When the morning mist cleared, the Spanish had already set up artillery positions on the other side of the river.

"Fu Ai Gao!"

The officer, wearing a pot-shaped helmet and half-body armor, waved his dagger, and ten eagle cannons roared in succession, smashing the roadblocks set up by the overseas Chinese overnight.

Fortunately, the bombardment these days was not in vain. Under the command of the Marines, the overseas Chinese had dug trenches all over the island. They hid in the trenches upon hearing the order, and there were not many casualties.

But Lieutenant Colonel Juan was very smart. Seeing that the Chinese did not dare to show up, he ordered the artillery to stop firing and allowed the people of Pampanga to cross the river on bamboo rafts from both wings.

If the overseas Chinese tried to show their heads to block the attack, the Spanish artillery would fire to suppress them. At such a close distance, there was no need for complicated shooting angle calculations. The cannons were equipped with bayonets, so they could just aim and shoot!

Especially the swivel cannon equipped with shotgun shells is a nightmare for light infantry.

Colonel Salcido led his two companies to form a small Spanish square to protect their artillery positions. This set of tactics was repeatedly explored in the battles between the colonies and the natives. As long as they did not encounter a powerful cavalry charge or even more fierce artillery fire, they were basically invincible.

Seeing that they would be killed by the enemy if this continued, Ximen Qing had no choice but to take a gamble and personally lead the suicide squad to crawl along the trench to the river, intending to shoot the red-haired devil's artillery. However, as soon as they showed their heads, they were discovered by the Spanish musketeers who were ready for battle.

The Marines did not take it seriously at first because the two sides were more than 200 meters apart, far beyond the effective range of the muskets.

However, unexpectedly, the Spanish musketeers opened fire!

Bang, bang, bang! Thick white smoke rose from the place where the huge gunshots rang out like a string of cannonballs, and lead bullets rained down on the crouching Marines.

They were shot down immediately!

Looking at the unimaginably cruel scene in front of him, Ximen Qing suddenly remembered that Professor Ping had said that half of the Spanish musketeers used a heavy matchlock gun called "Mushkot". This gun was large and heavy, and needed a bracket to assist in shooting. But it was powerful enough to penetrate thick plate armor at a distance of 100 meters. The effective killing distance for people was far beyond the Longqing rifle!

I didn't expect it to be so sad...

"Lie down..." Ximen Qing hadn't even finished his command to 'lie down' when a lead bullet pierced through the helmet of a Marine in front of him, splashing blood and brain matter all over his face. Immediately afterwards, his body was also thrown to the ground, unable to get up.

'Damn it, the candied haws are on the string...' This was his last thought before he lost consciousness.

As the world was spinning, he was dragged back into the trench by his brothers.

A team leader named Bu Zhidao, who also served as a battlefield medical officer, quickly took out a first aid kit from his cowhide bag and treated Ximen Qing's wound.

A small bottle of alcohol was poured on the wound, and Ximen Qing was awakened by the pain. He felt as if his right arm was stung by ten thousand scorpions, and the burning pain was piercing his heart.

Bu Zhidao quickly put a mysterious painkiller in his mouth and told him not to swallow it, as it would have a much worse painkilling effect. Then he hurriedly applied the medicine and bandaged him.

The painkiller worked wonders. Ximen Qing's pain soon subsided and his brain resumed thinking. He immediately asked about the casualties.

"Five people died, eight were injured..." Bu Zhidao choked up and answered. He would rather not know. "This time the casualties were the highest!"

"I didn't expect that 'Mushi Kete' was so powerful." Ximen Qing knew that he could not shake the other party with his limited manpower.

"It's hopeless, retreat..."

~~

In the next trench a few dozen meters later, Don Paul saw that the suicide squad had returned in defeat and the people of Pampanga had crossed the river unscathed, and he was so anxious that his eyes were bloodshot.

"what to do?"

"Don't worry, retreat two lines of defense!" Ximen Qing was carried back to him by his comrades and gave the order in a hoarse voice with difficulty.

"Retreat, retreat!" Tang Baolu quickly directed the overseas Chinese on the front line to retreat along the trench. As for the weapons, food, medicine and other supplies piled in the trench, they had to be discarded.

After the overseas Chinese youths retreated to the third trench, they reorganized their defense line outside the range of the Spanish field artillery and threw javelins to block the advance of the Pampanga people.

With the support of their father, the morale of the Pampanga people was boosted, and the offensive became more fierce. But two hundred meters behind the overseas Chinese youths were the elderly, the weak, the women, the children, the wounded and the sick. They had nowhere to retreat! They could only throw javelins at the enemy desperately. Killing one foreigner would not be a loss, and killing two would be a profit!

A trapped beast will still fight, let alone a human? Moreover, the number of overseas Chinese was overwhelming. They threw javelins like a rain of arrows on Pampanga's head. The foreigners who rushed in front kept screaming and falling down. Some were even hit by seven or eight javelins and were shot into hedgehogs.

As a result, the barbarians rushed for a long time with shouts and screams, but they could not break through this last trench. After paying the price of hundreds of people being shot, they were defeated again.

However, Salcido's expedition had already crossed the river, and under the threat of their spears and daggers, the Pampangans had to stop and struggle to regroup.

