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The Sultan of Sulu was shocked, and sent a fast boat to catch up with the Chinese fleet. He stood on the boat and approached and shouted: "My lord is willing to submit, my lord is willing to submit!"

The aborigines in northern Luzon were instigated by China, Brunei and Sulu were also instigated, and the Netherlands led the aborigines to besiege Cebu Island... After a series of operations, the Spaniards were completely surrounded, but the governor was powerless to resist, even the fleet. Don't dare to dispatch casually.

Chapter 495 [Combined Forces in Manila Bay]

A colonial history is a history of war.

Spain occupied Manila, and the Netherlands occupied Batavia. They were all played over and over again.

From the early years of Wanli to Chongzhen's ascension to the throne, not only the aboriginals in northern Luzon rose up to rebel, but also the aboriginals in the southern Philippine Islands also broke out in uprising in full swing.The Filipino Chinese participated in almost the whole process, because their tax payable was much higher than that of the local aborigines!

Every time an uprising is faced, if the scale is too large, Spain's response method is to indent Manila's defense.

Efforts were made to procrastinate until internal conflicts among the insurgents were aroused. During this period, envoys were actively sent to provoke.Anyway, the sources of the insurgents are various, and opportunities will definitely be found, and traitors will definitely emerge.Even the leaders of the rebel army turned against each other directly, because there were a lot of leaders.

When the insurgents fought among themselves or withdrew, Spain took the opportunity to launch a counter-offensive, brutally suppressed and massacred the rebels.

It was the same this time, the Philippine governor stood still and even took back the fleet, determined to defend the city of Manila.

"Master, a letter from the Dutchman!"

Wang Hui led troops to successfully capture Turtle Shell City, and the navy led by Zheng Zhilong also moved over and used it as a military base.

Fuzhou, Zhuluo (Taiwan), Hawksbill (Luzon), the three major logistics centers are connected in a line, and a large number of maritime merchants are transferring materials to prepare for the next long-term siege.

Hawksbill City used to be the royal city of a small country. It had been abandoned for more than 100 years. Later, it became a Chinese town and was massacred by the Philippines twice.

Zheng Zhilong opened the letter, but it was from Peter, the Dutch commander.

"How?" Wang Hui asked.

Zheng Zhilong handed over the letter: "The Netherlands is attacking Cebu. There are only about 100 Spanish defenders in the castle, but there are at least 2000 indigenous soldiers assisting in the defense. Many indigenous soldiers on Cebu Island are also resisting Spain, about 800 or so. The Kirishima natives helped Holland fight the war."

Wang Hui laughed and said, "It's just that we are honest, and we actually dispatched 3500 soldiers. Spain and the Netherlands have only a few hundred soldiers, but they are pulling tens of thousands of natives to fight."

"Has the area around Tortoiseshell City been cleaned up?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

Wang Hui replied: "The aborigines who participated in the massacre of the Han people have been completely wiped out. All men, women, old and children were killed. A total of more than 1300 people were killed."

The Datong army killed all men, women, old and young around Tortoiseshell City, don't you think it's too cruel?

A few months ago, even aboriginal children carried sticks and followed their elders to massacre Chinese.The same is true for old people and women. There are almost no innocent people, and those who can walk are murderers!

Wang Hui added: "The aborigines in the mountains are all tribes close to the Chinese. I heard from those sea merchants that the pirate Lin Feng hid in the mountains after his defeat and was accepted by the aborigines in the mountains. Many Fujian remnants , married and had children with the aborigines in the mountains, and taught the headhunters in the mountains to farm and weave. This time, hundreds of Han people fled into the mountains and were protected by the headhunters. I have sent troops to pick them up from the mountains.”

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help sighing: "The headhunters who drink blood and kill for pleasure are actually close to the Han people and even protect the Han people. Who will believe this?"

Two days later, Guike, the missionary official of the expeditionary force, brought the surviving Han Chinese and headhunters to Tortoiseshell City.

There are only more than 300 surviving Han people here, all of them are dressed in rags, and some even wear aboriginal fur clothes.When they saw Zheng Zhilong and Wang Hui, they immediately knelt down collectively, and then wailed and begged for revenge.

Fang Guike replied: "Marshal Zheng, General Wang, and the Han people who hid in the mountains successfully brought back 317 people. There are also 285 indigenous warriors who are willing to fight with us."

Wang Hui nodded and smiled: "Thanks for your hard work."

Fang Guike also said: "Some headhunters in the mountains are also reasonable. For example, the headhunters here are very good. As long as the headhunters are willing to communicate, I think they can be educated, and we can't just treat them as savages. This is the case in Luzon, and in Taiwan. The same is true, we should try to educate those headhunters."

"This matter, your Majesty, you yourself." Wang Hui was noncommittal.

Zheng Zhilong said: "Everything is ready, let's march to Manila."

……

There are Spanish villages and towns along the coast, but the Datong Army is too lazy to attack them.

In these Spanish villages and towns, the number of Spaniards is actually very small.Just some planters, the chiefs of the villages and towns must be missionaries, and every missionary must be a big landowner!

