The Sodiels Mountains are more than 800 meters above sea level and are the edge of the Andes Mountains. It is a series of hills covered with green grass. In another world, this is the famous "Central Valley", the most famous grape-growing area in South America. Many well-known wine brands in China come from here.
This is also the reason why the Chileans are plotting to occupy this place - the Araucanía Central Valley has extremely fertile land, and for the Chileans with limited arable land, its temptation can be imagined.
Two months ago, this area belonged to the Mapuche people, who grazed here and grew corn and potatoes. The river water from the Andes provided sufficient water here. Now a stone fortress has been built at the pass of the valley, and even a village has been formed with the fortress as the center. In just two months, dozens of Chilean families arrived here and were protected by the garrison in the fortress.
This conquest method of military occupation, land distribution to immigrants, fortresses to protect immigrants, and immigrants to support fortresses is a tried and tested conquest method of the Chileans. Although this method of occupation is clumsy, it leaves the Mapuche helpless - they can't even conquer a wooden wall, let alone this "fortress" made of bricks and stones.
Standing at the edge of the forest, Chief Bagal looked at the fortress in the distance with helplessness in his eyes. This land once belonged to his tribe, but two months ago, it was occupied by the Chileans. The existence of this fortress made it impossible for him to return to the tribal land.
Now, the "Orchid Tribe" from the other side of the mountains gave him new hope, the hope of returning to the land where his ancestors lived and were buried.
"Look, sir, that's the Chilean magic fortress. Even the bravest warriors can't get close to it, and even if they get close to it, they can't break through the thick stone wall."
Looking in the direction of Bagal's finger, Zhu Xianhai was stunned for a moment, blinked in disbelief, and then picked up the telescope again.
"That's it……"
Along the way, he had imagined countless times what the "devil's fortress" that the Mapuche people talked about, which could spit fire, looked like, and how Chile would use the fortress to push the Mapuche people into the valley. Now, when it appeared before his eyes, he felt mixed emotions.
That's it……
This can be called the "Devil's Fortress"!
Even the Japanese's artillery tower is better than this. At most it's just a broken stone courtyard!
Not at most, but basically - a circle of stone walls built with stones, behind which are several stone houses and several wooden and stone towers.
This is actually a "fortress"... The so-called "fortress advancement" is this thing. Even the landlord's compound is better than this.
...I really overestimate them!
With such a fortress, we can defeat 20 of them in one day...
"Second Battalion Commander, where is my Italian gun?"
Italian cannon, really no!
However, the "Expeditionary Force" led by Zhu Xianhai had four Armstrong cannons.
These four 12-pound Armstrong cannons were the "feast" he prepared for the Chilean fortress.
The 12-pounder Armstrong cannon may seem "big", but it is not "big" at all. It can even be described as light. This breech-loading rifled cannon weighs only 406.4 kg and has a caliber of three inches, or 76.2 mm. Its effective range is up to 3,100 meters. Its shells and propellants are separate. The shells include explosive shells with delayed fuses, shrapnel shells, and solid shells.
With the order given, four Armstrong cannons were deployed in formation two kilometers away.
That is to say, rifled cannons can aim at such a distance, but muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons cannot even fire at such a distance, let alone aim.
While the artillerymen were pushing the cannons into their positions, Wang Deqian had already led a company of infantry and was crouching down and approaching the "fortress".
"Be careful, stay hidden..."
As they approached the fortress along the cornfield, Wang Deqian kept reminding the soldiers to stay hidden.
In fact, they didn't need to be so vigilant at all, because even if the Chileans discovered them, they couldn't do anything to them, after all, their muskets had a limited range. Unlike European countries that switched to various muzzle-loading rifles, the armies of South American countries were equipped with a variety of equipment, from "Brown Bess" smoothbore muskets to French M1842 "Miné" rifled muskets, with smoothbore muskets accounting for the vast majority. Some were even equipped with older flintlocks, while Chilean soldiers were basically equipped with British "Brown Bess" smoothbore muskets with percussion caps.
The accuracy of those smoothbore rifles at a distance of 100 meters is absolutely impressive. This is even the reason why Zhu Xianhai dared to lead a thousand-man "expeditionary force" to the Araucania expedition - this is a crushing advantage in technology.
Alfonso stood on top of the stone fort, leaning lazily against the corner of the wall. Occasionally, he would cast his gaze towards the surrounding fields - the corn in the fields was about to be harvested.
The corn was planted by the Mapuche people, but as the owners of the fields changed, they became the owners of the corn.
"With these lands, Sofia will be able to give birth to a child next year..."
Just as Alfonso was looking forward to a better life in the future, suddenly, Hansen beside him spoke in stiff Spanish.
"Look, there, there's someone there!"
As he spoke, the man who had participated in the Schleswig War raised his rifle and pulled the trigger towards the cornfield.
Gunfire rang out from the fortress.
“They reacted very quickly!”
Zhu Xianhai sighed.
"Fire!"
At the command, the Armstrong cannon roared for the first time in the central valley of Araucanía.
The first test shot fully demonstrated the high accuracy of the rifled gun - it hit the stone wall accurately. With a "bang", a gap the size of a doorway was blasted open in the one-foot-thick stone wall. In the violent explosion, flying shell fragments and rubble whizzed in the air and flew around.
"They actually have cannons!"
Alfonso yelled in horror.
The Chilean soldiers who had just been startled by the gunshots had not yet figured out what was going on when there was a dull whistling sound in the air - the small shells fired by the grenade launcher might not be very powerful, but for the Chilean officers and soldiers who had just rushed into the yard, they were extremely deadly.
"Why is there a shelling ?"
As soon as this thought came into Lieutenant Salas's mind, the shell landed. In an instant, the yard was shrouded in a series of explosions. In the violent explosion, fragments flew everywhere, and the whistling fragments were like twisted sharp blades, tearing everything around.
Amid the smoke, screams of the wounded were heard everywhere. The grenade launcher fire stunned dozens of soldiers in the fortress. They didn't even know where the enemy was, and more than half of them had been killed or wounded.
"boom……"
There was another loud bang, and a gap as big as a doorway was blasted open in the stone wall.
"superior!"
While the Chileans were avoiding the artillery fire, Wang Deqian rushed over with a Spencer rifle, aiming .
A hundred meters, but only a dozen seconds. After rushing to the wall, he did not rush in, but threw a grenade directly.
With a "bang", he rushed in the smoke of the grenade explosion, and pulled the trigger based on the figure in the smoke.
For a moment, the fortress was filled with the sound of gunfire and the shouts of soldiers.
Who are they?
Clearly not Mapuche.
The Mapuche people could not have cannons, nor could they have so many muskets, even the kind that could fire in rapid succession.
"kill!"
In the choking smoke, Lin Dahai stabbed the Chilean man's chest with his bayonet. At such a close distance, a bullet may not be more effective than a bayonet.
Bayonets, bullets, everything subverted their consciousness. Such lightning-fast fighting style was absolutely unconventional.
"Can a war be fought this way?"
Lieutenant Salas, who was stunned , faced the enemy rushing out from the smoke. Before he could figure out who the enemy was, he raised his hand.
"Surrender, we surrender..."