Santiago is an important Spanish stronghold in the Cagayan region.
Although the Spanish have been operating in Luzon for hundreds of years, the number of Spanish in Luzon is still too small.
Today's Santiago is the only Spanish city in the Cagayan River Basin, and it is also the base for the Spanish garrison in the Cagayan region.
There is a battalion of Spanish troops stationed here, and many of these troops are mercenaries. They are not considered regular Spanish troops, but are just part of the regular army.
In addition, there is a regiment of native troops.
Rodriguez is the commander of this army. He is also the major commander of the Spanish infantry battalion.
He has been here for five years.
The Chinese power has developed very well in the past two years, and the taxes collected by them have also been much higher than before.
Chinese leaders are very knowledgeable. In addition to the normal taxes paid to Manila, Rodriguez can always get many additional benefits.
This allowed his wealth to increase rapidly.
He was ready to return to Spain after two more years to buy a manor and live a life like a master.
Why did the Spanish operate in Luzon for hundreds of years without turning it into their own territory?
It's because the Spaniards came to the colonies to make money.
After they got money, the first thing they thought of was to return to Spain instead of staying in the colonies to develop.
"Santos, our governor has spoken again, and your regiment will continue to attack. It seems that he has tasted the sweetness."
Santos is the leader of the Luzon Servant Army. His mother is an indigenous person and his father is unknown.
But he should be a Spaniard, because he looks a bit like a Spaniard.
Therefore, he got a Spanish name Santos. It is precisely because of this that his status is higher than that of ordinary natives. In addition, he worked harder, so he became the leader of the native infantry regiment and an officer.
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Although the Spaniards also look down on such mixed-race people, after all, these people are half Spanish noble blood, and in short they are better than ordinary natives.
Rodriguez did not like Governor Blandino.
He did not really want to attack these Chinese, because these Chinese were his cash cow, and Blandino now asked him to cut down his own cash cow.
This disrupted his plans and prevented him from planning his return trip to China in advance.
However, he has made a lot of money recently. Although cutting down the money tree will cut off the way to make money in the future, it will make him a lot of money in a short period of time.
"Your Excellency, Commander," Santos shouted.
Although Rodriguez is only a major, which is highly qualified, in the Cagayan area, he is the local emperor, and his subordinates generally call him commander instead of major.
"We lost more than 500 people in our last attack, and we haven't replenished them yet. Now the Chinese are ready. It's not easy to attack their manor," Santos said.
He also hopes to capture more Chinese manors. In this way, his men can also get more benefits.
But the problem is that the current Chinese manor is too difficult to crack.
Because these Chinese were able to trade directly with China, the Spanish arms blockade against the Chinese was completely ineffective.
Nowadays, the Chinese estates have their own armed forces. Not only are the weapons of the militias no worse than theirs, but their training is also no weaker than theirs.
Not to mention, those Chinese are protecting their homeland and have a very determined will to fight.
"Santos, you'd better not raise difficulties at this time. You may not know the character of our new governor. If you show that you are not qualified for your current position, he will replace you without hesitation.
Then you may end up miserable." Rodriguez said coldly.
There was no need for him to have the slightest respect for these mixed-race natives. They were just Spanish dogs.
"I understand, Commander, I know what to do." Santos assured.
Anyway, it would be fine if he was not the one who died. It was none of his business if his subordinates died.
They are just some natives. As long as you spend a little money, you can easily recruit a lot of them.
His regiment originally numbered more than 2,000 people, but now there are only 1,500 left.
Those Chinese estates generally only have a militia of five or six hundred people.
He is still confident that he can attack it. And he still has some artillery in his hands.
December is the best time for the weather on Luzon. These are the only months of the year where the weather is mostly good.
Even the typhoons that are accustomed to visiting Luzon will avoid these months.
At this time in previous years, Chinese estates usually had just completed the second harvest of grain.
During the dry season, because of the long sunshine time, they usually plant some cash crops such as tobacco, corn, cotton, abaca, etc. These are all very popular commodities in China.
Some plantations will also organize young people to go mining. Also because of the weather, mining is relatively easy during this season.
On Luzon Island, it is easy to find various minerals, especially copper mines, as long as you go to the mountainous areas. The northern part of Luzon Island is the main copper producing area.
