July 3, 1810, Caishi Town.

When more than 6,000 Spanish rebels led by Galicia reached the southern part of the gorge, the engineer battalion of the Desay Division had constructed a ring defense system covering the entire Caishi Town the day before.

To avoid premature exposure of strength, 30 artillery pieces were hidden in the houses of Caishi Town, and were configured at different locations according to the caliber size and range of the gun. Once the battle started, when the infantry requested artillery fire support, the gunners only needed to gently lift the loose wall facing the battlefield to reveal the muzzle, and then they could fire at the target according to the pre-demarcated area.

The infantry chest wall is still made of traditional brick and stone rubble. An inner barbed wire mesh (the best range of smoothbore gun) is set up 60 yards in front of the chest wall, while the outer barbed wire mesh is 100 yards away from the chest wall (the actual range of smoothbore gun). Both the inner and outer barbed wire mesh are hung with empty cans. This is an excellent warning weapon that has been confirmed after the actual combat drill. The engineering battalion also dug an annular trench between two barbed wire mesh, which is five meters wide and two meters deep. It is not only to prevent infantry charges, but also to slow down and resist the cavalry's raid.

In addition, the engineering battalion also referred to the battalion defense design and will use some to raise the space between the inner barbed wire and the chest wall to obtain the best shooting vision for soldiers; the remaining earth and stone will form a slope gradually climbing towards Caishi Town on the outer layer of the circular trench, which is an extremely sinister trap to lure the enemy.

Artillery, soldiers, chest walls, wide and deep defense infantry trenches, double-standed barbed wire, and an invincible slope arranged on an open ground to climb upwards, forming an indestructible "Desay-style" defense system.

But these are not perfect in Desai's mind, and it seems that there is a lack of a blockbuster minefield. However, the proposal of the division commander was ruthlessly rejected by the General Staff on the grounds that it was inconvenient to clear the field when the troops counterattacked, which was too easy to cause accidental injuries to one's own side.

In the evening, after learning that the infantry battalion in the front had occupied the northern foothills of the gorge and reconnaissed the entire canyon through firepower without any ambush, Galicia felt that his previous caution seemed to have gone too far. In addition, he also heard good news from the "British spy", saying that the main force of the Desai Division had left Badajos a few days ago, leaving only a small number of troops to defend the fortress. The Desai Division is now crossing mountains and ridges in Portugal, building bridges when it encounters water, and the target is targeting the city of Evora.

Therefore, even after the French learned about the attack on Caishi Town, the defenders in Melda could not invite any reinforcements within a week. After hearing this, Galicia was very happy. He decisively abandoned his original cautious approach and immediately sent three infantry battalions and one cavalry regiment, and more than 2,000 people passed through the canyon before dark and arrived at the frontier position of the vanguard.

At 8 p.m., Galicia sent his extremely alert adjutant, Captain Flavio, to lead a team of elite troops to carry out a special mission: in the middle of the night, lead a small number of vanguards to conduct a tentative attack on the Quarry Town defenders, and make sure that the commanders of the navy battalion believed that this was not an ordinary guerrilla attack, but a large-scale attack by the regular Spanish troops, in order to request additional reinforcements from the direction of Melda, and then encircle and annihilate all the French tomorrow.

As night falls, the stars and moons in the sky are gone, and the entire Caishi Town is shrouded in darkness, which is suitable for sneak attacks.

Captain Flavio summoned more than 50 infantrymen who volunteered to fight from the front troops. They held smoothbore guns inserted with bayonets and laid out about 100 meters of scattered soldiers, bent over, tiptoed all the way, and carefully touched the front of the French naval battalion's position.

40 minutes later, dozens of rebels slowly walked up the slope and quietly approached the outermost barbed wire. A rebel soldier was obviously eager to make contributions and was too impatient. He saw that the French sentry opposite him had no movement, so he threw down his smoothbore gun without waiting for the commander's gesture, rolled up his sleeves, and used his strength to climb the French barbed wire with both hands.

As a result, the dense sharp barbs on the wire mesh pulled away the large piece of flesh and blood from the palm of the unlucky guy's palm. A huge pain made the rebel soldiers unbearable and almost fainted. The rebel soldiers quickly let go of the barbed wire that they had with their blood, covering their mouths and noses, enduring the pain, but they did not want the French to notice the sound. But in the end, it was just futile. The numerous empty cans hanging on the wire mesh had rolled up and down at this time, making a jingle warning sound.

The French soldiers reacted very quickly. The bonfire belt at the front of the position had not been lit yet, and rows of dense bullets were whistling. When several rebel soldiers were knocked over to the ground, the bodies were still hanging on the solid barbed wire, swaying in the wind.

"Retreat! Retreat all!" Seeing that the reconnaissance operation was completely exposed, Captain Flavio quickly ordered a retreat. After turning his head and running for 1,000 meters, he found that there were neither pursuers nor guns to follow, so he slowed down.

When everyone returned to the front line, Captain Flavio gasped and asked, "Just, which bastard was exposed first!"

Dozens of angry eyes pointed at the same person in unison.

Soon, with a freckled face, Tias emerged from the crowd. He raised his hands timidly and posed for surrendering "I am innocent", trying to win the limited sympathy of the leader with his bloody palms.

