The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 788 As long as the Spanish Armada comes, everything will be fine!
In September 1864, 9 miles northwest of Lima, the capital of Peru, the Chinatown of Callao Port, "Goose City", was shrouded in a solemn atmosphere. The Pacific Ocean breeze carried slightly salty air and blew over the towering rammed earth walls of the Tulou Cathedral. This fortress, built by Chinese and Inca workers, was larger than it was three months ago. The original Tulou had become a core fort, with outer walls and trenches built around it. Two rows of wooden stakes were driven in the south, and barbed wire was pulled. Eighteen machine gun bunkers were built behind the barbed wire, and the eighteen multi-barreled guns of the Tianli 20th year were mounted on them.

After this construction, "Goose City" is now the "center of the South American Revolution" and the "Eternal City" of the Inca Paradise!

At this moment, tens of thousands of people gathered outside the earthen building - Inca farmers, Chinese workers, Indo-European hybrids, and even Inca slaves of white masters who escaped from Lima. They all had red scarves on their heads, holding machetes and spears, and about a third of them carried foreign rifles, the spikes on the barrels gleaming coldly in the sun - they looked much stronger than the army of the Inca Empire back then! Those foreign rifles were not ordinary foreign rifles, but Mississippi rifles from "Medecin Mexico". The white Peruvian soldiers in Lima were not equipped that well.

When those old soldiers had a Spanish mother, they were the masters of the "capital of South America". Without their Spanish mother, they were nothing, and the muskets in their hands were considered antiques.

However, there are still some good things on the Santa Rosa Battery west of Lima. There are 12 Blakeley cannons imported from Britain, including 8 12-pound cannons and 4 20-pound cannons. These are breech-loading cannons that can fire flower shells, which are not easy to deal with.

Therefore, within three months after raising the banner of rebellion, Zeng Shuiyuan did not attack Lima or Santa Rosa Fortress. Instead, he built the "Goose City" fortress area and sent troops to sweep the Inca villages and white manors in the north of Lima. He mobilized the Inca people through the two big cards of land distribution and Inca revival, and at the same time expanded the "Inca revolutionary base".

By now, the Inca Kingdom has controlled dozens of estates and villages north of Lima, and has a population of Incas and Indo-Europeans exceeding 20!
In addition, the Chinese workers who were digging guano in the Chincha Islands were also mobilized by the True Yogis, who seized Paracas, a small port near the Chincha Islands, and established a base in Paracas. Thus, they formed a pincer attack on the Peruvian capital, Inca, from the south and the north.

On top of the earth building, a brand new flag fluttered in the wind - the "Corn Cross Flag". Golden corn ears were wrapped around a scarlet cross, and the corners of the flag were embroidered with the cloud pattern of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Above the cross in the center was the Inca sun totem.

Twelve Napoleon guns were lined up, their muzzles pointed in the direction of Lima. The gunners had already loaded their guns and were just waiting for the order.

Zeng Shuiyuan, Master Ma, and Manco Capac stood side by side. Zeng Shuiyuan was wearing a red robe, with a Taiping sword on his waist that he had been with for many years; Master Ma wore gold-rimmed glasses and held an old "scroll" of the Book of Shang in his hand; Capac wore a short llama wool coat of the Inca royal family, a large cloak, and a yellow hood of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on his head.

"Boom!" Twelve cannons fired at the same time, and the sound of the salute shook the sky, as if announcing the arrival of a new era.

Zeng Shuiyuan stepped onto the platform, his red robe blown up by the wind. He took the ancient scroll of Shangshu from Master Ma, held it high, and spoke in a hoarse voice that penetrated the crowd:
"The remnants of the Shang Dynasty crossed the sea to the east and established a country on the top of the Andes!"

There was an instantaneous murmur of noise from the audience. The Incas looked at each other - they could not understand anything at all, while the Chinese workers talked in low voices.

Zeng Shuiyuan unfolded the scroll and pointed to a passage: "The Book of History, Yu Gong, says: 'It gradually spreads to the sea in the east and is covered by the Quicksand in the west.' After King Wu defeated King Zhou, the Yin people did not want to be slaves, so they crossed the sea and went to Dongzhou, where they lived together with the natives. Thus, there were the Incas. The Incas were the Yin family!"

When he finished telling the legend of the Yin people's eastward migration, Master Ma opened his throat and shouted in Spanish: "My fellow Inca, according to the ancient Chinese books "Shangshu", "Zhoushu" and "Yinshu", about 3000 years ago..."

After Master Ma finished explaining the "Shang people's eastward migration", he raised his hand and pointed to the city of Lima in the distance while the Incas below were still not reacting: "The Spaniards seized my land and looted my wife and children. Today, God has issued a decree - the Inca Kingdom will recover the land of the Shang Dynasty, implement the Zhou ritual system, distribute land equally and exempt taxes, and achieve world peace!"

The Chinese workers raised their arms and shouted: "Kill the monster!" The Incas responded in Quechua: "Freedom!!"

Looking at the boiling scene below, Manco Capac, the "King of Man" of the Incas, also stood on the platform and shouted loudly: "The blood of Pac Amaru has not cooled! The white people took away our gold and land with guns and turned us into oppressed slaves. Today, the Inca Kingdom will distribute the land to every worker, whether he is an Inca, an Indo-European, or a Chinese! The Inca Kingdom will divide the land equally according to "Freedom and Land"!"

