At noon on March 1st, Lin Youde took away the Indian doll next to the word Cavite on the map and replaced it with a storyteller figurine.
Only two days after the Shenji Battalion entered the war, Pollavixia led the remnants of the Spanish colonial army to retreat eastward towards Laihu Province. Xiang Quyi did not attack towards Laihu Province to completely wipe out the remnants, but chose to continue attacking westward.
, with the support of the US fleet and the Shenji Battalion, Cavite was captured.
The Spanish army had previously besieged Cavite for so long and was unable to recover, mainly because they were reluctant to put Shenji into battle.
In fact, the smaller the scale, the greater the role of the war goddess - this small mainly refers to the total force invested by both sides and the scope of the fighting area. For example, in the war between the United States and Mexico, although the troops invested by both sides were only tens of thousands
People, but the battle area is vast, so the role of Shenji is relatively low: even if Shenji is equipped with amplifying wings, it is impossible for Shenji to fly long distances. In fact, unless necessary, Shenji will generally not be equipped with flying equipment, which is in vain
A waste of mental energy.
But in the Philippines, the entire Luzon Island is only that big, and the distance between Manila and Cavite is terrifyingly close. In a war of this scale, the effect of investing in Shenji will be very good.
But the Spaniards were frightened by the American War of Independence. It was very difficult to replenish the goddess. It would take more than ten years to raise the newly discovered goddess before they can fight. Whether the new goddess can be found depends on God. It's bad luck.
If so, even a country as vast as China may not find a new goddess for several years. Therefore, the Spanish have been reluctant to invest in the goddess, and Governor Pollavisja has been arguing with the domestic nobles in telegrams every day.
Lin Youde didn't have such worries. Good steel should be used on the blade. He couldn't bear to let the child catch the wolf. Besides, Nie Xueqiu looked so fierce. He definitely wouldn't be easily broken in a poor place like the Philippines.
As a result, Nie Xueqiu lived up to Lin Youde's expectations and single-handedly faced the three goddesses of the Independence Army, killing two and capturing one, which frightened the courage of the Filipino monkeys. Then Cavite was taken without any suspense.
After entering Cavite, Xiang Qiyi ordered his troops to loot and loot for three days.
Lin Youde was very clear about Xiang Qiyi's thinking. Laguna Province was relatively poor and had nothing to grab, while Cavite was rich and would become developed if it was occupied.
Although they started the rebellion in the name of justice, Xiang Qiyi's gang was essentially a gangster, and fighting was just like "opening a movie", for the purpose of killing people, setting fires, robbing money, and robbing women.
Lin Youde didn't want his Nanyang Army to become like that. Once he allowed his troops to rob, it would be difficult to restrain them from robbing in the future. Therefore, before conquering Cavite, Lin Youde sent several telegrams in succession, warning Chen Haihui to
Strictly restrain the troops. But Lin Youde didn't know how well it was implemented.
Lin Youde still had the same attitude, doing his best and letting fate do the rest. In this way, he was happy and relaxed.
After lunch, Du Qifeng walked into Lin Youde's study with a new telegram.
"He Yuzhao and Chen Hongda reported that they had expelled the independence forces in San Fernando early this morning and ensured land transportation to Manila."
"Very good, this way Manila Bay will become our inner lake." Lin Youde replaced the Indian figure on the map with a terracotta warrior, so that all important places around Manila Bay were decorated with Chinese-style clay figures, "ordered Chen Haihui
, after the troops rest in place, prepare to withdraw to Helang Yabo together with the Shenji Battalion."
"Withdraw?" Du Qifeng didn't believe his ears.
Even Xiang Qiyi knew that without Chen Haihui's Hailufeng detachment to withstand most of the Spanish attack force, Manila might not be able to defend the arrival of the Shenji Battalion, so he strictly restrained his subordinates not to conflict with the Hailufeng detachment, and even explicitly told
Several confidants: "They are our nobles, give them whatever they want, money, women, and weapons. I am not a good person, but I am not a good person, but I am not vague about repaying my kindness."
Now Lin Youde ignored such a good opportunity to scratch the ground and ordered the Hailufeng detachment to retreat. No wonder Du Qifeng was puzzled.
Lin Youde stared at Du Qifeng for a while, then smiled. He walked up and patted the young man, who was about the same age as him, on the shoulder and said: "A Feng, do you think we have lost money by withdrawing? You, are you going to
Looking further, what we want to make is not just the land money in Cavite."
Du Qifeng still looked doubtful, Lin Youde shook his head and stopped explaining...
Anyway, Du Qifeng will see the results soon, Lin Youde thought with peace of mind.
**
Unlike Manila, which is as hot as a red-hot iron, there was no gunfire in this small town after the 18-star flag was flown. Not only that, the looting and chaos that took place in Manila did not happen again.
What happened here was that the Nanyang Army in gray clothes took over from the colonial authorities and began to manage the city's security.
Lin Kee Trading Company paid for the redemption of most of the physical property that people took away from foreigners in the chaos that night, such as famous paintings and expensive dresses of ladies. As for the vast amount of money and Nanyang military equipment that were taken away from foreigners,
No compensation will be given for reasons that are "difficult to verify".
