Chapter 14

In mid-July 1631, the time entered the winter season in South America. During the Little Ice Age, the lowest nighttime temperatures in Uruguay had already dropped close to zero degrees.

Lin Youde, who had just finished patrolling the camp, wrapped his military overcoat tighter around himself and quickly walked towards the canteen. There, hot soup and food were prepared for the night patrol personnel. On this cold winter night, drinking a bowl of steaming fish soup to warm the stomach was indeed a very pleasant thing. Just as he was thinking about it, a sharp "bang" broke the silent night sky. Lin Youde suddenly stopped, turned, and looked at the watchtower where the sound came from.

Another musket shot rang out from the watchtower. The former Swiss mercenary Karl and his companions were nervously loading their weapons while shouting simple Chinese words as a warning: "Alert," "Indians," "Many."

Lin Youde's scalp tingled, but there was no time to hesitate. He quickly walked to a copper gong hanging at the kitchen door, picked up a rolling pin, and started pounding it vigorously. Then he ran to the dormitory, kicking doors and shouting.

Soon, 16 off-duty guards, who were resting, rushed out in disarray, the scene was somewhat chaotic, and some had even forgotten to grab their weapons.

Lin Youde's face was grim: "Something's happened! Indians are attacking! Everyone, get your weapons and prepare for battle! Chang Kaisheng, go mobilize the construction team and distribute weapons. Hurry!"

Gunshots also rang out from the watchtower by the east gate! Lin Youde's expression changed slightly. There was no gate at the east entrance yet! If the attacking Indians broke through the east gate, it would be a serious problem.

"Quick! East gate! Those with weapons, follow me!" Lin Youde was anxious and rushed towards the east gate first, followed by eight or nine guards carrying hunting crossbows.

At the east gate, a large amount of debris and soil was piled up. As Lin Youde rushed to the area, he saw through the burning firepots that several Indians were climbing up the pile with long spears. The two sentries on the watchtower had just fired their muskets and were now nervously reloading.

"Aim, fire!" Following Lin Youde's order, the sound of hunting crossbows firing "thwacked" one after another. Several Indians who had just stood up were hit by the concentrated fire of the featherless arrows and steel balls from a distance of about 20 meters, falling to the ground with cries of pain. No one had time to watch the results; they hurriedly started reloading.

High-pitched shouts rang out outside the east gate, and soon, the Indians climbed up the pile of debris, soil, and old building materials.

"Aim carefully before shooting, don't shoot all three arrows at once!" Lin Youde instructed. Just now, the ten people here had fired 30 arrows or steel balls at once, but the result was only four casualties.

The muskets had been reloaded. The two Swiss immigrants on the watchtower fired again, causing two more Indians to cry out in pain at the gate. Lin Youde ordered another round of shooting, and this time, the ten featherless arrows and steel balls fired in succession knocked down the remaining two Indians.

The east gate was relatively narrow, and the pile of construction debris made it difficult for the enemy to climb up in large numbers. The two muskets on the side of the watchtower also provided significant flanking fire, making it hard for the enemy to gather at the gate.

After a few minutes of standoff, high-pitched voices rang out again outside the east gate. Several Indians with simple bows shot at the watchtower. One sentry was hit in the face by a bone arrow and injured, while the other quickly took cover.

Lin Youde was anxious. With only ten people, if a large number of Indians rushed in, they wouldn't be able to hold them back. At this moment, Liu Dafa from the construction team arrived with a group of people. They were carrying several heavy boxes, shouting slogans, and the white breath from their mouths was particularly noticeable in the night.

"Good stuff!" Lin Youde immediately guessed what was in the boxes and regretted not thinking of it himself.

The 1931-style full-body armor was a full plate armor made by the weapons workshop using a hydraulic hammer, including an iron helmet, face mask, iron armor, and greaves, weighing nearly 40 pounds. In an era when plate armor was gradually declining, the high-hardness steel armor forged by the weapons workshop was said to be able to withstand musket shots at medium and long distances. It was a new generation of export products prepared by the executive committee. Currently, only five sets had been made and sent to Dingyuan Fort.

"Quick! You, you, you, and you two, put on the armor. Everyone else, help out." Lin Youde designated five strong guards to put on the armor. The rest rushed to open the boxes and help the guards put on the armor. Liu Dafa's group of construction workers, about 30 people, had ten muskets and several hunting crossbows. Their arrival greatly increased the firepower density, and everyone was excited, shouting to counterattack. However, Lin Youde knew the character of these穿越者 (穿越者 means "people from the future" or "time travelers" in this context). They could shoot from a distance, but if they had to engage in close combat or suffered casualties, their morale would quickly collapse. So he only let the five armored guards with hunting crossbows move forward, while the rest stayed in place to shoot.

The two muskets on the watchtower had stopped firing. The Indians crowded at the gate, trying several times to climb over the pile of debris but were intercepted by the intense fire from the other side, resulting in failure and leaving about ten bodies. However, they did not give up and continued to try to break through the gate.

The five "iron men" approached the watchtower as ordered by Lin Youde, slowly climbing up the wooden stairs to the top. One of the two Swiss immigrants on the watchtower was severely injured, lying on the ground with arrows in his face and chest, blood foaming from his mouth; the other was lightly injured, with an arrow in his shoulder, and was bandaging himself to stop the bleeding.

"Fire!" A low voice came from under Chang Kaisheng's mask. The five "iron men" fired their muskets in unison, then quickly took out their loaded hunting crossbows for precise shooting. The armor clanged as the Indians' weak counterattacks hit it.

After firing three arrows, they reloaded and fired another round. The Indians crowded at the gate were in bad luck; the high-velocity projectiles and arrows mercilessly penetrated their unprotected bodies. Chang Kaisheng cruelly smiled, preparing to reload and shoot again, but the Indians had already retreated.

Lin Youde, about 20 meters away, saw Chang Kaisheng's raised hand and immediately felt relieved. "Load! Move forward at a steady pace, maintain formation!" Nearly 40 time travelers formed two rows, holding muskets or hunting crossbows, and slowly advanced towards the gate. This was their first time in battle, and a mix of excitement, fear, joy, and disgust filled them. Some bit their lips, some were stiff and rigid, some trembled, some were dry-mouthed, and some were breathing heavily. The entire group moved towards the gate in a silent atmosphere.

The "iron man" Chang Kaisheng on the side watchtower gave a safety signal, indicating no Indians at the gate.

"Stop!" Lin Youde shouted, "First team, maintain alertness. Second team, start blocking the gate. Pay attention to safety!"

Liu Dafa sighed in relief and led his old comrades to start piling up debris and soil at the gate. For safety, they did not expose their bodies but climbed the pile and threw large pieces of debris and building materials over to the gate. In just 20 minutes, the small gate was filled with a mess of things. Lin Youde sighed in relief, leaving one team to assist the watchtower in defense, and led the remaining team to disappear into the night, as other parts of the city were also not peaceful.

On the night of July 13. This long winter night was spent in panic and chaos by the time travelers, with intermittent gunshots and shouts continuing until 5 a.m. on the 14th. The panicked time travelers even dragged out several cannons. Lin Youde led a group to attack in various directions, gathering the scattered time travelers and organizing those with weapons to support key points.

At 5 a.m. The noisy Dingyuan Fort finally quieted down. After harassing for most of the night, the Indians took away all the bodies they could carry and disappeared into the fields.

The time travelers, not knowing the situation outside, could only continue to hold their positions in the fort until dawn.