Chapter 1544 Double Standard Dogs, All Can Be Killed
"Don't panic, they only have musketeers, spearmen move forward!" Seeing that the last phalanx was about to collapse, Colonel Saldo threw away his sword, picked up a bloody spear, and roared at the top of his lungs: "If we retreat, our entire army will be annihilated, follow me and charge!"
"Don't retreat! God is watching us on the slope!" Father Franco also roared.
The Spanish soldiers also saw clearly that the three rows of Ming soldiers were all holding muskets and had no melee weapons such as spears, swords and shields.
This gave them a glimmer of hope. At such a close distance, if they only had a musket, what difference would it make from using a fire stick?
So the spearmen followed the colonel, held up their nearly five-meter-long spears, and launched a final charge towards the three rows of enemy troops on the slope.
"Everyone!" Seeing that the enemy still had the courage to rush forward, Wu Da, who was personally in charge of the front line, raised the silver sword in his hand and shouted with full energy: "Bayonet!"
With a clicking sound, three rows of Marines moved in unison, pulled out half-meter-long bayonets from the holsters hanging on their belts, and put them on the gun barrels in unison.
"Marines!" Wu Da roared again.
"The outcome will be decided in one battle!" the soldiers shouted in an earth-shaking roar.
"Tatta, tatta, tatta--" the bugler blew the charge for the decisive battle.
"Tatt, tatt, tatt..."
One thousand eight hundred Marines rushed towards the enemy like tigers descending from the mountains!
~~
Seeing the enemy army rolling down like a raging wave, the Spaniards knew that if they ran away at this time, they would be at the mercy of others. They had no choice but to gather together and form small square formations to meet the attack of the Ming people.
The Marines who have gathered their strength have the advantage of terrain, are skilled in martial arts, and are much stronger than the red-haired devils!
Moreover, the spear's shaft is too long and its center of gravity is forward. Holding the tail end makes it difficult to control and is not a good offensive weapon. In hand-to-hand combat with infantry, its main function is to separate the enemy and create opportunities for the six-man combat team holding short weapons such as daggers to get in front of the enemy through the gap in the shaft and assassinate them!
But unfortunately, their opponent today is the Qi Family Army, which is invincible in close combat!
You have a six-man combat team, and I have an invincible mandarin duck formation of ten people!
After years of living together and training together, the ten officers and soldiers of a Marine squad have already mastered the formation and cooperated well. When the enemy's spears are sparse, they will fight with the mandarin duck formation. When the spears are too dense, it is not conducive to the formation, so they will split them into two to form a two-element formation; if the space is still too small, they can also form a three-talent formation and fight the enemy with a three-person combat team!
They have undergone long-term rigorous training, and have withstood the test of fierce battles. They enjoy preferential treatment far beyond their time, they have lofty ideals, and are proud to look down on the world, so they are unstoppable!
Although the Marines no longer use wolf spears, long spears, broadswords and shields, the troops in the center of the formation are the main attackers, while the two wings are the special forces protecting the rear and attacking the enemy's flanks at the right time. The rear is mainly responsible for support, and the team spirit of being ready to reinforce in any direction at any time has been deeply rooted in their bones.
Soon, the Spaniards were surrounded by marines three times their number. But they were like rocks in the stormy sea, seemingly about to be submerged at any time, yet always stubbornly showing their heads again.
The Spanish phalanx is truly unique in its ability to withstand attacks from cold weapons.
The spears and bayoneted rifles fought with each other, sparks flying everywhere, and spearmen were occasionally chopped off by bayonets.
The six-man team, who had already discarded their guns, held a small shield in one hand and a long dagger in the other, and tried desperately to rush to the front of the Ming people. Killing one would cover their losses, and killing two would be a profit!
However, what made them despair was that both the long spears and the short weapons seemed very passive in front of the muskets with knives inserted into the spear tips...
Otherwise, why would the Marines abandon all cold weapons and only leave the soldiers with a sleeve bayonet, and use the bayonet in close combat?
After years of repeated research, drills and actual combat, they found that the effect of rifles and bayonets was surprisingly good. Not only was it easy to learn, but the assassination technique was simple and practical. And it was generally easy to exert force. After a few months of training, recruits could master the bayonet fighting technique and pierce through thick plate armor with one assassination.
Correspondingly, among the Spanish spearmen, only experienced veterans could pierce plate armor with their spears. In fact, in the first few years of enlistment, it was difficult for spearmen to control the five-meter spears on the battlefield. They could only hold them horizontally and passively wait for the enemy to hit the spear head.
Why is this? The result of the 00 Institute's research is that the rifle with a bayonet can be regarded as a short spear with a counterweight hammer at the end of the gun barrel. Not only is the lethality guaranteed, but also because the center of gravity is backward, the bayonet end is very flexible.
Moreover, the shape of the rifle is much more convenient for gripping and exerting force when stabbing with great force than the spear, and the opponent is also threatened by being hit by the butt of the rifle at any time. Therefore, the rifle plus the bayonet is surprisingly a hand-to-hand weapon.
