The fierce confrontational reaction of the Chinese made Governor Botila frightened. In fact, he regretted it not long after he declared war. The colony was not without civil servants. After countless civil servants persuaded him, he understood his impulse.
The governor felt regretful. He kept hitting his head with his fist, "Why are you so uncool? Why are you so uncool?"
"Where are my troops? Where are they now?"
"Report...report to the Governor, the defenders of Manila...haven't left the city yet?"
"What? It's been three days since the war broke out, and the reinforcements haven't left the city yet?"
"Sir Governor, Major General Enmu said that the troops are extremely short of supplies and the soldiers lack training. It has been a year and a half since he submitted your application for supplies replenishment to the Governor, but..."
"Shut up!" Botila smashed the coffee cup in front of him. "Asshole, if I have money on hand, can I not replenish supplies for him?"
Money, money, how hard it is to make money these days. In order to keep his position as governor, Botila began to bribe the country before the queen was overthrown.
He has misappropriated too much of the colonial public funds. This is not all. The international situation has not been very good in recent years, and business has become increasingly difficult to do.
The Chinese in the north are taking advantage of the situation to rise, and the Chinese merchants who have united together are no longer the kind of bullies they used to be. Moreover, they have taken the initiative to build an ocean-going fleet and directly intervene in the big pie of ocean-going trade.
The Chinese ocean-going caravans could not steal the business of British and French merchants. After all, they were still very weak. However, it was still very easy to steal the business of the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Manila’s commercial taxes have continued to decline in recent years, and the Philippine economy has become increasingly marginalized.
Major General Enmu is the top military officer of the Philippines. He applied to form an army composed solely of breech-loading rifles a year and a half ago. Even if there are only 3,000 people, such a mobile force should be established first to deal with special situations.
The governor still misjudged the situation. He believed that Spain currently had no enemies at all, and at the same time he did not want to challenge the international status of a powerful country, so there was no need to prepare for war.
As a result, this application was rejected, and a batch of other applications for equipment replacement were also rejected.
And all this will cost him his life today!
From the moment the Chinese in northern Luzon revolted, Governor Botila ordered Major General Enmu to organize a support force of 30,000 people to quickly suppress the rebels with overwhelming force.
In the governor's plan, the total strength of the four rebel teams did not exceed 15,000, and they were scattered in four different cities. Even if the defenders held on for three days to a week, there would be no problem.
Then 30,000 regular troops from Manila marched north, quelling the rebellion in Dagupan within three days, and then continued northward to strive to completely end the fighting within a month.
But I never expected that Major General Enmu still hadn’t left the city after three days!
At this time, there was chaos everywhere in the temporary assembly camp fifty kilometers north of Manila. The so-called elites drawn from various military camps gathered together like chickens with their heads hanging down.
Several consecutive days of heavy rain have turned the whole world into a muddy mess. Marching in this environment is the most destructive to morale. Soldiers often have their military boots stuck in the mud for a long time without being able to pull them out.
The wheels of the field artillery were stuck in the mud, and more than a dozen people could not push them out.
General Enmu placed in front of him a detailed breakdown of the troops' strength and supplies. The more he looked at it, the more annoyed he became that the quartermaster in front of him had already called him Sun Tzu.
"Why are there only 80,000 kilograms left? The previous report showed there were 130,000 kilograms. Are you embezzling?"
"No! How dare I, General? It rained before, the warehouse was in disrepair, and many people were flooded..."
"Where are the horses? Where are the nine hundred horses in the account? I haven't seen more than a hundred so far!"
"Plague...General, you don't know that this rainy weather is unbearable not only for humans, but also for animals...many gadflies suck blood, and there are even blood-sucking bats..."
"Horses' hoofs will soon become soft if soaked in muddy water, and the hoofs will crack..."
"Damn, damn, damn!" General Enmu yelled angrily, but at this time, a gust of wind blew through the tent, and as a result, a pool of water on the top of the tent flowed down through the gaps, directly getting all the detailed sheets wet. .
The general, who was extremely depressed, walked out of the tent and looked at the more than 20,000 soldiers struggling for their lives in the mud. His heart was completely despairing.
"This battle cannot be fought like this! We have lost the opportunity, and the enemy is probably ready to defend... What's even worse is that the Chinese have declared a state of war..."
"Are we leaving Manila at this time? What if the enemy comes for a sneak attack? We must modify our strategy..."
General Enmu returned to the city, and a fierce quarrel broke out with Governor Botila in the Governor's Mansion. The two parties closed the door and started fistfights. The female secretary outside was so wet that she almost peed.
General Enmu felt that the current strategy should be to stick to Manila. Now northern Luzon Island is simply not suitable for military operations. The colonial government has not invested much infrastructure funds for so many years.
There is only one railway leading to Dagupan, but it has been dug out by the Chinese rebels long ago, and the roads in other places are all rotten dirt roads that have not been repaired at all.
Not to mention the latest cement roads, there are only a few basic gravel roads. How can the 30,000-strong army march under the heavy rain?
By the time we get to the north, I'm afraid the Chinese reinforcements have already arrived from Mani*!
The general is thinking about things on the battlefield, while the governor is thinking more about politics. Losing territory is an unshirkable responsibility. If he doesn't solve the problem, his career may come to an end, and he may even be tried.
The Chinese people in the north of Luzon Island have penetrated too much. Once they are separated from the management of the Spanish colonial government, these Chinese people will definitely form their own political power immediately.
These people will quickly cleanse the Spanish forces and start to counterattack the natives. Those natives do not understand loyalty at all, and they will listen to whoever is more powerful and richer.
A group of tropical monkeys don't have any national concept. It is estimated that if the Chinese throw them a few pieces of meat, the indigenous people will have to recognize the Chinese government.
The longer the situation in Luzon drags on, the harder it will be to recover!
General, general! Are you willing to wait until the Chinese send thousands of civilian officials to Luzon to directly exercise government power?
Just as the two were arguing fiercely, shocking news came one after another!
"Report to the governor, report to the general! Our intelligence officers in Hong Kong sent back an urgent message... The Chinese warships have begun to move south!"
