Andrade couldn't laugh. A few minutes ago, he was sitting on the comfortable sofa in the aft cabin, sipping a refreshing and delicious Mojito. He thanked the Count for providing such a comfortable way to send him to the shipyard, eliminating the need to walk on the promenade.
It was painful to drive bumpily for most of the day. However, the count shifted the topic of conversation to the Malay bandits who were working for the Dutch and threatening the security of the colony.
The more he spoke, the more he became emotionally agitated and filled with righteous indignation, "You know what I would do if I met these strangers? I would crush them like bed bugs!" Andrade couldn't even say a word before he was dragged out of the cabin by the count.
We got on the deck. The ship's bell rang sharply, and a group of sailors rushed up from under the deck hatch like a wave. Their uniforms were neat and tidy, and although their movements were fast, they were not messy at all. The captain looked Japanese or Chinese.
Yelling a strange language to give orders, a moment later, the short gun on the bow had unloaded its gun jacket and loaded ammunition. The gunner shook the turntable, and with a roar, the stubby gun body suddenly retreated along the gun frame, and the blooming cannonballs hit the calm.
The waves rolled on the sea, as if it were boiling.
From the time the ship's bell rang to the time the cannon was ejected, Andrade estimated that there was only two or three minutes. The count held a pocket watch much smaller and more delicate than the Nuremberg egg. The financial officer followed his gaze and raised his neck to look over.
, part of the sail has fallen down, revealing the mast and huge mast reinforced with iron hoops. There are now armed sailors standing inside, holding muskets, ready to snipe any target that may appear.
Before the Esmeralda returned from Bopu recently, it had taken the opportunity to undergo maintenance at the Naval Shipyard to replace its gun equipment. The 68-pound carronade gun on the bow of the ship was replaced by a lighter 48-pound gun, saving a lot of weight.
Used to add Type 3 and 4 machine guns to the two battle masts. They replaced typewriters. These weapons were either removed and hidden in the bottom cabin according to Weiss's order, or they were tightly wrapped under the oilcloth cannon cover. Even if it was only 48 pounds
A live shot from a carroner cannon was enough to make a shocking noise. A group of sailboats that were originally heading in front of the yacht were frightened by the shelling. They panicked and turned around, heading straight to hide in the depths of Manila Bay. Weiss discovered
The ships were of different sizes, the largest seemed to be between 100 and 200 tons, and they were all Junk ships, with European-style square sails and triangle sails hung on the masts. Looking through the telescope, there was a white and red sail floating on the top of the masts.
Burgundy cross flag.
"What a strange ship, it looks so interesting." The count handed his telescope to the treasurer.
"That's Mr. Delgado's ship," Andrade said. "He always buys old ships from the Chinese that are about to be scrapped, and one-off trading ships that have never been dried.
Made of lumber, it can be loaded and shipped with a little repair, which is very cheap. If you don't count the cargo that sank to the bottom of the sea along with the rotten planks. A few years ago, Mr. Delgado was the richest man in the colony.
Shipowner, but now he is far worse than Mr. Sanavria."
"What a wonderful businessman, so what kind of treasure will be loaded on his ship?"
"Let me think about it, a ship like this can take a short sea route between the islands." The financial officer raised the telescope again: "It seems to be sailing from the Visayas. The ship should be loaded with corn."
"corn?"
"His Majesty the Governor's order," Andrade made a helpless gesture, "he ordered the transportation of corn and sweet potatoes produced there from the Visayas, and even prepared to exchange the rice grown in Luzon for these things."
"Hell, if I gave the soldiers corn instead of bread and rice for dinner, they would rebel. Corn, sweet potatoes, those things are only good for horse feed."
Andrade sincerely agreed. "This approach is terrible, really. Now we have to send ships to Siam or Malacca to purchase rice. We also have to issue rations to the Japanese, and they are determined not to eat.
Of corn.”
"Are there many Japanese here? Mr. Salamanca still needs to care about their food rations?" The Count responded casually, put down his binoculars, and called to the orderly: "Bring up the drinks."
"At most, there were more than 3,000 people. With their families, they gathered in several large villages and towns near Manila. They were all devout Christians. Thirty years ago, they formed a volunteer team to fight alongside His Majesty the King's soldiers.
, to quell the great riot caused by the Chinese, it was really terrifying."
"I'm afraid these good people are becoming less and less. The Emperor of Japan and the ruling general have issued an edict prohibiting people from leaving the country." The count poured rum mixed with sugar and juice into the cup with his own hands, and the financial officer took a few sips.
He drank it all and smacked his lips with satisfaction.
