Boss Hu did not go south to Manila with the fleet this time. As he said, although he has a special love for the military, the reality is that as the head of the family, he must first shoulder family responsibilities. He cannot put his hobby aside Placed above responsibility.
The expedition fleet received the latest intelligence from Manila and further confirmed the combat plan of "landing first, then closing the port". Gao Yimin began to order all units of the Army Division to prepare for the landing, including the landing operation itself, as well as the establishment of beachhead positions and fire reconnaissance after landing ashore.
Theoretically speaking, with the current strength of the Spaniards in Manila, they should not be able to threaten the landing force. However, considering that this operation is actually an actual combat training for the Marines, the required procedures are still not enough. few.
Actual combat can best test the true strength of an army, and it can also best improve an army and even make a qualitative leap. Gao Yimin has no doubt about this. In addition, the Spaniards also have some Luzon servants. Although these people are certainly not strong in combat effectiveness, it would be even more embarrassing if they suffered unnecessary losses for this.
When Gao Yimin was in Liaodong, it was true to say that he was active, but if you really count on your fingers, he actually didn't get the chance to fight hard several times.
This time he came to fight Manila. When he first heard that the bastion was to be breached, he thought it was his chance to show off his skills. Who knew that the master and Miss Liu had already made plans, and the "flooded seven armies" had already been arranged.
The Beiyang side won a naval battle caused by chance, and directly made more than 800,000 taels, and brought six large-scale ships that were no cheaper than the 800,000 taels. It was true that the ship had not even reached Manila, and the credit was enough.
Where is Gao Yimin? Not long after the naval battle, news was received that Manila did not even have two thousand soldiers, maybe only one thousand. It's definitely easier to fight, but he was so angry that stars were shining in his eyes.
Is it so difficult for me to get some credit for co-writing?
Having said that, the battle must be fought well. The enemy army is in this situation, and if they still make a joke, then I will not mess around in the future. I might as well invite myself to the Xinzheng Coal Mine to mine. Anyway, it will be embarrassing to come out.
Two days later, the expedition fleet arrived in Manila Bay. Manila Bay is a large bay, almost completely enclosed by land, located in southwestern Luzon. In later generations, it became one of the world's largest harbors, with an area of 2,000 square kilometers and a widest point of 58 kilometers.
According to the information provided by the Nanyang Fleet earlier, there is an island called Corregidor about a hundred miles (actually 48 kilometers) west of Manila, which divides the entrance of the bay about 40 miles (actually 18 kilometers) into south and north. There are two straits. Although the North Channel is not as wide as the South Channel, it is safer to navigate. It is about six miles wide.
The north and northeastern shores of this bay are connected to the central Luzon plain, and the coastal waters are relatively shallow. It became the largest commercial fishing ground in the Philippines in later generations. The Port of Manila is in the easternmost part of Manila Bay, and the sea water is deeper. In addition, the mountains of the Bataan Peninsula and the Central Cordillera form a natural barrier, making Manila Bay an excellent anchorage.
Since the expedition fleet had navigators supported by the Nanyang Fleet, the fleet entered Manila Bay and headed northeast, directly to the mouth of the Pasig River. However, for safety reasons, Gao Zhenxin sent the "Left Wing Ranger" to lead ten armed transport ships not carrying land division troops to patrol near the mouth of Manila Bay to prevent the Spanish fleet from taking the opportunity to escape.
The landing immediately began north of the Pasig River. All ships launched rescue boats, and the engineering troops were first sent out to quickly build temporary docks. Along with the engineering troops, there was a company of infantry to guard against the enemy who had a slim chance of appearing.
The entire landing operation went extremely smoothly. It only took two hours for all the more than 13,000 Marine Division troops to land ashore, and it took more than an hour to unload all supplies such as artillery, spare ammunition, tents and even food.
The fleet immediately started moving again, heading directly towards Manila from north to south. But as soon as they moved, they found the Spanish fleet coming towards them.
The Spanish indeed only have four ships, and they are not all 1,200-ton large Galen ships, but two large Galen ships and two ordinary Galen ships - about 800 tons, which is about the same size as an armed transport ship.
This time, when they saw the Beiyang Fleet, they were far less courageous than I was and turned around and left without saying a word. However, they were not going back to Manila Port, but turning westward, seemingly to rush out of the bay.
But this action is of little significance, because this is within a bay, and the sea wind is much lighter than on the sea. In this case, it is obvious that the efficiency of the soft sail is not as good as that of the hard sail, so before running very far, was overtaken by several warships from Beiyang.
I don’t know if the Spanish fleet came out this time without unified command at all, and the four Galen ships scattered and fled. Unfortunately, this was of no use. The Beiyang Fleet, which had a huge numerical advantage, dispersed and outflanked them. After signaling that they could bombard, a thousand guns were fired. After only two rounds of salvos, the Spaniards had three Galen ships flying white flags.