Spain's Philippine colony is also dubbed the "Church Empire".

There are no local officials, a missionary manages a piece.The archbishop of Manila can even impeach the governor and act as the governor's affairs when the governor is absent.

Hawksbill City is near Dagupan, less than 200 kilometers away from Manila.

But one is located in Lingayen Bay, and the other is located in Manila Bay, and you have to go around slowly by sea, because there are so many mountains and forests that it is difficult to pass by land.

Before the Chinese fleet sailed into Manila Bay, Corregidor Island had already ignited the flames.

Corregidor Island is located at the throat of Manila Bay, where there are lighthouses, beacon towers, forts and castles.

"Order to bombard the fort!" Zheng Zhilong said.

48 warships of the Datong Navy lined up and bombarded the forts on the island.

At the same time, the small boat was lowered from the ship, and under the cover of the firepower of the battleship, the expeditionary soldiers rowed the small boat and tried to land and fight.

Under the tilt of the artillery fire, the Spanish defenders quickly abandoned the shore forts and all shrank to the small castle on the island.It was the kind of low bastion again, it was difficult for artillery to hit, and the army could only slowly capture it.

There are also turrets in the castle, more than a dozen city defense guns, firing continuously at the landing troops.

Wang Hui, who led the troops to land, suffered from headaches. In just over ten minutes, two people from the Datong Army were bombarded to death, and more than 30 people from the indigenous army were bombarded to death.This has just landed, and the attack on the castle has not yet begun.

Before the expedition, Wang Hui received special training, mainly learning how to attack European castles.

Three words: dig tunnels!

[-] Datong troops and nearly [-] indigenous troops were temporarily transferred to dig trenches.

They took out the hoes and shovels they had prepared long ago, and faced the shells fired by the castle, they first dug a trench to hide in.After digging this defensive trench, they suffered another loss, and more than 60 people were killed by the castle artillery.

"Damn it, after the castle was taken down, all the red-haired ghosts inside were killed!"

Lin Ruyi was cursing and doing earthworks. He was a soldier in the first year of the Republic of China.As a result of three years of elementary school and a new type of education, he was promoted very quickly, and he was promoted to the head of the sentry (commanding one hundred soldiers) in less than two years.

This guy is digging trenches with the soldiers. After the outer defensive trenches are dug, they dig diagonally towards the castle, using a "Z" shaped trench to approach the castle bit by bit.

"Mr. Whistle, we can't dig ahead." The soldier still complained.

Lin Ruyi said: "Dig slowly if you can't dig."

There is a sandy beach by the sea, and the digging speed is very fast, but the stones are encountered before digging far.

For a whole day, the trenches only advanced more than 20 meters.

The Spaniards in the castle were also very helpless. Since the Chinese soldiers hid in the trenches, it would be a waste of gunpowder if they fired again.

"Where did the red-haired ghost's warship go?"

Zheng Zhilong stood in the captain's room on the ship and looked around with binoculars, but there was no sign of the Spanish fleet.

A big battle, boring and boring, is digging and digging from beginning to end.

After digging for four days in a row, the Dutch fleet came, as did the Sulu and Brunei fleets. The armies of several countries gathered in Manila Bay, but they still did not see the Spanish fleet.

Peter, the commander of the Dutch army, came to Zheng Zhilong's flagship in a small boat.

"Meet you again, Zheng." Peter greeted with a smile, and he seemed to be an old acquaintance.

Zheng Zhilong asked, "How about the south?"

Peter said: "Zamboanga has been captured, but Cebu has not yet been captured. I left 50 soldiers and brought [-] natives to continue to besiege the castle in Cebu."

Zamboanga is in the west of Mindanao, which was once the territory of the Sulu Kingdom.Nine years ago, Spain sent troops to attack Sulu, looted Zamboanga, burned the city, and then occupied and rebuilt it.

There were only so many Spanish colonists, and with the continuous expansion, troops had to be garrisoned.

There are 200 stationed in places with many places, and 50 stationed in places with few places, which quickly dilutes the strength of Manila.Today, the number of Spanish defenders in Manila is less than 300.

Even if Manila cannot be captured, as long as it can gain a firm foothold in Zamboanga, the Dutch East India Company will also make money, because Zamboanga is an important port in the southern Philippines!

The two chatted for a while, and Peter said, "I'm going to help my Chinese friends attack the castle."

The guy left after speaking, landed in a small boat, hid in a trench and joined the Datong army.

He said he was here to help, but after Peter entered the trench, he focused on observing the Datong Army.Seeing the equipment of the Datong Army and asking that there were 3500 people coming, Peter was a little nervous.

The two sides have not negotiated a spoils sharing agreement, and it is unknown who owns Manila.

And Peter only led 800 troops to the expedition, and left 50 in Cebu Island. How did he win the 3500 Datong Army?

Peter took out a pen and paper on the spot, wrote a letter to the governor of Batavia, and sent someone to send it back immediately by boat.The content is very simple: the Dutch Army cannot fight the Chinese Army.If you want to rob Manila, you must block it with warships for a long time.

