Chapter 62

Pastor Pedro stood trembling in front of the only stone building in the small town, shouting with all his might, "In the name of God, the kind Eastern gentleman and upright Army Captain Xie Hansan agrees to forgive your sins. He believes that you have faithfully fulfilled your duties as soldiers and have not committed any war crimes during the conflict. As long as you surrender, Mr. Xie promises to treat you with dignity and will not demand any ransom from you."

"Father Pedro, stop your meaningless preaching. If you have any sense of shame left, fight these despicable Tartar infidels in the name of God. The Kingdom's Army will never surrender to the despicable Tartars, never!"

Xie Hansan paced back and forth behind a house, agitated. Two hours earlier, his three Army platoons had completely taken control of this small town. The Spanish municipal officials who had surrendered had reached an agreement with the穿越者们 (穿越者们 means "the time travelers" or "the people from the future" in this context, but I will use "the newcomers" for clarity): in exchange for a ransom of one peso, their private property would be preserved. Therefore, in the face of the newcomers' overwhelming military power, the local Spanish residents abandoned any futile resistance and chose to surrender with dignity.

Of course, the surrender process was not entirely smooth. Some of the Spanish Army refused to surrender, leading to intense conflicts with the municipal officials who advocated for surrender and represented the interests of the local residents. Two Spanish Army officers were even injured in the conflict. After the conflict, the Spanish soldiers who refused to surrender occupied the town's warehouse and put up a stubborn resistance, while the local officials opened the gates to welcome the conquerors.

After entering the town, Xie Hansan learned that a group of Spanish soldiers still occupied the warehouse and refused to surrender. He immediately led two platoons of soldiers to the warehouse, preparing to take it by force. However, upon arrival, he discovered that the warehouse was made of stone and extremely sturdy. The warehouse walls were over three meters high, and the only entrance was a wooden door covered in iron. Surprised, Xie Hansan immediately summoned the Spanish mayor for detailed information and learned that the warehouse was used to store silver bars transported from Valdivia! This was a shocking revelation!

It turned out that the Spanish mining colonies in the central and southern inland regions of Chile would extract silver ore and transport it to Valdivia for initial processing and smelting. The processed silver bars and ingots were then transported via the Valdivia River to this location for storage. Every month, the Viceroy of Peru would send a ship from Lima, loaded with goods, to this port town, unload the goods, and then transport the silver bars and other products back. This transportation route had been in operation for several decades. A week ago, a ship from Valdivia had just delivered a batch of silver bars, which were currently stored in the warehouse, estimated to be worth tens of thousands of pesos.

Upon learning this, Xie Hansan could no longer remain calm. He immediately sent a message to Xiao Bailang and others on the Yunsheng No. 1 and then led two platoons of soldiers to guard the warehouse's only exit. He simultaneously sent people to persuade the Spanish soldiers to surrender and organized a team to transport a cannon, preparing to blast open the door if they refused to surrender.

It was clear that Father Pedro's attempt to persuade the Spanish soldiers to surrender had failed. These stubborn Spaniards were determined to fight to the end! The cannon had not yet arrived, which made Xie Hansan somewhat anxious. Father Pedro, with a complex expression, returned to Xie Hansan's side and stammered, "Sir, the garrison has refused our offer of surrender. As you can see, they have decided to continue fighting."

Just as Xie Hansan was about to respond, a rhythmic chant echoed from the street behind him. He turned to see some sailors in sky-blue uniforms pushing a cannon toward them, with Captain Lu Ming of the "Eagle of the East Bank" among them. Xie Hansan, who did not have a strong bias between the Army and Navy, was delighted to see the Navy bring a cannon and immediately sent people to help.

This was an 8-pound naval cannon. Under the protection of a large number of musketeers, the gunners pulled the cannon to a position very close to the warehouse door and began loading it. A gentle sea breeze blew through the street, and the only sound was the gunners loading the cannon. Everyone waited in silence.

Inside the warehouse, it was also silent, with no sound at all. The Spanish residents watching from a distance were also silent, some of them repeatedly making the sign of the cross, seemingly praying for the brave and unyielding Spanish Army soldiers who were still fighting.