In order to deal with the Spanish's five-meter-long spears, the Marine Corps specially replaced its equipment with a 1.5-meter-long land-based version of the Longqing rifle at the beginning of the year, and equipped it with a 50-centimeter-long bayonet. This length of more than two meters is very suitable for dealing with both spears and short blades.
Wu Da was training again. He specifically simulated the Spanish left-stabbing tactics and the assassination operations of the six-man combat team to familiarize the Marines with their hand-to-hand combat tactics. He also figured out how to use the Liangyi Formation or the Sancai Formation to minimize the damage caused by the opponent.
As a result, every Spaniard who managed to get to the Marines found himself facing four or five bayonets. Even veterans who had practiced martial arts for many years could not escape the fate of being stabbed into a bloody gourd...
Seeing that the casualty ratio was still alarmingly high, the Spanish were completely desperate. They didn't expect that in the hand-to-hand combat stage, the enemy could still restrain themselves. Is this fair?
I was defeated in every position. Maybe what I encountered today was really Satan's army?
~~
As more and more reefs were completely swallowed up by the waves, fewer and fewer people were left.
A Mexican soldier dropped his spear, fell to the ground and surrendered.
Since you can't win no matter what you do and you're going to die anyway, why not just relax?
Weakness is the most violent contagious disease. Soon, one by one, the Mexican soldiers laid down their weapons and fell to the ground in surrender.
Only the Spanish non-commissioned officers and officers were left standing, their eyes bloodshot and they kicked the soldiers on the ground frantically.
"We are the Spanish Legion that never surrenders, rise up, rise up!"
The Mexican soldiers, however, held their heads and curled up, and no matter how hard they kicked them, they couldn't get up.
They then remembered that I am not really Spanish. What does the honor of the Spanish have to do with us Mexicans? Why should I work for you? The only way is to lie down. Whatever you want...
So, the disease of convert fanaticism is that the blow is too light. It is beaten to the point that he does not recognize God, and only remembers who his father is.
~~
Seeing that their subordinates refused to stand up, the Spanish officers exchanged glances, stopped fighting, and immediately raised the white flag.
The white flag was made of silk, large and white, and had obviously been hidden close to the body...
Colonel Sardo began to talk in a great rambling voice.
Chen Yongquan, who served as the interpreter, explained to the coast guards: "He said that he was the commander of the Spanish army and that he had fulfilled his final duties and was qualified to request an honorable surrender."
"Damn, there is an honorable surrender?" Wu Da was stunned, and then heard Chen Yongquan translate that they were allowed to keep their flags and withdraw from Luzon with dignity.
"Is this possible? This red-haired devil is really full of tricks." Wu Da grinned and spat fiercely: "Tell them that we only accept unconditional surrender! Give them ten seconds to think about it. When the time is up, kill them without mercy!"
"One... two..." He began to count.
The Marines also took this opportunity to reload their rifles, preparing for the execution later.
"You can't treat your opponents like this..." Colonel Sardo protested, "Respecting your opponent is respecting yourself. Don't you Ming people understand this simple truth? How dare you call yourself a country of etiquette?"
I didn't expect this red-haired devil to know something about the Ming Dynasty. Wu Da wiped the bloody sword on the body of a Spanish officer and sneered:
"Whenever you make a request, you should first ask yourself whether you deserve it. Do you think you deserve respect? The scandal you committed in Inca forty years ago has spread all over the world. From America to Europe, and then to Africa and Asia, everyone knows about the unscrupulous evil you committed against a hospitable king and his simple and kind kingdom!"
He was talking about how Pizarro lured the Inca king to his camp, then turned against him and captured him. Later, the Inca king made a deal with Pizarro that if his people could fill a room with gold, the Spanish would release him.
However, when the Inca king was about to fill the room with gold, the Spaniards suddenly turned against him. They divided the spoils on the spot and executed him on trumped-up charges.
There were too many dark histories like this during the Spanish conquest of South America. Zhao Hao just mentioned a few of them, and the coast guard officers and soldiers wanted to kill all these scum and villains.
Wu Da said, swung his sword fiercely and said: "Now that you are defeated, you still have the nerve to ask for respect? Do you deserve it?! You are really double-standard dogs, you can all be killed! Eight, nine..."
The Marines raised their guns one after another, waiting for the last number to come out before pulling the trigger.
"We surrender unconditionally!" Colonel Sardo knelt on one knee and raised his sword with both hands.
Seeing this, the Spanish officers and non-commissioned officers also knelt down and surrendered!
The coast guard officers and soldiers still kept their guns raised and aiming to prevent them from causing any more trouble.
At this time, the setting sun was shining on the hillside, coating Wu Da and his Marines with a layer of golden armor, making them look like heavenly soldiers and generals!
This scene was also the prototype of the colorful illustration "Surrender of the Spaniards" in the textbooks later published in Luzon.
(End of this chapter)