Dominate the Country

The Salton Basin in the southeast corner of Jiazhou is a place with a harsh environment. It is dry and rainless, and there is a serious shortage of water.

Three hundred years ago, the Salton Basin was ravaged by floods. At the lowest point of the basin, a huge lake with an area of ​​more than 20,000 square kilometers was gathered. However, the poor natural environment made it impossible for the source of life to stay here for a long time.

Now, this is the guerrilla zone of the Spanish. Chen Han's expeditionary force controls San Diego, which is not far from the Salton Basin. This is a very important port on the west coast of North America. It has been developed and used by Europeans more than 200 years ago. However, due to the reason of manpower, the expeditionary force can only control the area of ​​20 to 30 miles around San Diego. For places farther away, they can only choose dangerous places to arrange military stations and barracks, and then send organized troops to attack military stations and barracks from time to time to sweep to maintain control.

More than 10,000 combat troops seem strong, but apart from the strategic detachment used for attack and a part of the troops cooperating with the navy fleet, the remaining troops are only 3,000 people, distributed in the vast Jiazhou area, which is like the remaining stars hanging in the sky after dawn, very few.

But such a force is enough to guard against the Spaniards. Because the latter's strength in this area is even weaker.

Although there are news that the Spaniards are gathering a large number of troops to gather in Mexico City. Many of the troops are transferred from the West Indies. The Windward Islands there are the key focus of the entire North America. In the era when sails are the main driving force for ships to sail, a key point that determines the strategic situation is the trade winds and the resulting tides. Faced with the obstacles of wind and water flow, sailing to the upwind is a long and difficult task even for a single ship, and it is even more difficult for a larger fleet. Therefore, the situation of the trade winds makes the Windward Islands or the islands to the east a key point on the inherent traffic line between Europe and the United States, and also an important battlefield for the North American naval war, binding each other's large fleets there. Between these two battlefields, between the North American continent and the Lesser Antilles, there is a wide and important sea area. In this important sea area, unless the navy of one of the belligerent countries has a great advantage or has obtained a decisive advantage on one flank, it is impossible to conduct large-scale combat activities with confidence. In 1762, when Britain occupied all the Windward Islands with its indisputable maritime advantage, it successfully attacked and conquered Havana and forced France to admit its defeat in the American battlefield. But now, the maritime power of the Spanish and French allies in the Americas and the possession of the Windward Islands are almost balanced with Britain. It is the focus of the focus of the North American war. The British, French and Spanish have gathered heavy troops there and strangled them crazily.

The Spanish have drawn troops from there, so it is conceivable that they attach great importance to the next battle.

The real test of the expeditionary force has not yet come.

As a newly rising "colonizer", Chen Ming's goal is not to directly destroy the Spanish rule in the Americas-to destroy Mexico City, in which case the benefits will only be France and Britain. The Chinese Expeditionary Force still has too few troops. To make an inappropriate analogy, China is like the Jurchens in the late Northern Song Dynasty, who can run rampant throughout China but cannot control China.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force now directly destroys Mexico City, just like the Jurchens conquering Tokyo, which will only cause China to fall into a life-and-death struggle with Spain. The latter still has a strong force in the Americas, which invisibly relieves the pressure on the British!

Chen Ming still looks forward to the birth of the United States. Because the independence of the United States marks a major setback for the British, China can continue to expand to the east coast of North America. Moreover, if France does not fight the British for several years, the treasury is empty and the debt is high, how can the revolution break out?

French Louisiana in the Mississippi River Basin is a hurdle that China cannot overcome in its eastward expansion.

Although from a long-term perspective, the threat from the United States is really huge. Then it depends on whether China will give the United States a chance to grow and develop.

There is a small military station of the expeditionary army on the edge of the Salton Basin. The construction of the military station has lasted for a month and is almost completed. Although the area and facility specifications here are not comparable to those of military stations and barracks elsewhere, the garrison only has a platoon with enhanced firepower. It can be said that it is the smallest and simplest of several military stations and barracks around San Diego. But there is no way, you have to consider the living environment here.

The expeditionary army also wants to deploy a team here, but what about the living water?

There is a small stream not far from the military station, and the pitiful flow can only support a platoon of people. Don’t look at the lake of several acres not far away, but the water there is all salt water.

