Laplace turned his head to look at the clock tower, angrily rebuking, “You coward! They will burn the town, our children will starve to death in Lisbon!”
Apinto glanced at him, continued to wave the white flag, and switched to English, saying, “Surrender, we surrender…”
The already disorganized militias, seeing the councilman surrender, instantly crumbled in their remaining will to resist, dropping their weapons one after another and kneeling on the ground.
“Damn it, we can’t admit defeat!” Laplace shouted anxiously, “Think of those farmers who fled here!”
Only those hunters, along with a few townspeople, still gathered around him, no more than a hundred people, continuing to load and fire.
At this moment, a boy of ten or so ran over, panting heavily, shouting to Laplace, “Over at Red Bamboo Stone Street, there are many British!”
Laplac’s mind went blank with a “buzz.”
Red Bamboo Stone Street is on the south side of the church, meaning the British were encircling them.
The sword he was holding up slowly lowered.
It was already meaningless.
Even if they died here, the town still couldn’t be saved.
Keeping a breath would at least allow him to protect his family on the way to Lisbon. Although they would most likely starve to death eventually…
“Listen up, everyone.” He gestured to the militias to put down their…
He had just said half when suddenly there was the sound of orderly gunfire from the north.
Immediately, the British began to panic, leaving only thirty or forty people to continue confronting them, while the rest of the soldiers turned and formed ranks.
“Could it be the people from Lu Town arrived?”
Laplac immediately shook his head. That kind of volley just now was not something militias could achieve.
He suddenly shuddered.
No matter who came to reinforce, this was definitely the best opportunity to repel the British!
He loudly called for the militias around him to gather and form ranks: “Our reinforcements are here, the Brits are losing! Follow me to take them down!”
Not far away, those militias who had already surrendered saw this and picked up their weapons again, quickly gathering around.
No one wanted to lose their home, especially after people repeatedly read those pamphlets, growing more convinced that the British intended to use the war to kill them.
Soon, Laplace led the charge towards the British soldiers across the street. Nearly two hundred people shouted, following behind him.
To the north of the town, the French Cavalry Company suddenly attacked the British cavalry’s rear, quickly disrupting the latter’s formation.
By the time the British cavalry reacted and hastily turned to form ranks, seventy to eighty of them had already been killed by the French forces.
The British originally had nearly 300 men, but after previous attrition and leaving some forces to deal with the town’s militias, only 130 or so were left to face the French forces.
While the French Cavalry Company had 115 people.
But the result of the battle was overwhelmingly one-sided.
The French cavalry dismounted and immediately formed a standard infantry line—a standard course for all Paris Police Academy students, whether cavalry, artillery, or even engineers had to start with column, line, and company drills.
On the British side, after dismounting, they appeared very clumsy.
But in the cramped city streets, using cavalry to charge an infantry line was suicide. They had no choice but to engage in infantry combat.
The French used volleys of carbine fire to “punch” large gaps in the British ranks, forcing them to repeatedly retreat.
But soon, chaotic gunfire also came from behind the British.
Laplace’s side also broke through the British lines, jointly blocking them on the street in front of the church with the French.
At four in the afternoon, the British ceased resistance and announced their surrender.
Laplac nervously looked at the imposing French soldiers in front of him and tentatively asked, “Thank you, gentlemen, for helping us defeat the bandits. Are you here to requisition supplies?”
The French looked at each other, and only after a while did someone step forward, speaking in awkward Portuguese, “We, come to help. We come to Portugal to drive the British away. We are friends with you.”
The surrounding militias, recalling the companions who were killed by the British cavalry earlier, immediately felt a sense of shared enmity, stepping forward to sincerely thank the French forces, with some even inviting the French soldiers home as guests.
However, the French did not linger long, only advising Laplace to seek aid from the French Camp at Viseu if attacked by the British again before they marched off with their British captives, leaving Dusar Town.
The townspeople who heard the news gathered at the town gate, watching the French cavalry leave and began talking amongst themselves, “Luckily, the French suddenly appeared today, or the town would be done for…”
“Damn British, I heard they blocked French ports to starve the French out. And our king is just a British accomplice.”
“I wasn’t entirely convinced before, but now it seems clear that the French forces have come to Portugal only to fight the British.”
“I think we should help the French against the Brits.”
“That’s right, let’s drive the Brits out of Portugal!”
As twilight fell, the townspeople finally returned home.
That night, Apinto was thrown into prison by the angry populace.
The next day, after a simple election procedure, Laplace replaced him as councilman.
The first thing Laplace did upon taking office was to notify all nearby villages and towns of the events of the previous day.
For a moment, anti-British sentiment spread rapidly; let alone the Crown Prince of Portugal’s “scorched earth” mandate being utterly unexecuted, even a few officials sent to deliver the order were beaten up.
——————
There’s a bit of the ending not finished, please refresh and check in 15 minutes. Apologies for the inconvenience.
In 1792 and 1795, Spain formed several volunteer light infantry regiments and battalions. The light battalion had four companies, each with about 200 men. Due to lack of recruits, some foreign regiments were dissolved, but a Bourbon regiment was formed, consisting of French Royalist volunteers. The frontline infantry regiment was reformed into having three battalions, with the third battalion initially serving as a reserve for new recruits, responsible for their training and garrison duties. Three battalions ultimately having the same number of companies, one grenadier, and four rifle companies, each with about 100 grenadiers or 160 musketeers. In 1794, the cavalry had 12 regiments, each with 630 cavalrymen. In 1795, due to wartime needs, the number of cavalry regiments increased to 16, each squadron comprising four squadrons, each squadron having three companies, each with about 45 cavalrymen. Since 1777, the Royal Artillery Regiment has had six battalions — each with 7 companies, each company about 100 men — along with four additional independent artillery companies.
In 1796, the Treaty of San Ildefonso was signed, in which the Spanish Bourbon dynasty decided to ally with the French revolutionaries, pledging Spain’s support in the form of 15 battleships and 24,000 soldiers. In the agreements and treaties after 1801, Spain provided France with more ships and troops and agreed to having Louis Bourbon-Palma, the son-in-law of Charlie IV, become King of Spain’s Etruria, ceding Louisiana to France in return.
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