Among the Imperial Army, direct-fired field cannons are as important as curved howitzers, but the Empire has continuously summarized after overseas military operations, believing that just using lightweight howitzers is enough in places far away from core areas or in places with inconvenient transportation.

The artillery equipped by the Marines in Chile and the South American dispatched troops sent to the Chilean region are light howitzers. In such colonies, lightness means that the marching pressure is relatively small and can advance on rugged roads. The colonies' army has weak fighting will, and often see the shells fired by howitzers explode on the ground and will be defeated.

Although cannons have higher accuracy, they are too heavy after all, and have little effect on fortifications like prisms. Even twelve-pound field guns, but howitzers are different. Most colonial fortress turrets are not covered, and the bending howitzers can easily hit the gun position or even the inside of the fortress.

Therefore, after the artillery was given supplies, the Krup Fort on Mount St. Lucia suffered. Marine artillery continued to use shells to bombard the gun positions on the Krup Fort, and even detonated a small gunpowder depot, leaving the entire Krup Fort unable to rest.

But Li Junwei still did not allow people to attack this highland full of cactus, and he had plenty of time to get entangled with the Spaniards.

When the empire arrived in April 26, the army reinforcements arrived one after another, and Gao Bicheng kept sending the army. Before the heavy snow closed the mountain, not only did the entire Honor Brigade arrive, but also sent a 2,000 infantry and some military police. However, these people did not change their clothes and still used the army-style equipment. There is no doubt that the empire had already gained an overwhelming advantage in the Chilean region.

Late on April 25, a burst of gunfire came from Mount Saint Lucia, and then it became quiet, but the next morning, Antonio, the governor of the Chilean governor, sent an envoy to surrender with a white flag.

Antonio's request was simple, to ensure the personal safety of everyone, and at the right time after the war, all the white people on the peninsula were sent back to Spain or to the colonies that were still part of Spain, while the remaining prisoners were allowed to choose their own places.

Li Junwei agreed to this reasonable request, guaranteeing that they would be treated with prisoners, allowing them to retain one hundred pesos of property as future travel expenses or other expenses, and even allowing some people to keep cold weapons such as daggers and swords, and use a church as their prisoner camp.

After obtaining Li Junwei's written consent, Antonio appeared in front of Li Junwei. He looked at Li Junwei curiously and swept his eyes around. Li Junwei was a little helpless. He was very familiar with this look. There were always some people who could not believe that a person like him could do so many great things.

Li Su coughed lightly: "His Excellency Antonio, you are very rude."

"I'm sorry, I'm losing my composure, I'm sorry," said Antonio.

Li Su snapped his fingers and the guards brought the dining table to the two of them. The copper hot pot on the table was familiar to Antonio. It was the set he treasured. Only Li Junwei and Antonio sat down. Antonio said with emotion: "Many years ago, our father was sitting in front of this hot pot. Now we are the two of us. People have changed, but their identity has not changed. You are the same as your father, and you are still a successful person, and I am the same as my father, and I am still a loser."

"My father is a great man. He has many friends and many enemies in his life. When my father was in his prime, he often mentioned some difficult opponents, but when he was old, your father, Your Excellency Fajado, was the person he often recalled. The glorious years of the past are the past, and the beauty of memories lies in the past interesting, interesting people, and interesting things." Li Junwei said with a smile. He did not say too straightforwardly, because when his father mentioned Fajado, he always said that Spanish foodie.

Antonio said: "But my father always talks about His Majesty the Supreme Emperor, whom he admires throughout his life."

The two were eating, and Li Su came in again and said a few words in Li Junwei's ear. Li Junwei smiled and said, "Mr. Antonio, my subordinates said that Mr. Diego was not found. As far as I know, this Creole man has great prestige in San Diego, so his disappearance made me very upset."

"He was dead and I put it in the big barrels in the cellar, maybe your soldiers were not willing to destroy those barrels," Antonio said.

"Is that true, how did he die?" Li Su asked.

"I committed suicide, you should have heard the gunshots of last night. Diego is a straightforward man, very devout to faith, and he cannot accept surrender. I know that he will follow my orders to put down his weapons, but he cannot adapt to the life of being a prisoner. He cannot accept the same prisoner treatment as a noble and a civilian, nor can you accept your blasphemy against the church. Even if he surrenders, he will provoke another struggle.

His life is an instability factor. I know that once there is a riot after surrender, nothing I have fought for for everyone will be saved. For everyone's lives, I can only kill him and his loyal subordinates." Antonio said.

"You are really a wise person." Li Junwei said to him seriously, and Antonio said, "I don't want to take risks with my life."

Antonio did not show too much refusal. He almost answered whatever Li Junwei asked. What Antonio himself expected was that Li Junwei did not ask too many military secrets, but instead asked about Spain. On the contrary, Li Su asked Antonio about the Peru Governor's District, which gave the American Expeditionary Force a deep understanding of the situation in Peru.

According to Antonio, after being attacked by Chile, the Peruvian Governor was contacted by the communication ships sent immediately. However, after establishing that the attacker was an imperial army rather than a pirate, the Peruvian Governor did not send a fleet to support him. The reason was very simple. The first is that the Lima fleet defeated the Imperial Expeditionary Fleet and was useless, because the land combat power displayed by the Empire was incomparable to Peru. You must know that the infantry regiment under the command of Francesco was the strongest regular legion in Peru.

