1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 821
Judging by the general armed forces of countries in the Far East at this time, the number of city fire cannons in Salvador City can definitely be regarded as the standard of a strong city, more than enough to deal with ordinary wars.If an enemy of the level of the Ming army came to attack, even if the city of El Salvador was at a disadvantage in terms of strength, it would not worry about the opponent being able to break through the city defenses. After all, there was an insurmountable gap between the two sides in terms of weapons and equipment.But with Haihan as the opponent, the strength comparison between the two sides was adjusted at once, and Spain, which was originally dominant, immediately became the weaker side. Such a psychological gap is really unacceptable.

Although Alcarazo also knew that Rose was telling the truth, but if he surrendered like this, he really couldn't explain it to his superiors after returning to Manila.He hesitated for so long last night, but he had actually figured it out. No matter what, he had to fight at least once.To put it bluntly, after losing a battle, you will definitely have to sell your feelings when you go back, but if some people don’t die, how can you sell your feelings to the big shots in Manila?

"Captain Ross!" After returning to the city wall, Alcarazzo issued a combat order to Ross: "I order you to command the city defense force and fight back during the enemy's siege. Although our ammunition reserves are already very limited, we must The glory of the Kingdom of Spain cannot be lost because of this!"

"My lord, do you mean... do you want to fight to the death?" Rose asked cautiously. After all, this may have a bearing on the lives of the entire city.

Alcarazzo coughed dryly, and said in a low voice, "Even if we can't beat the Haihan people, we still have to lose decently."

Now Rose understood, nodded and said, "My lord, I understand what you mean."

At ten o'clock in the morning, the Haihan artillery, headed by four siege cannons, launched an attack without warning. Accompanied by a huge roar, shells flew from the artillery positions outside the city to the top of the city.Gao Qiaonan did not try to implement measures such as persuading surrender before that. Deep down in his heart, he did not want the enemy to surrender, at least not before the start of the war, because this would not allow the special warfare battalion to use actual combat to practice attacking. City warfare tactics.At the same time, he also wanted to see how powerful this large siege cannon manufactured by the military industry department is. After all, it took a lot of trouble to transport this thing around. Qiaonan always felt a little pity.

The heavy artillery shells hit the city wall with huge kinetic energy, and the shards of the outer wall bricks were thrown flying.Although the city of El Salvador has such an extra layer of protection compared to the city wall of Santo Domingo, it only has obvious resistance to shells under 12 pounds.As for the 48-pound heavy artillery that Haihan put into the siege, almost every shell that hit the city wall would destroy a large area of ​​wall bricks, leaving deep dents on the wall.

The defenders on the city wall felt the same way. Whenever a siege artillery shell hit the city wall under their feet, the vibrations would be like an earthquake.Although the gunners are still trembling and insisting on counterattacking, their energy may have been more focused on how to keep their lives in the artillery battle, rather than hitting targets outside the city as soon as possible.Although the cannons on the top of the city were constantly firing shells, the landing points were almost far away from the target, which was not enough to pose a threat to the enemy troops outside the city.

Takahashi Minami's mood was basically relaxed at this time, and he could naturally see that the Spaniard's counterattack was not strong, and it was even difficult for him to interfere with his own artillery operations.However, the attack effect of our own siege artillery seems to be better than expected. After several rounds of shelling, visible damage has appeared on the front wall of Salvador City, and the wooden city gate has also been beaten to pieces, revealing The stones that were later used to block the passage were removed.

Takahashi Nan didn't have to worry about running out of ammunition. These four large-caliber siege guns were equipped with a total of [-] ammunition, which was enough to forcibly knock down the front wall.This did not include artillery of other calibers. If the Spaniards in the city were going to fight to the end, Takahashi Minami would not hesitate to use shells to teach them the principles of life.

On this island surrounded by water, the Spaniards had no way of retreating. Although they still had three boats wandering back and forth on the nearby sea, under the close surveillance of the Haihan fleet, these three armed sailboats dared not approach at all. Sheliao Island, not to mention the evacuation of the people on the island.If they were not careful, they might be outflanked by Haihan's fleet at sea, completely losing the chance to leave the battlefield.

As for the reinforcements from the Spaniards, there is no need to worry. Their nearest bases are thousands of miles away. Digging has already begun.When Haihan will be the defender, they won't be as embarrassed as the Spaniards are now, and they can teach them what is a real coastal defense artillery.

