"Oh God! They, they are really here..."
Governor Coquilla’s hand holding the telescope was trembling!
Standing on the highest point of Santiago Castle, holding a telescope and looking at the open Manila Bay, you can see two neat columns of white soft sails arranged on the sea.
The column looked very long, and there were at least thirty or forty armed galenic ships taking advantage of the northeasterly wind on the sea to quickly approach the beach near Cavite.
About half of the armed galenic ships flew the orange, white and blue flag of the Prince of Orange! There are also about half of the armed Galen ships flying the flag of the red sun on a white background... Is this the flag of the Ming Dynasty?
Governor Coquilla put down his telescope and asked: "Is that flag with a red circle the center of the Ming Dynasty?"
"have no idea......"
"Maybe, probably, maybe?"
"should be......"
"Yes! That is the flag of the Ming Dynasty!"
The answers of several Spanish officers around him made Governor Coquilla a little disappointed - they didn't even know what the enemy's flag looked like, so how did they become officers? Only the Japanese Yamada Nagayasu gave an answer that satisfied the Governor.
"Yamada...what do you think?" Governor Coquilla turned to look at young Yamada. This guy is probably a religious fanatic who wants to go to heaven, right? Others were frightened when they saw dozens of armed Galenic ships from the Netherlands and Ming Dynasty approaching. Only this guy had a fierce look in his eyes and an excited look on his face - it seems that this Japanese Catholic is a faithful man who really wants to go to heaven. Believers!
"Your Majesty the Governor," Yamada Choyasu could no longer suppress his excitement, with tears in his eyes, "please ask your subordinates to lead the Japanese samurai group to set up an ambush near Cavite Beach. When the enemy lands, we will give them A fatal blow!"
Cavite is the gateway to Manila, where the Spanish built forts and castles. However, the coastline of Cavite is very long, and it is impossible to defend it with just one fort. Therefore, it is necessary to ambush in the woods near the turret. Once the enemy's landing troops detour from the side of the turret, the ambush troops can immediately attack and flank the enemy with the cooperation of the fort defenders!
This Japanese is so brave!
Governor Coquilla nodded approvingly: "Yamada, you are a true believer in God. If you unfortunately die in this war, your soul will definitely ascend to heaven and enjoy peace and glory forever... Go Go! May the Lord be with you!"
Yamada Nagayasu said "Hi", turned around and left the watchtower, ran downstairs, got on his Andalusian horse, and trotted out of Fort Santiago with his men, heading towards the Japanese area of Cavite. .
The corner of Governor Coquilla's eyes suddenly caught sight of Lu Peter, the leader of the Chinese businessmen in the Philippines - this is a very annoying profiteer. He is the middleman between the Philippine Governor's Office and Chinese pirates (maritime merchants). Only through him can the Governor's Office buy people. Satisfied Chinese raw silk and porcelain. So this guy accumulated a fortune of millions of pesos just by talking, and his whole family became Catholics and embraced Archbishop Gonzalez, thinking that he could escape the fate of being purged!
Without thinking about his own bloodline, how could the Governor-General allow a Chinese to occupy the throne of the richest man in the Philippine colonies for a long time?
But now is not the time to attack the richest man... Let's stabilize them first, and wait until the attack of the Ming-Dutch coalition forces is repelled!
"Peter Lu," Governor Coquilla said, "go to the Eighth Company District immediately and tell the Chinese businessmen there to be honest with me!"
What? Is it okay to be more honest? No more massacre?
Ruby, who was shivering on the side, was stunned after hearing Governor Coquilla's words. Of course he knew that the Governor of Coquilla had already raised the butcher's knife high. Unless ten or twenty thousand Chinese in the Philippines died, this matter would never end.
When there was no real evidence, the governor would have killed ten or twenty thousand Chinese to enjoy himself... Now the evidence is irrefutable! Not only are there confessions and physical evidence, but there are also witnesses from thirty or forty ships. Looking at the size of these armed Galen ships, there are 20,000 witnesses! Even if the Chinese section of the Eighth Company was slaughtered, no one would dare to say that the Spaniards were wrong, right?
