Chapter 1528: Now Begin Being a God of War!

On March 25, 1674, by the Western calendar, at dusk.

The 15,000 troops of the United States of Xinzhou Army, built around the Xinzhou Army's First Division and led by the local tyrant king Zhu Hehao, had already reached the open ground north of the Los Mochis hills by morning of that day.

Then, battalion by battalion, they deployed at the foot of the Los Mochis hills into two great horizontal battle lines, one behind the other, both facing the hills. Once the formation was set, the entire force sat down on the ground and waited for their meal! After finishing lunch, they continued sitting on the ground.

More than ten thousand men sat there in silence — apart from a few skirmishers and light cavalry spread out around the great formation on guard duty, and some skirmishers who had pushed deep into the densely forested Los Mochis hills — no one whispering to a neighbor, no one rising at will to walk about.

The sight was truly bizarre!

But there was something even more bizarre: on the opposite side of the Los Mochis hills, about ten li from the southern slope, another group of men had, like the Xinzhou troops, deployed into formation and then sat down on the ground. They had been sitting there since early morning, all the way until dusk, until they were drowsy and half-asleep!

Of course, to seventeenth-century soldiers, such a scene was nothing remarkable. In the era of line infantry volleys, pike squares, and the earlier age of cold steel, infantry in battle ordinarily had to fight in tight formations.

And the woods on the Los Mochis hills were too dense for a large army to pass through in formation; they could only move in columns two or three abreast along the few forest paths that cut through the Los Mochis hill country. That would make them easy to attack by an opponent who had already formed up on the other side of the woods.

It was just that Don Juan José had no intention of catching the United States Army off guard on the south side of the Los Mochis hills — otherwise his army would not have been drawn up ten Chinese li from the southern slope.

This was not because Don Juan José possessed any chivalric spirit, but because he knew that if he kept blocking the forest paths, the enemy would certainly not come over; they might well dig in and hold a fortified line on the opposite side of the Los Mochis hills. If Zhu Hehao had brought more than twenty thousand men, Don Juan José could have advanced and dug entrenchments along the tree line on the southern slope. But according to reconnaissance, the army Zhu Hehao had brought could not possibly exceed twenty thousand.

And the army Don Juan José had on hand numbered as many as thirty-five thousand — a full fifteen thousand more than Zhu Hehao!

Moreover, Don Juan José had at his disposal a rather formidable cavalry force!

The infantry of the New Spain Army Corps was certainly no match for the local tyrant king's infantry. The latter had absorbed large numbers of the "Old Guard" as its backbone, used nothing but flintlock smoothbore muskets, and every company's pikemen were equipped with wooden-handled grenades. These infantrymen were also especially skilled at night fighting and at coordinating with artillery.

But the cavalry of the New Spain Army Corps was quite formidable! They were all veterans Don Juan José had brought over from Europe with the lure of estates and knighthoods, and they were mounted on Andalusian warhorses. By comparison, the local tyrant king's cavalry was far inferior — merely "black lance troops" who did odd jobs and could only barely manage a massed charge.

And the warhorses they used were also inferior: they were mainly fold-eared horses bred here in the New World. Such warhorses certainly had better shock power than Mongol horses, but they could not compare with Andalusian horses.

In addition, the number of cavalry Don Juan José possessed was certainly greater than his opponent's.

Don Juan José's 35,000-strong army was composed of six infantry "grand battalions" (brigade-level units of about 4,500 men), forty cavalry companies, one artillery battalion (equipped with thirty-six cannon), and seven militia battalions — of which the cavalry alone numbered as many as four thousand!

With such overwhelming strength, Don Juan José naturally wanted to let Zhu Hehao come over and fight.

But it was almost dark — why had Zhu Hehao still not come? If he did not come soon, it would be time for supper, and after supper it would be time to wash up and sleep.

"Your Highness, the enemy apparently intends to cross the Los Mochis hills after dark," Diego Don de Melo, chief of staff of the New Spain Army Corps, said at that moment, stepping up beside Don Juan José and speaking in a low voice. "Should we prepare a night attack?"