Santos led his men along the path in the forest. In order to increase his winning rate, he found a young native leader and persuaded him to take his men and follow him to attack the Chinese manor.
In fact, Santos just wrote a lot of bad checks.
Why don't these natives have enough brains to deceive themselves into cannon fodder with just a few words?
"Santos, we have to keep half of the looted property later, okay? And all the food must be given to us. It's useless for your army to take it." Carpio, the leader of the Luzon natives, said.
"No problem, Brother Carpio, we have been friends since childhood, how could I lie to you!" Santos assured, patting his chest.
"Bang" a gunshot rang out, and the unlucky guy at the front of the team fell to the ground.
Santos knew that his team had been discovered. This must be a hidden sentry set up by the Chinese.
"Let's go, speed up, and capture the Chinese manor. Let everyone be as happy as you like. Money, women, and food are all available."
"Seize the time and move forward, don't give these Chinese time to prepare."
The path they were taking now was a path leading to the Wang family plantation. This path was very hidden, and no one would usually keep a lookout.
I didn't expect these Chinese people to be so alert now.
"Captain Wang, the enemy is here. They are native soldiers from Santiago. I recognize them. They are definitely not ordinary natives." The Chinese young man who had just fired the gun had already ran back.
He told Wang Chuanwei about the situation. There were actually six artillery pieces in the enemy's team, which was the biggest threat to their village.
"Okay, you did a good job, now return to the team." Wang Chuanwei said to the sentry.
"Yes, captain, by the way, I just killed a native soldier." the sentry added.
"Okay, I will take credit for you."
In order to encourage the militiamen to kill the enemy, Wang Chuanwei suggested that a reward mechanism be set up within the clan.
Although they all live together as a family, everyone has their own small family after all, and theirs is not completely shared within the clan.
"The first team will set off with me, and the others will guard the first line of defense. Fire five volleys before returning to the fort." Wang Chuanwei ordered.
The fortress they live in is somewhat similar to the earthen buildings in Fujian, which is very effective in preventing ordinary native attacks.
But if the enemy has artillery, it will be troublesome.
So Wang Chuanwei had a bold plan. He already knew that the enemy had artillery.
He was the first to explore the previous scene.
He was thinking about how to deal with the enemy's artillery.
When I was in the military academy, the weapons instructor told everyone that the weakness of the old muzzleloader was its fire door.
All it takes to render an old muzzleloader useless is a hammer and a nail.
So he ordered people to destroy all the roads near the plantation, so as to slow down the advance of enemy artillery.
He now summoned his first team, the most well-trained, to prepare to bypass the enemy's rear and knock out their artillery.
Wang Chuanwei took away not many people, only forty or fifty people.
They didn't take the road and went directly into the woods on the edge.
In the Cagayan area, except for the plantation, which is an open space due to clearing, the other places are all dense forests.
Here, people are cutting down trees at a rate that simply cannot keep up with their growth.
However, Wang Chuanwei and others have lived in this place for generations, so they naturally know how to travel through the jungle.
On the forest path to the side, Santos was walking quickly with his soldiers and the native warriors.
He knew that the Chinese had been warned at this time and must have fled into their earthen buildings with all their strength. They were like a group of rabbits who would hide in their caves when frightened.
It would be best for him to catch up with these people and maybe catch a few lone ones.
The artillery consisting of six artillery pieces was left far behind.
Because many small horizontal ditches were dug on the road, the advance of the artillery carriage was hindered.
Santos didn't want to stop and wait for these artillery. He didn't think the people on the plantation would dare to come out and attack proactively.
In this way, his main force gradually became separated from the artillery carriage behind.
However, there were still dozens of native soldiers guarding the artillery.
At this time, in a ditch more than one meter wide, the gunners were using all their strength to push the sports car.
Because the wheel was stuck in a small ditch, the commander of the artillery team called the soldiers guarding to come over and help.
While everyone was working together to deal with the artillery truck and prepare to push it out.
A group of Chinese militiamen suddenly emerged from the woods on the edge.
They raised their guns and ran forward quickly.
The native soldiers who reacted faster raised their guns and prepared to fight back.
But the militiamen who were already approaching opened fire before them.
