When Diego heard this, he was immediately stunned: Didn't it say that Anthony, the governor of Batavia, would arrive earlier than the Ming army? Why is it that the Ming Army has come over and he has not been seen yet? Could it be that he wants to take advantage after both his side and the Ming Army are defeated?
When he came back to his senses, he couldn't care less, and immediately ran out, jumped on his horse, and galloped all the way to the wall in the direction of the port to see the situation.
There were panicked crowds everywhere in Manila. There were Spaniards and indigenous people, many of them were running around like headless flies, and some even blocked Diego's path.
After a while of hustle and bustle, Diego finally arrived at the top of the city. He immediately looked closely and saw a huge fleet on the sea of Manila Bay, heading towards the port of Manila City.
At the port, the Spanish fleet has launched a defensive formation. However, the Dutch fleet, which he had placed high hopes on, and which had been very arrogant before, was still in a hurry. Many crew members were not even dressed properly and were running around on the deck in preparation for war.
Obviously, this is because their leader, the dragging West, is not here. Taking away about 300 people was also one of the reasons.
Thinking of this, Diego couldn't help but curse in his heart. These Dutch people are so unreliable that they fall behind at critical moments! The Ming army came over, but their governor didn't arrive, and even that West didn't know where he died?
Of course he didn't know that West had indeed died there and could never come back!
At this time, Diego had no intention of complaining too much about the Dutch. He immediately picked up his telescope and began to carefully observe the Ming fleet.
When you look through the telescope, you can see it more clearly. But it was precisely because of this that he was surprised.
Diego saw about fifteen Portuguese-flagged sailing warships among the huge Ming army warships. A total of about three hundred large and small warships were lined up on the sea, and the scene was very grand.
In a European naval battle, if one side dispatches hundreds of warships, it is already a big battle. Unexpectedly, the Ming army attacked Manila with more than 300 ships, including many large-scale lucky ships. This gap in national power is really not comparable to that of ordinary European countries.
But think about it, many countries in Europe are actually only as big as a province in this Far Eastern Empire. The gap in national power is obvious here! At this time, Diego felt like an adult came to bully a child.
However, he did not know that in the original history, no matter how big the Eastern Empire was, what was the use of it, other than being ridden on the neck by small countries like them, which were as big as the palm of a European hand. It can be seen from this that the most important thing is for the country to be strong!
At this time, facing Ming's huge fleet, Diego felt a lot of pressure.
Previously, he had believed West's words and thought that the Ming army would not come so quickly. He assigned a battleship to Felot and asked him to find where the Ming army's grain and supplies were stored. There are only fifteen Spanish warships remaining in Manila Port today, three of which are transport ships temporarily armed with a few cannons.
Even if the ten Dutch warships are included, there are only twenty-five warships. At least in terms of the number of battleships, it is impossible to fight the Ming army.
But if it were in the past, in fact, no matter how many Far East warships there were, Diego would not be afraid. As long as they fight on a wide sea, Western-style sail warships are fast and have good guns. They can completely defeat the Ming fleet through mobile warfare.
However, there are still twenty-five Europeans in the Ming Dynasty fleet. If the Portuguese are there to contain them, it may not be possible to start a mobile war.
However, even so, Diego had no choice but to immediately order the fleet to attack. He could not be blocked in the port by the Ming army.
On the top of the city, he also started shouting, asking his men, the natives, and some Japanese to quickly defend themselves.
Since the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan began to seclusion, a large number of Japanese people wandered to Southeast Asia and were hired by these Westerners, including the Spanish and Dutch, to become their thugs. On Luzon Island, Japanese were also indispensable among the executioners who massacred Ming people.
At this time, in the city of Manila, the Spaniards were limited by the number of people, and they were all arranged to operate muskets and artillery. The Japanese were archers and the main force in close combat. As for the natives, most of them were doing odd jobs to fill in the gaps. No matter what, the city defense of Manila was armed.
To defend Manila, the most critical thing is whether the naval battle can be won.
Therefore, watching the fleet go out to fight, Diego shouted loudly from the top of the city and encouraged them: "The Governor of Batavia will arrive soon. You have to deal with the Ming fleet. Persevere, and victory will be certain." Belongs to us!”
After panicking for a while, the Dutch warships who had completed their battle preparations and were preparing to follow the Spanish warships, heard this and screamed "Aoao". Obviously, while they were cheering themselves up, they seemed to be responding to Diego: Yes, our Governor, Your Excellency, will be arriving soon. The victory or defeat still depends on us Dutch!
