Andrade couldn't laugh it off. [Read the full text] A few minutes ago, he was sitting on the comfortable sofa in the stern cabin, sipping a refreshing and delicious Mojito. He thanked the count for providing such a comfortable way to send him to the shipyard, which saved him from driving bumpily on the promenade for most of the day. pain of. The count shifted the subject of the conversation to the Malay bandits who were working for the Dutch and threatening the security of the colony.
The more he spoke, the more he became emotional and filled with righteous indignation, "You know what I would do if I met these strangers? I would crush them like bed bugs!" Andrade couldn't even say a word before he was dragged out of the cabin by the count. On deck. The ship's bell rang sharply, and a group of sailors rushed up from under the deck hatch like a wave. Their uniforms were neat and their movements were fast but not messy at all. The captain, who looked like a Japanese or Chinese, roared and gave orders in a strange language. After a while, the short gun on the bow had taken off its gun jacket and loaded ammunition. The gunner shook the turntable, and there was a roar, and the stubby gun barrel moved along the gun frame. Suddenly retreating, the blooming shotguns hit the calm sea and the waves rolled, as if boiling.
Andrade estimated that there were only two or three minutes between the ringing of the ship's bell and the unloading of the cannon. The earl held a pocket watch in his hand that was much smaller and more delicate than a Nuremberg egg. The financial officer followed his gaze and raised his neck to look over. Part of the sail had fallen down, revealing the mast and the huge mast reinforced with iron hoops. Armed sailors were already standing, armed with muskets, ready to snipe any target that might appear.
Before the Esmeralda returned from Bopu last time, it had taken the opportunity of maintenance at the naval shipyard to replace its guns. The 68-pound carronade gun on the bow of the ship was replaced by a lighter 48-pound gun, and the weight saved was used to add Type 3 and Type 4 cannons in the two battle masts. replaced the typewriter. These weapons were either dismantled and hidden in the bilge according to Weiss's orders, or they were wrapped tightly under the oilcloth cannon cover. Even just one live shot from the 48-pounder cannon is impressive enough. A group of sailboats originally heading towards the front of the yacht were frightened by the shelling. In panic, they all turned around and hid in the depths of Manila Bay. Weiss found that the ships were of different sizes. The largest seemed to be between one and two hundred tons, and they were all Junk ships, with European-style square sails and triangular sails hung on the masts. Looking through the telescope, there is a red burgundy cross flag on a white background floating on the top of the ship's mast.
"What a strange ship, so interesting to look at." The count handed his telescope to the quaestor.
"That's Mr. Delgado's boat," Andrade said. "He always buys old ships from the Chinese that are about to be scrapped, as well as one-off trading ships - they are all made of undried wood and can be loaded and shipped with a little repair. This is a good idea. Very cheap. If you don't count the cargo that sank to the bottom of the sea along with the rotting planks. A few years ago, Mr. Delgado was the richest shipowner in the colony, but now he is far behind Mr. Sanabria. "
"What a wonderful businessman, so what kind of treasure will be loaded on his ship?"
"Let me think about it, such a ship can take a short sea route between the islands." The financial officer raised the telescope again: "It seems to be sailing from the Visayas. The ship should be loaded with corn."
"corn?"
"His Majesty the Governor's order," Andrade made a helpless gesture, "he ordered the transportation of corn and sweet potatoes produced there from the Visayas, and even prepared to exchange the rice grown in Luzon for these things."
"Hell, if I gave the soldiers corn instead of bread and rice for dinner, they would rebel. Corn, sweet potatoes, those things are only good for horse feed."
Andrade heartily agreed. "This is terrible, really. Now we have to send ships to Siam or Malacca to buy rice. Now we have to issue rations to the Japanese, who are determined not to eat corn."
"Are there many Japanese here? Mr. Salamanca still needs to care about their food rations?" The count responded casually, put down the telescope, and called to the orderly: "Bring up the drink."
"At most, there were more than 3,000 people. With their families, they gathered into several large villages and towns near Manila. They were all devout Christians. Thirty years ago, they formed a volunteer team to fight alongside His Majesty the King's soldiers. , to quell the great riot caused by the Chinese, it was really terrifying."
"I'm afraid there are fewer and fewer of these good people. The Japanese emperor and the ruling general have issued an edict prohibiting people from leaving the country." The count poured rum mixed with sugar and juice into the cup with his own hands, and the financial officer took a few sips. He drank it all and smacked his lips with satisfaction.