"No," Don Juan José shook his head. "They are skilled at night fighting. These damned Orientals are extremely adept at it. We will return to camp shortly, then sleep in shifts, and keep careful watch against a night raid by them."

"As you command, Your Highness the Regent."

"Great King, the skirmishers and patrols have searched repeatedly. There are no Spanish ambushers in the forest; it is safe to pass through."

Feng Xin of the Xinzhou Army's First Division was at that moment reporting to Zhu Hehao on the division's skirmisher battalion's sweep of the hills.

"Of course there are no ambushers!" Zhu Hehao laughed. "Don Juan José surely wants to fight a proper pitched battle, then rely on his powerful cavalry to defeat us in the field!"

"That must be it!" Feng Xin said. "Great King, the New Spain Army Corps' cavalry is indeed very strong; it is Don Juan José's trump card."

"I know," Zhu Hehao nodded. "Don Juan José holds a trump card, which is why he will meet us in battle near the Los Mochis hills. Otherwise he would have run long ago."

"Great King, then how should we defeat them?" Feng Xin asked. "Should we prepare a night attack?"

"No need." Zhu Hehao smiled. "Don Juan José is certainly already prepared. He is a veteran commander from the European continent; he will not be that inept."

"Great King, then after we cross the Los Mochis hills—"

"First pitch camp and raise fortifications," Zhu Hehao said. "Tonight we work a little harder and build a strong fortified camp!"

"And tomorrow during the day?" Feng Xin asked. "Should we not fight a battle from behind the camp's defenses?"

"No," Zhu Hehao shook his head. "We need to sleep! After a hard night's work, of course we must rest well — unless Don Juan José wants to assault a fortified position."

"Not likely," Feng Xin laughed. "The strong camps we build — how could they possibly bite through them?"

The "New Ming Army" brought out by Zhu Cilang had risen to prominence by stacking sandbags — a proper "civil engineering school" — and its skill at building strong camps and fighting stolid, methodical battles was unmatched under heaven.

Feng Xin paused, then asked, "Great King, then when do we fight the decisive battle with the enemy?"

"Decisive battle?" Zhu Hehao laughed. "The enemy seems to outnumber us, doesn't it?"

"Of course!" Feng Tong said. "According to rough reconnaissance — that is, looking down from the Los Mochis hills — their strength very likely reaches thirty thousand, even more than previously estimated!"

"Right," Zhu Hehao said with a smile. "Fifteen thousand against thirty thousand — no certainty of victory!"

Feng Xin thought for a moment. "If we had not split our forces with the King of Jiaqing, we would have a sure chance of winning!"

"Heh heh," Zhu Hehao chuckled. "Tomorrow during the day, get a good sleep. Tomorrow night, we move!"

Feng Xin tensed up. "Great King, a night attack tomorrow night?"

"Use the black lance troops for a feint," Zhu Hehao said in a low voice. "The main force will make a forced march. We'll compete with them in marching endurance! Besides, the battlefield for the decisive battle should not be chosen by Don Juan José — it should be chosen by me. My plan is this..."

It turned out Zhu Hehao's plan was first to put on the appearance of a long-term standoff by throwing up a strong fortified camp. Then, on the second night, he would send out the black lance troops to feign a night raid and draw the attention of the New Spain Army Corps, while the main force slipped out of the great camp, circled around the west side of the New Spain Army Corps' encampment, and then force-marched south along the coastline.

Don Juan José would not dare let Zhu Hehao march south with a large army — although south of the Los Mochis hills there was only one small port, all the way down in the southern part of the province of Sinaloa, the entire route ran along the sea, so the local tyrant king's army could be resupplied across the beaches.

Therefore they could charge all the way down the coastline to the port of Colima! If an army of fifteen thousand advancing overland joined with a fleet striking from the sea in a pincer attack, the three thousand men at Colima could not hold out for more than a few days.

Once the port of Colima fell, the United States could immediately ship tens of thousands more men over by sea, and Don Juan José would probably truly have to start thinking about defending Mexico City.

So Don Juan José would certainly be led by the nose by Zhu Hehao!

(End of chapter)