"Lu, go quickly!" Governor Coquilla shouted, "Go and tell the Chinese businessmen in the Eighth Company District that Fort Santiago cannot be breached, so if you want to save property and lives in this war, bring them with you immediately. Take the money and hide in the fortress."
"Yes, Mr. Governor." Lu Peter responded, but his heart was trembling.
This is to catch a turtle in a jar! This trick was used by Acuna, the predecessor of the Governor of Coquilla, in 1603... At that time, because the Chinese were unwilling to be killed and rose up to resist, there was chaos outside Manila. Akuna used this method to trick thousands of wealthy Chinese businessmen into taking refuge in the city. As a result, more than 400 people survived, including Lu Peter's grandfather.
Seeing Lu Peter tremblingly walking down the observation deck, Governor Coquilla retracted his contemptuous gaze and said to a Spanish officer beside him: "Avaros, all the Pampanga people are under your command, go. Control Cavite’s commercial ports and ports, and drive all the Chinese there back to the Eighth Company District. Anyone who dares not to go back...will be shot to death!"
The Eighth Company Area is right under the guns of Fortress Santiago! It was a settlement area designated by the Spaniards for the Chinese. However, after the massacre in 1609, Manila was peaceful for nearly 30 years, so various controls were gradually relaxed. Many Chinese left the Balian District to do business in the ports and commercial ports of Cavite.
Now Governor Coquilla wants to force them back to the Eighth Company area, and of course he has bad intentions.
Governor Coquilla paused and then said: "In addition, if Yamada needs support, you will immediately lead the Pampanga people to attack... Those Japanese have very strong fighting power. If we finally want to hold on to San Diego, The fort requires their bravery and tenacity.”
Governor Coquilla is not a military novice, and of course he knows that he cannot "battle decisively on the beachhead". Defending the bastion until the rainy season is the best way to take advantage of the wet weather and tropical diseases to repel the enemy. Now let Yamada Chotasu attack, but delay the enemy's actions so that the Spaniards in the Cavite commercial port and the Spaniards in various peripheral strongholds can retreat to the main fortress.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Governor!" Afaros was a Spanish officer in his 60s who had participated in the Chinese massacres in 1603 and 1609.
The indigenous Pampanga mercenaries he commanded played a key role in both massacres. Without the support of Pampanga mercenaries and Japanese mercenaries, the Spaniards might be able to defeat the Chinese around Manila, but the entire Luzon Island is so big that there is always a place for the Chinese who ran away from Manila to hide. With the number of Spaniards, it was simply impossible to effectively control the entire island. Therefore, the role of Pampanga's indigenous mercenaries is particularly significant.
In this Battle of Manila, the role of the Pampanga people and the Japanese was also very important.
At present, the Spanish garrison in Fort Santiago and its surrounding forts and fortresses totals less than 2,000 people. Even if a nationwide mobilization is carried out, only 2,500 people can be gathered at most.
There are 1,500 Japanese mercenaries led by Yamada Nagatasu. There are even more Pampanga mercenaries in Afaros, 3,000 near Manila City alone, and 3,000 in other parts of Luzon.
After Afaros left Fort Santiago, he also went straight to the military camp outside Manila to mobilize troops. And just when the indigenous Pampanga mercenaries organized themselves into formation, drove out of the military camp, and headed straight for the Cavite commercial port under the fierce scolding of the Spanish officers. Yamada Nagayasu and his 1,500 Japanese soldiers had already rushed to a coconut grove on the east side of the Cavite Fort.
At this time, thirty or forty sampans had appeared on the sea, slowly approaching the beach outside the coconut grove where Yamada Chotae was.
Yamada Nagatasu tremblingly raised his telescope and pointed at a sampan on the sea. What caught his eye was a flag that only appeared in his dreams - the Tokugawa family's shamrock!
Under the flag, there are more than ten Japanese samurai with shaved heads and armor, rowing hard. Then he put down the telescope and shouted to the left and right: "The Japanese expeditionary force has arrived! Onboard! Onboard..."
More than a thousand Japanese generals following him shouted loudly: "Great Japan, onboard! Onboard! Onboard..."