After such an episode, facing an enemy with an absolute advantage in numbers, the Dutch were not afraid even if there were Portuguese warships helping the enemy. After leaving the port, they quickly surpassed the Spanish battleship.
As they passed each other, the Dutch whistled at the Spaniards, their arrogance palpable. Just in terms of momentum, he immediately outshone the Spaniards. He was worthy of being called a sea outlaw, known as a sea coachman.
But at this time, they were fighting side by side. The arrogance of the Dutch also invisibly boosted the morale of the established maritime powers. I saw the Spaniards also shouting one by one, chasing the Dutch warships and facing the huge enemy fleet.
The fleets on both sides are getting closer and closer, so close that you can clearly see the people on the opposite side with a telescope.
At this moment, a Western-style sail warship in the Ming fleet was seen speeding up, surpassing the other warships by one hull. This warship was particularly eye-catching, and both the Dutch and Spanish could not help but notice it. Focus on the ship.
It doesn't matter if you don't look at it. At a glance, all the Dutch people's faces suddenly turned pale.
I saw people all tied up on the Ming army warship along the edge of the ship. No need to look closely, just from the appearance, you can tell that they are Europeans.
The most important thing is that the man tied up in the most conspicuous position on the bow of the ship is known to all the Dutch. It is the long-awaited Governor of Batavia, Anthony.
They may have thought about many possibilities, imagining when the Governor would come to reinforce Manila and fight the Ming army with them. But they never expected that their governor would be tied to the bow of a ship by the Ming army and arrived in Manila.
After recognizing the Governor, it was natural that everyone else also recognized him, and they were all Dutch.
Suddenly, the Dutchmen on the ten Dutch fleets were all shocked and stopped what they were doing, and just stared at the Ming warships in a daze.
The Spaniards didn't know it at first, but the boosted morale allowed them to quickly catch up with the Dutch. Then, based on the past glory of the empire, they were unwilling to lose face in front of these Spanish traitors, and they whistled back to the Dutch one by one.
However, they soon discovered that something was wrong with the Dutch! No matter how you look at it, it looks like it has lost its soul.
At the same time, they also discovered that the most prominent warships on the Ming army's side were all Europeans. Suddenly, they were a little confused, what's going on? Who are those people?
With this idea, some people speculate that the changes in the Dutch may have something to do with the Europeans who were kidnapped. Some were impatient and asked the Dutch directly and loudly.
"What?" The Spaniards were soon shocked. "Those are you Dutch, and even your Governor of Batavia was tied to the bow of the ship by the Ming army?"
Amidst the noise of the Spanish, the Dutch came to their senses. Suddenly, everyone was confused.
His Excellency the Governor is on the opposite ship, which means that His Excellency the Governor has been defeated and reinforcements are impossible. What to do next?
Previously, they fought based on the fearlessness of the "Sea Coachman", but at this time, they found that the Governor was defeated and captured, and most importantly, their leader West was not there either. Faced with this situation, the leaderless group will no longer have the courage it once had.
"Boom boom boom..."
Ming warships and Portuguese warships began bombardment.
Subway bombs shot out one after another and landed on the sea near the Dutch and Spanish warships, stirring up splashes of water.
Although this first round of bombardment did not hit the Dutch warships, it also brought them back to their senses. Some of these Dutch warships were seen hurriedly retreating to the port of Anila, while others were making big turns with full sails, trying to bypass the Ming fleet and escape to the open sea.
Their reaction made the Spaniards immediately feel helpless. More importantly, the important news that the Dutch Governor of Batavia was captured by the Ming army also dealt a heavy blow to their morale. At this time, they did not dare to confront the huge Ming fleet and withdrew to the Manila port.
As soon as they retreated, the Ming army's attack would naturally go more smoothly. He bit the tail of the defeated Dutch and Spanish fleets and killed them.
"Boom boom boom..."
The artillery bombardment was like driving a herd of sheep.
Diego on top of Manila was dumbfounded. How can we go forward to fight properly? There is no battle yet. It is just the first round of artillery bombardment by the Ming army. First, the Dutch fleet collapsed and fled, and then its own fleet also ran away. What on earth is going on?
Without the resistance of the fleet, the pressure on the city of Manila suddenly increased. Diego was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. He quickly redeployed Manila's city defenses and concentrated the defense focus on the port. At the same time, he cursed the Dutch angrily. Isn't it very arrogant? What's up with running faster than a rabbit!
Miaoshuwu
