America 1881: Legend of the West

Iquique Bay, night, clear, moon and stars are sparse.

Although it was high tide, the wind and waves on the sea were not too big, and it was shimmering under the moonlight.

The harbor was twinkling with stars and lights, and the returning ships were quietly docked at the pier.

Sailors gathered in taverns by the port to use alcohol to relieve the loneliness of the ocean voyage.

Everything seemed so quiet and peaceful.

However, on the sea dozens of kilometers north of the port, the outlines of five or six steamships emerged.

This is a transport ship of DuPont Company, and the original ship name and number have been concealed at this time.

Each ship carried more than two hundred Peruvian soldiers.

Their goal was the flat beach northwest of Iquique.

As long as they successfully deliver the more than a thousand people on board to the shore, they can take advantage of the darkness and stab the Chinese defenders of Iquique in the back.

The Peruvian commander who commanded the landing was very confident in this landing battle.

Before the war began, he was responsible for garrisoning the port.

He is familiar with every part of the place, the hydrology and topography.

After Mr. Swanson proposed the night landing plan, the commander studied it carefully.

The more I researched, the more I felt this plan was feasible.

Those Chinese never imagined that they had ships.

He looked up at the moon hanging in the sky.

The best time to recapture Iquique is when the moon is bright and the tide is high.

After DuPont's transport ship arrived at the predetermined location, eight or nine wooden boats were disembarked from each ship, each carrying ten people.

After the boat landed on the sea, it headed towards the coast.

Since the wooden boats used as landing craft were limited, they planned to send more than a thousand people over in two or three batches.

The Peruvian commander originally wanted to conduct an on-the-spot reconnaissance before landing, but was never able to penetrate the Brownshirts' defense line.

However, according to his judgment, the northern and eastern fronts have basically exhausted the defenders' strength, and no one can care about this beach.

Even if there were, there wouldn't be many people.

His observations as the wooden boat approached the coast seemed to confirm this.

Under the moonlight, there was silence on the shore, except for the sound of the tide lapping against the shore.

The first batch of arriving soldiers disembarked, and the wooden boats returned one after another to pick up the next batch of landing soldiers.

"Sir, should we set off first?" a soldier asked the commander.

The commander looked at the Peruvian soldiers who were coming ashore, and then looked forward in the moonlight.

Ahead is a raised mound.

The mound is not too high or steep, and it is easy to climb up along the slope.

But he couldn't see beyond the mound.

This also means that it is not easy to detect the situation on the beach behind the mound.

This is really a natural concealment.

The commander thought.

"Don't worry, wait for the second group of people to come up." The commander said to the soldier, "Their wooden boat is a little slow to go back."

"Those who have come ashore, assemble! Get your formation in order first!" He glanced at the soldiers who were jumping off the ship and running around, and frowned.

It's really ineffective. It can't be practiced no matter how hard it is, and I can't blame the American commissioner for making fun of it.

On the beach, the soldiers who had disembarked from the boats began to gather together, forming a tight row as usual.

Peru's army tactics are in line with those of Spain and other countries, and the infantry still uses line infantry tactics.

It is also commonly known as "queuing up to be shot."

"Sir, they have already set off!" the soldier behind the commander said, pointing to the wooden boats approaching again on the sea.

A satisfied smile appeared on the commander's face.

So far, the enemy has not noticed their landing.

"Everyone, move toward Iquique Town!" he gave the order.

At this time, on the mound opposite, six Maxims were lined up, waiting for them.

"Uncle Danian, there are a lot of people on the other side." A young soldier said to Zhang Danian behind him.

His hands holding the handle of the machine gun were shaking a little.

Through the moonlight, he could clearly see the darkness on the beach opposite.

"Why are you panicking? Just fight now like you normally train!" Zhang Danian said in a deep voice with a normal expression.

But in fact, he didn't know what to do.

Zhang Danian didn't know what purpose Chen Jianqiu had in mind, so he only left him with more than 40 people to defend the beach.

As an experienced commander, he was able to judge the approximate number of enemies on the opposite beach.

There were at least three to four hundred people.

On the sea not far away, there were still wooden boats carrying soldiers to the coast.

"But Uncle Danian, the light is not very good, I'm afraid I won't be able to shoot accurately!" The soldier felt a little guilty, but unexpectedly received a slap on the head from Zhang Danian.

