After the cause and effect were fully understood, and the master's intentions became clear, the expedition fleet requested to continue the talks.
The Spaniards did not try any other tricks and sat back at the negotiating table. Unfortunately, this time the expeditionary fleet became tougher, insisting that the "mandate system" implemented by the Spanish in the Philippines was illegal because the system contradicted Luzon's status as a vassal state.
This is very troublesome. For the Spaniards, this meant that the Ming Empire did not recognize Spanish rule over Luzon.
This kind of "non-recognition" is not just a non-recognition in the diplomatic sense, it is now very realistic - more than a hundred warships and an army of more than 10,000 troops from the navy and army are close at hand, and they have also captured ten Spanish warships. and two thousand naval officers and men.
The battleship is nothing more than a pile of money and time, so that's fine, but the two thousand Castilian naval officers and soldiers must not take it lightly.
Europe in this era is not the Europe during World War I and World War II. A country with a population of several million can be regarded as a great power. Usually, if two thousand people die in a war, it can basically be regarded as a decisive battle.
You must know that in Europe about forty years later, the famous "Battle of Lützen" in the Thirty Years' War was a key battle between the imperial army and the Protestant army, which almost determined the success or failure of the religious reform.
At that time, the two sides were already at war - if the Imperial Army failed, the Habsburg emperor might abdicate; if the Protestant Army failed, the Reformation might "collapse in the middle."
Therefore, both sides were fighting desperately, but how many casualties were there in the end?
The Protestant Army suffered 5,500 casualties, the Imperial Army suffered 4,500 casualties, and that was it.
This is what we can afford after more than 40 years, let alone today more than 40 years ago? What's more, it's thousands of miles away in the Philippines?
Therefore, Governor de Vera simply put aside the issue of "whether the Philippine Governor's Palace is legal" and asked to discuss the issue of ransoming prisoners first.
To be honest, the Ming Dynasty usually does not discuss the ransoming of prisoners, at least it does not treat it as a big deal. If Gao Pragmatic hadn't said hello a long time ago, Gao Zhenxin would definitely think that Governor de Vera was cheating. Wrong medicine.
As for now, it's okay to talk. Gao Zhenxin proposed that you don’t need to spend money to redeem these two thousand prisoners of war. You can just give up the city of Manila in exchange.
But Governor de Vera still wanted to try other conditions, so he proposed that the redemption price be 100 pesos for a soldier or sailor, and 1,000 pesos for an officer. Overall, the value is approximately 300,000 pesos – roughly equivalent to 240,000 taels of Kuping silver.
Gao Zhenxin flatly rejected the proposal. Although in his opinion, the Spaniards were not valuable, and 240,000 taels was not a small sum, but now he had captured 850,000 taels of American silver in the first battle, and also captured 10 large Galenic warships. The two together were almost worth it. If you already have 2 million taels of silver, how can you care about the "mere" 240,000 taels?
Therefore, Gao Zhenxin made it clear that he did not accept it. He still demanded the city of Manila, and threatened unceremoniously: "If you don't accept this condition, when our army division takes Manila, these prisoners will not be worth what they are today." .”
Although de Vera was very panicked, as a nobleman who could serve as governor, he was good at pretending, so he naturally looked confident, showing that the city of Manila was not only a fortress-like city, but also had extremely strong walls. Moreover, the city's reserves of supplies are extremely rich, even if it lasts for three years, it will be no problem.
Who would have thought that Gao Zhenxin laughed loudly after hearing this, stood up proudly, and said coldly: "In that case, let's stop here today. Don't talk about three years. If you can still insist on this sentence after three days, I will respect you." You are a man!"
After that, Gao Zhenxin turned around and left, and Gao Musan, who was accompanying him, followed coldly. On the other hand, although Zhu Yingfeng didn't know how to fight, he came from a noble family and was very arrogant. Before leaving, he said one sentence: "I would like to remind you to prepare a few boats in the city to avoid feeding the bastard. If we can’t cut off the head, we can go back to Beijing to discuss our merits.”
These sentences contained some colloquialisms, and Governor de Vera couldn't quite understand them. But after hearing the interpreter's translation, he was so angry that he was shaking all over. But then I thought about it and wondered: How could I need a boat in Manila?
However, he didn't understand it for a moment, but Pedro de Di Fradish, the captain of the Portuguese "Grandura", understood it - this man was not a good person, he was also an old colonist, and Specializing in India, Manila and Macau, he had heard some stories about the wars fought by the Orientals.
Among these stories is a story I heard when I was in Macau, which is called "Pang Lingming carried a gun to fight to the death, and Guan Yunchang released water to flood the seven armies."
