June 30. It was sunny. The early winter of South America during the Little Ice Age was cold. There were more than 20 ships of all sizes anchored near the sea of ​​Luochao. The Spanish crown flags were flying in the cold wind. The sailors shouted horns and hung heavy artillery or horses onto a small boat drifting on the sea through pulleys. The sailors on the boat fixed these things and then rowed towards the coast.

A considerable number of soldiers had landed on the shore at this time. The soldiers established a loose warning position under the command of the officers to protect the main force that was in the chaos of landing.

Captain Torres rode a war horse and led a group of Gao Qiao's volunteers to patrol the low hills near the Luoqian coast to prevent being peeped by enemy scouts or sudden attacks by the enemy's main forces. More than 40 Gao Qiao riders have landed on the land. Captain Torres divided these people into 6 groups and distributed them to various directions for alert and patrol. These Gao Qiao people are poorly equipped, but they are skilled immediately, very brave in combat, and their overall quality is pretty good.

Leonid lies on the hilly grass with his war horse, staring carefully at the landing scene of the Spaniards on the sea more than a thousand meters away in front of the hills. He received basic military education in the short-term crash class of Dingyuan Army Officers School, trying hard to identify the number of Spanish troops and the composition of the troops he saw.

"Victor, now it is time to record that the Spanish landing infantry are mainly composed of breastplate spearmen and confusement spearmen. The proportion of musketeers is relatively high, about 2:1 compared with spearmen. In addition, there are about a hundred flintlock spearmen." The densely packed boats on the sea were still transporting personnel and supplies back and forth to the shore. Leonid said to the soldiers behind him while holding a monocular telescope.

Following him were four Cossack cavalrymen from Zaporoze, Ukraine. One of them took out a pen and began to record. The symbols and numbers he only understood were drawn crookedly on it. The remaining three were riding on horses and carefully guarding the surroundings.

"The number of infantry has landed is about 1,000 people. In addition, some horses have been transported to the shore. It is expected that there will be a considerable number of cavalry in the enemy's formation." Leonid continued, "A total of four artillery guns have been transported from the ship. It is estimated that they are 4 pounds of army field guns."

Leonid and others observed and recorded while observing. At this moment, a cavalryman suddenly issued a warning message: There were enemy whistles in front of him approaching quickly. Leonid quickly stuffed the monocular lens into his saddle bag, turned over his horse, and looked in the direction he pointed at his subordinates. He saw a group of people in colorful costumes rushing towards this side from a distance.

"It's the Gojo!" Leonid said certainly. Before leaving, the people from the Army trained them to the composition of the Spanish army in the La Plata region, so he knew very clearly the existence of the special group of the Gojo people in the Spanish army.

Just like the Sao Paulo or Mameluco in Brazil, the Gauchos are a mixed-race descendant of the Spanish and Indians. They combine Indian and Spanish cultures, live in the vast Pampas grassland, have their own unique lifestyle, and most of them make a living by grazing. They are brave and strong by nature, and can draw swords at casinos or tables at any disagreement. In the La Plata region, the local Spanish sheriffs have always had a headache. Now, these prides on the Pampas grassland have met the Cossacks from the Ukrainian prairie. Almost from the time they discovered the other side, Leonid understood that today's battle is probably going to last.

"Prepare for battle!" Leonid pulled out the cavalry standard 1633 flintlock pistol at his waist, began to load and load, and the four people behind him were also doing the same. There were about six or seven people on the side of the Gao Qiao people, all of whom were waving their sabers and rushing down from a gentle slope. This was a gentle slope area of ​​hilly slopes, and there was not much space for the cavalry to deal with.

It was too late to retreat. Only by destroying or defeating the Gao Qiao cavalry in front of you, Leonid and others could they withdraw calmly.

"Ula!" Leonid held the reins in his left hand and held the 1633 flintlock pistol in his right hand, which was already in a state of firing, and took the lead in rushing forward. Due to the low output of the pistol, each cavalry can only equip a 1633 flintlock pistol. At the same time, in order to make up for the lack of firepower, there is a cavalry and a saber in the saddle bag under their saddle as supplementary weapons.