He said to another soldier beside him: "Give me the order. According to what the young master said, don't aim, just scan."

These are Chen Jianqiu’s original words.

The phalanx of Peruvian soldiers has begun to advance towards the mound.

Their steps were steady, rifles in hand, ready to receive orders from their commanders.

Four hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

"Sir, there seems to be something on that mound, and it doesn't look like a stone." A sharp-eyed soldier reported to his commander.

The commander picked up his telescope and looked in the direction pointed by the soldier.

But the light was too dark and he couldn't see clearly at all.

He was hesitating whether to ask the soldiers in the front row to stop first and then send someone to take a look.

Those soldiers had advanced to a place less than 250 meters away from the mound.

Then, the thing that looked like a stone on the mound suddenly burst into flames.

Accompanying the light of the fire was a rapid "click-click" sound.

The soldiers in the first row fell instantly. Before they could even react, their bodies were torn apart by the rapid bullets.

"There is an ambush!" the commander shouted, "Stop advancing! Fight back! Charge!"

There couldn't be too many defensive soldiers on the opposite side, this was his first reaction.

With a distance of more than two hundred meters, as long as they rush into the opponent's position, the second wave of landing soldiers following behind will be able to support them.

The soldiers rushed forward while firing blindly toward the top of the mound.

But then, the six Maxims began to roar continuously.

The barrage rushed over like a net, repeatedly sifting through the hundreds of Peruvian soldiers on the beach.

It was like an invisible sickle, tearing apart the infantry formation.

Thousands of soldiers fell down like grass. Those who were hit by bullets could hardly keep their bodies intact.

Flesh and blood were scattered everywhere, and the painful wails of soldiers before their death were heard everywhere.

The Peruvian commander could not believe his eyes.

In a short period of time, this beach was covered with corpses of Peruvian soldiers. Under the pale moonlight, it looked like a hell.

"My Lord! What have we encountered? Is it Satan? Forgive my sins!"

The commander stared at what was happening in front of him in bewilderment.

As far as he knew, there was no power in the world that could create a scene so close to hell in an instant.

So he began to pray involuntarily.

However, his merciful Lord did not save him.

The bullet quickly flew in his direction, hitting him in the stomach and tearing him in half.

Of those three to four hundred soldiers, less than a third were soon left.

The second batch of Peruvian soldiers who landed did not know what was happening, and the adjutant assigned to take command among them thought they encountered a main force blocking the front.

He rushed forward with his soldiers anxiously.

But just like their vanguard, it was like hitting an invisible wall of death.

This wall stood on the edge of the beach about two hundred meters away from the mound. It was fatal if touched, harvesting the lives of the charging soldiers.

And on the large beach from this wall to the sea, the corpses of Peruvian soldiers were strewn everywhere.

Their blood has dyed the entire beach red.

The ships responsible for transportation did not dare to go near the coast anymore, because the bullets could hit all the way to the sea.

If you are not lucky enough, you may even have people and boats capsized here.

What's more, looking at the situation on the shore, there is no need for the remaining one or two hundred soldiers to be sent to the shore to die.

Under such intensive attacks, the Peruvian soldiers' formation quickly collapsed.

Seeing the miserable deaths of those around them, the Catholic believers thought they had encountered the devil and began to flee.

Some even jumped directly into the sea.

They saw no enemy on the opposite hill, but a darkness that was swallowing their lives.

Behind is the sea, and in front is death.

Peruvian soldiers were desperate.

In addition to the machine gun team responsible for controlling Maxim, the guns in the hands of other soldiers on the mound also fired.

It's just that at night, it's impossible to aim, but it still causes damage to the remaining enemies.

"Amitabha."

Zhang Danian looked at the miserable white scene on the beach, which was a little shocking.

Even though he has been on the battlefield for many years and has experienced mountains of corpses and seas of blood on various occasions, he has rarely seen such tragic scenes.

He chanted the Buddha's name involuntarily.

"Uncle Danian, you also believe in Buddhism. My father told me that when you were in Anyang, all kinds of white knives came in and red knives came out. The Buddha shouldn't be able to save you, right?"

The young soldier controlling Maxim looked back at Zhang Danian.

He received another slap on the head.

"I think after today, even the Buddha will not be able to survive." Zhang Danian looked at the pile of bullet casings and said.