The foreigners were gathered by the Nanyang Army into the former Spanish barracks for protection. Many soldiers did not understand this. Chen Hongda had to go deep among the soldiers to do ideological work and told the soldiers: The foreigners have eaten so much of our flesh and blood, and now they will be killed.
They are too cheap for them, and after killing them, foreigners will not do business with us; so we keep these foreigners alive in order to exchange them for equal opportunities to do business with foreigners, and then use our Chinese business acumen
Let the foreigners eat them and spit them out twice as much.
Chen Hongda indeed learned the essence of the ideological and political work of the rustic from Lin Youde. There are no big principles. They are all things that the soldiers can see and touch: the backbone of these soldiers were all employees of Linji Trading Company before.
It seemed that Lin Ji could only give such a high salary because he made a lot of money from foreigners, so when Chen Hongda said it, many people nodded. So the problem was solved.
Within a few days, the news that the Nanyang Army was protecting the lives of foreigners spread. As a result, the foreigners hiding in various places began to run towards Langabo and San Fernando, where the eighteen-star flag was flying. Those in Manila who had been robbed were still there.
The remaining foreigners also fled.
Soon the two cities were crowded with foreigners. Because there were so many, the Nanyang Army had to set up refugee camps on the outskirts of the city to accommodate these foreign refugees.
On March 2, He Yuzhao and Chen Hongda received a telegram from Lin Youde, saying that the ministers of various countries in Guangzhou wanted to get the lists of foreign nationals gathered in the two places. So the two led their troops into the refugee camp outside San Fernando.
Set up a registration point and start registering refugee information.
The registration work was carried out in an orderly manner, and foreigners lined up neatly to wait for registration. On both sides were gray-clad soldiers with live ammunition.
He Laoliu was holding a flower trap, and he was supervising his subordinates to maintain order with the air of an officer. The military uniform on his body was rumpled. The old man had been used to wearing sloppy clothes for so many years. It would be nice if he could wash them clean and wear them again. However, there were three things on him.
Everything was polished and polished: first, the pair of Xuanwu collar badges on his collar. The old man polished them carefully with sandpaper, and now they were as bright as if they were plated with silver: in his opinion, these collar badges were like wearing flower feathers.
Naturally, these things must be taken good care of; first, the cap badge on his big cap, Chen Xiucai said, it is a symbol of the spirit of the Nanyang Army. He Laoliu didn't quite understand this spirit, but instinctively felt that it must be very important.
So he also took care of it carefully; the last thing was his flower machine. He Laoliu was always a good hand at handling machines. Now the gun was well oiled and polished to a shine. His subordinates asked several times to touch and hit it.
Gun, but He Laoliu didn't allow it. It was very precious.
At this moment, He Laoliu looked at the foreigners lining up neatly in front of the guns of the Nanyang Army. He sighed in his heart and couldn't help but murmured in a low voice: "I have lived for so many years, and this is the first time I have seen foreigners grovel.
This is really going to change."
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw a new soldier chewing on a meat bun.
"Then who! What's wrong with you? You're on a mission. What kind of buns are you eating?" He Laoliu rushed over and snatched the recruit's buns away.
"Hey, this...it's not a big deal. I'm just watching foreigners queuing up. It's nothing for me to eat a steamed bun. Captain, you're being unreasonable..."
"Insolent. Discipline is combat effectiveness. What kind of soldier do you look like if you break discipline like this? I will keep this bun for three days after I return to the camp. Do you have any more? Take it out if you have it. Don't let me find out then. I want you
nice."
The recruit was still trying to tell the difference, but when he saw that the other soldiers around him were staring at him with cold eyes, he became stunned and softened - He Laoliu gained his prestige by rushing into battle, and it was definitely not something that a recruit could challenge.
.
He Laoliu took the other two meat buns that the recruit took out of his marching bag, left a message, "ask me for them after the mission is over," and turned back to the little bun where he was standing just now.
At this time, he saw a little foreign girl standing outside a tent not far from him.
The little girl was holding a ripped rag doll. Her clothes were dirty, her face was as dark as briquettes, and her long blond hair had changed color. She looked like she hadn't bathed in an unknown number of days.
The little feet were bare and covered with blisters and wounds.
Seeing the little girl's feet, He Laoliu's instinct tightened and his steps slowed down.
Then he found the little girl staring longingly at the bun in his hand.
So He Laoliu knelt down and handed the bun to the little girl: "Here, do you want to eat?"
At first, the little girl looked like a frightened little animal and pushed back a few steps. The bloody and thick footprints she left behind made He Laoliu frown even more tightly.
He Laoliu took out a newspaper for rolling cigarettes from his pocket, put it on the ground, put the buns on it, then stood up and stepped back a few steps. This move seemed useless, but the little girl still stayed where she was, on guard.
But he refused to step forward to get the buns.
At this time, the recruit just complained: "That's my bun..."
"Shut up!" He Laoliu turned around and shouted, took out an Yingyang and threw it over, "I'll buy this bun."
The recruit looked very embarrassed when he caught Ying Yang. He hesitated for a moment, turned the Ying Yang around two or three times, and finally said, "Don't be like this, platoon leader, I was just kidding."
