1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 820 Forced by the situation

As an old colonial empire of this era, Spain has fought countless battles with local indigenous people all over the world. Most of the time, it can rely on advanced military systems, tactical arrangements, and weapons to gain overwhelming advantages.Although there are occasional sieges due to inferior forces, it is rare for natives to capture Spanish colonial strongholds.Even other European countries that competed with Spain in colonization around the world, it is difficult to please the Spaniards.

But the emergence of Haihan is obviously a special case. This force that descended from the sky has a complete military system, advanced weapon manufacturing capabilities, and increasingly exposed colonial ambitions. It is definitely not an opponent that can be taken lightly.Of course, the Portuguese and the Dutch who dealt with Haihan before Spain did not make this fact public, so that the Spanish colonists in the Taipei area underestimated the threat to Haihan this time. Constrained, the city of Santo Domingo chose to abandon the city and surrender under the pressure of the opponent's various routines before even fully launching effective resistance.

If the Spaniards could have a deep understanding of the true strength and recent movements of the Haihan people some time in advance, then Alcarazo and others would definitely be aware of their dangerous situation, and prepare accordingly in advance to prevent the Haihan people from taking the initiative to attack.Whether it is Tamsui Estuary or Jilonggang, if preparations can be started a month in advance, they will not be so passive on the battlefield today.

Unfortunately, when they realized this, the Haihan people had already approached the city with their fleet and siege artillery, leaving them no time to prepare for the battle.And the strength displayed by the Haihan people during the battle almost made them feel desperate.Under the blockade of the Haihan Fleet, Fernandez and his sailboats at sea were obviously unable to do much. As a last resort, Alcarazor could only immediately summon several senior officers in the city and ask them for the next step. Strategy.

"Gentlemen, we must now find a way to prevent the Haihan people from deploying artillery positions outside the city. You must have seen that these oriental barbarians actually have siege cannons! If these weapons are not used to scare people , then we are afraid that we will face a big trouble. Now that the retreat routes on land and sea have been cut off by the enemy, everyone should think carefully about what other methods can be used to retreat the enemy. The time left for us to counterattack is over. Not much more!" Although Alcarazor usually didn't have a good word for these officers, but at this time it was time for them to go all out, he had to lower his posture and try his best to make the officers think again Method.

"My lord, we should be more realistic. The problem now is not how to repel the enemy, but how to kill as many enemy troops as possible before the city is destroyed—if we really plan to live and die with the city of El Salvador." The person in charge of the artillery was Captain Ross, an old officer who was nearly fifty years old.He had fought for the Spanish army on the European battlefield for several years, until he was seriously injured once, and he could not continue to charge after the injury. In the end, he chose to come to the Far East to work for the colonial authorities. After all, the salary he could get here was better than his Discharge pay for wounded soldiers in China is much higher, and they can barely maintain a decent living.

Veterans like Rose have no fear of war, and the Shroud of Horse Leather is the most normal fate for them. If Alcarazor decides to resist to the end and live and die with the city of El Salvador, then he will indeed carry it out without hesitation. With such an order, he led his subordinates to fight to the last moment.Of course, he also knows that some things are not as simple as whether to fight or not to fight. As a soldier, he knows what he should ask and what he should not ask, so Alcarazo asked for his opinion, and he did not fully understand what he said. Absolutely, leaving some room for maneuver.

"Do you think it's impossible for us to defend this castle?" Although Alcarazo had some mental preparations before asking the question, it was still a bit difficult to accept the military's people saying it so bluntly.Although he also wanted to defeat the invading Haihan people, but if he had to pay the price of death, and even after paying such a price, he still couldn't change the outcome of Spain's defeat, then maybe he really had to consider whether it was worth it up.

"My lord, to be frank... this army is different from the eastern army we have encountered before. The weapons and tactics they use are unprecedented. Maybe a strong city like Manila can resist them offensive, but given the conditions of El Salvador, it is really difficult to stop their artillery fire." Roston paused, but decided to speak out his thoughts: "The most ideal result, we may be able to cause them damage before the city breaks. About a hundred people were killed or injured, but it is hard to say whether these Easterners will execute the prisoners of war after the city is broken."

Alcarazor swallowed silently, he didn't want to bury his life on a desert island in the Far East.Even if the Manila authorities were able to recognize his military exploits afterwards, he unconsciously backed down thinking that his family would have to face the situation of no one in charge in the future.

At this time, he couldn't help thinking of the city of Santo Domingo that had fallen before that. Gusman, who gave up resistance and surrendered at the last moment, not only saved his own life, but also the lives of the army and the people in the city. On the one hand, it is true that Gesman made the "correct" choice. On the other hand, it also shows that the Haihan Army did not intend to exterminate the Spaniards. It seems that their purpose of launching the war was only to drive the Spaniards out of this area. ——As they declared, this area will be brought under Hai Han's rule.

Like Gusman, Alcarazor wondered why Hayhan valued the area so much.The Spaniards have been here for seven years, and they have not been able to achieve complete self-sufficiency until now. To a certain extent, they have to rely on the regular supplies from Manila.If it weren't for the fact that the trade between Spain and North Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and other countries can be a little lucrative, it can somewhat subsidize some of the daily operating expenses of the Taipei colony. If it wasn't for the consideration of strategic containment of the Dutch, the Manila authorities would have already ordered the withdrawal. The colonial area of ​​Taipei was abolished.

