1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 812 The Lobbyist
For the panic-stricken defenders in the city, the existence of Lopez is the main spiritual motivation for them to maintain their resistance. The fall of the banner of the main combat faction means that the defense system in the city has lost its backbone, and the city defense forces are almost in an instant. into chaos.At this time, no one could tell whether Delgado's words were credible. The gunners subconsciously chose to believe his statement when the target was unknown, and hurriedly turned the muzzle to the direction he said and started shooting.

After Delgado misled the counterattack of the city defense artillery fire, he immediately slipped into the city while taking advantage of the chaos.He still has two important tasks, one is to confirm Lopez's injury and life and death, and the other is to contact Gesman as soon as possible, so that he can take over the command of the army as soon as possible and surrender to the Haihan people.

The fact that Lopez was shot cannot be concealed for too long. When the chaos in front of him passes, someone will associate it with Delgado.The timing of this accident was too coincidental. If Delgado didn't quickly find the next umbrella, the Lopez guards would probably trouble him after recovering.

Delgado slipped down the wall while the gunners were firing wildly outside the city, and then burrowed into an alley nearby.He is very familiar with this small world in the city, even with his eyes closed, he can touch Gusman's residence.Delgado now only hopes that Gesman will not be as stubborn as Lopez, otherwise he may be used as a sacrifice to stimulate the defenders' fighting spirit again.

Delgado quickly passed through the small urban area and came to the outside of Gusman's residence. Due to the tense battle, all armed personnel were gathered near the city wall defense line, even Gusman's guards were no exception.The sentry post at the gate, which was usually guarded by a special person, was now empty, which provided Delgado with a lot of convenience.

Without the slightest hesitation, Delgado stepped forward and knocked on the door.

At this time, outside the city of Santo Domingo, Tang Zixing and his partners withdrew from the line of fire safely.Although the artillery fire on the city wall quickly counterattacked outside the city, the area hit was at least 50 meters away from the position of Tang Zixing and others, so it can only be said that there was no danger.

After returning to the rear camp, Gao Qiaonan rushed to confirm the completion of the task immediately.For the Haihan side, if the commander of the defenders is killed before the official siege, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce the difficulty of subsequent combat missions. If Delgado in the city can make full use of this opportunity, he may even directly force Spain People Kaesong surrendered.Of course, the premise of all these ideal situations is that the assassination of Tang Zixing and others has achieved the expected results.

"At least one shot hit the right side of the chest." The three fighters who were in charge of observing with binoculars all confirmed the result. One of them believed that another shot hit the target's arm, while the other two did not because of the viewing angle. See this scene.

With the kinetic energy of the bullet fired by the Trinity sniper rifle, it is not a problem to penetrate the Spanish light helmet at a distance of 300 meters, not to mention that the target person was not wearing armor at the time.If this shot really hit the gun directly as the soldiers observed, it would be enough even if it didn't penetrate the body.With the level of surgery in this era, the chances of him being rescued can only be described as minuscule.

Judging from the slightly chaotic artillery counterattack at the top of the city, it can basically be confirmed that the defender's commander's injury made him unable to continue to stick to his post.You must know that in the fight the day before, the defenders had been very wise not to use artillery to counterattack, so as to avoid exposing their strength prematurely.And the messy artillery counterattack after the accident was obviously a lack of unified command.

After Gao Qiaonan gave Tang Zixing and others a verbal commendation, he let them go to rest first.If Lopez is really dead, the snipers must be given credit after the war.However, to verify this result, we need to see how the defenders react next.Takahashi Minami gave Delgado only one day of activity. Regardless of the progress of Delgado's instigation in the city, Takahashi Minami will order a full-scale offensive by this time tomorrow.

Delgado didn't take too much trouble to meet Gesman. He had a feeling that the other party seemed to have expected his arrival, because Gesman's expression was very calm after seeing him, not at all like yesterday. The surprise and disappointment when Lopez saw him in the evening.

"Delgado, you should be on the mountain road to Jilonggang at this time." Gesman stared at Delgado and said unhurriedly: "I heard the cannon on the city wall just now, it must have something to do with Is it related to your return? Lopez is not such a loose person, how did you convince him?"

"Captain Lopez is injured, and his life or death is uncertain. I am here to hope that Master Gusman can stand up and take over the command in the city, so as to avoid more unnecessary casualties." Delgado said in as calm a tone as possible He understood his own intentions, but avoided answering Gusman's questions.

"Injured?" Gesman's expression finally changed, which was indeed unexpected news for him.But whether this news is good or bad, it is not clear in one or two sentences.

"Captain Lopez was shot by gunmen lurking outside the city while he was checking the enemy's situation on the city wall. He was shot by the gun and is now unable to command the battle." Delgado further explained.

"This is really sad news!" Gesman didn't even have a sad expression on his face, but a little excitement in his eyes: "Delgado, why are you the first to run?" To inform me of this? What do you want from me?"

Gesman actually knew last night that Delgado, who was sent to Jilonggang for help, had gone and returned. Although his servant was so stupid that he couldn't even understand the situation on the battlefield, he was a good hand at inquiring about news. Well, when Delgado was still being interrogated by Lopez, the servant had already sent the news to Gusman.

Delgado, who had high hopes, failed to break out. Gesman believes that this basically means that the hope of asking for help from the city of San Salvador is extinct.And Lopez, who is in charge of commanding the local army, is a die-hard main fighter. Gesman thinks that he will probably lead the army in the city to fight to the end and fight the Haihan people to the death.

