"The Herrera Legion and the Indians, the natives you are talking about, are fighting."

Almansa's words were not so easy for Shao Tingda to understand, he stared at a pair of bronze bell eyes and asked: "Is it Herrera, not New Spain, not Bernal?" ”

This is not right, no matter how you think about it, Shao Tingda thinks that once New Spain loses control, the natives should unite with Herrera and another half-blood army to attack Bernal!

Good and good, what to provoke Herrera?

"Bernal felt that the strength of the Ming army was insufficient, and ventured south to send ships to Peru to bring three half-blood regiments, while sending three regiments to recruit Indians into the war within their jurisdiction."

Almansa looked at Shao Tingda for a moment, realized that General Ming was confused, and clapped his hands: "This means that the rebels have fully contracted their defenses!" Abandoning the Viceroyalty of Peru and completely reducing the area of control to the jurisdiction of the three legions. ”

Shao Tingda couldn't see why Almanza was so excited and happy, and he asked eagerly, "When did Nar send the warship to Peru?" ”

The serious look diluted Almansa's joy, and he paused and said, "Ten, ten days ago? ”

"It's not good news."

Shao Tingda nodded slowly and slightly, and even had a little frustration on his face, he turned to the sick man and said, "Twenty days, we can't go to the retreat camp. ”

They could not reach the retreat camp, but the Spanish reinforcements of the three Peruvian legions were able to rush back to Acapulco, which meant that they would face 20,000 Spanish troops in a month's time.

On top of that, Bernal had to recruit countless natives to fight for him.

There was not the slightest warmth on the sick Yang'er's face, her teeth were bitten lightly, and she nodded: "Father, their enemy is not us, they are preparing for the battle against the Ming Dynasty." ”

Bernal did not fight to defeat the imaginary enemy of the former fleet of more than 2,000 entrenched in the Boundary Peninsula, or even to defeat the entire Oriental Military Government, and there was no need to even fight the Oriental Military Government.

Shao Tingda asked Almanza, "Did Nar still ask Spain for help?" ”

"He didn't." Almansa shook his head very decisively and said, "The West India Council has asked for help from home, so don't worry about them. ”

The situation was very optimistic in Almansa's heart, and he said lightly: "Your Majesty the King can even negotiate a truce with those Turks, and he will not be willing to go to war with the Ming State at this time, especially if he receives my letter first, and when the palace envoy comes, these rebels should be sent to be burned at the stake!" ”

"But you were burned to death before they were burned to death, and you should know better about the establishment of your six legions than Shao."

Shao Tingda raised two fingers: "Twenty thousand!" ”

The frustration in his heart had passed, and the reason why he was unhappy was because he felt that Almantha should not be blindly optimistic like a fool.

"The most important thing is that the generals don't know yet, don't be intimidated by their strength, 20,000 men is the strength of the whole of New Spain in a month, but now, it's not like that."

Almanza still happily explained to Shao Tingda: "The fact that the three legions are recruiting troops in their respective jurisdictions shows that the scope of the legions has not changed, at least in the northwest of Mexico, the generals are facing only the Herrera legions, and now they are fighting the natives and have a great chance to defeat their main forces." ”

"This is only the first advantage of the general, the second advantage is that the general already knows the surrounding terrain and roads, we know where they are, they don't know where we are."

"The Herrera Legion has 3,000 troops, and the general has 1,008, the difference in strength is not big, and the Ming army is very capable of fighting, in Guam, your General Lin has a few hundred people and 20,000 people, you will definitely help me defeat these betrayers!"

What made Shao Tingda feel most interesting was not the plight that sounded like the Herrera Legion was encountered, but the fact that Almanza accepted and firmly believed that the Ming army was much stronger than the Western army with an extremely normal mentality.

Nearly half of the difference in troops, isn't it already too big?

The horses carried the Beiyang cavalry in bright cuirass across the woodland, the rotting and piled up leaves so soft that the horse's hooves sank down with every step, and the horseback cavalry held a saber at his waist or a spear and a short spear on horseback, and walked along the forest path not far behind Shao Tingda.

The horses were the scouts leading the way, armed with axes and machetes to split through the bushes and clear the way for the teams behind them.

The horses were followed by two-wheeled artillery carts and rocket carts with donkeys and mules in front of them, and in the dense forest, these support beasts that could cross the battlefield became the most difficult thing to travel, and they had to hurry while the others rested, or they would be out of touch with the large army.

The news of the war between the Herrera Legion and the natives to the east was the best news for the former Banner Army, as the farther official roads would inevitably be neglected as a result.

Long-distance marches are very dependent on roads, if in a good road network, the cavalry is scattered and commanded by a hundred households, and can go out of hundreds of miles in a day, but if four hundred cavalry go together, they can only walk eighty or ninety miles a day, plus the infantry artillery, they can still maintain the speed of fifty miles a day.

But without mules and horses and roads, the artillery team is a burden, and without roads, it is difficult for the horse team to move quickly, except on the plains.

When Shao Tingda asked again why the Herrera Legion was fighting with the natives, Almanza finally took a position like a Spaniard, and said: "That half-breed stupid like a Frenchman, Bernal asked him to recruit as many Indians as possible, he just recruited them, one tribe could not recruit another tribe, there were always those who were willing to fight for Spain." ”

The Spaniards fought with the French for decades, winning more than defeating, and in this era they looked down on the French, and even the national name has been extended to mean stupid, rude, and lowly in the context.

"But he didn't think so, although he looked down on the Indians, and in his heart he still felt that he was the boss of the Indians, and he also felt that we, the nobles of the peninsula, thought that they were the bosses of the Indians, hey!"

Almanza scoffed: "He doesn't want to think about it, they don't even respect their own countrymen, I don't just talk about war, in our war with the Indians, because of the low birth of the early new nobles, many bad things have been done here, but after the peace, although we treat the Indians as inferior people working in Spain, only a few will abuse them." ”

"We don't care if the Acosta friars even organized the clergy to pressure New Spain to give the Indians the same rights as us, and it is precisely those who are of mixed blood who are most opposed."

"Such lowly souls, even God can't save them, how can we think that they are the leaders of the Indians, maybe in the eyes of the Ming people we are bad people to the Indians, but the real nobles of the peninsula respect Indian heroes like the swift long-legged eagle."

"There are a few Indian chiefs who do not understand the political changes in New Spain, and think that their own people are fighting their own people, and that they are reluctant to meddle in the affairs between brothers, just as the Indian tribes do not want us to interfere in the affairs between tribes, which is very normal according to their thinking, and it is good to go to the tribes who are willing to help Bernal."

"As a result, Herrera's 'Frenchman' found and killed the chiefs of the tribes, which not only ruined Bernal's plan, but also caused even greater trouble, and now the tribes in northern Mexico have no respect for them and are trying to take the opportunity to fight."

"I have a hunch that this will cause New Spain to suffer heavy losses, maybe when the dust settles, I still need the assistance of the Ming army, you know, the heavy losses I mean are to ask the Ming army to pay for me to recover the lost territory - I heard that General Chen is General Shao's brother."

Almansa looked at the artillery team marching through the forest and the cavalry who were still arrogant even if the troops were weak, and said to Shao Tingda: "After this incident, General Chen will definitely open his mouth, is that what you said?" ”

"I have only one condition, the interests of the Habsburg royal family were guaranteed in the previous contract, and I must ensure that my king needs this money and materials."