'No tactic is perfect. Even if it was once invincible, it can only remain strong for a certain period of history. With the advancement of military technology, the old tactics will not only fail, but the strengths that were once proud of may become fatal flaws that lead to failure.'

——Zhao Hao, "Tactical Changes in the Era of Alternation between Cold and Hot Weapons"

The dense formation of the Spanish phalanx's spearmen was to resist the cavalry's charge and stabilize the defense. The rifle companies, which accounted for more than half of the troops, were responsible for the output. Their light and heavy muskets, combined with well-trained backward shooting, could produce powerful and sustained firepower, enough to suppress all infantry of this era.

In fact, the power of the matchlock gun is considerable. Even thick plate armor cannot withstand the projectiles fired by the "Mushket"! Its biggest problem is that the firing rate is slow, and the trajectory of the round projectile is random, and the hit rate is terrible.

Therefore, the musketeers also had to form dense formations and fire intensively, relying on large numbers to create miracles.

But even military strategists of this era knew that the biggest disadvantage of dense formations was that they were afraid of artillery fire!

However, the artillery of this era was very heavy and could not be used in field battles. The small artillery that could be used in field battles had very limited power and range. Moreover, after firing a shot, the recoil would push the gun backwards from the gun position. Not only did the soldiers have to work hard to push it back to its original position, but they also had to aim again. The refractory period between two shots was too long! In front of the Spanish phalanx, which had decent mobility, it would only take a few shots before it was within the range of the heavy muskets.

This is the secret of the Spanish phalanx's dominance over the world!

But they met Zhao Hao today, and it was Zhao Hao who had been preparing for this battle for more than two months.

Facing the Spanish phalanx, which was known as the best in the world, Mr. Zhao's ancestral fear of insufficient firepower inevitably broke out. Because he was worried that the field artillery was not powerful enough, he actually removed more than a hundred naval guns from the warships and deployed them on the battlefield!

You know, a Yongle cannon and its gun carriage weigh more than one ton, which is definitely a nightmare for the transportation personnel!

The original wooden dock was overloaded, so the logistics department built a permanent dock, installed two Popeye cranes, and paved a high-standard gravel road. It took a lot of effort to transport the gun to the position.

All efforts are for this moment, don’t run out of firepower!

Ugh. I think I overexerted myself a bit...

Hundreds of heavy artillery roared at the same time, and the earth shook and the mountains trembled!

The orange-yellow flames from the grapeshot and buckshot were like a rainstorm of pear blossoms, instantly covering the Spanish first square in the front.

The heavy musketeers in the front row who were aiming were blown to pieces by countless grapeshot shells as big as Kyoho grapes.

The grapeshot, however, was like passing through a piece of paper, with no loss of force at all. It also penetrated the second, third, fourth, and fifth rows of soldiers waiting to be shot behind them - one by one!

Amid the earth-shattering explosion, the spearmen in the formation only blinked their eyes, and saw the thick company of musketeers in front of the formation, all turned into flying flesh and blood. Internal organs and broken bones splattered everywhere, spraying all over their heads and faces. Many spearmen were hit by broken bones and seriously injured, but they still gritted their teeth and stood firm.

The belief that "the Spanish phalanx is invincible" allows them to overcome all fears and enemies and become the masters of the world! How can they fall down so easily with such a small injury?

~~

At the artillery position on the other side of the river.

After firing, the artillery was pushed backwards by the damn recoil. This is a technical problem that Zhao Hao cannot solve at present... Hydraulic technology cannot be obtained by just standing on tiptoe.

But the wisdom of the marine officers and soldiers is endless. They piled up a small earthen slope behind the gun carriage, so that after the gun fired, it would suddenly pull the wheeled gun carriage back to the high earthen slope.

After the recoil was exhausted, the gun carriage rushed down the slope under the action of gravity, stopped after hitting the buffer sandbags, and automatically returned to the gun position.

This not only greatly saves manpower time for resetting, but also eliminates the need to repeatedly calibrate the gun position, allowing fixed targets to be fired with basic accuracy in a short period of time.

It can be said to be very clever, and it can be done with just a shovel. Although it cannot be used on the ship, this method still received great praise from Zhao Hao, who ordered the artillery crew that came up with this method to be awarded a collective first-class merit, and this "kinetic energy conversion reset method" was included in the manual.

Therefore, at least at this time and place, the coast guard’s artillery has no refractory period!

Soon, the second shot, the third shot... one shot after another, it seemed like they were firing again and again without stopping!

The entire battlefield was filled with thick smoke, and for a moment nothing could be seen. The only sounds were the deafening sound of artillery and screams.

Everyone was stunned. The representatives who were watching the battle with Zhao Hao on the observation deck at the rear were all stunned.

During the battle in Jiannei more than two months ago, they were only grateful to the coast guard soldiers for their timely rescue.

In the past two months, they have realized that the coast guard officers and soldiers who strictly abide by the "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Points for Attention" are completely different from those old-style troops who are no different from bandits, and occasionally they will have some thoughts of "he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."

But it was not until this moment that they completely submitted to Zhao Hao. Because absolute power would shatter all unrealistic fantasies and make people quickly recognize reality...