"Fire?" Xie Hansan asked Lu Ming for his opinion, as the gunners operating the cannon were from his ship. Lu Ming nodded and, without a word, picked up a burning torch and placed it at the cannon's touchhole.

"Boom!" The 8-pound iron ball shot out of the cannon and slammed into the iron-clad wooden door several dozen meters away. The powerful projectile penetrated the entire door and flew into the warehouse, causing a commotion among the Spanish soldiers inside.

"Attention, ready your guns! Beware of the Spanish counterattack!" Xie Hansan shouted. Under his command, the two platoons of Army soldiers aimed their guns at the front and the top of the wall to prevent the Spanish from making a desperate move.

After firing one cannonball, the gunners immediately began cleaning the cannon, loading powder, and reloading the cannonball. Soon, the cannon roared again, and the 8-pound projectile whizzed toward the door, knocking off a large section of wood and iron, creating a large gap. Several figures could be seen moving behind the gap, apparently trying to block it.

"Aim at the gap, ready... fire!" Following Xie Hansan's command, nearly thirty muskets fired a volley at the gap. Several cries of pain came from behind the door, and then no more figures appeared.

The cannon fired two more rounds, almost completely destroying the door, which fell to the ground. Xie Hansan, without hesitation, organized the soldiers into a loose formation and cautiously advanced into the warehouse. They moved very slowly, almost inching forward, and whenever they saw a Spanish soldier, they would fire a volley. The Spanish, with their weak firepower, suffered heavy losses, and their few musketeers were almost entirely eliminated. The newcomers also suffered casualties, with four soldiers killed in the brutal close-range musket fire, exceeding the number of casualties from the previous night's capture of the fort.

After eliminating the Spanish musketeers, the remaining Army soldiers rushed in and fired at the remaining Spanish soldiers armed with spears and light swords. This one-sided slaughter ended within ten minutes. Xie Hansan and Lu Ming, braving the thick smoke, entered the warehouse. Inside, there were only two rooms, one large and one small. The doors were open, and many Spanish bodies lay on the ground, the floor soaked in blood, creating a gruesome and foul scene.

"How many casualties?" Xie Hansan asked.

"During the assault on the warehouse, one soldier was killed by a spear, and one was injured. Including the previous battle, we have five dead and one lightly injured, with a total of twenty-nine Spanish soldiers killed."

"Get the injured brother treated immediately. Also, go to the city to suppress the Spanish. I'm worried that the gunfire might have given some of them bad ideas. Oh, and leave some people to inventory the warehouse's contents." Xie Hansan gave orders while casually opening a wooden box at his feet.

"Wow!" Even with his composure, Xie Hansan was momentarily dazzled by the contents of the box. It was filled with neatly stacked silver bars, gleaming in the sunlight.

"We've really hit the jackpot! We've really hit the jackpot!" Xie Hansan muttered.

By noon, Xiao Bailang arrived in the city with a group of sailors. By then, the inventory of the warehouse's contents was almost complete. According to Xie Hansan's report, the warehouse contained dozens of boxes of silver bars, valued at over 35,000 pesos, as well as over 500 animal skins and more than 100 wool blankets.

"We really came at the right time!" Xiao Bailang smiled broadly, looking at the piles of loot. The amount of silver was worth the bloody fight in the warehouse. "This place is really rich. I've heard that the city of Valdivia upstream is even more prosperous. If we had the chance, I'd really like to go there and make a big score! Alas, it's unlikely we'll have that chance. With all the commotion here, someone must have already sent word to Valdivia. By now, the Spanish there are probably well-prepared."

By noon, more sailors had landed. Some of the Charuans, familiar with the task, went door-to-door collecting ransoms, one peso per person, or items of equal value for those who couldn't pay. They worked all afternoon, and by evening, they had collected over 36,000 pesos in cash and silver, 520 high-quality animal skins, 160 wool blankets, 4 pigs, 4 cows, 12 sheep, 2,500 pounds of grain, 200 barrels of gunpowder, and 10 tons of copper.

Just as everyone was smiling and counting their loot, a message came from the Yunsheng No. 1 on the perimeter: Spanish ships had been spotted at sea!