"There are still more than half of the people who can serve. Life is not good for these poor believers. They can only make a living by serving as soldiers-some of them have to work for cheese eaters or other weirdos who know what."
The believers go to serve as soldiers." Andrade held the empty glass and watched eagerly to see if anyone could pour him another glass of wine. The count's attendant immediately complied with his request.
"Dear Count, you must know that there are less than 700 European soldiers in the whole of Manila. Every year we spend money to recruit poor people to enrich the army. But half of them have to be thrown into the sea on the way, and the rest will be sent to various duty stations after arriving at each duty station.
If half of them died, the remaining people would be tortured by fever and dysentery and be unable to fight. No company has ever been able to reach full strength - let alone three companies that must be dispatched to Baguio to guard the gold mines.
Only by digging out the gold can more troops be recruited. At the same time, more soldiers are needed to guard the arsenals and shipyards. Lord Salamanca believes that the only way at present is to recruit Japanese soldiers again, not as volunteers, but in the colonial army.
Form a new company and train them with firearms and equipment."
"Even if they are recruited into the army, quite a few of them are already too old to serve as soldiers."
"Yes, you are right. But the Governor has no choice. There are only so many Japanese in the Philippines. Even if we recruit all healthy males among them, it will be difficult to expand enough troops." Ander.
Ladd sighed, "And we have competition."
"Competitor?"
"The Australian pirates on Hainan Island, their agents are recruiting Japanese people throughout Asia to work as mercenaries for them - the pay is good. There are even Japanese people in the Philippines who are defecting to them."
"This is so abominable!"
"Who says otherwise? The Australian pirates are so powerful and wealthy that they are so ambitious that they want to invade China." Andrade looked worried, "I heard that they have killed the pirate king of China.
Annexed his fleet. God bless, fortunately they were only satisfied with plundering a few Galen ships in the Philippines, instead of running to Manila to try to plunder the colony. Otherwise, I am afraid we will not have enough time to raise resources to train a new army."
"I believe that His Highness the Governor will hand over the task of training the new army to the best Japanese immigrants in Manila."
"No, it's not Paul. Lord Salamanca never regarded that man as a Japanese, but as a messenger and savior sent by God. As soon as he came, the financial and security crises facing the colony were like ice and snow under the scorching sun.
He just disappeared like that." Andrade leaned against the gunwale, trying to stabilize his body on the deck that began to shake as the wind intensified. The alcohol seemed to have begun to take effect: "And Mr. Paul was very busy, he didn't
He worked day and night, had food and accommodation in the factory, and kept making requests to the governor for more craftsmen, more coolies, more iron, copper and wood, and more saltpeter. But he asked for so much
What results will he show us in the future? The rockets and explosive shells produced will be exhausted in one expedition. At present, each spiral rifled cannon can only be allocated two conical shells on average. Of course, Mr. Paul will face the Saint
As if by oath, newer machines are about to be completed, and new cannonballs will be manufactured by the hundreds, as fast as mushrooms pop up in the woods after a rain! If only the gold dug out of Baguio could buy so many cannonballs.
"
"Then the person responsible for supervising and commanding the Japanese company is"
"It's Captain Lucky Pilar. Oh, help!"
The Cavite Peninsula is already in sight. Beyond the blue-black rocks, you can see the scattered masts behind the cape and the sails that have not yet been lowered. For many large ships with deep drafts that cannot sail into the Pasig River, Canacho behind the cape
The bay is a good sheltered anchorage. The wind direction began to change at this time, getting stronger and stronger. The yacht was taken away from its usual route by the strong wind. The helmsman turned a compass point to the windward direction in order to avoid a cluster of rocks in the channel. Who
What I didn't expect was that a large four-masted galenic ship suddenly emerged from behind the headland. The Esmeralda made a half-circle to avoid the tragedy of collision. If the count's sailors hadn't reacted in time,
Without him, Andrade would inevitably roll on the sharply tilted deck, which would be too degrading for a colonial official who was born in a peninsula noble family.
"Hey, assholes, what do they want?"
A cloud of white smoke erupted from the stern of the ship, and the rumble of cannons echoed on the rolling water.
"They were firing empty cannons. They probably wanted to warn us to stay away." Andrade was helped by the sailor and came over, finding the count staring at the Galen ship. The yellow and red burgundy cross hung on the top of its mast.
The flag was dazzling and dazzling, larger than the other ships. The other flag was exaggeratedly embroidered with a griffon perched on the castle.
"It's the coat of arms of Don Sanabria," Andrade deliberately avoided the word "coat of arms." "This is not the Mercury, it's just one of his merchant ships, probably from Goa or Cote.
Returned from the Romandel Coast." (To be continued...)