Chapter 23 Section VII Invasion

Rumors have been confirmed, only exaggerated.It is common for three people to talk about tigers.The Patagonian mob, seven hundred in all, landed on the north shore yesterday, but they can never be called an army. The name Patagonia can be interpreted in everyday parlance as a nomadic people.But from a purely racial point of view, they are very different from nomads.Nomads live on the Pampas grasslands of South America.And they live near the poles, that is to say, in warmer regions near the Argentine Republic.Most of the nomads devoted themselves to farming and established many villages, as well as several cities of various sizes.But going deeper into Antarctica, the nature has changed. The people here simply live a secluded life, and their appearance is ghastly.They hunted for a living, these natives were often unrivaled marksmen, and they practiced slavery.They fought endlessly and plundered to ensure the source of slaves.In their place, tribal strife continued all the year round, and as long as they encountered foreigners who ventured in this virgin land, they would never let them go. They were barbarians.

Due to the lack of effective daily management, the region has been completely anarchic due to the long-term struggle of the adjacent and bordering countries in these years.Hence the robbery of these savages.There is no doubt that Chile and the Argentine Republic will eventually come to an agreement to end this situation, but this work should not be considered a long-term waste of effort.Such a vast area is sparsely populated and has no means of transportation. Since the opening of Hongmeng, it has enjoyed endless independence. The invaders of Khost Island belong to this type of Indians. As we saw at the beginning of the story, the Patagonians have become accustomed to looting and plundering their neighbors. They often cross the Strait of Magellan. The Big Island, especially Tierra del Fuego, was looted extensively.So far, however, they have never ventured this far.

In order to reach Host Island, they had to either cross the whole of Tierra del Fuego and then cross the Beager Canal, or start from the coast of America and follow the winding canals of the peninsula.In any case, they had to pay a very high price for such a migration, and encountered numerous difficulties, both the problem of supplies during the march on land, and the problem of sailing by sea, and the light canoes were sunk under the food of the horses. question. Le Corgis ran ahead of his twenty-five companions.I was wondering why the Patagonians decided to take such a rash action that was not in keeping with their habits.Undoubtedly, the completion of Liberia can explain this abnormal phenomenon in some places. They should think that in the surrounding area, the new city has become famous all over the world, rich and well-known.They became more cranky.It's only natural.They salivate.

Yes, things can only be explained in this way.However, in any case, these aggressors, bold as they are, will come as a surprise to them, no matter how fierce and vigorous they are famous in the world, it is difficult for them to imagine that they will likely encounter so many whites against them, And throw yourself into such an adventure.They did seem to have some special reason, but Le Corgi couldn't figure it out. He did not know where on the island he would meet the enemy. Perhaps the men were already on their way, or perhaps they had not yet left the place where they landed. According to the information given by the messenger, they would have traveled a hundred and twenty to a hundred and twenty Five kilometers, it is impossible to march quickly on Khost Island. Judging from the road conditions, it really needs to be improved, and the journey will take at least two days.Departing early in the morning on December 10th, Le Corgis arrived on the evening of the 11th.

Not far from Liberia, after the road crosses the Alte Peninsula, it turns to the northwest. First, on a 20-kilometer-long road, it goes down the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, and then turns back to the north. In the second reverse direction, along the treacherous and capricious valley, across the island, at a further twenty-five kilometers, it tightens against the Strait of Tekinica, the outlet of the Atlantic Ocean, Pasteur The northern part of the peninsula divides the Pongsombi Strait, beyond which the road winds and begins to take its way through mountain passes.These mountains come from the west, extend all the way to the easternmost tip of Bastefeng Island, and then turn back westward again at the isthmus that connects this peninsula to the whole of Khost Island, and finally, throw the Pansomby Strait into the later.Turning eastward, at ninety-five kilometers from Liberia, across the narrow isthmus of Dumas, along the north bank of the Beager Canal.

