Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1634 Harvesting and stopping

"This should be the baggage abandoned by the enemy." More than ten kilometers east of Bergen op Zoom, Second Lieutenant Wu Yiqun led people up to a high ground, pointing to the messy things on the ground, guessing.

It was full of all kinds of military supplies, including equipment for camping, ammunition for combat, and even a lot of muskets and artillery, which showed the panic and panic of the enemy when they retreated.These materials are also soaked in muddy water at this time. Although the terrain here is relatively high, the water has increased unabated in the past two days and has not been effectively controlled. It may be that the upstream area failed to seal the gap in the seawall and close it in time. Let's open the sea gate - so even the supplies on the high ground are doomed.

A soldier waded through the muddy water on the ground, walked up to a pile of wooden barrels, pried open a wooden barrel with a crowbar, and then turned his head to report: "Sir, it's all gunpowder, but it's all gunpowder, but it's covered by sea water. It’s been soaked, so I’m afraid it won’t work.”

Afterwards, he opened some wooden barrels. Except for a few dozen pickled herrings filled with a foul smell, most of them were gunpowder and flour, all of which had been soaked in seawater without exception. not available.In addition, some wooden boxes whose tops were exposed to the water were also opened, and there were mostly iron projectiles inside, and occasionally some artillery sighting and weighing equipment, which should be abandoned by the enemy's artillery.

The sound of "cracking" attracted everyone's attention. Yang Liang looked around and saw dozens of Swiss mercenaries who had just got off the small boat picked up some armor from nowhere, and then put it on his body with a smile on his face. Gestures.Those armors are obviously simple breastplates, which seem to be the equipment of the French cavalry unit. I don’t know why they all fell into the water—in fact, I can understand it when I think about it. There is a flood between the sky and the ground, and the ground is almost impossible to walk on. When the time comes, only fools wear armor and retreat back - the Swiss mercenaries who picked them up are very happy, because this kind of armor is of high value to them who are suffering, and it will be used for their own use or traded out in the future. a fortune.

"It's really defeated like a mountain..." Yang Liang caressed a bronze cannon stuck in the muddy pond with his right hand, and looked at the bodies of more than a dozen suspected French soldiers floating on the water not far away, with a complicated look on his face. Said embarrassingly: "It's a pity that they were not defeated by us, nor by the Dutch, but by the 'General Flood'. Really think about it, only the invincible 'General Flood' can make the French The defeat was so miserable, so complete."

"Let's search more carefully. There is a village in front that hasn't been flooded very much. I suspect there are French people there. Go and have a look." Major Yang Liang jumped out of the muddy water and climbed onto a pine boat. boat, ordered.

Soon a company commander was ordered to go, and he took about two platoons of musketeers, and the rowers were all skilled Dutch people, so they arrived there very quickly.There were some corpses of cattle and horses floating on the water at the gate of the village, but this was not an obstacle at all. They carefully avoided these obstacles, and then started searching house by house.

In fact, what Yang Liang guessed before was correct. There were indeed some French soldiers in some houses who hadn’t been evacuated in time. Some of them were the sick and wounded, and some of them stayed to take care of them and were besieged by the flood. In the end, he could only stay there because of his inconvenient walking, and made a living by rummaging through the food left by the Dutch residents in the village, which was also very difficult.

After seeing the officers and soldiers on the east bank approaching, these people wisely did not resist, and all raised their hands in surrender, and kept asking the people on the east bank if they had food and clean drinking water.

Major Yang Liang frowned and gave these people some rye bread and fresh water, and then organized them all, sending a Swiss mercenary army to guard the rear, and told them that if they encountered the militia led by Frank Banning, Just hand them over - Bergen op Zoom is the only nearby city that is not occupied by the French. This time, its militia was also ordered to dispatch, but most of their responsibilities were to rescue victims and collect supplies The mission, and will not go to the front line to fight.

After searching the village, Yang Liang ordered the troops to move on.A total of more than [-] of them took more than [-] small boats or rafts, walked on the water that was originally farmland and grassland, and headed eastward at a leisurely speed.

