On the third day after the Chinese landed on Luzon Island, the Spanish did not attack. Although the colonial troops from the north and the south had begun to gather back, Don Fernando was still waiting for reinforcements from Cebu until the seventh day.
He didn’t know that the Nanyang Chinese pirates supported by Mr. Lin and other Chinese companies had surrounded Cebu. There were more than 80 pirate ships besieging the Spanish fortress in Cebu. Although the Chinese pirates were unable to attack the strong Spanish castle, they did The port and surrounding areas were looted, and the Cebu garrison was forced to ask for help from Manila.
At the port of Manila, the battleship Flying Leopard equipped with 46 cannons and three three-masted sailing ships will return to Taiwan.
Yin Feng was still worried about the safety of the Taiwan base. As soon as the naval battle with the Spanish ended, he set about returning the Fei Bao. Yin Feng repeatedly told the captain of the Fei Bao: Penghu must be defended and the gateway to Taiwan must be defended.
Ye Hua still stayed in Luzon to command the navy fleet. Except for the Fei Zi ship, most of the warships went to attack Cebu. In this way, Luzon Island would be surrounded and blockaded from the sea.
In the past few days, the escort team has dispatched several small troops of a hundred people, and with the cooperation of Taiwanese indigenous auxiliary troops, they have successively captured some of the larger Tagalog indigenous villages around Manila, forcing those larger village alliances to surrender. Pan Hewu's auxiliary troops from Annan State landed on Badaya Beach with the support of Chen Zhongji. In fact, they did not need Chen Zhongji's help. Pan Hewu was very familiar with this area back then, and Chen Zhongji brought him hundreds of matchlock guns and gunpowder. Bullets and other equipment, as well as a group of escort infantry.
In the next few days, Pan and Wu's detachment swept through various indigenous tribes in the Dalun Mountains. The valleys in the mountainous areas were filled with fireworks all day long. Thick smoke rose on both sides of the mountain road where the biological men fled. The indigenous villages that were unwilling to surrender could not stop them. They used muskets and cannons, and tribes who were dissatisfied with the Spaniards allied with the Chinese.
Within a few days, the west and southwest of Luzon were filled with smoke and turmoil. Many churches built by missionaries were burned to the ground. Many missionaries were killed or driven away by the rebellious natives. If they fell into the hands of the Chinese, , basically the fate of being killed.
As the general manager of logistics, An Heping manages grain, ammunition, weapons and equipment, manpower deployment and other matters. He has been very busy these days. He finally took a break at the former Spanish tax collector's residence at the port. Chinese Jesuit missionary Juventus Hui came to the door.
"What's the matter, dear..." An Heping is a Catholic and was baptized in Manila. Many Chinese believers gave up their belief in God after escaping from Manila. An Heping is one of the few escapees from Manila who insists on their religion. He still had great respect for this Chinese missionary. Before he finished speaking, You Wenhui interrupted him anxiously and said: "Many servants of God were killed in their own churches. Do you know this?"
An Heping rubbed his eyes, frowned and said, "What's going on?"
…
Yin Feng was accompanying Li Lihua on the top floor of the Santiago Fort, using binoculars to look at the city of Manila at night.
"Lihua, it's so dark, what can you see?" Yin Feng said helplessly. He was relaxing with Li Lihua. Military intelligence personnel who were scouting under the city of Manila reported that Li Dan's original home in Binondo had been destroyed by fire. It was completely burned down. A Spanish checkpoint now appears on the original ruins. The home where Li Lihua spent her carefree childhood can no longer return.
"I don't care. When the time comes, you will have to use cannons to level this damn Manila city," Li Lihua said angrily.
"Everything is destroyed, where will we live then?"
"Ship owner, Chief Anhe wants to see you," Lin Yue reported outside the tower door.
An Heping took missionary You Wenhui across the river overnight and came to ask Yin Feng to show mercy to the missionaries on Luzon Island.
Yin Feng is a history buff and knows the famous saying of the Macedonian hero Alexander: Occupiers should not get involved in religion. However, he does not believe this. With the occupiers own strong political, military and cultural power, the religious power of the conquered is indeed can be exploited.
"Okay, I ordered our troops not to burn the church, but if the natives who rebelled against the Spaniards want to burn the church, we have no choice. We can't go to war with the natives for this." Yin Feng knew that some people in his Chinese company He is a devout Catholic, so he decided to agree to An Heping's request.
"However, among the list of murderous criminals we listed in Taiwan, Brother Flores, who committed many murders, and Bishop Benavidez, who encouraged the vendetta, must accept punishment,"
An Heping and You Wenhui looked at each other and sighed together.
…
On the seventh day after the Chinese company's convoy landed on Luzon Island, the Spanish troops in southern Luzon Island also returned to Manila. At the same time, the news that Cebu had been captured by Chinese pirates had just reached Manila. One night three days ago, a A mysterious armed force sneaked into Cebu Castle, blew up the main fort and a gunpowder magazine in one fell swoop, opened the castle gate, and Chinese pirates swarmed in, killing almost 80 Spanish regular soldiers and 100 indigenous auxiliary soldiers. , leaving only one indigenous soldier behind, driving him to Manila to report the news.