Neither side had armor on their bodies. The Gauchos were wearing various ethnic costumes, while the Ukrainian cavalry wore a unified dark blue army uniform. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, and Leonid could even see that some of the other side were holding the 32-year-old non-commissioned swords sold in the La Plata area.

"Bang! Bang!" After entering the range of the pistol, the five cavalrymen fired the flintlock pistol in their hands almost at the same time, and then they quickly pulled out the saber from the saddle bag. The oncoming Gocho people fell off the horse in the first wave of pistol shooting, and the remaining four continued to rush forward, and the two sides quickly intertwined together. Leonid easily with his skillful horse skills, dodged the oncoming Gocho people's saber, and while dodging, he gently stroked his saber on the other party's body. With a "puff", it was the sound of the blade and the body rubbing. At this moment, Leonid seemed to have regained the pleasure of traversing the Crimean Peninsula. Back then, countless Tatans, Turks, Poles, and even Russians died under the saber of the brave Zaporoze Cossack.

After rushing for a while, Leonid, whose horse speed slowed down, turned his head and found that one less cavalry following him. There were only two people left on the opposite side of the Gojo, and these two men not only did not escape, but turned around and rushed over, as if they wanted to continue fighting with Leonid and others.

"Really warrior!" Leonid praised and led the remaining three cavalry to meet him. At this time, he had no time to load the pistol again, and he did not bother to load the pistol again. The battle between the warriors should be solved with a saber.

The sabers flew and blood gushed. In the end, the two remaining Gao Qiao cavalry fell down their horses weakly. Behind them, a Ukrainian cavalry also covered their stomachs and spitted blood on the grass. Leonid turned his horse's head and ran back to the battlefield where the two remaining cavalry had just confronted. After dismounting, a cavalry rushed to the cavalry who had just been caught with the knife. While checking his injuries, he called his comrades' name. After a long time, he put down his comrades' body and shook his head slowly at Leonid.

"Victor, Oleg, go and put away all the bodies of your brothers, and put back the horses scattered nearby. Go and do it!" Leonid ordered silently, and then rode his horse to the first place where the two sides fought. Four people were upside down on the ground, three Gauchos were shot and killed, and a large hole was cut in the abdomen of a Cossack cavalry, and it was already in dying. Leonid turned over and dismounted, held the soldier's right hand tightly, and heard him whispering something in a faint voice and hometown slang until his voice became faint.

The war horse did not leave. It licked its master's face with a loud noise, as if calling its master to wake up and continue fighting side by side...

After tying the body of his comrades to the war horse, Leonid inspected the bodies of several Gauchos on the ground. Gauchos were indeed poor herders, with almost no other daily necessities on them except for a sabre - except for a leather pocket. There were some salt, dry food, matte tea and ignition equipment in the leather pocket, and nothing else was there, and it seemed that it was not much better than beggars.

After packing up the battlefield, Leonid and the other two dared not stay for a long time. One was because they were worried about meeting the second team of Spaniards' scouts, and the other was to send back the important information about the Spanish landing back, so the three hurriedly left the battlefield. The three men and twelve horses galloped towards the nearest stronghold of the crossings, Dingyuan Fort.

On the morning of July 1, Lin Youde, Chang Kaisheng and others, who were stationed in Dingyuan Fort, received the news that the Spanish had made a large-scale landing. In the afternoon, the news came back to the Executive Committee and the Army Department, and the Army immediately began pre-war mobilization.

Up to now, the regular main force of the army has a total of six infantry, nearly 500 people, three cavalry, nearly 100 people, two artillery, and two artillery, with a total force of about 700 people. In addition, as it has reached a critical moment of life and death, some civilians, technical craftsmen, prisoners and Chalua people with good performance have also been urgently mobilized, as the general reserve team of the battle. These people are generally less trained, equipped with a mixture of hot and cold weapons, and their fighting will is also very ordinary. However, once the battle situation occurs on the front line, these people will have to be engaged in the battle no matter what.

The first and second infantry posts, the second artillery posts and about a hundred reserve teams are stationed in Dingyuan Fort, and the rest are stationed in the capital. Everything is ready, just wait for the Spanish to come.

The smoke that filled the battlefield was finally about to enter its strongest moment.

①Sao Paulo people and Mameluco people refer to mixed-race descendants of the Portuguese and Brazilian Indians.
Chapter completed!