Gesman didn't mind that Lopez and his men went to fight the enemy outside the city to the death, but he didn't want to die because of this meaningless war.Yes, in Gesman's view, this is a meaningless war. This place has neither a good natural harbor nor rich natural resources. It is hard to get a plantation, and you have to be on guard against the soil in the nearby mountains all the time. People come out to attack, and after several years of operation, let alone lucrative, even maintaining the status quo is a bit difficult.He has suggested to the Manila authorities more than once to abandon this colonial stronghold that only invests and has no benefits, but there has been a lack of time for the big shots to make up their minds, and procrastination has become the current situation.

This time the Haihans launched a sudden attack, allowing Gersman to finally see the terrifying strength of this rising star team that can make the Dutch suffer silently.Gesman couldn't figure out why the Haihan people would be interested in this place, but he thought it was actually an opportunity to give up the Tamsui Estuary stronghold in a logical way.Of course, the premise is that Lopez must first agree with his point of view.

Will Lopez agree to a truce and even surrender?Gessman thought this possibility was slim, even lower than the possibility that he could lead the defenders to drive away the enemy outside the city.Unless Lopez can no longer continue to command operations for some reason, it is unlikely that he will change his attitude and choose other solutions to face this war.

It is also impossible for Gesman to directly revoke Lopez's command, because the armed forces in the city only obey Lopez's orders, and he, the chief executive, has never been able to intervene in military affairs.Therefore, after the war started, Gusman could only stay in his residence, and did not directly interfere with the ongoing war.

But the news brought by Delgado gave Gersman hope to change the situation.If Lopez is unable to exercise command, then naturally he, the chief executive, should take over.The only thing Gesman didn't understand was why Delgado was so concerned about this matter that he would take the initiative to come home to report to himself after Lopez was injured.Without figuring this out, Gesman still didn't dare to express his attitude easily-God knows if this is some other trick played by the military.

Delgado licked his somewhat dry lips, and did not answer Gesman's question directly, but said in the way Takahashi Minami taught the day before: "Master Gesman, I did not tell this news to seek benefits for myself. What good is it, but I hope that the adults and the Spanish people in the city can get through this war safely."

Seeing Gesman's suspicious expression and not responding, Delgado gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, this senseless war can no longer go on! The Haihan people outside the city have already prepared huge siege cannons. I'm afraid we will all be buried with this castle because of Captain Lopez's stubbornness!"

Gesman thought for a while, and asked again: "After you left the city, have you already met with the Haihan people? They asked you to come back as a lobbyist, trying to persuade us to surrender, isn't that right?"

"My lord, it will not be an honor for the Kingdom of Spain to die here, but a great disgrace. Will the bigwigs in Manila shed tears for our death? Will they organize an army to come back to avenge us? ? No, they won’t do that. They’ll just put all the blame on those who died in battle, and let us little people bear the responsibility for the defeat!” The more Delgado spoke, the more excited he became, as if even he himself I am convinced by this set of rhetoric fabricated by the Haihan people.

"My lord, if you can get out of here alive, at least you can bring back the information about the Haihan people and let Manila know the danger of Haihan. This is far more valuable than dying here!" Delgado did not forget the last Give Gusman a high-sounding reason.However, from beginning to end, he never admitted that he had any contact or communication with the Haihan people.This is also to protect himself, not to leave any excuse for Gusman to turn his face.

Perhaps Delgado's persuasion played a role, or Gesman himself had already considered this aspect, this time Gesman did not hesitate for too long, he stood up and said: "The only problem now is the There is not a group of reliable people, and if the military is not willing to cooperate, it will be a bit troublesome."

Delgado understood: "The villain has seven or eight good friends in the city, and they all serve in the reserve army. If the adults don't mind, the villains can try to call them to obey the command of the adults."

"Seven or eight people? Is it a little less?" Gesman was still a little uneasy.

"My lord, these friends are good enough to protect your safety. If anyone in the military objects, your lord only needs to order the arrest. Once the leader is taken down, the rest will be easy to deal with." Delgado said to This has also been prepared, and replied without hesitation.

"How long will it take you to prepare?" Gesman thinks about it and has nothing else to worry about. If the night is long and the dream is too late, it will change. If it is delayed, there will be no new changes on the military side. The military recommended a replacement, and it would be troublesome for me to intervene, so I decided to do it as soon as possible.

"Finding someone is quick, but we may need a little time to get some weapons." Delgado replied, "One hour should be enough."

"I have the weapons here, you just need to get them here as soon as possible." Once the decision was made, Gesman was impatient and slowed down, and instead took the initiative to urge Delgado to act as soon as possible.

After Delgado left Gusman's residence, he immediately sneaked back to his residence in the city.What he said to Gesman just now was not bragging. There was indeed a group of brothers who came from Luzon Island. Most of them were tribal hunters, so they were all included in the local reserve army.Of course, due to their low status, no matter how capable they are, they are unlikely to be promoted to the regular army.When Delgado chose the cannon fodder that day, he deliberately did not choose these people, and it was also out of friendship.

These people usually look forward to Delgado's leadership, and after hearing what he said about the general situation, they expressed their willingness to act together with him.Anyway, they were the cannon fodder troops who died the earliest and fastest in the war. It would be better to follow Delgado's arrangement and fight, at least you can save your own life.As for their loyalty to the Spaniards, there is no obstacle for them. The reason why they choose to be loyal to the Spaniards is only because they are strong, but when there is a more powerful force outside, they choose to belong to the stronger force. The latter is the wise decision.

(End of this chapter)