Le Corgi was going to take this route. On the way, he brought a few more people, and those immigrants with horses joined them. As for the others, Le Corgi gave them orders when they passed by. : To mobilize them to have money and power, to recruit fighters as much as possible, those who have guns, hide in the forest, as soon as the invaders appear, shoot at them, and it is best to aim at the horses to shoot, because There is nothing to fear from a Patagonian who falls from his horse to the ground.Then immediately retreated to a higher place on the mountain.As for the bare-handed immigrants, they dug ditches and holes on the road. In a section of one kilometer, the fields were messed up and destroyed, and then they took everything away, so that the enemy could get nothing.The farm agreed to take away all the utensils and food, so that the invaders' supplies would be even worse.Then all who could fire, like those who had only a hammer and sickle, hid in Lee Willy's wall, which was solid and well guarded by troops so numerous that it was impenetrable.

Exactly according to the planned route, Le Corgui arrived at the isthmus of the Dumas peninsula at about six o'clock in the evening on December 11. No trace of the Patagonians was yet visible. From this place, people approached The place where we landed, so we had to be extremely cautious. At this time, the days were long and the nights were short. When it was very late, it was only after dark that we could use it to cover ourselves.Because it was going in the opposite direction, it took nearly five hours to arrive. It was almost midnight, and the earth was shrouded in darkness.But the flames of the Patagonian camp could be clearly seen, and there was no doubt that they were still where they landed.

Le Corgi's small army consisted of thirty-two guns, including Le Corgi's own, but behind them, hundreds of hands were destroying the road and setting up barricades to make it difficult for the invaders to advance smoothly. After inspecting the enemy's camp clearly, Le Corgi and his companions began to retreat, stopped thirty-five kilometers before the isthmus of the Dumas Peninsula, and took their horses to the isthmus to hide completely.The cavalry became infantry, and the soldiers were all lying in ambush on the steep hillside on the south side of the road, waiting for the invading enemy.

Le Corgi understood: the enemy is outnumbered, and it is unwise to adopt head-to-head tactics. Only guerrilla tactics can defeat the enemy.As mentioned above, personnel ambushes on the steep hillside. When the enemy attacks, they can fire at the enemy as they like, making the enemy hard to defend. Even if they cannot stop the enemy's attack, it will take a long time for the enemy to clear the roadblocks. An orderly retreat created favorable conditions.Also mention that there is no need to worry about Patagonians abandoning their mounts to go after whoever shoots at them.Because the Patagonians have a deep-rooted habit of fighting on horseback, they are more reluctant to risk their lives in this deserted land where there may be an ambush behind every rock.

It was past nine o'clock in the morning when the Patagonian advance troops showed up on December 12.They are far away from their hometown. On this strange land, there is the vast sea on one side and lofty mountains on the other. The shooters provided a good shot, so the Patagonians walked for more than three hours for the twenty-five kilometers. There were three gunshots from the right, and their terrified team retreated urgently, causing the people behind them to be confused. But after the three gunshots, there was no more shooting, and they regained their composure and regrouped.These three gunshots left behind such a landscape: a man curled up, lying on the road, twitching in pain, and two horses, also lying on the ground, a hole was shot through one belly, the other One had a broken leg.