Not to mention, the Expeditionary Force formed an alliance with local forces against the Spanish colonists from the very beginning. Another important reason is that the Peruvian trade fleet is about to set off and go to Panama to attend the trade fair. This is a matter of concern to the interests of all the powerful and powerful people in the Peruvian Governor. Compared with this, Chile's local security is completely incomparable. Whether Chile is important or Peruvian fleet is important, there is no need to say much about it.

The three-year term of Peru's Governor Pedro is about to arrive. In Spain, the powerful have already obtained this position. On the way to arrive, Isn't it better to delay until September and hand over the problem to the next Governor?

"When I saw your country's army arrive, I knew that Mount Saint Lucia could no longer be saved and decided to surrender. I was a little happy. The size of this army is obviously not just for my Chilean Governor. Pedro cannot end well. Haha, you may not know that if it weren't for him, the next governor of Peru would be me. I am so lucky that I started falling before I reached the clouds. Although I fell in a mess now, it is better than falling to death, right?" Antonio said to Li Su with a smile.

Li Su nodded slightly: "Okay, Lord Antonio, don't worry, we will help you repair that guy Pedro and make him regret being this governor."

When Antonio saw Li Su stand up and leave, he said, "Great General, I beg you to tell me when I can contact the local government. In fact, in addition to exchange for ransom, I have a lot of resources and can also play a lot of roles."

Li Su smiled: "His Excellency Antonio, do you think His Highness Yu would not know your role? Obviously, you were locked in a prisoner of war camp because it was not yet time for you to play."

After basically determining the ruling order in Chile, Li Junwei came to Castro on the island of Chiloe in the southern part of Chile. This is the only town of the Spaniards on this island and the place where the modified warships selected by Zhao Longcheng. Although Valdivia has the best shipyard in Chile, the harbor is located deep in the Valdivia River. The Zhiyuan-class heavy cruiser with a displacement of 2,000 tons cannot be accessed at all.

The city of Castro is located deep in the bay and has a mature logging plant nearby. Zhao Longcheng directly migrated craftsmen and some equipment from the Valdivian region to come here, and transformed warships in a safe and secure manner. In fact, this was done very well. It was not until the transformation of the warship appeared in the port of Lima that the Spanish knew about it, and even thought that the empire sent six battleships from the beginning.

When Li Junwei arrived, the port had become a busy construction site. Craftsmen from all over the world were busy, and naval crew members also joined the work and tried to complete the reconstruction as soon as possible. Li Junwei listened to the squeaking sound of cutting wooden boards and said, "I have contacted Gao Bicheng, but it is very difficult to dispatch battleships from South Africa. Not to mention battleships, at this time, the East India Company's crossing sailing ships were all crossing the Magellan Strait. It is winter now, the wind and waves are very strong, and the battleships are very difficult to come......"

"So I have to be prepared to use six warships to deal with more than twelve heavy gunboats of the Spaniards, right?" Zhao Longcheng asked.

Li Junwei nodded helplessly: "Yes, America can't support you. The Spanish Governor has declared war on the American provinces on the surface. Although it's only on the surface, the battles in Peru are getting bigger and bigger, and no one knows what the situation will be like there. I need you to tell me how confident you are."

"Now I can't tell you, Your Highness." Zhao Longcheng said helplessly.

Li Junwei said: "Li Su made a suggestion. After the Peruvian fleet repatriated Lima, suddenly launched an attack, entered the Lima coast from the sea, and then blocked the enemy in the port of Kayao, cover the landing of the main army, and let the army attack Lima, annihilate or capture the Lima fleet. What do you think?"

Zhao Longcheng nodded: "This is indeed a good idea, but we need more discussions in terms of cooperation."

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Seeing Zhao Longcheng agreeing, Li Junwei said, "That's what's next. Let's go and see the warship."

In the outer port, a battleship had just entered. This was the Zhiyuan, which had been transformed. It had just returned from the trial sail. The warship that had been transformed had changed in tonnage, speed and steering capabilities. It had to be tested. The information provided by the captain who came ashore was that the transformation was successful overall, but a little modification was required.

The Port of Castro is really simple, so the Zhiyuan class has not undergone comprehensive transformation and has become a three-layer deck battleship. The main ones are masts, rudders and other systems cannot be debugged here. As for the static cables that maintain the stability of the mast, they cannot move here. The Zhiyuan ship has only undergone transformations to the best of its ability.

The original Zhiyuan ship was a heavy cruiser with a layer of artillery deck and forty-four heavy artillery. Among them, the artillery deck had thirty artillery guns, and the rest were deployed on the open-air deck because it was a cruise ship, and there were two guns each of the stern building and the front deck, facing the front and rear directions.

The transformation is to increase the bulwarks and connect the open-air decks with the stern building, becoming the second artillery deck. Only half of the bulwarks of this artillery deck are extensions of ribs, so they cannot reach the same level as battleships like the lower deck. Because they are transformed into artillery decks, the lower sail must be transformed. The power of the bottom sail is far less than that of the middle sail, so the bottom sail is only shortened.

The steering wheel that controls the direction is not affected, but the winch is pressed on the upper artillery deck. Therefore, on the newly installed open-air deck of the main mast, the deck can be detached in the mesh format. When using the winch, the deck can be removed. However, the captain of the Zhiyuan ship believed that this would reduce at least six artillery pieces, so he directly discarded the winch and changed it to a small grid to detachable deck, and changed the power of the steam engine originally used to control the sail to the pulling winch.

The result of this is that the sailed traffic boats are too heavy to be used with winches and can only be equipped with small boats and large boats, but obviously, this has little impact on the fleet's decisive battle.
Chapter completed!