"Huh," He Laoliu curled his lips and turned away, but after thinking about it, he turned back and stretched out his hand to the recruit, "Okay, give me back the ocean!"
Some of the veterans immediately began to snicker, and the sounds of "thumping" caused by suppressed laughter could not be heard.
"Why are you laughing? He said it was a joke. Why are you laughing?"
Soon enough, the little girl took advantage of He Laoliu and his subordinates to talk, and desperately rushed to the buns on the ground, grabbed them and stuffed them into her mouth, even though she had been grabbing them just now
The doll she was sitting on fell to the floor, but she didn't seem to notice.
The little girl was devouring her food, let alone He Laoliu. The other soldiers of the Nanyang Army couldn't help but criticize the foreigners who were standing by and watching.
As He Laoliu looked at it, he felt more and more pitiful for this little foreign girl. He quietly walked around behind the little girl, picked up the unthreaded doll, took out the small sewing kit he always carried with him, and put the doll
The exposed cotton wool was stuffed inside, and the sewing started.
When the little girl finished eating the buns and looked back for the doll, He Laoliu happened to bite off the thread behind the sewing needle.
"How about it? I've sewed it for you. My sewing skills are pretty good."
He Laoliu was quite confident in his needlework skills. He came out to work in the world at the age of seventeen and was proficient in taking care of his own business.
But the little girl didn't speak, she just looked at the repaired doll blankly - in fact, she couldn't speak, she couldn't understand the Chinese with a very strong accent in He Laoliu's place.
Suddenly, the little girl opened her mouth and burst into tears. She stretched out her hands and grabbed the sleeves of He Laoliu's military uniform. Her cry was so loud that the entire refugee camp could almost hear it.
Chen Hongda trotted over and asked loudly: "He Laoliu, what are you doing? You are already a big man, and... what's going on with this kid?"
"Report, Chen Xiucai, this child seems to be starving, and no one is taking care of him."
He Laoliu stood up quickly. He wanted to salute Chen Hongda, but the little girl held his hand tightly and could not move it.
Chen Hongda frowned. He turned around and shouted in English to the foreigners who were lining up to watch, but no one responded. So Chen Hongda changed his name to French and shouted again, but still no one answered.
"Damn it," the great scholar looked helpless, "Do I have to shout in Spanish? But I don't know Spanish..."
At this time, a middle-aged foreigner in the queue spoke in English: "This child got on our carriage on the outskirts of Manila. We didn't see any of her parents, but when we took him in, a manor in the distance was burning, so
…”
"Since I came with you," Chen Hongda asked, "why don't you take care of her by the way?"
"Mr. Officer, I have four children. I have to ensure the livelihood of my family first."
Chen Hongda cursed, and He Laoliu looked back and forth between Bai Yushan and the foreigner, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Chen Xiucai, what did that foreigner say?"
Before Chen Haihui could answer, the little girl began to cough violently. It seemed that she was choking from crying too hard.
He Laoliu hurriedly squatted down again and patted the little girl's back with gentle movements.
Chen Hongda saw this scene, and he suddenly said: "Uncle Liu, this girl's parents are dead, otherwise, you will take care of her?"
"What? My wife is in Guangzhou, and I can't take care of the children."
"It's okay. I'll send a telegram right away and ask Brother Lin to send your wife here."
"But...this..."
"You've always wanted a grandson, haven't you? If you don't want a grandson, you'll want to have a granddaughter first. Just give it a try and enjoy it. That's it."
After Chen Hongda said that, he turned to leave. He Laoliu wanted to argue, but Chen Xiucai said: "What is the duty of a soldier?"
"Report and obey orders."
So He Laoliu got a foreign granddaughter.
The old man sighed, picked up the little girl, and stared at her with a frown, not knowing what he was thinking. The little girl stopped crying and stared at the Chinese old man with her emerald green eyes.
After a while, He Laoliu began to wipe the little girl's face with his sleeves, so the dirt that had been washed away by tears was transferred to He Laoliu's sleeves, revealing the little girl's originally fair and tender skin.
He Laoliu stared at the little girl for a long time, then suddenly giggled "hehehe".
"Don't tell me yet," He Laoliu held up the little girl and spun her around in a circle, "This foreign girl looks so cute. Okay, okay, let's have a granddaughter to hurt me first. Oh, I picked up a beautiful one for free.
Little granddaughter."
I don't know whether it was because he was hugged and coaxed to happiness by He Laoliu, or whether he was simply infected by the old man's simple smile. The little girl who was still in the rain just now also sniffed and grinned.
This scene was captured by a reporter from the Prince of Wales Island Newspaper who came to cover the refugee camp at the time, and was published on the front page of the newspaper, and was named "Smile". This photo was reprinted crazily, and was often paired with
The tragic scenes on the streets of Manila are put together.
In May 1897, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution to stop the supply of weapons and funds to the "mob" defending Manila, and the aid originally planned to be provided was instead received by the Nanyang Army in Langgabo.
But that’s all for another day.
In March 1897, Lin Youde was completely unaware of this episode in Nanyang. He had many things to worry about.