The other ship managed to escape due to good luck or excellent steering skills, but that didn't make much sense. Soon after, it was surrounded by the "Left Wing Hussars" and ten armed transport ships. . Under the pressure of the wolf before and the tiger behind, the Spanish Galen warship had no choice but to surrender.
The fleet did some prison work and immediately headed straight to the port of Manila. There are indeed two Portuguese Galen ships in the port, both of which are large Galen ships. In addition, there are some small cargo ships with various flags. According to the introduction of the Nanyang Fleet Navigator, most of these ships are ships from some small countries in Nanyang, and there are even Indian ships. They should all come for business. .
The Portuguese responded quickly and quickly sent a small boat to inquire about the situation. In fact, the situation was obvious, because there were now a total of ten Western-style large Galenic soft sailing ships appearing in the formation of the Northern Expedition Fleet, and the flags were also changed. , it looked like he was captured.
It's not that the Portuguese don't understand the situation, they just want to know if they are safe.
The answer is yes. Although Portugal and Castile are now a "Union of Kings" or a "Federation of Common Kings", the Beiyang Fleet "seems" not to know this and clearly states that there is no hostile behavior towards Portugal. The purpose of this fleet's trip is for the "Philippine Governor-General", an illegal organization in the Kingdom of Castile, to repeatedly raise tax rates for no reason.
The Portuguese were very relieved, but they couldn't help but ask whether they could leave the port freely. This time, the Beiyang Fleet's answer was no, saying that during the war, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, all ships in the port were not allowed to leave the port for the time being, and they had to wait until the war was over or at least came to an end.
The Portuguese carefully said that doing so was "against the rules," but Gao Zhenxin obviously would not listen. He simply said that Luzon was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. If a war occurred in a vassal state, Ming Dynasty would have the final say on all rules.
In fact, there is no international public law these days, and rules and so on are all self-spoken. In the final analysis, whoever has a bigger fist has the real rules.
As a colonial empire, Portugal, how do these people not understand this truth? Isn’t this what they themselves did in Africa, America and Asia? Therefore, he had no choice but to return to his ship and wait for "the war to end or come to an end."
The situation in the port was chaotic for a while. Seeing that the Beiyang Fleet did not seem to have any intention of charging in and setting fire, it finally gradually calmed down. However, this calmness is only superficial. In fact, everyone is waiting with fear for the follow-up development.
The Governor-General's Palace of the Philippines had long since turned into a mess. The large treasure fleet that was supposed to arrive has not yet arrived. I heard rumors that a large number of sea ships have entered Manila Bay and there is no news about the cruise fleet that was sent out. The Philippine Governor's Office is already very anxious and angry. As a result, the port The Portuguese there quietly sent someone to report, saying that all ten Great Galen flags were now hung with book sword flags - that's nonsense, they were all captured!
Governor de Vera sat down on a high-backed chair, his eyes dull and his energy unfocused. Mingming had enjoyed the service of several charming local women in the morning, and felt that being the governor here was not so intolerable... He didn't know why the situation had become so out of control in the blink of an eye.
Half of the main force of the large treasure fleet and the Philippine fleet fell into the hands of the enemy. What else could he do as a governor? Not only is the Philippines thousands of miles away from the mainland of Castile, it is also thousands of miles away from the superior Viceroyalty of New Spain. Expecting reinforcements is a dream, but without reinforcements, how can you save the situation?
The news he just learned is very clear. The current enemy fleet in Manila Bay is at least more than a hundred ships, and they are definitely not the small sampans of the small countries in Southeast Asia. Their ships are more powerful than the Arab ships. , all equipped with powerful artillery.
It can be said that this is a completely invincible fleet in the Nanyang region.
Hold on to Manila City? Governor de Vera also wants to hold on, but there are only one thousand troops in the city now, and the Castilian merchants, missionaries, architects, etc. all together are less than two thousand. How can we hold on? It is impossible that there are more than a hundred large ships outside without people who can disembark and fight. Even if there are fifty people on each ship, I am afraid that I will not have an advantage.
Just as I was thinking about it, a new piece of news came, saying that a large number of enemy troops, at least more than 10,000 people, were found near the Pasig River, all wearing uniforms. clothing), and has a large number of muskets and even a number of cannons.
When Governor de Vera heard this, his waist became colder. They came together by sea and land, and they were equally powerful. From what the opponent saw, it was a long-planned and well-prepared move. What about your own side? The naval power has been almost wiped out, and half of the army's troops have gone south to fight. It's just these thousand people who are guarding Manila... Is there a future, is there a way out?