But Alcarazo is not stupid to be appointed as the chief executive here. Since Haihan can develop such a powerful military strength quietly in just a few years, it means that this group of people will definitely not be here. Waste of time where there is no value.If this place is really as barren as he thinks, what is the purpose of the Haihan people not hesitate to launch a war to seize control of the area?The only thing he can't figure out is the key point. He believes that as long as he understands Hai Han's true intentions, many things can be easily solved.

It is a pity that the Haihan people did not intend to leave much room for negotiation. According to Gesman, the only negotiation condition that the Haihan people accepted was to surrender and give up any claim on the ownership of this area.This means that there is almost no room for bargaining between Alcarazor and the opponent, unless the defenders can use their own strength to make the Haihan people compromise to a certain extent, but it seems that it is very difficult to do this now. The weak resistance has proved the gap in strength between the two sides. Even if this position is moved inside and outside the walls of El Salvador, it seems that there is still no hope of a reversal of the situation.

Ross can be regarded as the most senior officer in the local area, and his views can basically represent the attitude of the military—the military is not optimistic about the outcome of this war, but it still leaves the final choice to Alcarazzo to make a decision .

"I think we should... well, take a little more time to think carefully." Alcarazor hesitated, and finally did not say the word "surrender".

Surrender is easy, but defeat is hard to bear. The city of Santo Domingo chose to surrender. After all, the local garrison is too small and the city defense is not strong enough. With the retreat route of Jilonggang, Gesman has little responsibility.However, the city of El Salvador is already Spain's last colonial stronghold on Taiwan Island, and there is no way to retreat. If they surrender, they can only return directly to Manila City on Luzon Island.That means that Spain's operations in the past six or seven years have completely failed, and everything has returned to the original starting point—no, it's not even as good as before. After all, when the Spaniards set foot in the Taipei area, this area was not as strong as Haihan armed.

Even if the surrender can save the lives of the Spaniards here, returning to Manila may not make the authorities give up their responsibility.If the high-level officials attributed the fall of the Taipei colony to Alcarazo's ineffective response and wrong command, then he would not be able to live a comfortable life for the rest of his life.

Alcarazor had been thinking about it until midnight, but he couldn't make up his mind to make a decision. It wasn't until dawn that he couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep.Early the next morning, he was awakened by the sound of rumbling guns from outside the city.

"What happened? The Haihan people started attacking the city?" Alcarazzo hurriedly stood up and asked loudly.

The guard didn't know what was going on outside, so Alcarazor could only ask him to inquire about the news.After a while, the guards came back and reported that it was the Haihan people who were testing the cannons outside the city, and no formal siege operation was launched.

"Cannon test?" Alcarazor could only smile wryly when he heard the answer.Obviously, the artillery of the Haihan Army has been deployed in place, and the purpose of the artillery test is to calibrate the range and target.After the artillery test is over, it is probably time for the Haihan army to launch a siege.

At this time, Alcarazo naturally couldn't continue to sleep with peace of mind, so he hurriedly got up and dressed neatly, put on a set of light helmets he had brought over from China one by one, and then rode to the city wall to supervise the battle.

"My lord, the situation may be worse than we expected yesterday." Captain Ross reported to him with a gloomy face: "The Haihan people have deployed about twenty artillery pieces outside the city, including four cannons, which are estimated to be used Bombard our city gate and the weak parts of the city wall. Although we have blocked the city gate, when the Haihan people tested their artillery just now, they targeted the frontal city wall."

Rose pointed at the top of the city while talking: "They hit the battlements when they tested the cannon, and the shells easily opened a big gap in the top of the city..."

While speaking, Alcarazo had already seen the cannonball that Ross said, like a big watermelon, it should be a forty or fifty-pound cannonball.The power of this thing can be imagined. If it is an adobe wall, it will collapse in just a few shots. Although the outer layer of the adobe wall is wrapped with bricks in the city of Salvador, the thinner battlements must not be able to withstand this kind of attack. The bombardment of cannons.

Alcarazo was quite calm, and after looking at the shells, he took the initiative to ask Ross if he could go up to the top of the city to see what was going on outside.

Ross replied: "There is no problem going up, but please don't expose your body on the crenel. According to Master Gesman, the Haihan people seem to have mastered some special skills that allow muskets to hit targets at a relatively long distance. Captain Lopez of Santo Domingo leaned out on the crenel due to negligence, and the Haihan people took the opportunity to shoot and kill him from a distance with muskets."

Alcarazor smiled strongly: "Thank you for your reminder, Captain Ross, I will be careful."

After reaching the city wall, Alcarazor followed Rose's command and bowed his body, trying to avoid appearing directly in the enemy's field of vision as much as possible.A crenel on the city wall has only the ruins of the battlement left, and there is even a pool of blood that has not completely dried up beside it. It seems that when Haihan's shell hit this place, the damage caused was not only the battlement.

Alcarazo did not ask what happened to the unlucky ghost. He chose another crenel about five or six meters away from the place where he was hit, and looked out cautiously.

Without using a telescope, Alcarazor could see the arc-shaped artillery positions outside the city, all about 300 meters away from the city wall.The range of the city fire artillery is so far, but the hit rate is pitifully low.However, the Haihan people actually hit the battlements when they were testing their cannons. Obviously, their cannons have a very high hit rate, and they don't suffer from range.

"If you don't care about ammunition consumption, can our artillery compete with them?" Alcarazo asked Ross with a fluke mentality.

"Of course." Ross gave him an affirmative answer.But before Alcarazo could be happy, Ross added: "But we will probably lose badly. Even if we run out of ammunition in the city, we may not be able to destroy the artillery positions outside the city."

(End of this chapter)