Invincible urban management

One hundred and three, Cortez's counterattack

A desolate fjord in the Gulf of Mexico, March 1520

The night is like black velvet, with no clouds in the sky, the stars are shining with crystal-like light in the clear night sky, a round of full moon jumps up the treetops, emitting soft radiance, casting a silvery white streak on the dark sea. The band of light is like a white satin that has been spread out.

Tall coconut trees are lined up along the bay to the distance, and the melodious chirping of seabirds can be heard from the branches and leaves from time to time.Clusters of orange-red bonfires were lit on the wide sandy beach. Hundreds of ragged soldiers, holding spears, sharp swords and muskets, were sitting around the bonfires to rest, and there were occasional bursts of snoring.

A middle-aged man with a shaggy beard stood quietly under a coconut tree outside the campsite, looking anxiously at the dark sea in the distance.

He is Hernan Cortez, an expedition leader who betrayed his boss, a wanted criminal pursued by the Kingdom of Spain, and a crazy gambler trying to conquer the whole of Mexico with hundreds of rabble.

In the past few months, his career of conquest has been full of ups and downs. For a while, he rushed to the clouds of victory, and for a while, he fell to the hell of destruction.

——After the Chinese left, Cortez successfully kidnapped Emperor Montezuma II through a trick that could not be put on the table, and let the unlucky emperor do it once in his capital captive.Then, taking Montezuma as a hostage, he initially took control of the city of Tenochtitlan... In this way, with almost no bloodshed, relying on amazing boldness and cunning, a mere two hundred Spaniards easily conquered Tenochtitlan. The Aztec Empire with millions of people!

Next, these Spanish villains, dazzled by the victory, couldn't wait to start plundering wealth in Tenochtitlan and committing all kinds of crimes-they opened the treasure house of Emperor Montezuma and broke into every corner of the city. They even dug up the tombs of past emperors, dug out every piece of gold from various handicrafts, jewelry, badges, and weapons, and robbed any good things they saw in the market and noble mansions, such as The silk, porcelain, and spices that the Chinese sold here not long ago... Any nobles and priests who tried to stop them were mercilessly beheaded.

In addition, all the concubines and unmarried princesses of Emperor Montezuma, that is, the theoretical mother-in-law and sister-in-law of Comrade Wang Qiu, as well as some saints and priestesses in the temple, who were of noble birth and popular The women they admired turned out to be playthings that the Spanish soldiers raped and ravaged in turn.As a result, soon some women could not bear the insult and committed suicide in grief and indignation.

The strange thing is that the warriors of the Aztec Empire basically just watched the tragic experience of the royal family, nobles and priests in their country, and few tried to stop the violence of the Spaniards... Cortes then subjectively concluded that these The Aztec warriors who claim to be invincible in Mexico are actually just a bunch of cowards who have no guts. As long as they frighten them a few times with the most rude attitude, they can let themselves have whatever they want.

However, since the families of these low-level warriors are generally relatively poor, they do not have any decent gold and silver treasures.Therefore, before the magnificent palaces, temples, and noble mansions in the city were searched and cleaned up one by one, the Spaniards generally did not bother to harass these poor people.

It's a pity that this kind of looting and massacre, the happy days of gangsters and gangsters didn't last long. Commander Sandoval, who was staying at the port of Velácruz, sent someone to send a bad news for help—until At this time, Cortez was stunned to learn that Montezuma had secretly sent an army to attack the port of Veracruz; what was worse, the governor of Cuba, Velazquez, refused to forgive him for his betrayal. A crusade team headed by Navaez was sent to exterminate himself; and the worst thing is that the Aztecs, Tlaxcalans and Chinese have all met with Navaez to expose He has revealed his true identity as a wanted criminal in the Kingdom... He can no longer use the name of the Kingdom of Spain to pretend to be a tiger!

It's over now, if he doesn't think of a way, he will soon become the public enemy of all forces in Mexico!

As a result, Cortes, who was in a panic, forced Emperor Montezuma to recall the general Kakama he sent to attack the port of Veracruz, and then roasted the unlucky ghost who was still in the dark; The deputy, Alvardo, took a small number of Spaniards and Indian native allies to guard the emperor's hostages in the city, and he brought all the mobile forces he could gather, traveling day and night and traveling long distances, quietly lurking near the port of Veracruz , in an attempt to wait for an opportunity to defeat Narvaez's crusade team, thereby rescuing the trapped Sandoval.

However, in the face of the 100 troops besieging the fortress, Cortez, who had only a few hundred people at hand, really did not dare to touch the stone with an egg, so he had no choice but to sit back and watch Sandoval and his more than [-] men. All the people died in battle, and the port of Veracruz was reduced to ashes in the sea of ​​fire.

However, although the situation has become so dangerous, he still has not lost confidence and courage.

Because, long before the Battle of Port Vera Cruz broke out, Cortez had a powerful hole card that was enough to turn defeat into victory for him!

"……I'm coming!"

The sentinel sitting on the top of the coconut tree suddenly let out a shout of excitement.At the same time, many shadowy large sailing ships also showed their hazy figures from the end of the sea under the moonlight.Cortez also rushed back to the campsite, woke up the soldiers who were sleepy with punches and kicks, and ordered them to immediately collect more dry firewood and burn the fire even more vigorously, so as to provide fire for the fleet under the night. give directions.

