"18-pound cannon!" Niu De said with a frown, "It's still the navy's chief's naval gun. These Spanish guys are really not troublesome. If you remove the cannons from the ship and then transport them here, you will be exhausted!"

The Spaniards' artillery fired very fast, showing that their artillery was quite professional. The two 18-pound shells in the second round hit the city walls on both sides of the protruding city tower, and knocked down a large layer of cement and lime on them. As for the degree of damage to the city wall, it was impossible to see at this time.

Niu De soon went to another city tower north of the east wall and guided the three cannons there to join the battle. So, on the morning of July 12, the battle between the two sides began with such an artillery battle. Dingyuan Fort had six cannons, two of which were 18 pounds and four 12 pounds, while the Spaniards had only two 18 pounds naval guns.

The strength comparison between the two sides is obvious, and the performance of the artillery on both sides on the battlefield is indeed proportional to the strength. The two Spaniards' two cannons fell at a disadvantage from the beginning. Six to two, and the shells at the top of Dingyuan Castle fell around the two cannons like raindrops. At 8 o'clock in the morning, the external bunker of a Spaniard's artillery was completely destroyed. The busy artillery soldiers were pressed down under heavy bricks and stones, and suffered heavy casualties. At this time, the artillery on the two towers of Dingyuan Castle's east wall had not yet suffered substantial blows. Most of the Spaniards' shells fell on the city wall. The most accurate shell was just hitting the pillars on the city tower and a brick was broken.

At noon, another Spaniard cannon was also declared to be finished. A 12-pound lucky bullet penetrated the shooting window on the half-breaking bunker, hitting the cannon truck inside, completely breaking up the Spaniard's cannon. It can be imagined that this cannon would not be used again before repairing.

After the two artillery pieces were destroyed, the members of the Spanish alive artillery team evacuated the bunker and returned to their camp. In the afternoon, there was no war between the two sides and continued to stalemate.

The afternoon wind and snow gradually increased, and the cavalrymen in the cavalry battalion walked hard among the low hills in the south of the Dayu River. The north bank of the Dayu River was the main battlefield for both sides, but at this time it was calm. On the south bank of the Dayu River, the bloody battle between the cavalry on both sides became more and more intense.

Most of the Spanish were sent back to the south shore by 200 Peru cavalry and more than 200 remaining Gauchos. While searching for the Cossack cavalry to fight, they assisted the logistics and transportation departments in transporting supplies and artillery. The attack on the transport team on July 10 not only caused the Spaniards to lose more than 80 personnel and a large number of horses to pull out horses, but also lost a large amount of gunpowder, shells, food and cold-proof materials.

Many soldiers on the front line were forced to cut one-third of their food supply, and many soldiers in the army were experiencing illness due to cold. The morale of the soldiers was extremely low, but they were very resentful. Some jokes and rumors began to circulate in the army that satirized the incompetent commanders. Captain Torres, who was responsible for the distribution of supplies, was shot while lying down, becoming the number one target of satirical scorn among the soldiers. One of the classic jokes is: Major Carlos inspected Captain Torres's professional knowledge and asked, "If you patrol in the dark field and suddenly be hugged your arms from behind by the Tatans, what should you do?" Captain Torres returned: "Dear, let me go." And so on.

In order to reverse this passive situation and to boost morale, Major Antonio Carlos ordered Captain Torres to lead most of the cavalry at hand to cross the Dayu River south, and began to capture the traces of the Tatan cavalry and wait for an opportunity to destroy the opponent.

In contrast, after analyzing the current situation, the Army Department decisively decided to strengthen the cavalry. Not only did it make up for the combat losses of the Cavalry Battalion, but it also temporarily recruited 82 infantry who could ride horses and allocated them some horses and mixed horses to form a temporary horse-riding infantry whistle, equipped with 32-type flintlock rifles, 32-year-old non-commissioned swords and 2.7-meter cavalry guns, which were unified by the army lieutenant and acting battalion commander Xu Yu.

The two sides of the warring sides all went to the south bank of Dayu River to increase their bids. Hundreds of cavalry appeared between hills and grasslands more than 100 kilometers from Luoqia to Dingyuan Fort, and were constantly looking for opportunities to give the enemy a fatal blow.

Xu Yu took out his telescope and looked into the distance. There was a white scene everywhere in his view. Uruguay was cold in the Little Ice Age, and the heavy snow had been falling for several days. The road was full of crisscrossing ruts, which were left by the Spanish transport convoy.

"I wonder where the Espanyol's convoy has reached? How many troops will there be escort?" Xu Yu thought, "Leonid, when did you detect the Espanyol's convoy?"

"At 10 o'clock in the morning, they had twenty-five large cars and four pulling cannons. The coachman and escort forces combined had about 120 people. Most of them were spearmen, and musketeers accounted for only one-quarter." Leonid, who was also walking with a war horse, replied.

"Ten o'clock in the morning... Well... three hours have passed, and they have not yet walked far. Everyone has accelerated their pace and must catch up with this Spanish group." Xu Yu ordered decisively. The movements of the 189 riders in the entire team suddenly accelerated. They led their horses to cross the hills and move to the flat ground. In addition, more than 20 Cossack cavalrymen turned over and rode on the war horses and dispersed around. These were elite cavalrymen who acted as scouts.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the wind and snow gradually stopped. At this time, the entire team had been pulled into a long three loose array. The cavalry detachment was still chasing the Spanish transport convoy in front that was targeted. At this moment, several Cossack cavalrymen in the rear rushed back, galloping and shouting: "Espanyol cavalry! Behind! They found us! The Spanish cavalry is behind!"

"Hulala" a large number of Cossack cavalrymen boarded their horses without waiting for instructions, and then began to draw out sabers and load pistols. The 82 officers and soldiers who temporarily formed horse infantry whistles quickly gathered their horses together, and then lined up in front of the horses. Everyone rode a gun beside them, and began to load the 32-B flintlock rifle.

The battle is about to break out.
Chapter completed!