In a cave in the quarry canyon, Joseph Jacques suddenly sneezes and then woke up.

He felt that someone must have cursed himself just now, "Is it British? Portuguese? Spanish? Or those bastards around him who are jealous of his promotion?" Jacques thought about it, but after all, he simply abandoned the situation.

Jacques was about to lie down and sleep, but he felt completely sleepy. He tossed and turned around on the pile of hay for a long time. Then, he supported his upper body, leaned against the stone wall, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled out one randomly and stuffed it into his mouth, lit it with a match, and took a big breath. The spicy smell of smoke rushed to his throat, almost choking. Jacques quickly threw away the cigarette butts and poured a stream of water into his throat.

The 300-meter canyon passage below the cave is still the actual controlled area of ​​the Spanish rebels. It is not ruled out that rebel soldiers will explore in the dark. Jacques listened for a while and noticed that nothing was wrong, so he relaxed.

He touched his chest and found that he was no longer the brand new and straight, enviable lieutenant uniform, but a weird outfit of an ordinary Portuguese farmer. Because tomorrow morning, he would act as a spy again, a British spy, cooperated with a special operation team to clear out the rebel left-behind troops on the southern foot of the canyon and block the enemy's future retreat passage.

Suddenly, when he heard a slight footsteps outside the door, Jacques alertly grabbed the revolver beside him and pointed it at the entrance of the hole.

"Hehe, Jacques, Lieutenant Jacques! It's me, Victor." The visitor showed his identity in a flattering low voice. Victor knew that Jacques had been promoted shortly and liked that others would call him more military ranks.

"It's that bastard again!" Jacques put away his pistol in disappointment, lit a white phosphorus match, flashing a faint light, guiding the way for the military police corporals. He didn't want Victor to trip over the rocks and alarm the enemy troops at the foot of the mountain.

"What's the matter for me?" Jacques saw Victor's flattery and knew that there was nothing good. He covered his pockets and made a statement in advance: "I don't borrow anything, especially money, no matter whether it's franc or riyal."

A few days ago, the Duke of Desay gave Lieutenant Jacques a special reward of 2,000 francs to reward Lieutenant Jacques for his outstanding contributions in the town of Barros. However, Victor took the opportunity to cheat 1,000 francs away for the family while he was drunk and was in a celebratory wine.

Victor hurriedly stated, "It's not a matter of money, it's a helping hand."

Jacques tilted his mouth and said sneeringly, "Help? What else can you help me besides spending money?"

The corporal of the military police stepped forward and explained: "Hehe, I want to go down the mountain with you tomorrow for enemy reconnaissance, instead of staying in the operation team. You promised to recommend me to play in the Military Intelligence Bureau last time, isn't it still a chance?"

“Do you speak Spanish?”

"Won't!"

"English?"

"Not even! I can learn a little Catalan and I can learn from my wife."

Jacques shook his head, he didn't want to take a burden down the mountain, so he simply refused: "The rebels speak Spanish. I pretended to be a British spy. What's the use of you only know Catalan? You will be seen through by the Spanish rebels as soon as you get off the mountain. I don't want to take risks."

"But I am a chef, a good French chef. Of course, this is a living skill before enlisting in the army, and I found this on the mountain, I believe it will be useful to you." As he said that, Victor took out a handful of scattered things from his arms and stuffed them directly into Jacques's hand.

"What is this?" Jacques felt that the thing in his palm was the seeds or fruits of a certain plant, long oval and soft.

"Haha, it's Croton. There are all over the slopes above the canyon, and just now, this is the best laxative." Victor smiled badly and said, "You know, this rebels are too alert. The number of people down the mountain is likely to expose the target; there are fewer people and cannot control the situation, but this thing can help us a lot. The food of the rebels at the foot of the mountain is mostly supplied by the warehouses of the baggage team. If there is a chance to put some Crotons into the kitchen tomorrow, in half an hour, we can take down the rebels' remaining troops without any effort."

Jacques admitted that Victor was justified and had thought about using mandala or other poisons before, but the amount was far from enough. So he agreed to Victor to cooperate with his actions and instructed the corporals of the military police to send people to pick more croton fruits tomorrow morning.

"No need to worry, I've prepared it today. A whole sack of crotons is enough to make a fuss about a cavalry regiment and their war horses." Someone covered his big mouth and smiled secretly.

...

After dawn the next day, thick fog spread everywhere around Caishi Town, and there was a vast white area in front of me, with visibility less than 10 meters. For a time, thousands of Spanish rebels were crowded at the entrance of the north gorge leading to Caishi Town, crowded and pushed people.

Amid the neighing of the horses, several officers standing on a high place to command traffic shouted: "Bad bastards, give way, give way!" This unexpectedly attracted many soldiers to scold them in unison. Anyway, the fog is so heavy that no one can see anyone, so why not scold the chief.

Seeing this, Galicia couldn't help but frown. The chaotic scene in front of him was caused by his excessive caution. If he had known this, he would have transferred all his troops to two kilometers in the front of Caishi Town before yesterday evening to organize an offensive position on the spot, rather than being so busy that he encountered thick fog, with infantry, cavalry and artillery all crowded together.