But Thias was disappointed. Captain Flavio, who was furious, kicked the bad soldier to the ground with one kick, then let the others punch and kick for a while, until Thias was dying, he barely stopped.

"Take this bastard into the baggage team to guard the cart!" Before leaving, Captain Flavio said a word. If it had not been for the temptation task assigned by General Galicia, he would have sent the soldier Thias to the military court.

At midnight, after receiving the report from the adjutant, Galicia became more and more confident in his judgment and the accuracy of the British intelligence. The French naval battalion in Caishi Town did not have artillery and was seriously insufficient in the army. Only more than 2,000 garrisons in Merida could reinforce.

When he was convinced that tomorrow's victory had become within reach, Galicia's ambitions expanded. He immediately adjusted his original combat plan and tentatively attacked Merida City after taking over Caishi Town, turning it into the ultimate goal of seizing Merida City.

...

The Spanish rebels' sneak attack and reconnaissance were expected by Desai and others. In fact, the Third Brigade also sent a warning telegram to the division command post yesterday afternoon. However, the Spanish only sent a small reconnaissance force of more than 50 people, and did not have a cover brigade, and they retreated at once and did not engage in any entanglement. This action was intriguing.

General Desnuet, who was working in cooperation with the 1st Infantry Brigade, pointed to the several rebel bodies lying on the ground at the command post, and asked General Delney beside him in a rough voice: "What do these Spanish idiots want to do? A futile reconnaissance, or something else?"

Before General Delney could speak, Chief of Staff Rusty walked in from outside. He took the topic and said with a smile: "Of course, it is not just to reconnaise the number of troops in our position, whether there are artillery, but more to find these bodies in Spanish rebel uniforms, and it is best to ask for help from the defenders of Melda behind him overnight.

The various good news from our British friends, coupled with the successful lurking of the Third Brigade in the canyon, made the rebel commander convinced that he had been confident enough to occupy Caishi Town and the nearby city of Melda. Therefore, Galicia was so bold that he hoped to mobilize the defenders of the city of Melda to reinforce Caishi Town's naval battalion through this night attack, and use his superior forces to gather and annihilate it."

"Haha, so that's it. What will we do next?" General Desnuet asked.

Rusty smiled but said nothing. Brigade Commander Delney followed the idea of ​​the Chief of Staff of the Division and continued: "Of course, he sent a messenger to second 1,500 reinforcements from Melda with great fanfare. Hehe, in the first battle tomorrow, my brigade can fight 2,200 people, and the other people can hide behind the chest wall and fill the bullets, so as not to scare the Spanish rebels in the attack."

Rusty nodded and then added: "In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Klee cannons can be pulled out 3 4-pound cannons and organized an artillery position with visible vision in the rebels. Since it is an act, the whole set must be performed. General Desnuet will send a small team of cavalry to walk around the gorge two times tomorrow morning, pretending to be a test of the enemy's reality."

The two brigade commanders nodded and said yes, and returned to the camp separately to make arrangements.

...

Thias felt that he was in trouble, and he had been like this since he met the master named Gomez in Barros Town.

At first, Tias was drunk by Cadiz's messenger. When he woke up in the dark, he found that his military uniform was completely stripped and tied up and stuffed under the bed.

When Tias tried hard to break the rope and rushed out of the hotel with his upper body naked, he actually encountered a group of soldiers involved in the mutiny. With bare hands and fists, he was surrounded by rebel soldiers and then besieged the Cheese Command.

After finally getting rid of the entanglement of the rebels, when Thias saw his boss Major Alonso from afar, a burst of cheers came after several cannons, which made the rebels around him fly in blood. Thanks to Thias' reaction in time, he hid behind a millstone as a cover, and he survived.

The next day, the sound of gunfire gradually subsided, and the rebels and the suppressors began to negotiate. The officers and soldiers were allowed to voluntarily choose whether to surrender to the three nobles or join the Northward Corps of General Galicia. After repeated consideration, Thias resolutely chose the latter.

There was no way, everything was wronged by the fact that Tias misled the matter and let the fake messenger run away, and gave the "Master Gomez" the opportunity to pretend to be an ordinary soldier in the town of Barros and incite a large-scale military rebellion. Tias was not stupid, of course, knowing that the heinous crimes he committed and the serious consequences it caused were enough to make Major Alonso shoot himself more than 100 times.

In the so-called Northward Corps, Thias's life seemed to be difficult. Some people recognized him as a confidant of Major Alonso, so when he was promoted to the list of officers, Thias was unknown, and he didn't even get a corporal, and was still a big-headed soldier.

The last time I was unlucky, it was naturally because Captain Flavio selected the reconnaissance vanguard in public. Because the chief publicly promised that any soldier who went on a warship would be able to obtain the rank of a non-commissioned officer after he came back.

So, Tias, who always wanted to make a name for himself, jumped out first. His nearly three years of veteran career have made Tias' military literacy look good, which also made Captain Flavio more satisfied.

But as a result...Tias was not counted when he was wounded by a barbed wire, but was beaten to the point of bruising and swollen face. He rolled from the infantry battalion to the smelly stable of the baggage team, constantly enduring the ridicule of others.
Chapter completed!