This time, they felt very intuitively, clearly, and shockingly that the might of heaven and earth wielded by the Coast Guard is enough to overwhelm the enemy, inspire the world, establish a regime belonging to the Chinese overseas, and protect its security!

They shouted excitedly, "Luzon will prosper" and "The mountains and rivers will return to Zhao", but unfortunately Zhao Hao's ears were buzzing so much that he couldn't hear anything.

~~

When the sea breeze blew away the thick smoke, the Spaniards in the two rear phalanxes were horrified to find that out of the more than a thousand people in the first phalanx, only more than a hundred were left standing.

In just a few rounds of bombardment, nearly 900 Spanish officers and soldiers were killed...

Such terrible killing power is totally unheard of. The Spanish phalanx is like an egg hitting a stone, completely vulnerable!

This scene was so unreal that it was like a nightmare to the Spanish. The officers and soldiers of the last two phalanxes did not realize that some solid shells had also landed in their own formation, like huge rocks rolling through the mountains and forests, leaving long trails of blood and flesh...

The surviving Spanish officers and soldiers of the first phalanx were stunned, covered with broken limbs, flesh and blood, as if they were in a slaughterhouse.

At this time, the spears in their hands are no longer weapons to kill the enemy, but crutches to support their bodies and prevent them from being crushed by fear.

"Oh my God..." The chief priest Franco, who was riding on his horse, felt his saddle was wet. It turned out that he had peed himself out of fear without realizing it.

He was not a coward, otherwise he would not have crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to come to the Philippines to preach. But he was overwhelmed by the fear of the moment.

"It and its angels were thrown from heaven to earth..." Father Franco held the cross in his hand and muttered nervously:

"It turns out that this giant dragon is the ancient serpent, also known as the devil or Satan..."

Colonel Soldo at the side was not much better, under the black cape, his hand holding the slender sword could not help shaking. He had also participated in the Holy Alliance against the pagans in Europe.

But compared to these terrifying Ming people, the Ottomans are just like natives throwing stones...

Boom boom boom! Another round of volleys came from the other side of the river, and only a few soldiers were left standing in the first formation.

They finally collapsed completely, crying and shouting as they turned around and ran, but their legs were so weak that they had no strength left. They were all tripped by the broken limbs and bodies on the ground, and fell and rolled in a pool of blood, making creepy sounds that sounded like crying and laughing, as if they were broken.

At this time, the Ming people saw that grapeshot and shotgun shells could not cause substantial damage to the two phalanxes, so they replaced them with solid shells and adjusted the artillery firing angles to achieve a longer range.

Soon, the landing point of the shells extended to the two phalanxes behind.

The Spanish officers and soldiers were all terrified. They longed for honor and were not afraid of dying in battle, but no one wanted to be slaughtered like grass!

They were able to maintain their formation only because there was a gendarme captain leading six gendarmes behind each square formation, and anyone who deserted would be killed without mercy.

Shells kept falling on the battlefield, and each shell could take the lives of seven or eight soldiers...

The commander of the second phalanx, Gonzalez, rode up to Colonel Soldo and loudly reminded him to withdraw his troops quickly.

"We were ambushed by the enemy. The terrain is too unfavorable for us!" Gonzalez shouted with red eyes, "Otherwise, the second and third phalanxes will follow the same fate as the first phalanx!"

Soldo nodded with difficulty and had to swallow the bitter pill.

"The entire army turns around half a circle!" Gonzalez immediately turned around and shouted the order.

All the Spanish officers and soldiers turned back immediately as if they had been pardoned, and the rear formation became the front formation!

"Forward!" Gonzalez shouted again.

The Spaniards never retreat, they always move forward!

It's just that sometimes, we just move forward along the path we came from...

~~

The Spaniards moved in as fast as the wind, leaving behind more than a thousand bodies, and soon they were out of the range of the artillery fire.

Young Master Zhao took off a pair of Eucommia glue earplugs with a pop, and said to Jin Ke, "Some people say that one of the important indicators of the quality of an army is its performance when it is away from the battlefield."

"Yes, the difference between retreating and fleeing can reflect the organization and resilience of an army." Jin Ke also made a popping sound and opened a bottle of Yilan soda for the young master, saying, "This is the inherent temperament of an army, something in the category of 'essence, energy, and spirit'. From this point of view, the Spanish army is indeed much stronger than the Ming army."

After a pause, he added: "Of course, they are not as good as Qi's army, let alone our Marines."

Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh, and took a sip of the rich lychee-flavored soda and said, "You mean, we are stronger than the Qi family army?"

"Of course." Jin Ke said as if it was a matter of course: "What conditions can the Qi Family Army have? What conditions do we have? We are far behind in every aspect. We have been in the army for so many years, but we are still not better than the predecessors. We should all go home and grow sweet potatoes."

"Hahaha, good! What the always cautious Brother Jin said is probably correct." Zhao Hao smiled when he heard it, but his smile was a little tight. He raised the soda bottle towards the northeast and said:

"I hope Wu Da and the others can prove that you are right."

ps. Keep writing...