In March in Luzon, the climate was already very hot compared to mainland China, and the thick fog in the early morning still shrouded the plains and swamps between Manila City and the Pasig River.
The convoy blew the conch horn at the camps on the north and south sides of the Pasig River mouth at the same time. A moment later, the marching drums of the entire team and the officers' commands sounded, followed by the strong and orderly footsteps of the infantry of the brigade, and countless The figures swayed rhythmically in the mist.
Yin Feng stood on the temporary fort on the bank of the river and said loudly to all the senior officers present: "We have already agreed on the combat plan, but everyone must remember the four words 'act according to circumstances'; everything is being done according to our prior arrangements. proceed, so we must win,”
"We must win, we must take revenge, we must win,"
All the senior officers were shouting: Zhao Tie, the commander of the first regiment, Yang Tiansheng, the supervisor of the army (formerly a member of Li Dan's maritime business gang, a member of Zheng Zhilong's "Eighteen Zhi" in another time and space), and the commander of the third regiment. Li Xing (Li Dan's distant brother, actually not much related), Supervisor Zeng Xiaofeng (a servant of the Zeng family, Yin Feng redeemed him and made him a free man), the Dutchman Andre, the commander of the artillery battalion, the deputy battalion Commander Li Kuiqi (who was promoted to deputy commander of the artillery battalion because he destroyed the enemy ship Maria with one shot), as well as the leader of the Taiwanese indigenous soldiers, An Heping of the Logistics Department, Li Yue and others, especially one The newly added ally of Luzon Main Island.
After landing, the First Regiment and the Third Regiment of the Guards Infantry sent several detachments to conquer the indigenous tribes. They basically wiped out the Tagalog villages around Manila and the Yi'eluo tribe in the northern mountainous area that was allied with the Chinese. ,,The Chinese armed forces have been insisting on dealing with the Spaniards in the mountains. Now, the troops chasing the retreating Captain Velasco have also reached the city of Manila. One day ago, they had joined forces with Yin Feng's troops sent to conquer the indigenous villages. Da'an, the Chinese leader of Yi'eluo, brought almost all the strong men of the tribe, a total of 800 mountain tribe warriors.
Yin Feng pointed in the direction of Manila and said again: "Let's each lead our teams and see you in Manila."
"Kill," everyone shouted, each returned to his own unit, and commanded the headquarters to march to Manila according to the plan that had been studied for several months.
Yin Feng jumped on the newly tamed Andalusian horse, sat on the saddle fully armed, and watched the soldiers of the brigade walking past him.
Li Lihua put on a white dress and a woolen shawl, reverting to the dress she wore in Manila.
"What are you doing here?" Yin Feng asked with a smile.
"I'll go to Manila with you," Li Lihua's big eyes flashed with determination.
"Nonsense,"
"I want to fight with you, I can't shoot with everyone, but I want to stand with everyone,"
Yin Feng stretched out his hand and pulled Li Lihua onto the horse. Lihua screamed. Yin Feng asked her to sit firmly behind him and laughed: "Come on, follow me and see how we defeat the Spaniards. "
The Andalusian BMW easily carried two people and took off at great speed.
…
Huang Lue's team swam across the Pasig River, and not long after marching westward on the north bank, they met up with the outpost troops of the marching Third Regiment, and were temporarily incorporated into the Third Regiment's battle order. Each of them quickly led the way. After receiving a flintlock rifle and sufficient ammunition, they became the outpost of the third regiment.
The morning fog gradually dispersed, and on the plains west of Manila, two large armies were approaching.
The Spanish army took some time to deploy all its forces in the west of the city. Mainly because the training and discipline of the indigenous soldiers could not keep up with the regular army, the battlefield commander Azquita decided to immediately launch an attack on the Chinese who landed. This is Yin
In the long-awaited duel of "one battle to determine the outcome", Commander-in-Chief Don Fernando has also been asking for an attack. The reason is very simple that the food in Manila can only last less than twenty days.