One hour later, traffic continued to recover. 3,400 infantry, 2,5 cavalry, and three artillery finally passed through the gorge area without any danger. After heading to the alluvial plain, officers of each regiment reorganized their teams and lined up on the front line nearly two kilometers wide. At this time, the French position not far away was still silent, with a lifeless look, and it seemed that they had never noticed the arrival of the Spanish army.

"Damn it, did the French retreat?" General Pedro, the cavalry commander, seemed indignant, but was actually secretly glad. An hour ago, if the French army could learn about the chaos at the northern glade in time and wait for an opportunity to attack actively, even if there was only one battalion of troops, it would cause heavy losses and even a complete defeat.

General Galicia, who was riding slowly, just heard the questions of his subordinates and shook his head and said, "I just got the tip. The French invited a lot of reinforcements from the city of Merida overnight, including about 3 infantry battalions, about 1,500 people, and several 4-pound artillery pieces. At the same time, they also transferred all the hostages to the city of Merida. In addition, a reconnaissance team also sent back the message. A bonfire belt was raised at the forefront of the French position to dispel thick fog and increase the vision of the blocking position."

"Isn't that just right! General, do you need your bravest cavalry to attack first?" General Pedro volunteered. His cavalry had too many of the French troops on the opposite side, and the victory of this battle was not easy to obtain.

Galicia raised his whip, waved his hand, and then cursed with a smile: "I have sent General Mario's infantry brigade to take the lead, and the cavalry troops can just press the formation. After the thick fog, you will go up again, pass through Caishi Town, and rush directly into Melda City."

"As for orders, General! I will leave you the most beautiful beauty in Melda." Pedro made a statement confidently.

Twenty minutes later, a general Mario's infantry regiment quietly moved to 1 kilometer away from the French position, and the soldiers lined up the attacking line. A young regiment commander named Cardoso took a brisk pace and ran from the flank to the forefront of the soldiers.

A week ago, Cardoso, who was still the captain company commander, is now the colonel commander. Although the appointment letter issued by General Galicia cannot be recognized by the Celtics Council, he won the battle in Caishi Town and won the city of Merida, and all problems will no longer exist.

Soon, Cardoso stood at attention on the side facing the enemy. He looked at the officers on both sides, as well as the trumpeters and drummers on both sides; and then looked at the expressions of the soldiers behind him, and felt that everyone was "a little nervous, but not afraid!"

The regiment commander nodded at the trumpeter and drummer, then pulled out the saber on the left and waved it forward with force. The sound of the trumpeter and drum beats resounded one after another in the sky.

Amid the shouts of the infantry commander "one, two, one", more than a thousand soldiers behind him were with different serious expressions. They raised their rifles together, joined the commander's mat, carried their backpacks, and walked forward like a wall. Behind the infantry, nearly a hundred gunners were also desperately pulling the gunner wheels, trying to push the three cannons forward for at least 500 meters.

After marching for 7 or 8 minutes, when it was only about 300 meters away from the French position, several shells split the sky and whistled from the opposite side. Although everyone could not see anything, the infantry instinctively tightened their heads. When they were sure that all the shells had jumped over their heads and slammed behind them, countless people cheered loudly, and their tense and serious expressions were swept away.

"Thanks to Virgin Mary for blessing, we're fine!"

"Hehe, I just heard the sound of a car wheel collapsed behind me, and someone shouting for help from stretchers."

"Haha, the French shells have eyes, so I've been troubled by the artillery behind us!"

"Yeah, yeah, who told those guys to hide behind our ass."

...

"Damn it, shut up! Shut up!" The officers jumped out and scolded loudly. It was not because the infantry gloated at the artillery, but because someone ran out of the queue several meters away, and the lines became crooked and had become a mess.

"Go close! Go back!" Colonel Cardoso stopped amid the roar of French artillery fire. He turned around, waved the saber in his hand, and asked the soldiers to re-arrange themselves under the instructions of officers at all levels.

Another round of shells swept over, and one of the 4-pound solid bullets fell right in the middle of the infantry crossing. Two soldiers were smashed to pieces and fell into a pool of blood and died immediately. Fortunately, the soil on the ground was too wet, and the solid bullet did not continue to jump up and hurt people.

The death scene in front of them made the soldiers no longer laugh. They carefully bypassed the bodies of their two comrades. In a solemn silence and amid the monotonous and neat footsteps, everyone lined up again.

Everyone has only one wish, only one thing to think about: find the enemy as soon as possible, discover the enemy, and kill the enemy, rather than sending their lives inexplicably under the shells that the enemy continues to fire.

100 meters!

50 meters!

30 meters!

15 meters!

"Damn it, why haven't you seen the French yet!" Colonel Cardoso can now see the first barbed wire at the front of the position, and can also smell the scent of burning oak with bonfires.

While Cardoso complained, he also secretly complained that something was wrong. He bent down and grabbed a handful of soil to the ground and sniffed it. It felt like it was new mud, and the new mud was dug into the trenches. It must have been the French engineers who had made a slope to lure the enemy in advance, hindering the vision of the offensive team. Once he walked forward 10 meters, what he and his soldiers were facing was that the French army had prepared in advance, and the soldiers had not even had time to fire in a row.

But now I want to stop and adjust, it is too late.
Chapter completed!