Guam was officially occupied by the Spanish forty years later. The occupier was coincidentally the Spanish admiral Legazpi who conquered the Philippines. Now, the Spanish rule in the Philippines has been overthrown by the Chinese; now, the Spanish Guam will also fall into the hands of the Chinese.
When the Legazpi expedition set sail on November 21, 1564, it set out from the Port of Nativid in Mexico, not from Spain. By this time, the Spanish Cortez's conquest of Mexico had been completed. 1565 On January 22, 2011, the Legazpi expedition arrived in Guam two months and one day after setting off from Natiwi Port. They landed and held an occupation ceremony. The Kingdom of Spain officially occupied Guam. This Legazpi Later, he conquered the entire Philippines and was the first governor of the Philippines. He was an able administrator and a conqueror. From then on, Guam was under the sovereignty of Spain and was dominated by Spanish law and culture.
After the Spanish occupied Manila on Luzon Island, they built it into the commercial center of the East and the central city of the galleons trade. Guam became a midway supply port for the galleons trade ships crossing the Pacific. Every year, the Spaniards began to trade with the Chinese. A large amount of East Asian goods were obtained, and these goods were all concentrated in Manila, from where they were transported by one or more ships to the port of Acapulco in the Kingdom of Mexico, and then sent to New Spain and European markets.
The Spanish galleon "San Pablo" carried cinnamon from Cebu to Mexico in 1565, starting the galleon trade, until 1815 when the last galleon, the Magellan, left the port of Acapulco and returned to the Philippines. , this trading system in which large sailing ships traveled between the Philippines and Mexico lasted for a total of 250 years. Its longevity is rare in world history. It played an important role in Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines.
The establishment of the galleon trade was the culmination of a long and daring effort by explorers and adventurers in pursuit of the riches of the East. The galleon set out from the Philippines in July every year, carrying the essence of various commodities concentrated in Manila. Sailing northeast to about 38 or 40 degrees north latitude, the westerly wind there will send the ship all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Cape Mendocino on the northern coast of California. After arriving there, the large sailing ship will sail down the coast, about three thousand You can reach the port of Acapulco within about 10 miles of the sea. Because sailing at high latitudes will encounter storms, and because they need to avoid the English and Dutch pirates lurking on the west coast of the Americas, the Spanish authorities later moved the route further south. But the winds there are not as favorable, and as a result ships often have to travel across the Pacific for five months or more before reaching the port of Acapulco.
The waters around Guam were the only route for large sailing trade. If the Spaniards mobilized troops from Mexico in the Americas to attack the Philippines, they would definitely pass through Guam.
Before Yin Feng sent troops to Guam, the Chinese people in the Ming Dynasty had never known Guam. When the shareholders of the board of directors heard that they were going to send troops to the far eastern ocean, they all thought Yin Feng was crazy.
At this time, Guam was nominally under the rule of the Vice-President of Mexico of the Spanish Empire. According to Spanish laws and customs, His Majesty the King appointed the highest official of Guam as the Governor. In some documents, he was called the Mayor. The term of the Governor was generally six years and was appointed by the Madrid court. , his direct boss was the Spanish Governor of the Philippines.
The second level of officials set up by Spain in Guam is the commander. He commands the army and is responsible for other military administration on the island. However, his authority is lower than that of the governor. The governor has higher military power. In addition to being responsible for military administration, the commander sometimes acts as an agent. The governor, governor and commander are all stationed in Hagana, Guam. In addition, there is a garrison, including one captain and 100 soldiers, composed of a mixture of Spaniards and Filipinos. Captain Juan Santa Cruz Si is the commander of this garrison.
Due to its concentrated population, and because it has long been the political and cultural center of Guam, Agana has a regional organization that is very different from other areas on the island. This is the parish system, which is similar to the original Luzon colony. The situation is similar. Each parish includes a group of family members around a church or branch church. Families in this area have the obligation to donate money to maintain the church and obey the spiritual rule of the priest. Each parish holds certain religious ceremonies and holds Belonging to the feast of its patron saint, the parish of San Ignacio is the earliest and most central parish, inhabited by families of the highest class.