Along the way they also encountered a number of towns that were under French control.For large cities with complete defense facilities, they did not attack immediately, but sent people to monitor them, and at the same time focused on taking care of those small villages and towns that were large in number but easy to capture, and achieved good results.

As of July 7, they had recovered more than 3 Dutch villages and towns (but did not send people to stay behind, but asked the local Dutch residents to self-govern), fought 20 battles of varying degrees, and killed, wounded and captured more than 2000 people, but their own casualties were only two to 300 people, and most of them were casualties caused by being caught off guard at close range when searching for villages and towns. The results of the battle can be described as brilliant.

Frank Banning was extremely shocked by the sweeping trend of the army on the east bank, and at the same time deeply felt the extent to which this overwhelming flood changed the situation of the battle-it was scattered in various Dutch towns because of Louis XIV's insane order The small French army was completely divided and isolated by the flood, with supplies unsatisfied, communications ineffective, and enemies everywhere. It is not surprising that they were beaten by the well-prepared Dutch.

For example, at this moment, on the pier outside the city of Bergen op Zoom, offshore ships began to sail one after another, sending a large amount of food, medicine, military supplies and money ashore, supporting all those who planned to rise up against the French The ruling Dutch army.The 3000-strong unit led by Major Yang Liang at the moment (the third mixed battalion + the first part of the Zhongguo Army + the Swiss mercenary army) is the only organized and combat-effective unit in the nearby area, so it has been supported by Zeeland Province nearby With the aid of supplies, the combat effectiveness was restored earlier than anyone else, and when the French did not react, they quickly waded eastward and attacked the scattered French troops, accumulating small victories into big victories. It was a show.

This is no joke!It has been several months since the war broke out. If you look at the Dutch army and mercenaries retreating in various provinces, who can kill, wound and capture more than [-] French soldiers in a few days?After all, the combat effectiveness of the French Army in this era is still very impressive, with excellent equipment, high morale, and rich experience. Since the Battle of Rocroix became famous in one fell swoop, there have been wars almost every year (such as assisting the Austrians to fight the Ottomans, assisting the Venetians to fight the Ottomans, Legacy War, Second Anglo-Dutch War, Intervention in the English Civil War, etc., too many), can be said to be a proud army.

Therefore, if you want to defeat such a force head-on, you must have a place that is clearly ahead of the opponent.The Dutch did not have this. Although the East Coasters had them, their numbers were too small to achieve significant results against the French.Therefore, only in the huge chaos caused by this scourge, Yang Liang and others can rely on the opportunity to quickly defeat the French army trapped in various places by fighting more and dividing them, and achieved the victory of annihilating 2000 enemies. The result of the battle-this result is enough to be submitted to the desk of Prince Orange, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United Provinces of Amsterdam.

On July 7, the troops led by Yang Liang and others caught up with a French cavalry unit that was struggling in muddy water.The number of this army was about a thousand people. They also found the people from the east coast who were chasing by boats and rafts, and they were a little panicked.They were originally elite riders galloping across the endless fields, but this time they were trudging through the waist-deep flood. Most of the horses that could have been used for wading had already died on the way. Thousands of people became They are outright infantry, and only have a few muskets (powder and bullets are also very scarce), and most of them only have sabers or spears, which is very sad.

In such a state, it is naturally impossible to compete with the east bank army.Therefore, after a protruding infantry company fired several volleys from a distance with rifles, these French cavalry suddenly collapsed. Resisting, others stay where they are in despair, waiting for an unknown fate.They couldn't run anymore, they were cold and hungry, and their spirits were extremely exhausted. As long as the people on the east coast promised not to harm their lives, they actually didn't mind surrendering very much.

Therefore, after a period of not very fierce fighting, thousands of cavalry, which were originally very difficult on the plain, disappeared into the battle sequence of the French army. Most of them handed over their weapons and were captured without a fight, and became prisoners.