Because the shooting was at close range, a large number of the native soldiers fell immediately.
Wang Chuanwei did not ask his men to replenish bullets, but rushed forward with his men.
With their own anger, they stabbed the bayonets of their muskets at the enemy.
After eliminating these guarding native soldiers, the remaining gunners will be much easier to deal with.
Wang Chuanwei knew that the sound of gunfire would definitely attract the enemies in front, so he had to be fast.
I saw a few Chinese militiamen holding hammers and nails moving forward quickly and driving the nails firmly into the fire door.
Before leaving, Wang Chuanwei ordered people to set fire to enemy ammunition trucks.
With a loud "bang", Santos, who was rushing back with others, felt a chill in his heart.
When he and his men arrived at the scene, only the swaying artillery pieces and the big hole in the ground were left.
"Commander, the fire doors of the artillery have been nailed shut." A soldier reported.
"Damn Chinese, we must make them look good." Santos cursed, and then led his men towards the Tulou again.
On the other side, Wang Chuanwei had already passed through the jungle and returned to the first line of defense outside the earth building.
He set up a line of defense outside the tulou to prevent his group from being blocked by the enemy and unable to return.
When they reached the defense line outside the Tulou, the enemy's attack was not violent.
The bodies of some native soldiers were lying in the open space in front of the position.
There were also some natives armed with cold weapons. These people should have been brought back by the native leader.
Brothers, if we fight for a while longer and retreat to the building, the fight will not be easy.
After Wang Chuanwei returned, he found that the attack of the native soldiers was not organized. The people who came up were scattered every time, and the soldiers' attack was not very active.
In such a situation, it is easy to be shot by one's own side.
Their estate has already sent people along the river to call for reinforcements.
As long as Wang Chuanwei can withstand the opponent for a few hours, it will be fine.
Now that the opposing commander was away, Wang Chuanwei felt that this was a good opportunity to weaken the opponent's strength.
Another wave of enemies rushed up. Wang Chuanwei commanded his militiamen to put their muskets on the chest-high low wall in front of them and shoot.
"Brothers, don't be polite. Beat these natives to death. Think of the villagers who were killed in Zhao Jiayan. If these beasts enter our earthen buildings, our families will suffer the same harm."
Wang Chuanwei's words reminded his militiamen of the tragic scene they had seen in Zhao Jiayan before.
They all sped up the movements of their hands. Sometimes when people are excited, they can stimulate their own potential and play a positive role.
Just like now, the militiamen's reloading speed has obviously accelerated a lot.
Wang Chuanwei took a quick look and saw that more than a hundred corpses of natives had fallen in front of the position.
These corpses are the best deterrent to these natives.
The flintlock rifle is still more suitable for fighting on such flat ground.
When shooting downward on a tulou, the shooting accuracy will be greatly affected.
It would be great if there was a breech-loading gun like that of the Renaissance Army.
Wang Chuanwei thought. He used that kind of gun when he was in the military academy. It not only had a long range, but also had a fast rate of fire.
But now that kind of gun is not allowed for takeout.
But now the Renaissance Army can sell rifled guns.
It would also be good if you could buy some rifled guns, so that you could at least hide in the earthen buildings and snipe enemies from a distance.
Tulou have circular outer walls, and the shooting openings on the upper floors can shoot in almost any direction around the tulou.
At this moment, the natives on the opposite side began to line up, and it turned out that Santos was coming back.
He saw his men working hard there and scolded several junior officers.
At this time, he was preventing his natives from forming a line to attack.
The native soldiers have all been trained to line up in line. Although they lined up very slowly, the militiamen on the opposite side were only passively defending, so Santos did not need to rush.
"Brothers, let's retreat." Seeing that the other side was about to launch a massive attack, Wang Chuanwei knew that he could not hold on behind this simple line.
Because they have few people, they are not in a position to engage in shooting with the other side's soldiers.
While Santos was still lining up, he saw the Chinese militiamen behind the low wall turning and running towards the earth building.
"Brothers, let's break down the earthen building in front of us. Inside are women and wealth. Move forward!"
The native soldiers marched forward in loose lines.
The native tribe warriors followed scatteredly behind.
A group of people marched towards the earth building in a dark crowd, looking quite impressive.