Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 734 Cao Bianjiao's Night Attack
The time came to December 3, 1642.
"Good morning, Lord Cromwell."
"Good morning, Mr. Raimondo. Did you sleep well last night?"
"Very good. Last night, there was no sound of artillery fire or even cold gunfire. I didn't even wake up once and slept until dawn."
"Haha!" Sitting at the table, Cromwell had his own black servant tie a napkin for him. He took a big sip of hot milk and exhaled comfortably. " It's been three days. Since the northwest flank experienced another fierce battle three days ago, both fronts have been quiet for three whole days. Ha, that Zhang Xianzhong actually wrote to me, asking me to go out and duel with him like a man? His performance really disappoints me."
“This fully demonstrates that the Chinese commanders, whether it was Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, were powerless and could only become angry and frustrated.”
"Hahaha, you're right." After biting off a large piece of bread, Cromwell muttered, "Now the war has completely stopped. What follows is a long confrontation. Don't worry, Raimondo. I have been in America for so many years, and I am very clear about the strength of both sides. They took away almost every grain of food in the Viceroyalty of Peru before I led the army to retreat. Behind us is Mexico, which has not been plagued by bandits for many years. In addition, we have the navy led by Count Barudes to escort our transport fleet... So, in terms of logistics, the rebels are definitely not our opponents."
"Yes, sir. When the enemy loses their offensive momentum and has to hold their ground, we have already won half the battle. The next step is to wait for the enemy's logistics to collapse and they are forced to retreat, and then we will chase them along the way."
"Ah~" Cromwell let out another long sigh and then lay heavily on the backrest: "I really hope that day will come sooner. I haven't been home for many years. After I get the heads of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong this time, I hope His Majesty Philip will show mercy and allow me to go home. I haven't seen my wife for too long... When the time comes, I will live a quiet life with my family in my own small manor."
You old pervert, you're a bridegroom every night in America, how can you think about your wife?
Of course, I thought so in my heart. But when it came to Raimondo's mouth, it was said like this: "Sir, your character is so noble. With your years of hard work and achievements in America, after the war here is over, His Majesty Philip will definitely give you a large fiefdom and confer you the title of Duke. And your wife, the moment she becomes a duchess, she will understand that all these years of waiting are worth it."
"Hahaha, I'll rely on your good wishes. Uh, but speaking of Your Majesty, it suddenly occurred to me that we haven't been too cold to His Royal Highness Luis recently? We've just left him in Bogota and ignored him for almost half a month, right?"
"Hmph~" Raimondo, who was known for his overwhelming favor, snorted disdainfully, "That person is the prince of Mexico. In fact, staying in Mexico City is the greatest support for us. Forget it, sir. Please send a commendation telegram to Lieutenant Luis in the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. Just say that he has been managing the logistics of the entire army in Bogota in an orderly manner during this period of time, which has greatly ensured the stability of the front line. Well, by the way, promote him to captain."
"Hmm~hahaha, that's a good suggestion. After breakfast, I'll ask my staff to draft a beautifully worded commendation telegram. That way, His Highness won't keep clamoring to go to the front line all day long."
…
Putting aside their happy mood, the two men, who thought they had won, kept bragging about each other. Also on December 3, more than 20 kilometers north of Bogota, a team of soldiers in gray-yellow camouflage orderly descended from the Western Cordillera Mountains at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters to the Sumapas Plateau at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters.
Yes, according to the "four most" standards proposed by Zhu Youdong, namely the strongest individual soldier, the best equipment, the most rigorous training, and the most difficult mission, the uniforms of the special forces of the Ming Dynasty were not the green of the Ming Army, but camouflage.
In the 17th century, digital camouflage was not even a thing. It took a long time to make a set of camouflage uniforms, and the material requirements of the clothes were extremely high. In short, the cost was expensive. But in Zhu Youdong's view, as long as the special forces can play their due role, it is all worth it.
"Boss, I'm back."
"You've worked hard. Have a drink of water. How's the situation ahead?"
"Starting from here, walk about ten kilometers southeast and find a place with higher terrain. You can then see densely packed houses through the telescope. A little further away, at the edge of the horizon, you can vaguely see towering city walls. I think that should be the city of Bogota."
“Are there many people along the way?”
"A lot! We crawled to a place only two kilometers away from the official road and observed it closely. On the official road north of Bogota, there were mainly various four-wheeled carriages and a small number of pedestrians. We noticed that on the official road, the vehicles going from north to south were extremely difficult for the livestock to pull the vehicles. And the vehicles going from south to north were almost all empty. At the same time, the cement road on the right half of the official road was obviously more rotten than the left half."
