Chapter 817 Motive

"What on earth do these arrogant bastards want to do!" Alcarazo put down the monocular telescope in his hand and couldn't help cursing: "Aren't the damn Haihan people supposed to be causing trouble for the Dutch at this time? Why?

Will they show up here?"

None of the officers he accepted could answer Alcarazo's question. Although they also knew that the Haihan people had set up a large-scale military base on Penghu Island not far away, they never thought about it.

The other party actually took such a direct provocation and sent a fleet to block his door.

Of course, Alcarazo did not foolishly let his ship stay in the port. Instead, he immediately ordered the only three local armed sailing ships to leave the port and go to sea. Of course, Alcarazo did not let them go to sea to escape.

Instead, they are operating in the nearby waters. If the Haihan people try to launch an attack on the city of Salvador on Sheliao Island, then these three armed sailing ships can at least play some role in harassment.

Seeing that it was getting late, the Haihan fleet showed no sign of preparing to leave. Instead, it continued to move slowly from west to east, and finally chose to dock at a small seaside harbor only a thousand meters west of Jilong Port.

Waimushan Fish Port in later generations. This place is backed by mountains and faces the sea, so there is no need to worry about sneak attacks from land. The fleet only left two slightly larger warships to continue cruising outside the harbor, and it seemed that they did not care about the close proximity.

The Spanish stronghold was taken into consideration.

"It's simply arrogant! Send a signal and let our ship come closer!" Alcarazo ordered angrily.

"Sir, do you want to start a war with the Haihan people?" the subordinate asked cautiously.

"What kind of war are you starting? Are you stupid? Didn't you see how many ships the Haihan people came with?" Alcarazo scolded: "They didn't take action directly, maybe they were waiting for us to provide them with this excuse! Tell us.

People, don’t open fire, send someone over first to inquire about their purpose. Maybe they are just passing by..."

Alcarazo himself didn’t believe in such a reason. If he was just passing by, did he need to show force with all the guns open? Stopping overnight in such a sensitive area without saying hello was more of a provocation than a provocation.

Adjustments and preparations before the start of war.

Although the city of El Salvador has both land and sea armies, Alcarazo knows very well that the strength of the garrison here is not as strong as it seems. It may be enough to deal with the primitive indigenous people in the nearby mountains, but to fight an all-out war with evenly matched opponents, El Salvador

However, it is difficult for the city to sustain it for too long. Almost all the combat materials here come from irregular supplies from Manila, and there is not much inventory. Moreover, many of them were seized by Alcarazo and his officers in the name of training consumption and sold quietly.

They went to Ryukyu, Japan and other places to seek personal gain. If a fight really broke out, the defenders would be out of ammunition and food in two or three days at most.

In addition, the local blacksmith responsible for maintaining weapons and equipment has mysteriously disappeared before, which will also affect the army's continued combat capability to a certain extent. There were originally five armed sailing ships stationed locally, but two of them have recently returned to Manila.

The shipyard was undergoing repairs and maintenance, and the combat capability at sea was greatly reduced. Although it was difficult to connect these things with the foreign enemies appearing at the moment, Alcarazo still had a strange feeling in his heart, thinking that the appearance of the Haihan fleet was

The timing was too coincidental. But before Alcarazo could figure out the twists and turns, he heard another news that was hard for him to accept.

Santo Domingo City Governor Gesman, together with hundreds of local garrison and immigrant people, are heading towards Jilong Port by land and are expected to arrive before midnight tonight. Gesman hopes that Alcarazo can prepare in advance

Good boats and food were provided so that the team, which had been hiking in the wilderness for two days, could rest as soon as possible after arriving at their destination.

According to the messenger, the reason why this refugee team was forced to abandon Santo Domingo City was that the Haihan people launched an "irresistible" offensive against the local area. Captain Lopez, the top commander in Santo Domingo City, was also working with

He died in the battle with the enemy. In order to save the lives of the Spaniards in the city, Gusman, the chief of Tamsui, finally chose to hold peace talks with Haihan and let the Haihan people go free on the condition of evacuating the local area. Of course,

Under Gesman's instructions, the messenger will never take the initiative to mention the various strange events that have happened in the city in the past few days. Especially things related to Delgado, it has become an indescribable taboo.