But this is the beginning of the expeditionary army’s stepping into the Salton Basin, and it is the first step for the expeditionary army to open up the Salton Basin.

An expeditionary force is marching on the field, with a hundred soldiers and several carriages driven by a group of civilians. The remuneration of these civilian laborers is much higher than that of the first batch of North American immigrants. Each of them is given 50 acres of land, but the risks they have to bear are also much higher than those of the immigrants. At least now they need to drive a carriage and follow the patrol troops on patrol, and each of them even has a musket in his hand.

Since the expeditionary force entered the Salton Basin, the Chinese and Western sides have had several contacts, and a stalemate has formed.

The main force of the expeditionary army stayed in the City of Angels, which has now been named Tokyo. Waiting for a strategic showdown with the Spaniards, after defeating the Spaniards, the two sides can reach a ceasefire agreement through the French. As for the possibility of losing, the expeditionary army has never thought about it.

Everyone firmly believes that victory must belong to them!

So now the expeditionary army is more active at sea. The expeditionary fleet completely blocks the North American coastline and sells weapons to anti-Western people in Mexico, Peru, Chile and other places. Of course, Chinese goods carried by the army are indispensable.

Cloth, silk, porcelain, paper, metalware, etc.

Although the expeditionary army continuously sent small troops to patrol, it has actually suspended the offensive on land. Tokyo and Hanjin [San Francisco] are already preparing for the arrival of immigrants. It won’t be long before the first batch of immigrants will arrive, and the number will reach tens of thousands.

…

The endless khaki color is disgusting. He Yang, the deputy team leader who also serves as a guide, adjusted his crooked military cap and compared it repeatedly with the hand-drawn map of the scout. He is a cautious man and also very face-conscious. He doesn't want the entire army to deviate from the route in the vast Salton Basin because of his mistakes.

He is the son of He Erhu.

When Chen Ming led the Fu Han Army to attack Hunan, He Erhu, Hu Mantian, and Zhu Hongfei of Daozhou led the people to revolt one after another, and easily captured Daozhou City, causing the Fu Han Army that had just rushed to Yongzhou Prefecture to hit a big red envelope head-on.

He Erhu also led more than a thousand people to join the Fu Han Army in Yongzhou, and became the brigade commander of the Second Brigade of the Hunan Army, sitting in Changde. He also made contributions to Chen Han. Even if he retired from active service later, he earned a certain earl hat for the He family.

He Yang did not think that he was superior to others because he was the descendant of a noble family. Instead, he thought that since he was the descendant of a noble family, he should not lose face for his father.

He Erhu, who was stationed in Changde at that time, was also called the leader of the great bandits by the Qing Dynasty.

The team officer was a little irritable. Seeing the earthy yellow world of the Salton Basin every day, even the mildest people could not stand it. Besides, the team officer himself was not a good-tempered person.

Now he was a little like a firecracker, and his temper was ignited at a glance.

"Where are we now?" The team officer pulled open the discipline button on his military uniform and asked a little irritably.

He Yang looked at the hand-drawn map in his hand seriously, "We should be in the hilly area about 20 miles away from the Colorado River. We should march northwest, leave the riverbed canyon area of ​​the Colorado River, and then walk about 30 miles to reach the destination." That is to say, the current location of their troops may be no more than a day's journey away from the destination of this patrol.

The officer also looked at the map and gestured on it with his fingers, "So we still need to walk about 40 to 50 miles?"

"It should be 40 miles."

"We still have to walk so far, we can't get there today." The officer pondered for a while, then ordered: "The whole army will rest for an hour, and we will go after the rest. Damn it." A catchphrase from his hometown came out of his mouth.

The scenery of the Salton Basin is almost the same as the scene he saw when he entered Xinjiang. He really doesn't like this place.

The officer ordered the platoon leader to pay attention to the alert, and the other two platoons and the soldiers and civilians to rest.

The soldiers marched for two or three hours and were a little tired at this time. The soldiers took out pickled fish, pickles, fried soybeans, fried noodles, and compressed dry food from the carriage, and ate and drank with the cold boiled water in the kettle while chatting. More than a dozen civilians were busy feeding and watering the horses at this time, and some soldiers helped on the side.