"It seems that the commander's analysis was correct. The enemy's food, ammunition, etc. shipped from Mexico or Europe are all gathered here in Bogota. Hiss, with so many people, you haven't been discovered, right?"
"Don't worry, boss. You know the effect of this camouflage uniform. When we were training in Quito, those ordinary army bumpkins couldn't even see us with binoculars at a distance of one thousand meters. Bogota is at a similar altitude to Quito, and the vegetation is also similar, not to mention that we are observing from two kilometers away this time just to be on the safe side."
"That's good. Deputy Commander, how is the situation of the troops now?"
"Captain, according to statistics, the regiment had a full strength of 5,000 people when it set out. After ten days of high-intensity mountain marches, acute pulmonary edema, frostbite, falls, deaths... a total of 1,230 people were lost. Ammunition and other heavy weapons except mortars. Even the mortars only have 40, and each gun has about seven shells. The brothers' submachine guns have ten magazines per person."
"...That's enough. Give the order to each battalion, company and platoon to count the current number of people. We will set out at 8 o'clock tonight, and rush 20 kilometers, and try to reach the city of Bogota before midnight. We must take this city in one battle!"
"Captain, I must remind you that our scouts were unable to enter Bogota, and we don't know how many defenders there are in the city now."
"Didn't you hear what my brother said just now? The official road is crowded with people and it's impossible to conduct close reconnaissance. Moreover..." He gritted his teeth and said, "I believe Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng fought very hard on the front battlefield and have successfully transferred some of the troops in Bogota out."
"…Yes, once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. We are already here, so we can't just go back. Besides, the 40,000 oxygen cylinders that the commander prepared for us before we set out have all been used up. The hiking shoes sent from the mainland are almost all broken. This means we can't go back even if we want to… Anyway, life or death, this is the final nail in the coffin ."
"That's right, follow the order. Tell the brothers, you've worked hard after eating canned ice for ten days. I'll treat everyone to a barbecue when we take over Bogota tonight!"
"Okay!"
…
At 8 o'clock on the evening of the 3rd, Prince Luis, then 21 years old, carried out a routine inspection of the city defense under the escort of a group of servants. The real commander of the Bogota city defense, a viscount named Martin, was extremely dissatisfied, but at this time he had no choice but to smile and follow closely behind the prince.
"Huh~ Your Excellency, the headquarters' total reserve has been drawn down several times , so now there are only 10,000 people. It is actually seriously insufficient to defend such a large city. So, you must be serious and serious. Tell the soldiers, I know they are uncomfortable staying on the city wall every day. But please hold on for a while longer. I believe that it won't be long before the news of a complete victory comes from the front. Then everyone can have a good rest."
"Yes, Your Highness, please rest assured. We will definitely carry out your orders seriously."
"I trust you, Lord Viscount. I'll leave the rest to you. I'm going back to the city to rest."
"Well, good night, your highness."
After Louis left the city, Viscount Martin's smile instantly disappeared: Humph, the battle situation is so obvious, the rebels are weak in attack, we just wait for them to retreat and then we chase them along the way. You still have to patrol here every night, do you know that although Bogota is only 4 degrees latitude, it is a plateau city, it is still very cold at night! You can bear it, but we can't!
Besides, you asked everyone to stay on the city wall for 24 hours without taking a break. If you have the guts, why don't you lead the troops? It was like this when Prince Rudolf led the army. At that time, no soldier dared to disobey. But what about now? Oh, you let us live on the city wall, and you patrol the city and then go back to the city to sleep with a woman. Why?
After complaining in his heart, the Viscount pretended to take a tour and then went to the warm to comfort his Indian slave girl. As for the other officers and soldiers on the city wall, quite a few of them quietly went down the city and returned to the rooms in the barracks. Only a few unfortunate ones were left standing on the city wall shivering in the cold air.
This is not surprising: the Spanish division stationed in Bogota, when it was not withdrawn, had a total of 20,000 people. But in fact, they were reorganized at zero time after the former Spanish troops stationed in America were disbanded. To put it bluntly, they were a group of defeated soldiers. Such a team may be able to play a little bit of the so-called "rich experience" when fighting with other high-spirited troops on the front line. But when they are stationed in the rear, especially when the battle situation is very clear and the local area cannot be attacked. It is really difficult for these veterans to take it seriously.
Time slowly came to 11:50 pm, and most of the Spanish defenders on the city wall fell asleep around the bonfire. At this time, if someone looked out from the city wall with a telescope, they could see countless blurry figures on the distant horizon in the darkness, rapidly approaching Bogota!