Five hundred meters further on, the Patagonians came across a roadblock piled up with tree trunks and branches. Just as they were about to dismantle it, several more shots were fired, hitting a horse, and the horse went out again. Lost combat effectiveness. Numerous ambusher shots were successful, but the Patagonian ranks finally reached the isthmus of the Dumas peninsula.Sandwiched between the cliffs, the terrain is narrow, like a throat, forming a situation where one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it. There is another roadblock piled higher and larger than before; A large and deep ditch, cutting off the road, took another shot on the left as the Patagonians approached these obstructions.At this time, more than a hundred people tried their best to repair the road. But soon, the firepower became more intense, and the whole road was full of bullets. Some of the first group of Patagonians didn't even groan and just groaned!This makes those latecomers timid and stop, these nomads are hesitant, they dare not take a step beyond the threshold. The Patagonians were exposed from the beginning to the end under the eyes of the Khost Island gunmen. They occupied the six hundred meters of the road. It seems to be conveying the order of the leader.They also tried many times to remove the roadblocks, and the result was either people were killed or horses were injured. This fertile land has no place to accept them. Time passed like this, and finally the barrier was overturned near dusk, and thereafter only a rain of bullets blocked their way.The Patagonians then took what seemed to be suicide, and they gathered their horses together and galloped away, and three of them and thirteen horses fell into the pit and remained there forever, but the nomad passed up. Five kilometers away, they stopped at a place they thought was safer and prepared to spend the night.The Khosts did not rest for a minute, they continued to retreat wisely and planned, and prepared for tomorrow's battle.The day's fighting of the Khostites was fruitful, the invaders lost thirty horses and five men out of combat, and only one of them was slightly wounded.The most unlucky of the Patagonians were those who were on foot or who had lost their horses.The Khosts can easily deal with them. The next day, the same method was adopted. The Patagonians were exhausted. Le Corgi took advantage of this opportunity to rush ahead of the Patagonians, who had grown to sixty and nearly sixty. The team of guns was divided into more than 100 meters, hiding behind deep ditches and rocks, shooting at the Patagonians, and when the Patagonians turned back, they put their guns back and waited.As soon as the Patagonians started to move, bullets whizzed over their heads, or were knocked down, they fell back, then counterattacked again, but always failed, and within two hours, this Taking turns to attack repeatedly, the Patagonians are extremely brave, but lack of brains. They always think of yesterday's very successful tactics when they find that they have lost a lot. The whole, the whole set off, the horses galloped wildly, the horseshoes hit the ground and made a deafening sound, and the ground was shaking.Soon, the bullets of the Khost people poured over, and a group of people who rushed into battle died. This is a breathtaking sight, nothing can stop these cavalrymen rushing forward, if a person falls off the horse, the cavalrymen behind will step on his body without mercy, The same goes for horses, if one horse is wounded or dead and falls to the ground, the other horse jumps over the obstacle and continues galloping on and on. The Khost people have no time to appreciate these feats, it is a matter of life and death for them, all they think about is: reload, aim, shoot, then reload, aim, shoot.And so without a minute's rest, with the guns hot in their hands, and in the frenzy of battle, prudence forgotten, they leave their concealed places and expose their whole bodies to the enemy, and if the Patagonians can fight back, then Will be a nice counterattack. But the Patagonians cannot use their weapons as usual.They thought that the only way out was to go through this dangerous zone, so they desperately risked the fire of bullets and just ran wildly, trying to get through this area as quickly as possible without retaliation. Indeed, passing through the country, the gunfire soon died down, and they began to stride forward, passing the highest point of the pass, and then descending, winding and peaceful.Every now and then a few gunshots sounded from the left or right, and the Patagonians fired randomly in the expected direction and continued on their way. Lessons learned from the past, the Patagonians no longer stopped too close to the enemy. Until one o'clock in the morning, they were still going down the mountain quickly, and only stopped to camp when they reached the flat ground. It was a difficult day for them this time, as they crossed the sixty-five kilometers, they saw the waves of the Pacific crashing against the sandy shore to their right and a large expanse of flat grass to their left.They have no scruples.The next day, they reached their destination early. In the future, for Le Corgi, it will no longer be possible to go in front of the invaders and attack them. Apart from the fact that the natural geography does not allow the implementation of the strategy that has been very successful so far, the biggest problem is that the distance between them is too large. Far.By Le Corgi's order, they stopped pursuing them in vain.People slept for hours on the bare earth under the shining stars.They fought day and night for three consecutive days, endured the pain of