After Alcalazo inquired carefully, he learned that the Haihan people had quietly surrounded the city of Santo Domingo a few days ago, and then launched continuous bombardments. In just three days, the defenders in the city were unable to parry, and they could only

Negotiating peace and abandoning the city. Obviously the Haihan people were not satisfied after capturing the city of Santo Domingo, but immediately turned their guns to the city of Salvador in Jilong Port. Judging from the time mentioned by the messenger, the Haihan people even

After having enough energy to rest and recuperate locally for a day, I set off for Jilong Port, arriving just in tandem with the team retreating from Tamsui River.

"The time calculation is so accurate!" Alcarazo couldn't help but exclaimed. In his opinion, this was undoubtedly a manifestation of the Haihan people's careful planning and meticulous planning.

In fact, when Takahashi Minami let Gesman and others go, he had no intention of seizing the opportunity to attack Jilong Port. Even if Gesman could send the news back to Jiro Port first so that the side could take precautions in advance, it would still be possible.

It will not have much impact on Haihan's attack plan. The arrival times one after the other do have some elements of coincidence. Of course, this explanation will definitely not make Alcarazor believe it.

Fortunately, the coast of Jilong Port is very close to Sheliao Island, not even one mile away. Even if they use a small boat to ferry, it won't take too long for the hundreds of people in Santo Domingo City to return to the island. For

Arrangements were not difficult for Alcarazó.

However, Gesman's team has not yet arrived, and the representative sent to negotiate with the Haihan people has returned first. The person carrying out this task is Alcarazo's distant cousin Fernandez, who also serves as the local maritime armed commander.

.

The news brought back by Fernandez was very discouraging. The Haihan people made it very clear their attitude - they were here to regain the territory belonging to Haihan, and the Spaniards who occupied this area must surrender and evacuate as soon as possible, otherwise they would

There will be war.

"How can this be the land that belongs to Haihan! It was us, the navigators from the Kingdom of Spain who first discovered this place! These shameless people actually want to use such a poor excuse to drive us away!" Alcarazo's reaction was different from the original one.

Gesman's reaction when he heard Takahashi Minami's theory was similar: he couldn't accept it.

"They have about eight to ten armed sailing ships, equipped with much more artillery than our ships. If a war breaks out, we are likely to suffer a loss." Although Fernandez said it more tactfully, Alcarazo could still make it clear.

I could hear the powerlessness in his words.

Alcarazo thought for a while and decided not to draw a conclusion yet. He patted Fernandez on the shoulder and said, "Then let's wait a little longer. Gesman fought against the Haihan people in Tamsui. We should listen to his opinion."

Sure enough, Gesman arrived at the coastline at midnight, and then transferred to a fishing boat to return to the city of Salvador on Sheliao Island. After two days and nights of marching through the jungle, Gesman's appearance at this time could only be described as embarrassed.

Alcarazo was secretly amused by his disgraced look. However, he still took good care of Gesman's mood. He first had someone give him water to wash his face, and he changed into clean clothes before starting the formal meeting.

"What happened in Santo Domingo City?" Alcalazo asked straight to the point: "I heard that there was a fierce firefight in Santo Domingo City. How is the combat effectiveness of the Haihan people?"

"Well... they are really terrible enemies!" Gesman had already thought about the words on the way, and now he began to tell according to his script: "Although we discovered it when they just arrived at the mouth of the Tamsui River.

situation, but because we have no surface armed ships, there is no way to prevent them from sailing into the Tamsui River to complete the landing. I ordered Captain Lopez to set up several lines of defense on land, but the Haihan people’s weapons and equipment are very good, and the number of artillery is also greater than

There were more of us, so we could only fight and retreat, and returned to the castle to defend. During this period, I also tried to send a messenger to ask for help, but the Haihan people's encirclement on the outside was very tight, and our messenger was completely unable to break through.

