Chapter 215 Sweeping the South China Sea: The Eastern Armada
It finally dawned.
The city of Manila is filled with fire and smoke.
Avoid the bloodstains and corpses on the ground and step on the stone floor.
Looking at the city in front of me.
Smelling the pungent smell of blood and burnt stench.
It's too late.
Xu Huoqing felt that he was late.
If he could have come three to five hours earlier, the number of Han people in the city would not have been reduced from more than 10,000 to just over 3,000, and a total of 7,000 to 8,000 lives would have been lost.
He must bear certain responsibilities.
Even though he had issued an order that all Spanish white adult males in the city should be killed after a short trial, as a way to avenge the dead Han people, he still felt that he had lost a lot. The loss was too heavy.
Even ten lives are not as good as one for the Han people.
"General, there is no need to blame yourself. Those Han merchants in the west of the city have never been of the same mind as us. They have not been affected by the previous massacres. They have always been trusted by the Spaniards. Now they are just paying off their debts for this trust. As for the south of the city
Most of the Han people abandoned their ancestors and converted to Catholicism. They were more loyal to the Spaniards than the merchants. The informers also emerged from among them, and they were even more unjust. Therefore, the real loss of Han people was only more than 2,000."
Xu Yucheng, who knew the local situation best, said this in front of Xu Huoqing, which made him feel a little better.
"Even so, it is because we are not strong enough, and some talented Han people have no choice but to make wrong choices. The owner of the village has said that the weak choose to settle and perish because we, the strong, did not block the darkness for them in time.
Ah, we can't be too harsh on them. After all, the blood shed on them is the blood of the Chinese nation. Their losses are still losses. Only when we are strong enough and block the darkness for them, and they make wrong choices again, then it will be a loss.
Death is not a pity."
Xu Huoqing said with emotion.
"Xu Yucheng, Xu Yucheng!"
At this time, a woman's voice sounded, and a young white woman with an exquisite face was seen running towards this side with her skirt in hand, causing the soldiers guarding Xu Huoqing to raise their guns.
"Sorry, this is a friend of mine. I'm going to talk to her."
Xu Yucheng apologized, then walked up to Christine and said to her in fluent Latin: "Miss Christine, what do you want from me?" - Xu Yucheng is the governor.
Qianjin's friends, they have quite a lot of friendship in private, because Xu Yucheng is also a businessman on the surface, specializing in selling lighters, soaps, shower gels, glass mirrors and other products. Not only does he have a small net worth, but he also pays a lot of taxes.
He often had the opportunity to attend cocktail parties held by the Governor's Mansion, and because he was young, handsome, and humorous, he became a good friend of the Governor's daughter over time.
"If you win this war, what will you do with me?"
Christine held her chest with her hands, looked at him and asked, "Can you arrange a boat to take me back to Spain? Since you often say that you are the most civilized country, you should treat me civilly, right?"
"I'm afraid that won't work."
Xu Yucheng shook his head and said: "Although our army does not kill women and children, it will not be so kind as to send you back. Now, you are prisoners and trophies. How to arrange it depends on the meaning above, but
Please rest assured that you will not be mistreated. As your friend, I will also take care of you and arrange a lighter job for you."
"What? Work? I haven't done any work since I was a child. Those were all done by servants. I don't know how to do it at all. I can't accept such treatment."
Christine shook her head repeatedly, as if she had heard something terrible, then gritted her teeth, as if she had made up her mind, threw herself into Xu Yucheng's arms, squeezed out a charming smile and said: "Xu Yucheng
, you proposed to me last time, I thought about it and decided to agree to your proposal and become your wife."
"But didn't you refuse that time? You also said that you already have a fiancé and will get married next year?"
Xu Yucheng was very surprised. In fact, he proposed that proposal as a joke, because Western women like this, and they want all the best men in the world to propose marriage proposals to prove their charm. At that time, he also used a romantic proposal to coax
I just wanted to make her happy, I didn't even expect to get her consent.
"I don't love my fiancé anymore, I just want to be with you now." Christine hugged the man tighter.
"Wait a minute, let go quickly, I'll ask General Xu to see if he agrees."
After a lot of effort, Xu Yucheng broke away from the woman's entanglement, then ran to Xu Huoqing and explained the situation.
Finally, he said with a bitter face: "General, although this woman is beautiful, she is a master who has nothing to do with beauty and needs to be taken care of. I can't handle it. It's better to arrange a job for her that is not tiring at all, or find a way to do it."
Just send her back."
"Hahaha~"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Xu Huoqing and others burst out laughing, leaning forward and backward with laughter.
"You'd better enjoy this foreign woman."
Xu Huoqing patted him on the shoulder and said: "This city of Manila has been severely damaged, and the task of reconstruction is very large. Women and children have to work, and they all have to support themselves through labor. It is really impossible to support the idle people. If you are kind,
, just take this foreign woman away, as long as you and I are willing, we can turn a blind eye." Xu Huoqing gave a look that every man would understand.