"There are still more than half of the people who can serve. Life is not good for these poor believers. They can only make a living by serving as soldiers for others - some of them have to work for cheese eaters or other weirdos who know what." The believers go to serve as soldiers." Andrade held the empty glass and watched eagerly to see if anyone could pour him another glass of wine. The count's attendant immediately complied with his request.
"Dear Count, you must know that there are less than 700 European soldiers in the whole of Manila. Every year we spend money to recruit poor people to enrich the army. But half of them have to be thrown into the sea on the way, and the rest will be sent to various duty stations after arriving at each duty station. If half of them die again, the rest will be tortured by fever and dysentery and be unable to fight. No company has ever been able to reach full strength - let alone three companies that must be dispatched to Baguio to guard the gold mines. Only by digging out the gold can more troops be recruited. At the same time, more soldiers are needed to guard the arsenals and shipyards. Lord Salamanca believes that the only way at present is to recruit Japanese soldiers again, not as volunteers, but in the colonial army Form a new company and train them with firearms and equipment."
"Even if they are recruited into the army, quite a few of them are already too old to serve as soldiers."
"Yes, you are right. But the Governor has no choice. There are only so many Japanese in the Philippines. Even if we recruit all healthy males among them, it will be difficult to expand enough troops." Ander "And we have competition," Ladd sighed.
"Competitor?"
"The Australian pirates on Hainan Island, their agents are recruiting Japanese people throughout Asia to work as mercenaries for them - the pay is good. There are even Japanese people in the Philippines who are defecting to them."
"This is so abominable!"
"Who says otherwise? The Australian pirates are so powerful and wealthy that they are so ambitious that they want to invade China." Andrade looked worried. "I heard that they have killed the pirate king of China. Annexed his fleet. God bless, fortunately they were only satisfied with plundering a few Galen ships in the Philippines, instead of running to Manila to try to plunder the colony. Otherwise, I am afraid we will not have enough time to raise resources to organize a new army."
"I believe that His Highness the Governor will hand over the task of training the new army to the best Japanese immigrants in Manila."
"No, it's not Paul. Lord Salamanca never regarded that man as a Japanese, but as a messenger and savior sent by God. As soon as he came, the financial and security crises facing the colony were like ice and snow under the scorching sun. It just disappeared like that." Andrade leaned against the gunwale, trying to stabilize his body on the deck that began to shake as the wind intensified. The alcohol seemed to have begun to take effect: "And Mr. Paul was very busy, he didn't He worked day and night, had food and accommodation in the factory, and kept making requests to the governor for more craftsmen, more coolies, more iron, copper and wood, and more saltpeter. But he asked for so much After a long time, what results did he show us? One expedition exhausted all the rockets and explosive shells produced. At present, each spiral rifled cannon can only be allocated two conical shells on average. Of course, Mr. Paul will face the Saint As one swears, newer machines are nearly complete and new cannonballs will be churned out by the hundreds, as fast as the mushrooms pop up in the woods after the rain! If only the gold dug out of Baguio could buy so many cannonballs. "
"Then the person responsible for supervising and commanding the Japanese company is"
"It's Captain Lucky Pilar. Oh, help!"
The Cavite Peninsula is in sight. Beyond the blue-black rocks, you can see the masts scattered high and low behind the cape, and the sails that have not yet been lowered. For many large ships with deep drafts that cannot enter the Pasig River, Canacho Bay behind the headland is a good sheltered anchorage. The wind direction began to change at this time, getting stronger and stronger, and the yacht was taken away from its usual course by the strong wind. The helmsman turned a compass point to the windward to avoid a cluster of rocks in the channel. What no one expected was that a large four-masted galenic ship suddenly emerged from behind the headland, and the Esmeralda made a half circle to avoid the tragedy of collision. If the count's sailors hadn't reacted in time to stop him, Andrade would have rolled on the sharply tilting deck. That would have been too degrading for a colonial official who was born in a peninsula aristocracy. .
"Hey, assholes, what do they want?"
A cloud of white smoke erupted from the stern of the ship, and the rumble of gunfire echoed on the rolling water.
"It was a blank cannon, probably to warn us to stay away." Andrade was helped by the sailor and came over, and found the count staring at the Galen ship. The yellow and red burgundy cross flag hung on the top of its mast is dazzling, and it is larger than other ships. Another flag exaggeratedly embroidered a griffon perched on the castle.
"It's the coat of arms of Don Sanabria," Andrade deliberately avoided the word "coat of arms." "This is not the Mercury, but one of his merchant ships, probably from Goa or Cote. Back from the Romandel Coast." (To be continued...)