In fact, "flooding the seven armies" is just a romance in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". In fact, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other official historical records, Guan Yu neither stored water nor breached the embankment to attack, but the rain caused "the overflow of the Han River". Yu Jin and others were trapped by the natural floods that caused "flows and harmed the people". Guan Yu took the opportunity to attack by boat, and Yu Jin and others surrendered.
The official history "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" determined that the flood was a natural flood and placed it in the "Book of the Later Han·Zhi XV·Five Elements Three". The "Book of the Later Han·Zhi XV·Five Elements Three" itself is a chapter dedicated to natural disasters.
But it’s remarkable that Di Vladish knew about “The Seven Flooded Armies”. How could he know the difference between “the novel is not official history”? At that moment, he vividly told Governor de Villa the stories that he had heard from others.
Unfortunately, the story he heard exaggerated the power of "water storage and flushing the city" even more powerful than in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Now after he relayed it, it became even more as if the water was indestructible and trapped in the "water city" There is only one portion for making fish and turtles.
Governor de Vera was really frightened now and could no longer maintain the posture of a noble gentleman. His expression changed drastically, he hurriedly said a few words and then left. He immediately took his people back to the city, climbed the tower in person, and observed what was going on in the northern suburbs of the city.
What was surprising at this glance was that the "Ming Army" moved very quickly and had already crossed the Pasig River. However, they did not continue to move forward. Instead, they took the time to build two lines of defense. On the river bank to the north of the defense line, some kind of construction work was obviously underway - what else could it be if it wasn't water storage?
In fact, although "Seven Armies Flooded" is a fiction, similar battles have actually happened, even during modern wars, and major victories were achieved.
For example, during the Red Dynasty's War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, General Wu Xinquan, commander of the 39th Army of the Red Dynasty Volunteer Army and deputy commander of the West Coast Defense Command, commanded a version of the "Seven Flooded Army" to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, and fought so hard that he had just taken over as the "United Nations Army" Commander-in-Chief Ridgway was stunned.
It was April 1951, and Wu Xinquan led the 39th Army to the Chuncheon and Hwacheon areas. Here, Wu Xinquan received an order from the headquarters, asking them to delay the US military's attack.
During the period of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, especially in the early stage, our army did not have air superiority, so transportation and operations were quite difficult. How to delay the US military from seizing the high ground was a big problem faced by the volunteers at that time. The U.S. military has equipment advantages and a large number of Korean troops serve as cannon fodder. In this case, how to block the U.S. military, Wu Xinquan, as a frontline commander, had to think of a way.
Based on his many years of war experience, since he can't think of a good solution at the moment, he has to look around.
In order to find a way to delay the US military's attack, Wu Xinquan first discovered the Huachuan Reservoir on the map and had a way to block the US military. In order to plan this matter carefully, Wu Xinquan personally took the investigation section chief Cai Yu to the Huachuan Reservoir to survey the terrain and see the situation there.
After the terrain survey, Wu Xinquan came back and started playing with the sand table. Using water to replace troops is a good idea, but if it is not used properly, it can easily lead to serious consequences. The huge disasters caused by the Yellow River's multiple bursts are a good example. Wu Xinquan, who was born in China, understands this very well, so he has to find a way to get the best of both worlds.
After figuring out the topography of the reservoir, the flow area and the conditions along the coast, Wu Xinquan finally figured out how to block the US military without harming the people along the coast.
He ordered his troops to close all the twelve gates of the Hwacheon Reservoir, and then began to store water and drain it downstream according to the situation. In this way, after eight days of water storage, the US military finally arrived.
The commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army, Ridgway Ridgway, began to deploy troops to cross the Han River. The U.S. troops crossing the river were happy at first, because it was so shallow that the Han River could be crossed easily, right?
At this time, following Wu Xinquan's order, the long-simmering river water was finally "liberated", rushing and roaring down, surging like a waterfall, like thousands of troops galloping away, the black and long waves The river water rushed towards the American troops who were crossing the river.
The moment the volunteers opened the gate, the US ace army's "First Marine Division" were collectively dumbfounded. The floods rushed towards them from east to west like lions. Two pontoon bridges were washed away and tanks and artillery were submerged.
The 1st Marine Division claims to be extremely familiar with landing operations, but that does not mean they are not afraid of floods. At this time, the turbulent Bukhan River was filled with waves, one after another, pinning the American soldiers to the bottom of the water one after another, making them unable to raise their heads and unable to breathe.
About half an hour after the volunteers opened the gate, the water surface rose by nearly 1.5 meters. One of the two pontoon bridges of the US military was completely washed away, and the other was mostly washed away, and was pulled back to the shore in embarrassment by the US military. The cars, tanks, and artillery on the bridge were all washed into the river by the flood. Due to the rapid rise in water levels downstream, the flood rushed onto the road. A large group of American soldiers were washed away without a trace before they could react.