Go out. In two days, we have used up all our ammunition reserves, and there is no way we can continue to fight with them."

Gesman stopped here and wiped his eyes with some emotion: "Captain Lopez always insisted on commanding the battle on the city wall, but unfortunately on the third day of the war, he was hit by a stray bullet outside the city and died. For

In order to save the lives of the Spanish people in the city as much as possible, I ordered peace talks with the Haihan people. Gentlemen, I think my actions should be regarded as a sinner of the Kingdom of Spain."

"No, no, no, Mr. Gesman, you didn't do anything wrong. If I were in your situation at that time, I would probably make the same choice." Alcarazo was very knowledgeable and did not stop there.

He accused Gesman of surrendering, but instead took the initiative to smooth things over for him: "I think our soldiers must have killed many enemies and avenged Captain Lopez."

"Of course, our soldiers are very brave, and I am proud of their performance!" Gesman answered very naturally, without any hint of guilt: "During the battle, we killed at least dozens of people.

Although the enemy did not achieve the final victory, we have also told them through our performance on the battlefield that the Kingdom of Spain is not an opponent that can be defeated so easily!"

Gesman was not worried that his exaggerated statement would be revealed soon, because he also knew that Alcarazo would not ask the soldiers one by one about the details of the combat process. As for the few officers who knew the ins and outs, he

Li has also formed an offensive and defensive alliance with him. Anyway, if we work together to complete this big lie, not only will we not have to bear the responsibility for the defeat, but we will also have the opportunity to ask for credit from above. No one involved will take the initiative to expose this illusion.

Of course, if Jilong Port can't withstand the pressure and can't beat the Haihan people who are chasing after them, then maybe Gesman and Alcarazo will have to perform the same trick again.

"Mr. Gesman, do you know the real reason why the Haihan people took the initiative to attack us?" Fernandez asked.

When he mentioned this, Gesman was also very angry: "These guys actually claimed that Formosa is their inherent territory of Haihan. It's really crazy! But I can't figure out why they want to go to war with us.

There are few resources here and at the mouth of Tamsui River, and they cannot be said to be strategic locations. Why would they not hesitate to launch a war to seize control of this place?"

"There must be some reason that we don't know yet." Alcalazo was also puzzled by this: "Apart from being used as a transit supply point for us to trade with Ryukyu and Japan, there is actually nothing special about this place.

It is of great significance. The Haihan people have already built a base in Penghu, so it is not of great significance to seize this place. Besides, there is not much land for reclamation here, but the coastal area near Penghu is more suitable for development.

Farmland and plantations are the right ones.”

Even if Alcarazo wanted to break his head, he would never have thought that Haihan could not wait to launch this war because he knew that there were gold mines underground. Of course, if they knew the truth, the Manila authorities might have sent

Ten times as many troops were stationed here. But in any case, the inherent territory promoted by Haihan was nonsense to these Spaniards. It was obvious that the Haihan people did not want to expose their real motives, but

I found an excuse at random, and finally decided to use force to take over the Spanish stronghold.

If they cannot defeat their opponents in Santo Domingo City, they can still retreat to Jilong Port, which will only reduce the radius of their activity area by dozens of miles. But if they cannot defeat their opponents here, the Spaniards will really have no choice but to abandon Taiwan Island and return to

They have reached the place where they came. And this retreat means that the Spanish sphere of influence will be retracted thousands of kilometers to the south. This is probably difficult for the Manila authorities to accept. So even if Alcala

Suo can clearly feel the power of the Haihan people, and he cannot be a coward like Gesman did in Santo Domingo City.

"Gentlemen, it seems that we must prepare for war overnight." Alcalazo announced with a solemn face: "For the glory of the Kingdom of Spain, we must fight these Eastern barbarians to the end!"
Chapter completed!