In fact, Governor Batavia also has its own bottom line for negotiations.

That is, the entire island of Luzon was given to China, and the Netherlands occupied the southern islands of the Philippines: Mindanao, Cebu, etc.

As long as the Netherlands occupies those islands, it is equivalent to controlling the northern spice waterway and the necessary place from the Americas to Southeast Asia.

On the eighth day of trenching, a warship came from the south.

"Sir, the Spanish fleet is in the south and attacked our fleet and army in Cebu Island! Four warships have been lost, and the army...has collapsed!"

It doesn't matter if the army collapses, anyway, only 50 people are left, and the lives of thousands of native soldiers are none of the business of the Dutch colonists?

It is the loss of four warships, which makes the Dutch very painful.

When the Spanish fleet came in mighty force, both Zheng Zhilong and Peter understood what was going on.

The Pacific route has resumed, and the Spanish galleons in America are back!

A total of six Spanish galleons, the largest displacement of 1200 tons, the smallest displacement of 500 tons.In addition, there are 16 small warships and armed merchant ships.

A naval battle is about to break out, and a 500-ton warship can deal with it, but a larger warship is completely blind.

Whether it is the Dutch Navy or the Chinese Navy, there is nothing they can do about this kind of sailing ship!

Chapter 496 [Manila Naval Battle]

The Manila galleon is actually a Spanish galleon.

Seventy years ago, during the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty, Spain opened the route from America to East Asia.

Silk and porcelain from China, cotton cloth and precious stones from India were transported to Manila by merchants from various countries, and sold directly to the Americas by galleons.Silver, cocoa, and wool from the Americas were transported to Manila by galleons and exchanged for various Asian goods.

Zhang Juzheng's tax reform in the Ming Dynasty would have been absolutely impossible to succeed without the American silver brought in by galleons.In other words, the content of the reform is different, and silver cannot become the mainstream currency in China.

At the same time, the Manila galleon trade directly crushed the American silk industry!

During the Zhengde and Jiajing years, Spain had already developed the silk weaving industry in America.After Chinese raw silk was transported there, American raw silk was quickly eliminated because Chinese raw silk was of high quality and low price.

Today, the market share of the American silk weaving industry has been absolutely monopolized by Chinese raw silk.

Only one silk weaving factory in Mexico employs 14000 workers, and all raw materials are raw silk from China.These American silks will be shipped to Europe for sale, and the price is lower than that of Chinese silk, and they are very popular among middle- and lower-class nobles and middle-class businessmen.

It can be understood that Chinese silk is a foreign product, while American silk is a domestic product, and domestic products are definitely not as good as foreign products.

Due to the popularity of Chinese goods, Spanish products were excluded in the Americas. King Philip II of Spain ordered to restrict the trade of galleons 50 years ago.It is stipulated that there should be no more than two galleons to Mexico every year, and the cargo capacity of each ship should not exceed 300 tons.

This restriction was obviously taken advantage of, and instead became a means for colonial officials to make money.

The governor of New Spain (Mexico) is even more powerful. 40 years ago, he ordered the prohibition of silkworm farming in Mexico, and Mexican silk factories can only use Chinese raw silk!

Also 50 years ago, the cotton cloth produced in China had already destroyed the Philippine cotton textile industry.

The Governor of the Philippines therefore ordered that the aborigines be prohibited from buying Chinese clothing materials.Two years after the ban was issued, the Philippine governor was killed by Chinese mercenaries.

The Filipino colonists in Spain had extremely complicated attitudes towards the Chinese.

On the positive side, they need the Chinese to trade, the Chinese to build the city, and the Chinese to keep the city running.

On the negative side, they hate dumping by Chinese businessmen and beg Chinese businessmen to destroy the industries of the Philippines and Mexico.

By the way, the ban on cotton cloth in China has been maintained to this day.

Chinese cotton cloth and silk are not allowed to be sold to native Filipinos, but are only allowed to be sold to official trading posts in the Philippines.This caused the profits of Chinese maritime merchants to be damaged. Even without this massacre, as long as Zhao Han is willing to send troops, there must be merchants helping the emperor to fight the war!

……

In the waters west of Manila, a large-scale naval battle kicked off.

Six Spanish galleons, 16 small warships, and nearly 100 warships from China, the Netherlands, Brunei, and Sulu.

Brunei and Sulu are all old-fashioned galleys, and the tonnage is very small, which can be directly ignored.

The Dutch navy quickly circled to the west, and the Chinese navy deployed formations to the east and north, and the fleets of the two countries attempted to surround the Spanish fleet on three sides.

"Boom boom boom!"

Before the siege was complete, both sides began shelling.

In the 18th minute of the battle, a Chinese warship was severely damaged and tried very slowly to leave the battlefield.

In the 32nd minute, a Spanish warship was hit with firepower several times greater than its own. The bow of the ship was directly battered, and even the captain was crushed by shells.

"Stop bombing, join the gang, and deal with the red-haired ghost's boat first!"