An artillery battalion of the 1st Marine Division had just set up a fort on the position when the flood came over. The artillerymen ran fast and were not drowned by the floods, but the cannons, ammunition, tents and other supplies were all washed away by the floods. Even some people in the tents were washed away without a trace. This battle-hardened US military force never dreamed that the war could be fought like this.
No matter how well-equipped the U.S. military is, it cannot withstand natural forces like floods. This wave of floods directly swept away the U.S. troops preparing to cross the river.
Wu Xinquan was sitting next to the monitoring machine at this time. When the good news of "flooding the U.S. troops" came, he heard that the U.S. troops were in chaos on the position, and he was so happy that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear. But not long after, he sighed again and said: "What a pity! What a pity! If we could blow up the dam, no one would be able to escape."
In fact, Shen Mu, deputy chief of the operations section, had previously suggested blowing up the dam and sending all the American troops crossing the river to feed the bastards. However, Wu Xinquan considered that North Korea was an ally and that the dam of this hydropower station would be used to generate electricity and be invested in North Korea's production and construction after the war. Therefore, for the benefit of the North Korean people, he could only regretfully give up this tempting offer. Results.
After the flood, roads were destroyed, bridges collapsed, and the land was washed away into mud. The heavy equipment of the US military was stuck in the mud and could not move forward. The Bukhan River, which could be crossed in half a day, took the US military a full week to cross.
Facing Li Qiwei, whose performance by the US military and even the entire "United Nations Army" was the most outstanding during the Korean War, the 39th Army still perfectly completed the task assigned by its superiors to lag behind the US military.
Since "Seven Flooded Armies" could be played in the 1950s, what can't be played in the late 16th century? General Wu did not fully discharge the flood because he had to take care of the interests of his allies. Gao Pragmatic did not have such pressure, and Gao Zhenxin did not care.
Seeing this situation, De Vera was very anxious and quickly held a military meeting to discuss how to deal with the "Ming Army's" water attack plan. But although this kind of combat has happened in Europe, it is rare, and there is no good way to deal with it. Generally speaking, the only way is to move quickly, or else send troops to destroy the opponent's plan.
But at the moment, neither of these two methods can be implemented: if it is to be transferred, people cannot be transferred, but Manila City cannot be transferred. If all the people run away, wouldn’t Manila City be given to the "Ming Army" in the same way? If we do this, we might as well exchange Manila for 2,000 prisoners!
As for sabotaging the enemy's operations, this one doesn't seem to be easy to handle. Although no one has ever fought against the "Ming Army", judging from the results of the battle at sea, the Ming Army is undoubtedly very strong in artillery - the Spaniards can easily learn this by observing the battle damage of their captured warships. This conclusion is drawn: Although they have been temporarily repaired a lot, it can still be seen how violently they have been bombarded before.
[Note: The reason for this is that the color of the newly repaired wood will be significantly different from the color of the original hull wood, just like the repair shop after the vehicle is scratched and the technology is not up to standard, resulting in serious color differences in the repaired area. ]
Especially judging from the battle damage to several warships in the large treasure fleet, the artillery fire of the Ming army was by no means inferior to that of Europe at this time, and it was probably even worse.
Under this situation, the Spanish officers unanimously believed that the Ming Army's musketeers must also be very strong, and they still have an overwhelming strength advantage. At this time, they have to "sabotage the enemy's actions", even if the army in Manila is full. If they go out, they may not be able to complete the mission, and they may be beaten by the Ming army who have been prepared for a long time - the opponent's two lines of defense have shown that they are sufficiently prepared for the sabotage actions that Manila may launch.
He couldn't run away, and he would be attacked by the water if he stayed. De Vera was always so anxious that her mouth was bubbling, and she began to regret it in her heart. If I had known this, it would be better to think of a way at the negotiation table. Even if I can't get any advantage, it would be better to exchange the city of Manila for the two thousand prisoners. At least I can earn myself a reputation as a benevolent person who cares about the soldiers.
Moreover, even if Manila is lost, as long as these two thousand prisoners are exchanged and everyone retreats to the southern Philippines and resists on Cebu Island, perhaps reinforcements can be sent out after the English are defeated at home and the Dutch rebellion is suppressed. Come and regain Luzon Island?
This thought, like spring grass, can no longer be stopped. Although no Spanish military officer or senior official in the Governor's Palace was willing to make suggestions first, Governor de Vera could no longer hold back and took the initiative: "Contact Mr. Gao Zhenxin, the commander of the Ming Dynasty Fleet again, and say that I sincerely hope and strongly recommend restarting Negotiate while...also being willing to make significant concessions.”
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