The Spaniards originally lived very comfortably on the island. The fall of Luzon a few years ago made Guam an orphan overseas. The interruption of the galleon trade caused the Spaniards on Guam to lose their source of income. These Spanish colonists on the island The survivors have spent the past few years in panic. They also sent ships to Mexico to ask for help, but so far there has been no news.
Pisco, the current Spanish governor of Guam, certainly knows the importance of the island in the Spanish colonial empire. He firmly believes that troops from his country or Mexico will arrive soon.
However, in December 1609, at the beginning of the first month of the lunar calendar in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, Spanish sentries saw a large number of ships appearing on the western sea on the beach, flying the Chinese flag with a blue background that they were most afraid of. They were waiting for the United Nations of China Company expedition fleet.
Fan Tao, deputy commander of the navy, led the battleship Feihu, ten three-masted warships, and twenty Fuchuan-type transport ships, with 100 cannons and 3,000 soldiers. Since the Spaniards learned about the fall of Luzon, they have also been in Guam. Some military preparations were carried out and a small fortress was built in Agana. Unfortunately, there were only 100 regular colonial troops, of which only 50 were Spaniards. The others were unstable Filipino indigenous Pampangas, and some The Mexican Indians, the local indigenous Chamorro, are tall and strong, but they are unruly and have a loose social organization. Although they ostensibly obey the jurisdiction of the Spanish colonists, they are not willing to fight for the Spanish colonists.
The Spanish army immediately abandoned the beaches of Guam and retreated to the fortress of Agana, trying to stand firm and wait for reinforcements. The problem was that Governor Pisco and the commander of the garrison, Captain Juan Santa Cruz, were not aware of the situation of the Chinese army. They didn't know much about the Spanish army's defeat in the Manila War. They only learned about it from sporadic Luzon escapees. They didn't know much about the equipment and organization of the Chinese army. Therefore, their fortresses were simply made of some wood mixed with earth and stone. fortifications; and what they are about to face is more than 100 cannons from the Chinese army.
As the commander of the expeditionary force to Guam, Yan Siqi was shouting and commanding the landing on the Flying Tiger. The fleet commander Fan Tao observed the situation on the island with a telescope and murmured: "The captain is really a god, such a far away ocean. There is such a big island in the sea, how did the ship owner know about it?"
Yan Siqi chuckled: "The ship owner said that we will be the first group of people to come here from China. From now on, this will be the territory of our Zhonghua Company. Further east, there is even wider land."
Fan Tao sighed and said: "The truth is, go further east and see how big this ocean is."
The Dutch guide listened and laughed: "We Dutch have already crossed this ocean. From here all the way east to the continent on the other side, we need to walk on the sea for five months. In these five months There will be no land in sight except the sea and the sky."
Fan Tao nodded: "Yes, the captain also said so. Okay, Brother Yan, your troops have all gone ashore. The next battle is all up to you."
Yan Siqi did not go to Mizukage's residence that night. He heard the news that Mizukage had hanged himself the next morning, and then personally buried the poor girl on the beach of Kagoshima.
Since then, he has been asking Yin Feng to participate in combat, any combat mission.
So, he came to Guam and led 2,000 soldiers of the fifth regiment to land on Guam. This was the first batch of Chinese troops to attack the Mariana Islands in history. It was also the first time that the Chinese armed forces crossed the first island chain and entered the central area of the Pacific. Of course, , this era does not yet have the concept of "the first island chain", this is just Yin Feng's personal obscenity.
When the Spanish Governor Pisco and the garrison commander Juan Santa Cruz saw the surrounding Chinese army pushing dozens of cannons, their brains were short-circuited for a moment and they looked at each other. There were only two cannons in their simple fortress. 80 matchlock guns are unable to fight against the enemies who are armed to the teeth in front of them.
After Yan Siqi led a battalion of soldiers to seize the Spanish Governor's Palace in Agana, churches and other places, local indigenous leaders and chiefs came to see him and gave him gifts to express friendship. Before he could order the establishment of the Good artillery position, the Spanish garrison fortress east of Agana had already raised the white flag and surrendered.
Yan Siqi jumped to his feet and yelled: "Damn, it's useless to worry about the wax people. I haven't officially started the fight yet, why did you surrender?"
The supervisor of the fifth regiment suppressed a smile and said: "Commander Yan, Brother Yan, forget it, the ship owner has spoken in advance and allows the Spaniards to surrender."