The Chinese have cut off the supply lines to Manila's inland and seaports, and as time goes by, the Chinese will wipe out everything around Manila, and their advantage will increase day by day. When only the isolated city of Manila is left on Luzon,
At that time, all we can do is wait for the Chinese cannons to smash down the city walls of Manila, or we can just stay in the city and starve to death.
Lieutenant Colonel Azquita had only three options in front of him: starvation, surrender or fighting, and his sense of honor as a professional soldier prompted him to choose the last option.
On the ground with a radius of more than ten miles, nearly 8,000 Chinese troops crossed the river and marched eastward.
On the north bank of the Pasig River is the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment commanded by Li Xing, with a total of 1,000 soldiers directly under the regiment, plus 120 foreign mercenaries commanded by Captain Van Leyden, and one sentry of the artillery battalion with 8 light field guns. On the north bank
The road on the south bank was slightly worse than that on the south bank, so the troops basically marched in columns close to the Pasig River, with a total strength of 1,300 people. The commander of the north road was Li Xing, the commander of the third regiment, and the leader was Luo Xiaocheng, an agent of the Military Intelligence Department.
Chinese troops were also marching on the Pasig River; they were the Sailor Musketeers commanded by Ye Hua, with more than 800 Marines. They were led by Zhang Wei and An Xiaosi, who had been lurking in Manila for a long time and were very familiar with the river. There were hundreds of boats on board.
The sampan, the small boat, and the requisitioned indigenous canoes went upstream towards Manila. The most conspicuous thing originally was a large raft, which the logistics auxiliary soldiers and soldiers spent five days building.
The raft carries one thousand-pound 36-pound cast iron cannon and two 24-pound cannons. It is a mobile fort. The raft is pulled by 100 auxiliary soldiers on each side of the strait and slowly but resolutely advances towards the Manila city defense line. The total strength is 1,000 people.
, Commander Ye Hua.
The south bank of the Pasig River has relatively flat terrain and good road conditions. It is the area where the main force of the Chinese United Company's armed forces marches; the first regiment "Hurry Regiment" has 1,900 infantry soldiers, including 1,600 fusiliers and 300 grenadiers.
(Each person is still issued with a matchlock gun); the two battalions of the third regiment "Wind Regiment" have 1,000 infantry soldiers, including 900 fusiliers and 100 grenadiers. The strength of both regiments is not enough, because
Some sentries have been dispatched to conquer surrounding indigenous villages.
In addition, the army on the South Road is accompanied by 40 light field guns, the main force of the artillery battalion. Almost all the main force of the artillery battalion is here. At the same time, the Zhuangding reserve force is also strengthened as an auxiliary force on the South Road, with about 500 matchlock gunners and spearmen.
, the total strength of the South Road is nearly 4,000.
There is also a team of 60 sharpshooters around Yin Feng, who are affiliated with the Luo Aquan Special Forces; there are also 150 Taiwanese indigenous spearmen (there were originally more than 200 people, and the rest followed the Han troops to conquer the indigenous villages), plus Yan Siqi's students
There are more than 50 soldiers, 800 mountain tribe allies from Da'an, more than 40 black guards led by Yin Feng's own Magaro, and more than 50 guards from Lin Yue. These troops total about 1,100 people, which is what Yin Feng has on hand.
Team up.
Before the fog was completely dissipated by the sun, the Spanish army marched in formation for a quarter of a league, which was just over a mile. However, using a telescope from the Milili fort at the top of the city, one could already see the Chinese brigade. The troops are marching in three directions along the Pasig River.
Governor Aguna, Justice Juan Ferrero, Bishop Benavides and others at the top of the city all gasped: more than thirty years ago, Lin Fengchuan was also a Chinese maritime armed force. The team raided Manila and also divided into three groups to march into Manila in this way.
The center army commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Azquita included 800 musketeers from the Spanish regular army and 3,000 Pampanga indigenous soldiers, including 1,500 indigenous musketeers and 1,500 spearmen. This was the main force of the Spanish army.