There was another round of cheering from the crowd. Capac drew his sword and shouted, "The True Covenant is the soul of the Inca! At sunrise tomorrow, 30,000 holy soldiers will be divided into two groups - one to seize the Royal Felipe Fortress and the Santa Rosa Battery, and the other to attack the city of Lima! We will use the blood of the colonists to water the flower of freedom in the Inca Kingdom!"

The night was as dark as ink. The torches on the walls of Lima swayed in the wind, illuminating three gloomy faces: Peruvian President Pezzet, Minister of War Galvez, and Spanish Minister Pareja. They stood behind the battlements, staring at the Santa Rosa Battery in the distance.

Fireballs continued to rise from the direction of the fort, and the sound of explosions rolled dully across the plain. It was the Napoleon cannons of the Inca Kingdom bombarding the outer fortifications of the fortress, and each bombardment caused the city walls to tremble slightly. The twelve Blackley cannons of the fortress were also trying to fight back, but the breech-loading cannons, which should have had a higher rate of fire, could only fire a few rounds every five minutes.

"The Royal Felipe Fortress only has a thousand defenders..." Galvez clenched the telescope tightly, his palms trembling slightly, "Their Blackley guns are running low on ammunition, and they can only hold out for three more days at most."

The British Blackley cannon was expensive, and the shells used were even more expensive - this type of cannon used a very rare "tapered rifling" and had to be manufactured using a special process. And this type of shell could only be produced in Britain and the United States (North). The production was low, the cost was high, and the price was naturally not cheap. In order to save money, the Peruvians only bought 80 shells for each cannon, half of which were solid bullets.

This type of artillery has high accuracy and a high rate of fire. It is of course very useful when used to attack warships - a warship will be destroyed if it is hit by dozens of shells, but it is not enough to attack infantry. How many people can be killed with only a few hundred shells? President Pezzet's lips trembled: "If Santa Rosa falls, Lima will be besieged..."

Minister Pareja suddenly sneered and patted the president on the shoulder: "Don't worry, the Spanish Armada is on the way!"

Pezzet turned around abruptly, a glimmer of hope in his eyes: "Our motherland... and the Invincible Fleet?"

"Of course!" Pareja raised his head and said proudly, "We have the third most powerful ironclad ship in the world - the 7350-ton 'Manusia'! In addition, there is a 3200-ton steam cruiser and ten smaller warships, which are coming at full speed!"

Galvez whispered, "How long will it take?"

"Two weeks at most!" Pareja said firmly, "As soon as the Invincible Fleet arrives, these rebels will be crushed like ants!"

Meanwhile, in the stormy waves of the Strait of Magellan, the last of Spain's "Invincible Armada" was struggling to move forward. On the bridge of the flagship "Numancia", Admiral Castejo held a brass telescope tightly and observed the "Viracocha" leading the way. The 3200-ton steam frigate was rising and falling in the trough of the waves, and the black smoke from its chimney was blown away by the strong wind.

"Report to the Admiral! The 'Resolusion' has fallen behind again!" The communications officer's voice was drowned out by the roar of the steam engine.

Casteho sighed. This expeditionary fleet known as the "Invincible Armada" was actually composed of a brand new ironclad ship, a half-new steam frigate, a steam transport ship and several old sailing ships.

The Numancia is the only pride of the fleet. It is a 7350-ton ironclad behemoth with 40 heavy guns, and is the third most powerful warship in the world. Unfortunately, there is only one such ship in the whole of Spain.

The 3200-ton "Viracocha" was also okay. Although it was not armored, it was a steam ship after all. It was just that its 32-pound smoothbore gun was a bit underwhelming.

As for the lagging "Resolucion", it was a 2800-ton sailing battleship.
Fortunately, there is the Numancia! Admiral Castejo thought: "After all, it is the third largest in the world. As long as it doesn't encounter two Warrior-class ships, it should be invincible!"

Three days later, near the port of Callao, the defenders of the Santa Rosa Battery were making their last resistance.

"Captain! The south wall has been breached!" A soldier stumbled in, his uniform covered with marks of gunpowder burns.

Rodriguez grabbed the last shell. The 20-pound shell felt heavy in his hand and should have been quite powerful. Unfortunately, it was the last one.

"Load!" he roared, and the gunners used crowbars to stuff the shells into the breech. When flames spurted out of the muzzle, cheers came from afar - the Red Turban Army of the Inca Kingdom had broken through the last line of defense.

Through the smoke, Rodriguez saw Indians and Chinese with red scarves on their heads rushing up with rifles equipped with bayonets, howling.

"These damn devils!" he muttered to himself, reaching for the revolver at his waist, then threw the pistol at the "devils", raised his hands high, and shouted loudly: "Don't shoot, I surrender!"

In the distance, on the battlefield of the Inca Kingdom, Master Ma gently put down the telescope and said to Zeng Shuiyuan beside him: "Archbishop, we won!"

"Not yet," Zeng Shuiyuan shook his head. "The Santa Rosa Battery must have run out of shells. Our 12-pound guns can't hit the Spanish ironclad ships, so... it's up to our Pacific Fleet next!"

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the Pacific Ocean in the west. Several black smokes were slowly drifting away in the wind.
(End of this chapter)