Soon, the Spanish colonial army disarmed the whole team. In this way, the Chinese army occupied the entire Guam without firing a single shot. Moreover, Yan Siqi quickly took control of several larger islands in the Mariana Islands within a month. The indigenous property-owning class of Guam is composed of the descendants of the Chamorro nobles. The members of this group are called "higher people". They are unwilling to mix with the rest of the people who are regarded as "lower people". Therefore, Yin Feng's Chinese company occupation forces first cooperated with them. The original indigenous social structure in Guam has not been touched. Yin Feng plans to cooperate with the upper-level indigenous people to stabilize the situation in the occupied area first.
Guam began to garrison 10 two-masted warships and 500 Chinese soldiers. A solid masonry fortress was built on the basis of the original Spanish fortress. It was defended by 500 soldiers from the Chinese Guam garrison camp. If the Spanish Empire attempted To counterattack Luzon, the troops coming from Mexico will definitely pass through Guam. The Chinese Army's Guam garrison will send a warning message to Luzon as soon as possible and work hard to delay the Spanish army's attack.
This news did not make people in Taiwan Port feel anything, but Yin Feng was very excited; he finally made the Chinese warships cross the traditional East Asian waters and penetrate into the center of the Pacific. Next, he plans to send people
To search for the Hawaiian Islands, eventually, he would occupy some strategic points in the Pacific east of Taiwan to ensure the security of the Chinese company's base in Taiwan.
By 1610 (the thirty-eighth year of Wanli), the China United Company had grown into the maritime overlord of East Asia in just seven years; it successively defeated the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese, and also defeated several Ming Dynasty official troops.
After this attack, he successfully negotiated peace with the Ming Dynasty officials and basically stabilized his area of control. Yin Feng's army and fleet have basically controlled China's coastal shipping routes, as well as the Sino-Japanese maritime trade routes, as well as the China-Nanyang continent.
Some maritime transportation lines and some islands on the southeast coast, such as Haitan, Kinmen, Xiamen, Nan'ao, etc., have also been settled and controlled by the China United Company in the name of Huaxing Joint Commercial Hall.
Ryukyu asked the canonization mission to claim that Yin Feng's fleet rescued Ryukyu and helped Ryukyu defeat the Japanese pirate invasion; the Fujian governor had to commend the Taiwan Inspection Department and also warned Yin Feng not to use weapons without authorization.
In fact, at this time, everyone in the imperial court had understood: they could not control the Zhonghua Company at all. The newly appointed governor of Fujian, Chen Zizhen, had already reported to the imperial court, asking the imperial court to send troops to rectify the coastal situation and restart the implementation of the maritime ban policy. Of course, on the surface, he still wanted to
Please comfort Yin Feng.
By this year, both the Western maritime powers, the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate, and the Ming Dynasty officials had to pay attention to the monster-like behemoth that was the China United Company.
Yin Feng and China United Company will usher in a rare period of peace.
However, in 1609, the Netherlands (United Provinces of the North) and the southern provinces controlled by Spain began to armistice. The Dutch and the Spanish signed a treaty and began a peace period known as the "12-year truce period" in history. France and Britain met in The Hague
During the truce, the Netherlands vigorously built its navy, and its maritime power reached its peak. The process of fighting for colonies began on a global scale. In Southeast Asia and East Asia, the Dutch fully operated the Spice Islands and Batavia, and began to challenge China.
United Corporation's dominance in China's overseas trade.
The Dutch first supported the Huatian Company. This Chinese armed maritime merchant group founded by Yuan Jin and Li Zhong was also the only Chinese group in East Asia that could compete with the China United Company. The Dutch adopted the strategy of using China to control China.
Measures have been taken in Batavia and Aceh to successfully seize the territory of the Chinese United Company. As the Dutch escape from the European battlefield, a greater crisis is about to come.
The Spaniards were gradually recovering from the battlefield in Europe and were determined to avenge the humiliation of losing the Philippines. The proposal to recapture Manila had been submitted to the King's case. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before the Spanish colonial army arrived in Manila.
Zhonghua Company will face a greater crisis, but only Yin Feng in the entire Zhonghua Company seems to be aware of the existence of the crisis.