At noon on July 7, after handing over the French cavalry captives to a group of Swiss mercenaries and taking them back to the rear, Yang Liang continued to lead his troops forward, heading towards the direction of the Breda fortress.At this time, maybe the sea gates had been closed, maybe the earth had absorbed the seawater, maybe it was the sun evaporating or the drainage was unobstructed. On the water surface, this greatly reduced the mobility of Yang Liang and others.

Moreover, it is not very far from Breda Fortress, where the French army is heavily stationed. They took off their military uniforms and pretended to be Dutch civilians and fled to Breda Fortress, but they went back after all.The Viscount Turenne picked up thousands of dull-faced and embarrassed soldiers like picking up rubbish. There are also a large number of well-stored military resources in the fortress. If they are properly rectified, they should be able to defend against the attack from the Dutch army.

Yang Liang knew in his heart that if the counterattack reached this level, if no strong reinforcements arrived, it would have basically reached its limit.Because several days have passed now, the water level of the flood has gradually decreased, and the French have slowly recovered from the chaos, and if they continue to fight, although the French are still at a disadvantage (because the entire territory they occupy is in the floodplain area ), but it would be very difficult to meet the situation like before. Maybe Yang Liang will suffer a small loss with less than 3000 people on hand, so let’s slow down for the time being and look at the rear How to say.If no new reinforcements arrive, forget it, and stop teasing the French.

As for defeating the French army and regaining the lost ground, please, we are just mercenaries, here to help, is it worth fighting the murderous French for some money?Besides, the large-scale counterattack of tens of thousands of people launched by the Prince of Orange from the middle is the key point. They are well equipped, have a large number of people, have sufficient supplies, and have high morale. Although their combat skills may not be very high, they should It is the point to be able to use the flood to push back the French army and regain a lot of lost ground.Our partisan division is soy sauce. This time we took advantage of the situation to counterattack and attacked more than 20 kilometers all the way, killing and wounding more than 3000 French soldiers. This salary is already very worthy of this salary. What else do you want?Help you attack the city with bloody battles and take down the Breda Fortress?That is impossible!

Based on this consideration, in the next few days, in addition to sending a few elite troops forward, Yang Liang used miniguns with a longer range to attack small groups of French troops—it is worth mentioning that in this type of movement on both sides, In the difficult floodplains, the Minie rifles with a longer range and higher accuracy are of great advantage in confrontation, and often beat a small group of French troops to flee with their heads in their arms. The main job is probably to help a group of nearby Dutch residents evacuate Fleeing to the west to collect water in the floodplain, he and his troops gained a certain reputation.

After doing this, on July 7, he even began to consider whether to retreat for a certain distance, because their supplies began to be a little difficult to deliver, mainly because most of the flood water had basically receded, and only on the ground There was some yellow mud soup that did not reach the ankles and knees. It was impossible to sail or drive. It was really frustrating. Therefore, it is more reliable to retreat for a while to get supplies nearby—for the surrounding white floods Yang Liang felt a toothache because of the impression in the area. This kind of muddy flood can almost clog people's ears and noses.In such a yellow mud soup, not to mention cavalry and carriages walking, even people may fall to the ground while walking, this battle is a fart!

While Yang Liang was considering stopping the attack and shrinking the defense, the main force of the Dutch army under the command of Prince Orange, the commander-in-chief of the United Provinces, Army and Navy, was still actively crossing the flood defense line, heading upwards to Ijssel, Gelderland, and Utrecht. The provinces advanced and recovered a considerable number of fallen towns.However, similar to what Yang Liang predicted, when the time came to the middle and late July, the Dutch were finally unable to attack, because the French gradually recovered some capabilities from the flood and organized several successful counterattacks. The Dutch attack was contained.Therefore, the situation on the battlefield has gradually calmed down. The Dutch and the French were unable to do anything to each other for a while in the vast floodplain area. The situation has changed, and both sides are working in tacit understanding to prepare for the next round of fighting.

(End of this chapter)