French corner city, and continued to use one shell after another to destroy the buildings in the city, kill and wound the French personnel, and torture their nerves.At the same time, with the assistance of artillery, hundreds of Feng Guojun officers and soldiers continued to attack some facilities in the French corner city, killing, wounding and capturing nearly a hundred French soldiers or militiamen.

As soon as this two-pronged approach was used, the French couldn't hold it anymore, and finally sent another envoy on May 5 to express their unconditional surrender, provided that the people on the east coast guaranteed the safety of the residents in the city.For this condition, Captain Lan Fei, who had already killed more than a hundred soldiers (and even more were injured), finally agreed to their request out of consideration for saving troops, and then asked the remaining French soldiers and militiamen in the city to line up And out, after handing over the weapons, go to the designated place on the east bank to live together, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.As for other free people or slaves in the city, the status quo is still maintained. They can live freely in the city, but they cannot leave. The people on the east coast guarantee their safety, provided they pay enough fees—these are old routines. The French also expressed their understanding.

In the afternoon of that day, Lieutenant Zheng Dalin led [-] officers and soldiers of the Bong Kung Fu Army, carrying guns, into the corner of France, marking the change of ownership of the capital city of Santo Domingo, France.After capturing the Cape de France, the task of "liberating" the entire French Santo Domingo is almost half completed. Sweep up so that they understand what the French Santo Domingo is now called!

(End of this chapter)