A few more hours later, small boats full of soldiers were lowered one by one from the sailboats that had anchored, and then, guided by the bonfire, they split the waves and rushed to the beach. , successfully joined forces with Cortez's expedition.

A moment later, in a thatched hut by the beach, Cortez once again saw his most capable and trusted confidant - the clerk who he sent back to Cuba to find a way to clear up the relationship and recruit reinforcements. Bernal Diaz del Castillo.

After more than half a year, Castillo, who left with a large amount of treasure, finally lived up to expectations and brought valuable reinforcements to his superiors!

"...Dear Commander, although I failed to obtain the pardon of Governor Velazquez in Cuba this time, I brought you a letter of appointment from the Governor of Hispaniola Island, and three thousand and five Hundreds of warriors who are willing to follow you in pursuit of wealth and honor!"

Wearing a brand-new linen military uniform, Castillo took out a beautiful scroll and handed it to Cortez, "...from now on, you are no longer wanted by the governor of Cuba Island A criminal of the kingdom, but the captain of the Mexican expedition under the governor of Hispaniola Island! After accepting a large donation, the church also agreed to write a letter to the king for you to seek the position of governor of Mexico!"

"...You brought 500 people this time?! Oh! This is really great!! I am really happy to have a subordinate like you!"

When Cortez reached out to accept the letter of commission, he remained basically calm.But when I heard the number of people, I couldn't help being moved in awe.

You must know that this era was less than 30 years after Columbus discovered America. Europe had not yet introduced high-yield crops from America on a large scale, and the population was far less dense than later generations.Even the entire territory of Spain has a total population of only about 500 million, and the population of the Caribbean islands that have not been developed and colonized for a long time is even rarer.For example, Havana, which was famous for its cigars in the future, was still a small village with less than a hundred households.Therefore, don't say 500 people, even 500 people, in Spain's American colonies, they are already a tremblingly powerful army!

It can be seen from this that the spice and silk trade routes leading to the rich East are so attractive to Europeans in this era, and the propaganda or deception ability of the clerk Castillo is so great. Powerful and masterful.

In short, after receiving this valuable reinforcement, Cortez, who was already at the end of the road, had the capital to turn the tables.

"...Hehe, although many of these people are black slaves, and there are also some Indians who were baptized and converted to Catholicism, but this is the result of my best efforts! Hispaniola Island The Governor's Mansion also tried every means for this..."

Castillo laughed a little complacently and helplessly, and then changed the subject, "...by the way, dear commander, why don't you let this fleet go to the port of Veracruz? This desolate place with nothing to dock? The port conditions in this place are much worse than those of Veracruz, and there are many reefs on the offshore shoals. In the event of a hurricane, the fleet cannot guarantee that it will not suffer losses... ..."

"...Oh, it's hard to describe in words! Castillo! During your absence, many things have happened!"

Cortez was silent for a while, and then he couldn't help sighing faintly. Under the jumping and flickering firelight, his face looked extremely old and haggard, "...you probably don't know! Governor Laskers has sent troops to attack us..."

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"...The situation of our army is very bad right now. Although we have temporarily controlled the city of Tenochtitlan, the governor of Cuba, Velasquez, has sent a powerful army to attack us. The commander we all know That old fellow Narvaez.

Alas, it is really unimaginable that Narvaez managed to win over the local Indian tribes in a very short period of time and put together a total of 100 coalition troops!At present, the port of Veracruz has been captured, and Sandoval and more than [-] of his men were all killed in battle.And part of the Indian tribes in the Mexican area also fell to this crusade, and even the Chinese decided that we were liars and cooperated with Navaez..."

Under the dim candlelight, Cortes pointed to a rough hand-drawn map, and explained the recent battle situation to Castillo who had just returned, "...although through some small means, I have temporarily stabilized our ally Te Lascala people. But once the time drags on for too long, the situation may change again. Therefore, our top priority now is to defeat Navaez and retake the Port of Veracruz..."

"...Wait, sir! You said that Narvaez has 3 people around him? And that Chinese native army is equipped with guns and steel weapons." Castillo couldn't help but screamed when he heard that. "...With such a powerful force, the 4000 people on our side alone can't handle it!"

"...that was more than ten days ago, and now this coalition force has been disbanded!" Cortes smiled and waved his hand, "...after Sandoval's left-behind detachment was wiped out, the Aztec People, the native Chinese army, and some of the Tlaxcalans who were our enemies all left the port of Veracruz, leaving only about 1000 people brought by Navaez himself to stay behind. The old camp was completely burnt down in the flames of war, and the people of Narvaez are now living in tents on the beach, and the newly repaired fortifications have not yet been completed in time!"

Having said that, Cortez couldn't help but waved his fist confidently, and tapped hard on the map, "...Castillo, please contact the commander of the Hispaniola Island Fleet as soon as possible, so that He will set sail tomorrow and follow our ground troops to attack the port of Veracruz at the same time by sea and land! Try to take advantage of the opportunity when the enemy is not on guard, and first eliminate Navaez’s Cuban island crusade team!”