"Lieutenant Colonel Juan, get your artillerymen on board and enter the ravine to fire!" Colonel Salsito ordered viciously.

"I'm sorry, Colonel. If the battle goes badly, the artillery company will be in danger." Lieutenant Colonel Juan said confidently, "According to the drill manual issued by His Majesty, your men should form a square formation at this time..."

"Take your field artillery and go to Jiannei tomorrow! This was the order from the Governor yesterday. Do you want to disobey?" Salsido stared at him with cold eyes.

"Okay." Lieutenant Colonel Juan nodded dejectedly. The Governor ruled the colony on behalf of His Majesty the King and had the power of life and death over everyone in the area. Although he could not be sentenced to death for a noble officer like him, he could be imprisoned for disobedience and then taken back to New Spain for trial, which would be enough to ruin his reputation.

The artillerymen who received the order loaded the Portuguese guns and copper-fired guns onto the carts while cursing loudly, and then drove the disobedient mules and horses onto the boats to cross the river.

The lightness of these two types of field artillery is only relative to heavy artillery, but they still weigh four or five hundred kilograms, making them very inconvenient to transport.

It was almost noon, and the animals were sniffing with heat. The artillerymen took off their armor and exerted all their strength. It took them two full hours to move the small artillery position from the other side of the river to the inside of the stream.

The artillerymen, who were about to suffer from heat stroke, were able to take a break and drink water to cool down. After an hour's rest, they completed the loading under the scorching sun under the whips and urging of the officers, and cleared the last roadblock with a burst of artillery fire!

Meanwhile, the Pampanga people finally regrouped, and their leader, Kenwan, personally held a "gongsa"... a bronze gong, and used a gong hammer to strike it with rapid sounds, urging them to charge forward.

"Fu Ai Gao!" The Spanish officers' orders; "Dang Dang Dang", the Gongsa of the Pampanga people, rang in the ears of the Chinese in the trenches at the same time.

Everyone felt that the final moment had arrived.

They could no longer retreat, nor could they hide in the trench, because the footsteps of the Pampanga people were getting closer and closer. If they allowed these damn foreigners to rush to the front of the trench, they would be stabbed to death from above.

Although you will be bombarded if you show your head, there is no choice at this point!

"Damn it, let's fight them!" Ximen Qing struggled to get up from the stretcher.

"No, your sacrifice is enough. Now it's our turn to protect you." Master Gao held Ximen Qing's shoulder.

"That's right!" Chen Mei's exquisite short gun had long disappeared. He held a large Guandao and shouted to the overseas Chinese: "Hokkien, if you are not afraid of death, fight with the Yi people! Let the red-haired devils and foreigners remember forever that the Chinese are not afraid of death!"

After saying this, President Chen leaped onto the trench with agility that did not match his age, brandishing his sword and killing the people of Pampanga.

Overseas Chinese leaders such as Gao Erye and Liu Xuesheng followed closely behind, climbing up the trench in various postures and following the president to meet the people of Pampanga.

Even Huang San Laozhang climbed up the trench with the help of his sons and nephews, and rushed forward together...

"Kill!!" Amid the earth-shaking shouts, overseas Chinese, young and old, rushed out of the trenches like a tide and pounced on the people of Pampanga!

This was their first time to take the initiative to attack, and the people of Pampanga should have been happy, but they couldn't help feeling fear in their hearts.

The two sides threw javelins at each other, and the Spanish artillery kept bombarding the Chinese charging team. The Chinese fell in groups, but the ones behind them followed closely, like a wave of tides!

Even women and children picked up weapons, ready to take over after all the men were dead!

Even if they are materialistic and afraid of death in normal times, they will fight to the death in the most dangerous moments instead of just sitting there and waiting to die! This is the Chinese!

Just as the Chinese and the people of Pampanga were about to engage in close combat, there was a sudden burst of gunfire on the river behind the Spaniards!

The Spanish army was caught off guard and was knocked down in large numbers like wheat being cut.

Colonel Salsido turned his head in confusion and was shocked to see ten flat-bottomed boats in the style of dragon boats appearing on the river!

The boat is wider than a dragon boat, but still very narrow and long. The sides of the boat are low, with twenty oars on each side. Under the command of the drummer, the strong oarsmen paddled the boat quickly and rhythmically, moving rapidly on the river!

There are no windows on these ships, and three large falcons and three Gatmu thunder guns are installed on each side of the ship!

At this time, the big Portuguese machine fired shotgun shells at the neatly lined-up Spaniards at a rate of six rounds per minute. The thunder guns also continued to spray flames, baptizing the gathered Spanish soldiers with continuous firepower.

"They are our people!" In the trench, Ximen Qing, who was drowsy from the effects of drugs, was awakened by the familiar 'da da da' sound and shouted with all his might, "Young and old men, the young master's reinforcements are here!"

The vanguard of the Coast Guard Fleet arrived a day early! No, a day and a half early!

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!" The command to shoot resounded throughout the ravine again, but the difference was that this time it was shouted in Chinese!

"Anyone who offends my compatriots will be punished no matter how far away they are!"

ps. Keep writing.