open sea

Chapter 727 Worry
Herrera was a self-respecting professional soldier, and his father was a member of the first Coronado expedition to the New World—or so it was said.

In fact, everything about his father, except for a part of the blood flowing on his body, is only the name Herrera.

Based on his search and speculation over the years, he may have more than 1000 brothers and sisters in the New World. After all, after his father became a new aristocrat, he took over all fourteen brothers in the family regardless of high or low.

Some people are lucky enough to be recognized and used by the family, but more people like him, lonely ghosts, join the army and serve for the army all their lives. It seems that this is how a person's life should be spent.

All his life, he has been in contact with fighting and intimidation. Before killing those chiefs, he knew that this would cause even greater turmoil.

But the more so, the more so.

New Spain is already a mess.

This land has been in chaos since he was born. In the past 40 years, the chaos here has subsided, and the arrival of the Ming people broke everything that was peaceful.

He personally received Bernal's order to deploy troops, and ordered him to lead the army to Mexico City as the commander of the same-level army. He and another half-breed army commander both accepted the order logically.

Then, I watched Bernal take control of Mexico City by force, and was appointed as the acting governor by the West India Committee to control the New World.

Herrera always thought that Bernal was loyal to Almansa, and for a while he thought he was loyal to Bernal-until the commission of the acting governor of New Spain was issued by the committee.

Maybe he's wrong.

Compared with blood, it seems that military strength and guns are more important things.

"Legion Commander, the bodies of a group of scouts were found in the west of the camp. They were shot to death by powerful bows and arrows. Their armor and weapons were taken away, as well as their heads. The monk said that it has been two days."

"Remove the head?"

Herrera has a pair of big eyes, not only does not look like a Spaniard, but it seems to be an Indian name.

When the soldiers entered the camp, he was clutching a silver wine glass and meditating. When he heard the report, he frowned in surprise and asked, "The Aztecs don't have such a custom of cutting off their heads. Is the heart still there? "

The soldier in charge of sending the message nodded and said: "The heart is still there, and the monks who follow the army suspect that there are other people on this battlefield."

The aborigines in the Aztec homeland near Mexico have the custom of cutting open the heart of the enemy to sacrifice to heaven, but no one has ever deliberately cut off the head of the enemy.

"When I was young, I heard that some small tribes on the northern islands used to cut off the heads of their enemies. How could the white horse gather the army to go so far away? If it could gather the Indians so far away, there would not be only 6000 people. .”

Herrera put down his wine glass, got up and looked at the map on the table, and said to the soldiers: "Send scouts to the west again, be careful, the Ming army also has the habit of cutting off heads or ears."

On the map, to the north of the Herrera Army's garrison, there are large Indian camps circled in ink at intervals of seven miles, and five Indian camps are marked in the front and back.

The scouting battle between the two sides was very simple but also very cruel. Herrera would let the subordinate aborigines go to scout the north, and the leader of the Indian tribe, White Horse, would also let the tribal warriors wear Spanish armor to scout here.

The two sides look similar, and it is impossible to tell who belongs to where if they are farther away, so that there are often cases of cannibalism in the dense forest.

The Herrera Legion first discovered this problem, and simply let their subordinates put back their armor. This significantly reduced the chance of scouts being killed in one day, but it was not easy to use the next day.

During decades of colonization and fighting, the two sides have almost the same equipment.

The two sides cycled back and forth and changed the secrets of clothing and armor that only their own people knew. In the end, they both wore armor and only changed some small decorations to distinguish their identities every day, so as to detect each other's movements.

Even though it was proved that the Indian chief Baima had assembled more than [-] troops, Herrera was still optimistic about the situation of the battle, and even believed that this would help to defeat the subsequent recruitment.

But what if the Ming army came?
Herrera shook her head, why did the Ming army come?

There are only more than 2000 of them in total, and there are also craftsmen and boatmen among them. They know very well that we have shrunk our defenses and assembled more than [-] troops near Mexico. Unless the Ming army is crazy, they will not land in New Spain at this time. soil of.

"It took a lot of effort to lure the white horse here. Don't let it fall by the wayside. Let the Yibi company guarding the bridge cheer up. The two cavalry companies detoured from the east to the back of the white horse. Their logistics is very bad. The decisive battle will be at these two God."

"Although they have muskets and horses, they will not be our Spaniards' opponents!"

In fact, Herrera is also trying to change his identity. He has always been a military general. In the words of the Ming Dynasty, he is "extremely successful", but since Bernal became the new acting governor, he seems to see more High upside.

I can't help but think more in my mind. Of course, this also involves a difference in culture, that is, the military merits of the West and the East are different in this era.

Just like Spain does not have the habit of cutting off heads and ears, the reason is that there is no military merit.

A soldier at the bottom will never become a legion commander in his life. The reason why a legion leader is a legion leader is not because of their outstanding soldiers, but because he is an outstanding officer.

The general reasoning is like Liu Xian's two guillotines cutting out the commander-in-chief is impossible in Spain. Even if he can cut it, he will only be a mercenary captain when he was born in Spain.

Just like western soldiers above the military rank are basically nobles of all sizes, so most of them will choose to surrender when they run out of ammunition and food, because surrendering can save them from death and give the other party the right to demand ransom.

In China, the head is the only way for soldiers to be promoted. The higher the official position, the more valuable the head is. The poor are useless if they are captured, and they consume food.

But Herrera's difficult decision period has arrived.

It didn't take long before the cavalry sent out along the east bank of the river to the rear of Chief White Horse returned. They encountered four companies of Bernal's army retreating from the north.

"In Puerto Vallarta, the Ming army fleet attacked the port more than ten days ago, sank and burned all the ships in the port, and did not land. The fleet sailed south and disappeared in our eyes."

"We want to salvage the artillery on the sunken ship, but there isn't a single ship. Didn't the army commander hear from the Ming army fleet? They should be coming this way."

Ming Jun really came.

This news made Herrera feel thorny. Combined with the death of two scout squads, it is easy to think that the Ming army has quietly advanced to his left flank and may attack him at any time.

"Has the head of the legion discovered the traces of the Ming army?"

The rider who came to convey the message was a junior officer in the Bernal Legion, from a mercenary squad, and he said to Herrera: "Then it's time to retreat now, quickly withdraw from the east coast to the outside of Mexico City, tomorrow With fewer troops, we have ample opportunity to ambush them on land."

"But retreating would allow them to join the Indians and cause us more trouble—how far are your four companies from here?"

"Three leagues, the company of infantry and cavalry can cross the river behind the Indians tomorrow morning."

Herrera nodded slowly, and said: "You are now led by me. At noon tomorrow, I will send six companies to attack the White Horse, and three companies on the left flank to ambush the Ming army that may appear. You and I will attack the Indians together. We will defeat them." They, if the Ming army does not appear, retreat to Mexico City."

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)