Six medium-sized Spanish armed Galen ships flying dazzling red cross flags and carrying about 400 tons finally approached the pier of Cavite Sea Port amidst the roaring sea wind. The heavy anchor crashed into the water, stirring up white waves several feet high. The Chinese workers on the dock caught the long and thick cable thrown from the ship. Several "high-ranking Spanish officials" in gorgeous clothes on the shore were wiping their cheeks and foreheads with silk handkerchiefs while looking intently at the Spanish sailors standing on the decks of four armed galenic ships who were eager to disembark and have fun.
However, these Spanish sailors, who had been holding back for nearly three months in the Pacific and were almost suffering from symptoms, couldn't help but frown when they looked at the heavily guarded Cavite port.
When the galleons from New Spain arrive in Manila every spring, isn't it a "festival" in this seaport city? At this moment, the pier should be crowded with Chinese vendors selling all kinds of food and wine, as well as gorgeously dressed indigenous or mixed-race prostitutes.
But what happened this year? There was not a single merchant or prostitute on the pier, only soldiers with guns and ammunition.
In the end what happened? Are the Dutch coming to attack Manila, or are the Chinese in Manila rebelling again?
This was not the first time Captain Lopez, the commander of the trade fleet from New Spain, had run this large sailing trade route, but this was the first time he had seen such a heavily guarded reception. With a question mark on his head. Colonel Lopez and several officers walked down the gangplank to the pier. The Spanish officials waiting for him on the pier were all new faces. Only one, Bishop Gonzalez, was an old acquaintance of Lopez.
Lopez found that Bishop Gonzalez seemed to be sick. He was several times thinner than when he saw him last year, and his face was ugly. Not only did he look sick, but he also had a sad look... Could he be suffering from something? Terminal illness, you're going to die soon, right?
This is indeed a worrying thing... This bishop has done so many things that violate the precepts of the clergy, some of which can even amount to crime and blasphemy against God. So people like him will most likely go to hell after death!
Thinking of this, Lopez put away the joyful expression typical of sailors who have been wandering at sea for several months when they set foot on land. He walked up to Bishop Gonzalez, who was wearing a white robe that appeared to be loose, and kissed him first. He touched the back of the bishop's hand, and then asked in a low voice: "Bishop, what happened? Why is the pier under martial law? Where are the governor and the general prosecutor?"
After hearing this question, Gonzalez's face became even darker. Before he could speak, he sighed: "On Christmas Eve last year, there was a riot in Eighth Lian Chinatown...many people died, Lian. Even the Governor was assassinated! The post of Governor is now concurrently held by Attorney General Caballero, but he is not in Manila now, but is leading the troops to encircle and suppress the Chinese thugs in Dalun Mountain."
"What? Such a thing could happen?" Lopez took a breath and said bitterly, "We should have killed all the Chinese in Manila long ago, leaving no one alive!" He glanced at Gonzalez again, Seeing that the bishop's face was gloomy, my heart skipped a beat, "Bishop, is the situation very bad?"
Gonzalez nodded slowly: "It's indeed not good... This Chinese riot was supported by Zheng Zhilong, who secretly transported a batch of weapons, so the Chinese in the riot also had matchlock guns. , crossbows and swords. And they also launched a surprise attack and launched a riot while we were celebrating Christmas. They once invaded the Santiago Fortress and killed many of us!"
"Oh God! How dare they..." Lopez crossed himself on his chest. "Bishop, how is the situation now? Is there anything we can do for you?"
Bishop Gonzalez said: "Colonel, why don't you let all your men disembark...and temporarily take over the garrison duties of Fort Santiago and Cavite Battery, so that we can free up more men."
"What about the silver pesos on the ship?" Lopez was still hesitant. "This time I brought 1.25 million silver pesos and a lot of goods... Except for the king's 250,000, the others were all from various sources. Investments from big shots cannot cause problems in Manila!"
Spanish galleons trade is subject to quota management. In principle, the value of goods exported from the Philippines cannot exceed 250,000 silver pesos... which is less than 180,000 taels of silver.
Of course, because New Spain's overseas trade is a state monopoly and the trade quota is set at a very low level, smuggling has always been rampant. The scale of smuggling trade is almost 10 times the scale of legal trade!
And those who engage in smuggling are often big shots in Spain!
"Then leave some people to guard the ships," Gonzalez said, "30 people on each ship are enough... Now the Cavite Port and Cavite Commercial Port are all under martial law, and All foreign ships are also prohibited from approaching the Port of Cavite, so there is no need to worry about pirate attacks."
Gonzalez looked at the sea. Except for his six boats, there was not even a fishing boat visible on the sea, so he nodded, "Okay, then I'm relieved."
Then, Gonzalez gave orders to the officers who disembarked with him, asking them to transfer 1,200 people from six large sailing ships. When these 1,200 sailors named Ku Liantian were taken off the ship by the officers and were forming a team on the dock, someone suddenly shouted: "Colonel, someone pushed a cannon to the dock and pointed the muzzle at us!"
"Colonel, they lit the match and set up the matchlocks!"
"Colonel...cavalry! There is cavalry!"
what happened?
Lopez heard the shouts of his men and quickly looked around and found that thousands of infantrymen had appeared around the pier. Some of the musketeers had even set up heavy muskets!
What's even more frightening is that some artillerymen also pushed over light artillery for field use. A total of 8 guns were pushed over, and the black muzzles were all facing towards them.
In addition, two to three hundred cavalrymen also appeared outside the dock carrying long carbines!
"Bishop, what are they doing? Who are they?" Lopez asked loudly.
Bishop Gonzalez sighed, lowered his head and whispered: "The Philippines is finished... The Philippines no longer belongs to Spain..."
What?
Lopez's eyes almost popped out!
At this time, a man dressed as a Ming general appeared on the dock on a tall horse and shouted loudly in Spanish: "The officers and sailors of the Spanish treasure ship have heard this. You are surrounded. Please immediately put down your weapons and surrender, otherwise you will be shot to death!"
Lopez was completely confused. His 1,200 men had no way of fighting... They were sailors, not the army! Moreover, most people did not bring muskets with them when they disembarked (arquebuses were included with the ship and could not be taken off the ship), nor did they have spears that could fight cavalry (naval against cavalry?), only swords and pistols (officers only). (If you have a pistol), how can you fight with someone?
"Who are you? Who are you?" Lopez asked loudly.
The Ming general laughed loudly: "We are the Ming Marine Corps, ordered to rob Spanish treasure ships. If you dare to resist, you are resisting the order, and you will all be beheaded!"
"Bishop, why is this happening?" Lopez still couldn't believe what was happening in front of him. He turned to Bishop Gonzalez and asked, "What exactly happened?"
Gonzalez smiled bitterly and said: "Colonel... Manila has fallen! It was captured by the Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese... all 30,000 Spaniards (actually counted Thirty thousand people) have been taken prisoner, so you don’t need to resist needlessly!”
Lopez sat down on the ground with a plop. He just stared blankly at the Western-faced pikemen and halberdiers (they were Dutch) who were approaching step by step. He watched as his men threw away their swords and pistols. Obediently, he became their prisoner and watched groups of soldiers pouring along the gangplank onto six armed galenic ships filled with silver pesos and various goods shipped from America...