"General, Xujiazhuang's "Marriage Law" stipulates that citizens without a certain title can only have one husband and one wife. I can take her as a concubine, but it is really not feasible to be a wife. I want to find a virtuous, gentle and capable wife, preferably a Han
Girl, she does not meet the standards of a good wife." Xu Huoqing said with a bitter face.
"You bastard, she's obviously an orphan. She's good to eat, but she's still picking and choosing. Don't talk nonsense. Are you going to accept her? If not, I'll introduce her to other bachelors. She looks like this.
, I'm afraid there are many people who want it, but you still dare to pick?" Xu Huoqing scolded him with a smile.
"I, I...can't take her in?"
Helpless, Xu Yucheng had no choice but to put on a bitter face, walked up to the nervous Christine, and told the good news that he could take her away. Christine suddenly beamed with joy.
The man kissed her on the face again and again.
This scene.
Xu Huoqing and others laughed when they saw it again, and at the same time they all secretly decided: Although some foreign women are young, beautiful, and very attractive, they should try not to consider them whether it is marrying a wife or taking a concubine, because almost any job is difficult.
If you don't do it, you will just have beautiful vases one after another. When you get older, they will become ugly vases, and you have to spend money to hire people to take care of them. This is too low cost performance, or even too luxurious. Don't try it if you don't have a huge fortune.
…
The other side.
Java Island, Batavia, the Eastern headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, this city has also entered a state of high alert at this moment.
In the natural bay port to the north, there are a total of eighteen Galen ships and fifty armed merchant ships parked neatly.
There are also nearly 3,000 Dutch soldiers stationed in the city of Batavia, as well as more than 4,000 black mercenaries from Britain, Prussia, Switzerland, Japan and Africa, with a total strength of nearly 8,000.
But not enough.
After learning about the failure of the Quanzhou Bay naval battle and the rapid elimination of the colonial strongholds on Taiwan Island, senior executives of the Dutch East India Company believed that the East's military strength and warships were seriously insufficient. If they did not increase investment immediately, the company's
The Eastern Strategy will end in complete failure.
So the day is the 12th and the 20th.
After a long voyage of ten months.
Reinforcements from the Netherlands arrived, and the largest wave of maritime reinforcements finally arrived.
This is a temporary special fleet.
Led by the renowned naval commander Count Van Galen.
It brought thirty of the latest Galenic warships, carrying a total of 900 artillery pieces, and nearly 5,000 elite sailors and gunners.
In addition to the warships and armed merchant ships already in the port, the total number of ships is close to one hundred, the total number of artillery is nearly 2,000, and the total number of personnel is close to 20,000.
The population of the Netherlands is only about two million, and the population gathered in Batavia at this moment is equivalent to 1%.
As a sea coachman, the Netherlands owned more than 10,000 merchant ships and warships, and this time Batavia also gathered 1% of the number.
Although it is only 1%.
However, the Dutch East India Company was just a joint-stock commercial company jointly founded by merchants and nobles and managed by a board of directors. It was not a national institution and pursued pure commercial interests. It must be responsible for all shareholders and allow room for error.
Very small.
Inside the Governor's Palace.
"General Galen, regarding the naval fleet of Xujiazhuang in the Ming Dynasty, are you sure of victory? Our investment this time is too great. If we cannot win, the company will fall into a huge crisis and may even go bankrupt. If we don't
Be sure, I suggest abandoning Batavia and shrinking the power." In the office, the newly appointed governor Anthony Van Diemen, a middle-aged man with shrewd eyes, said to Count Van Galen in front of him.
"I will definitely defeat my opponent this time!"
Van Galen said confidently: "I have already thought of tactics to deal with those sailless clippers, and thought of tactics to restrain those rapid-fire cannons, and as long as they enter the trap I set, no matter what
No matter how powerful they are, they will all become my defeat! I will also find a way to capture a sailless clipper and bring it back to the country to imitate it. Maybe it won't be long before we will also have such clippers and cannons.
"
"What if your tactics don't work?"
Governor Anthony asked, so far, they have collected very little information about Xujiazhuang's sailless express ship, and they don't know how to effectively deal with it. In many places, they can only guess. They can only make a rough estimate: a sailless express ship
The combat effectiveness of the ship is equivalent to ten Galenic ships.
"What I brought is a powerful armada!"
Van Galen said loudly: "If even I lose, it will be useless to withdraw the company's assets anywhere. Although Xujiazhuang is powerful and some of the products they manufacture are very powerful, they are not gods and will always have weaknesses, and
Nearly a hundred ships can't defeat a dozen of them, then God must have abandoned us, and both the company and the kingdom will be destroyed... I will never allow such a thing to happen, even if it costs my life."
"Okay, I wish your invincible fleet a triumphant victory."
Governor Anthony nodded. Even though he was filled with strong uneasiness, he could only express his blessing and support to Count Van Galen, and sincerely hoped that he would win. This chapter has been completed!