However, surrendering is not an option. Once the news of surrendering to the "indigenous" troops outside Europe spreads back to Europe, not to mention that he, De Vera, will definitely become the laughing stock of all Europe from now on. Even the great Kingdom of Castile and the invincible Spain will also As a result, it suffered a huge reputational blow.
Yes, the "indigenous people" of China are very different from other indigenous peoples, but no matter how different they are, they are still "indigenous" in the minds of the Spaniards at this moment. Why? Because the expansion of the Spanish colonial empire was so smooth, especially with the miraculous expansion of the American continent, many people have long lost their respect for "big countries with a long history" outside Europe.
In 1492 AD, after hundreds of years, Spain completed the restoration movement and unification of the Catholic country. In the same year, with the funding of Queen Isabella of Castile, Columbus, who was extremely thirsty for wealth, sailed to the Americas and kicked off the Spanish colonial empire.
In the process of Western colonization of the Americas, Spain (Castile) took the lead and later occupied most of Latin America (the vast American region south of the United States) except Brazil. In Latin America at that time, there was an Aztec Empire in the north and an Inca Empire in the south. The populations of these two countries alone were estimated to be over tens of millions.
However, what defeated these two imperial armies was not the thousands of troops dispatched by the Kingdom of Castile, but two Spanish colonial armies consisting of hundreds or even thousands of people.
Columbus and the so-called explorers after him explored the Americas and established colonial strongholds in the coastal areas of the Americas. These colonists soon discovered that the productivity level of these Native American Indians was not at the same level as that of Europe at the same time, so Spain decided to colonize the Americas.
If America at that time was more advanced and developed than Europe at the same time, then it is estimated that these colonists would have become businessmen obediently. The law of the jungle is the truth of this era.
Compare the weapons and equipment of the Spanish army and the Inca Empire army at that time: Spanish soldiers at that time were equipped with armor, helmets, shields, spears, steel knives, steel swords, muskets and crossbows. They were basically fully armed, and the troops were also equipped with There are artillery and cavalry units, and there are mature tactics to match.
Take the weapons and equipment of the Inca Empire army established by the Indians as an example. They were mainly equipped with bronze spears, bone-pointed spears, wooden javelins, stone-thorned sticks, stone axes, bronze axes, Inca meteor hammers, etc.
For example, this mysterious-sounding Inca meteor hammer is actually two spherical weights connected by ropes or chains. The firepower level of the two sides is obviously not at the same level, and the weapons, equipment and tactics of the two sides are obviously not equal. The fight is just like an adult bullying a child.
When these colonists discovered that the Indians were seriously behind them, their self-confidence suddenly increased and they came to America one after another. Their purpose is also very pure, which is to obtain wealth, land, slaves, and even women. As for promoting civilization exchange and progress, it is pure nonsense.
In the confrontation between the Spanish colonial army and the Indian army, the psychological deterrent effect of muskets on the Indians was more obvious than its effect in actual combat.
As for artillery, it is not only destructive and lethal in actual combat. When the Indians see such a loud noise, they will emit a stream of "strange smoke" and blow people up in an instant. It is as if they have seen a ghost. This psychological fear is simply insurmountable for them.
What also frightened the Indians at that time was the European cavalry. About 50 million years ago, the earliest archaeopterygium, which was as tall as a dog, appeared in North America. The modern horse appeared about four million years ago.
It can be said that historically, North America has been the center of origin and evolution of horses. Later, horses entered the Eurasian continent through the Bering Strait. Horses were domesticated by humans about thousands of years ago.
However, horses became completely extinct in North America about 20,000 years ago, and even earlier in South America. When facing Indian soldiers, European cavalry was not only extremely lethal in actual combat, but also psychologically powerful. To the Indians, the cavalrymen riding tall horses gave them a sense of fantasy as if they were coming from outside the world.
The Castilians relied on such asymmetric combat power and some conspiracies to gradually achieve colonial rule in Latin America. Because it went too smoothly, the Castilians firmly believed that "God favors Spain" and maintained a contemptuous attitude towards all "indigenous" countries outside Europe.
In Nanyang, only the merchants of the Ming Dynasty still had some status in Manila and Malacca, while merchants from other countries were basically treated as colonial natives.
However, when the Ming Dynasty, an indigenous empire that did not look like indigenous people, really took action, Governor de Vera discovered that not only himself, but the entire Castile, the entire Spain and even the entire Europe had underestimated it!
After vaguely ordering the colonial army to guard the city cautiously, Governor de Vera's mind was still buzzing. He didn't know how long his order would last, nor how long his resistance would last. Meaningless.
At this moment, the adjutant hurried over and reported, sweating profusely: "Your Majesty the Governor, the Ming Dynasty fleet has sent an envoy!"
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Ying Yang", "Yue Xiaoyao", "Zhi Yujing Fengchen", "Cao Mianzi", and "klauszx" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