To the north of Azquita's headquarters, 120 colonial militiamen, 500 indigenous soldiers, and 300 Japanese volunteers were crossing the river to land on Binondo Island. At this time, Binondo was between the Pasig River and the continuous swamps further north. An island guarding the main route to Manila from the western coast.
Captain Velasco, who was responsible for the defense of Binondo, was stopped by Lieutenant Colonel Azquita who had just come down from the city: "Don Velasco, your army will not have reinforcements after the battle begins. "
Velasco opened his mouth, but Azquita did not allow him to make a statement and immediately said: "I have already observed at the top of the city. The main force of the physiological troops is on the south bank, and a large number of northern bank troops are marching towards Binondo. You will reach the north bank of Binondo in half an hour. You must take advantage of the terrain to stop them with all your strength... You must stop them at all costs from detouring to the north of the royal city, or crossing the river to detour the right wing of our main force,"
Azquita jumped on his horse and said to Captain Velasco with a cold face: "As long as I can defeat the enemy's main force on the south bank, the pressure you are facing will naturally disappear; if I am here... May God bless us. , you must send 200 musketeers to the right wing of my battle line and execute the order immediately,"
The lieutenant colonel turned his horse and fled away with his guards. Captain Velasco opened his mouth, but said nothing. He spat and loudly ordered the surrounding troops: "Quick, cross the river immediately, and hurry up. Time, hurry up, Second Lieutenant Fernandez, take your company and report to Lieutenant Colonel Azquita, hurry up,"
Since the Spaniards could observe the battlefield from the tall walls of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Azquita adjusted his troops in time and concentrated 4,000 men on the southern front, which was inadvertently equivalent to the strength of the Chinese army's first line on the southern route.
However, Lieutenant Colonel Azquita only has 10 cannons on hand, which is not only less than the Chinese, but also does not have the light gun carriages that the Chinese United Company's field artillery has. The more critical problem is that Lieutenant Colonel Azquita has not noticed it yet. That is, he had no reserve troops at hand, and almost all his soldiers went to the front line.
He had just deployed his troops when the humid air and dense fog suddenly dissipated. With the long sound of conch trumpets, about two miles away from the Spanish army, large groups were wearing black uniforms and plate armor. Chinese troops wearing simple helmets and carrying muskets on their shoulders walked out of the thatch in rows.
Azquita observed with a telescope on the horse for a while, and gasped: the outposts of the Chinese troops were all spearmen and musketeers marching in a skirmish line, but behind the skirmish line, they were arranged neatly, The soldiers marched in unison and were well-equipped according to Spanish regular army standards, and everyone was filled with murderous intent.
"No, is this really the Chinese army?" Lieutenant Colonel Azquita participated in the Dutch War a few years ago and fought against the Dutch army. He saw the disciplined and uniform soldiers led by Prince Moritz. The Dutch Army, the Chinese army in front of me, seemed to be marching more uniformly than the Dutch army.
The Chinese's battle line was very wide. From the Pasig River to a tributary of the Pasig River over there, the Chinese troops who came out of thatch one after another formed a long horizontal formation. The number of people was four thousand, but the formation was It is only four rows deep; the first three rows are musketeers, and the last row seems to be auxiliary troops.
Lieutenant Colonel Azquita raised his hand and ordered the troops to temporarily stop advancing.
Captain Piragón, who commanded the left-wing indigenous force of the Spanish colonial army, and the military priest Brother Flores gathered around him: "What's going on? Why did you stop?" Brother Flores asked anxiously: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, The enemy has not yet gathered his troops, so we should launch an attack and defeat him in one fell swoop..."
Azquita handed him the telescope impatiently. At this time, the Spaniards had just begun to use telescopes on the battlefield, so ordinary officials and officers did not have such things.
"Father, use this to take a look. The enemy has already arranged their formation,"
"What, so fast?"
The sun has dispersed the last bit of fog and moisture, and the Chinese array has been arranged. The 1,000-man-wide array is divided into three sections. A large number of artillery troops are setting up artillery positions in front of the infantry array and in the gaps between the arrays.