Those who sneaked into the fortress from the city wall late at night were members of the special team including Luo Aquan and others.
…
There will be no more foreign aid in Manila City.
Almost all Spanish colonists on Luzon Island have been concentrated in Manila.
Don Fernando calculated his total military strength and determined that he could fight the Chinese.
In Manila, there are now 800 Spanish regular troops, 3,500 indigenous auxiliary troops, 120 colonial militiamen, and more than 100 temporarily organized armed slaves. At the same time, Japanese samurai from Nihoncho in the north of Manila are willing to support the Spanish and organized A Japanese troop of 300 men.
The Chinese have done a very thorough job of concealing battlefield intelligence. The Spaniards are still very vague about the number, organization, and equipment of the Chinese Company's landing troops. Lieutenant Colonel Azquita had always been strongly opposed to the attack. However, now the strongholds around Manila They were captured one after another, and rebellions by indigenous tribes continued one after another. Spain's colonial rule in the Philippines had been seriously shaken.
Governor Aguna worriedly called a meeting of all the senior officials of the colony at the Royal Court. At the meeting, the city defense commander reported that the food in Manila was only enough to feed the entire city for another month, and that they had to eat sparingly.
"If we cannot regain the surrounding grain-producing areas and the port, we will not get food from the island, nor will we get food supplies from Nanyang. We will all starve to death in the city. Gentlemen, the result of avoiding a decisive battle will be us. They all starved to death in Manila. It will take another three months at the earliest for the large sailing ship from Mexico to reach Luzon. By then, they will have to collect our bodies."
After the Governor said these words, he glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Azquita. Royal Judge Juan Ferrero only came to Manila to take office last year. At this moment, he asked very distressedly: "Everyone, these physiological armed forces, What the heck, I mean, why don't we go out of town and fight them,"
Don Fernando sneered: "We have been preparing for an attack. Now that we have gathered all the troops on Luzon Island, it is time to attack those physiological men."
"About the enemy's situation..." Captain Velasco, who was in charge of counterinsurgency in the northern region, stood up and said: "They seem to have no confidence in siege. The several attacks in the past few days basically failed to get close to the city wall; although they had many The cannons, but their range is obviously not as good as the cannons on our city walls. I think they want to besiege us and trap us in the Intramuros of Manila,"
Everyone looked at Lieutenant Colonel Azquita. He was recognized as the best commander in the regular army in this colony. Although Don Fernando hated him, in actual combat, he still had to rely on such officers who could really fight. , he asked coldly: "Lieutenant Colonel, what do you think? Now our army, plus the Japanese volunteer troops, already has 5,000 people; there has never been such a powerful army in the Philippine colonies. "
Azquita lowered his head and said in a low voice: "In my opinion, we have to go out of the city to fight them, otherwise we will starve to death in the city. May God bless us, Amen."
On the morning of the eighth day after the Chinese company's armed forces landed on Luzon Island, they came to harass the Chinese in Manila as a routine every day. They were attacked by Spanish infantry near the west gate of the Royal City. Huang Lue, the captain of the first battalion of the first regiment of the escort team, was He immediately noticed that the city gate was open, and then his team was attacked by Spanish soldiers who were ambushing in the nearby grass.
Huang Lue's team followed the Xue army during the surprise attack on Fort Santiago. The second team that rushed into the castle, his men were all well-trained warriors. They immediately gathered together to form a small square formation, while fiercely charging towards the grass. Shooting and retreating, Yin Feng deliberately showed weakness in order to lure the Spaniards to fight, so he ordered them not to bring flintlock guns when they attacked the city, so they used matchlock guns.
The marching drums of the Spanish army rang out from the direction of the city gate, and groups of neatly arranged Spanish troops were leaving the city.
Huang Lue was shocked: "No, the wax people have left the city."
He ordered loudly: "Brothers, fire volley." When the soldiers automatically adjusted their formation, Huang Lue took out the signal fireworks in his arms and lit the fuse; suddenly a ray of red fire shot into the sky, and in the A beautiful red flower exploded in the air. As soon as the salvo ended, Huang Lue and his brothers ran towards the Pasig River, jumped into the river collectively and swam to the other side.
The Spanish soldiers did not pursue, but returned to their own group, formed a strict formation under the city of Manila, and marched slowly.
Yin Feng saw the fireworks signal, straightened his plate armor, put on his helmet, and looked at Zhao Tie, Captain Fan Leiden, and Yan Siqi, An Heping, Mai Xiaoliu, An Xiaosi, etc. who were also wearing armor and were fully armed. Seeing their eyes full of revenge and desire to fight, Chen Zhongji, who had just returned from Badanyan and Dalun Mountain, could not contain his excitement and could not help rubbing his hands.
He said slowly: "Go, brothers, this is the moment we have been waiting for for three years. I will sit in the middle. See you in Manila."