Rested for 20 to 30 minutes. Suddenly, a muffled thunder was heard. The team officer looked up at the sky in surprise. The sky was clear and cloudless. Just as he was wondering, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Damn, this is not thunder, this is an explosion? He turned his head and looked around, and saw He Yang looking at him with a look of surprise.

Before the two stood up, they saw a platoon leader running over like a rabbit.

"Head, head, I met Red Hair, I met Red Hair." Red Hair is the nickname given to the Spaniards by the expeditionary army. There was no panic on the platoon leader's face, only excitement.

"How many people are there? Did you throw the grenade just now?"

"We threw it. There are only a dozen Red Hairs on horseback." After being shot by a row of guns and thrown a few grenades, three horses fell down, and the rest withdrew.

The team officer looked cautious. Even if the Spanish harassment troops generally had horses, it was impossible that there were only a dozen people. He immediately ordered the whole team to move to the high ground on the left hand and pay attention to alert. He followed a platoon leader to the conflict site again. Three horses and two Spanish militiamen fell to the ground. The two militiamen were dead. One of the three horses was wailing. A breeze blew, bringing the smell of gunpowder and blood.

"Bang bang bang..."

"Boom boom boom..."

The red-haired man's revenge came quickly, and the red-haired man had more troops. Many people rode horses, and it seemed that there were two or three hundred people, but they had no cannons.

It is a long way from the Spanish gathering place to the Salton Basin. It is not easy to travel through the Colorado River Basin. The main and tributary rivers of this river have many canyons and the riverbed has a large gradient. In the future, this is rich in hydropower resources and convenient for power generation, but in the current era, it means that it is difficult to pass. It is not easy to send these two or three hundred people to the place in front of us. If you drag the cannons and ammunition, the difficulty will increase by more than one level.

The battle between the two sides did not last long. The battle between the well-trained elite soldiers and a group of muskets cannot be eliminated by two or three times the force. But the red hair did not retreat immediately, but there were always cavalry wandering around the highlands.

Everyone understood that the night was the beginning of the real battle between the two sides.

The dark night was the best cover for the Spanish. Without sight, the well-trained elite soldiers would be equivalent to abolishing their biggest and strongest weapon-volley.

The last moment of the day passed, the night fell, and the night came.

The blazing flames burned halfway up the highland, and the grass and trees growing on the mountain directly became fuel for the fire. The expeditionary army used this method to prevent the Spanish from approaching secretly. By lighting the fire, the Spanish could only sneak up to the fire even if they attacked. It was wishful thinking to reach the top of the highland silently.

"Aim, aim and shoot--"

At this time, no one would pursue volleys or volleys. Years of facts have proved that flintlock rifles are not much better than spears in mountain offensive and defensive battles, especially in mountain offensive and defensive battles at night. Unless the enemy is stupid enough to stand up straight and face your gun with his chest.

The figures of the Spanish soldiers have surpassed the fire halfway up the mountain, and the grenades have blown the blazing fire into scattered flames. For the expeditionary army guarding the top of the mountain, the enemy is very close, and they can see the heavy shadows clearly.

Some calm and experienced veterans, aiming and shooting, whether the effect is good or not is another matter. But how can a unit have too many calm and experienced veterans? Even the Guards, there is a certain gap compared with four or five years ago. The Guards Corps, which was formed by the remaining veterans after the wars, now has many new recruits.

Their physical fitness may be better than their predecessors, and their performance on the training ground may be better than their predecessors, but in the real battlefield, it is hard to believe that they will perform better than the Guards of the year.

Quite a few Spaniards attacking below were also frightened by the bullets flying over their heads.

But in general, relying on the advantage in numbers and the cover of the night, they still rushed through the fire, and the heavy shadows rushed to the top of the mountain.

"Kill..." He Yang held up the musket with a bayonet and led the troops to push up.

The officer waved a saber and shouted to the other soldiers like a killing god: "Follow me, follow me. Quick, quick-"

"Pah!" He shot down a Spanish soldier who rushed to him, and the officer dropped his empty pistol and swung his saber to chop off the head of another Spaniard.

One Spaniard fell, two, three... ten Spaniards rushed up. The expeditionary army showed no fear, holding bayonets and shouting to fight. There were crowds of people on the high ground, and there were heavy shadows.

The Spaniards rushed once, twice, but they didn't have the courage to rush a third time...

And this conflict was just one of many small-scale conflicts on the battlefield on the west coast of North America.