fatigue, and had to rest and catch their breath. Le Corgis was very satisfied with the results of his tactics. In this last day, the enemy lost at least fifty horses and fifteen warriors. When the Patagonians came to Liberia, they would lose at least a hundred. cavalry, and thus seriously shake the morale of others.Contrary to their hopes, their army will not enter Liberia without difficulty. The next morning, the men went to retrieve the horses, and towards noon the men who had found the horses became cavalry again, and the number of these shooting men was reduced to thirty-two, and began to descend the mountain. Nothing could hinder their rapid progress, and they saw from many signs that the Patagonians were on their way, and that it was impossible for them to hit the tail of their ranks all at once, so that caution was no longer necessary. At about three o'clock the people reached the place where the nomads had camped and left their footprints everywhere, there is no doubt that those people started their journey early in the morning, and it is very likely that they have now reached the city of Liberia . Two hours later, Le Corgui and his cavalry began to advance along the castle of Leville, and found a large group of pedestrians on the road. The number apparently exceeded a hundred. They were Patagonians who had been dismounted in the previous encounter. . Suddenly, countless bullets were fired from the castle, and a dozen Patagonians fell to the ground. The rest of the living, some fought back meaninglessly, and some ran away, but they found that some Thirty-two horsemen blocked the way, and rifles began to fire at them. With the sound of gunshots, more than two hundred men with big knives, hoes, and sickles rushed out of the castle, cutting off the way to Liberia. Numerous peasants, with countless bullets fired from the castle on the left, and Le Corgui and his cavalry at the end, cornered in all directions.The Patagonians lost their courage and threw their weapons to the ground.Le Corgi and his cavalry captured the Patagonians without bloodshed, bound them hand and foot, and locked them in a large warehouse, with soldiers guarding the captives at the door. This is an amazing action. The invaders lost more than a hundred soldiers and their weapons and equipment. More importantly, they increased the strength of the Khost people. They now have 250 guns. It can be said that the disparity is not too big for the enemy who has about 600 guns. The garrison at Leville Castle, which could tell Le Corgi the whereabouts of the Patagonians, were militants, not professional soldiers. A hundred or so Patagonian captives, squatting in a single row at the base of the walls of Leeville, stood motionless in terror, waiting for their fate to be decided, and when these Patagonians were the victors, the The loser is made a slave.Now that they themselves have been defeated, they think they will meet the same fate.When they watched Le Corgi come in, none of them dared to be arrogant. Do any of you know Spanish?Le Corgi asked loudly. I know!One of the captives looked up and said. your name? Azerina Tower. What are you doing in this country? The Indian replied blankly: "War." Why are you at war with us?Le Corgi asked again, we are not your enemies. The Patagonians were speechless. Le Corgi added: Your brothers have never been here before, why are you so far away from the country this time? The leader gave the order.The Indians honestly said that the soldiers had nothing but obedience. However, Le Corgi insisted, what is your purpose? Big city in the south.The captive replied that there were gold and silver treasures, and the Indians were poor. However, the treasure still needs to be taken by hand, Le Corgi retorted, the residents of this city will of course defend themselves. The Patagonian looked dismissive. The proof is that you and your brother are now captives.Le Corgi added tit for tat. There are many warriors in Patagonia.The Indians drag your brother by the horse's tail when they return to their country. You dream, boy!Le Corgi shrugged and said, don't let any of you enter Liberia. The Patagonian smiled, a look of disbelief. You don't believe me?Le Corgi asked. The white man had promised, and the Indian confidently retorted that he gave the great city to the Patagonians. that white guy?Le Corgi repeated in amazement, so there is a white man among you? But all questions came to nothing again, and the Indians evidently told all they knew.It is impossible to know more details. Le Corgi backed out apprehensively, this white man, racial scum and savages allied against other white men, who he is, anyway, this is a new movement, hurry up, although Altlebull, as received Orders, emergency measures will definitely be taken, but it is not meaningless to strengthen Liberia's army. At eight o'clock in the evening, Le Corgi's army now numbered one hundred and fifty-six men, of which one hundred and two were armed with Patagonian weapons, and the horses remained in the castle of Li Weili, and they Now they are all infantry.In order to enter Liberia and cross the enemy's defense line, Le Corgi obviously did not take a strong attack, but outsmarted him. After walking for three hours, we arrived at a place where we could see the city. It was completely dark, and piles of bonfires outlined the outline of the Patagonian camp. The camp formed a large semicircle, with the swamp on the right. To the left was the river, and it was impossible to slip past it. Le Corgis left his men to rest where they were, while he himself went further afield to consider what appropriate measures should be taken.A light shone in the northwest, the light from houses in Newtown.