The artillery battle lasted until the afternoon, and two-thirds of the battlements on the front wall of Salvador City had been destroyed by shells. Artillery strikes.During the artillery battle that lasted nearly three hours, the defenders had already lost twelve cannons and more than 30 gunners on the top of the city.And their record only destroyed one artillery piece of the attacking side, and the casualties caused were ten times different.If it hadn't been for the Haihan army to take the initiative to cease fighting, the losses of the defenders might have increased further.

"Captain Ross, how long can we survive the current situation? Can we survive tomorrow?" Alcarazo, who looked tired in the city, asked Ross for advice again.Although he didn't go directly to the top of the city to supervise the battle today, he has stayed under the city wall and has a relatively intuitive understanding of the Haihan people's offensive and his own losses, but he still needs to seek professional advice. In order to avoid possible misjudgments of the current situation.

"My lord, we still have seven guns that can continue to fight, but the problem is that our ammunition inventory is really running low. If we keep firing at the rate we are today, we will use up all the ammunition before the sun goes down tomorrow." Ross explained the current situation to Alcarazo very directly. If he could sum it up in one word, it would be "miserable".

"It's fine if we can last another day, at least we can have an explanation..." Alcarazzo breathed a sigh of relief.If the city is lost too quickly, it will appear that the defenders are too incompetent. As long as they last for a day or two, at least they can make up a saying that "the defenders fought bloody battles, and finally chose to preserve their strength when they were unable to fight against the enemy."

"My lord, this is just considering our own situation. If the enemy continues to concentrate their fire on the city walls and gates, we may not survive tomorrow noon." Ross did not give Alcarazor a chance to relax. What he added The information made the chief officer of Salvador City frown again.

Undoubtedly, after these two days of fighting, everyone can see the gap in strength between the two sides. It is only a matter of time before the city defense is breached by the Haihan army. If you want to save your life and leave here with dignity, choose a suitable one. The timing of surrender is very important.

In the Haihan camp at the same time, Takahashi Nan and his officers' judgments on the battle situation were surprisingly consistent with Ross's.The commander of the artillery unit believed that in half a day at most, the already severely damaged frontal city wall could be destroyed.As long as the city wall falls, the defenders will immediately fall into a situation where there is no danger to defend.In other words, before sunset tomorrow, the Haihan army may be able to capture the last Spanish fortress in Taiwan, which is even faster than when they attacked the city of Santo Domingo.

Of course, during the attack on Santo Domingo, the siege artillery did not really come in handy. The Haihan army used outsmart tactics to force the defenders in the city to surrender, but it also took more combat time for this.When attacking El Salvador, they used artillery superiority to suppress their opponents before landing, and deployed siege artillery on the battlefield as soon as they landed, which further increased Haihan's advantage in long-range strike firepower.In just two days, the absolute advantage of the Haihan army in this battle has been basically established.

"Do you think the Spaniards will surrender?" Takahashi posed the question to the officers in the final stages of the discussion.

The vast majority of military officers believed that the Spaniards would choose to surrender after confirming that they could not win. Voluntary surrender can at least negotiate conditions, such as asking the Haihan Army to guarantee their safety, etc. If they wait until the city is broken before surrendering, then only Can enjoy the treatment of prisoners of war.The defenders of Santo Domingo chose to surrender and sacrifice the city in a timely manner, and the Spaniards in El Salvador probably did not do much better—the blacksmith Jose once mentioned in his confession that Alcarazo, the Spanish governor of El Salvador, He is a guy who is greedy for petty gain, and such a person is often greedy for life and fear of death at critical moments, and prioritizes protecting his own interests.

When it comes to Jose, I have to admit that his confession has indeed provided a very practical reference for the preparation of the Haihan Army. The weak section of the front wall of Salvador City, the artillery positions on the wall, the number and performance of the deployed artillery, and even is the approximate lifespan of the artillery, all of which were provided by Jose with detailed information.In this way, when the Haihan army launched an artillery offensive, the targets and methods used were more targeted. It is no wonder that the defenders' city defenses seemed vulnerable.

Of course, Alcarazo never dreamed that the most important military secret in El Salvador was betrayed by Jose, the blacksmith who had been missing for many days.And this information has also greatly accelerated the time for the Haihan army to capture here, otherwise, even if the Haihan army is clearly superior in strength, it is unlikely to achieve the current effect in just two days.

On the morning of the third day of the war, the defenders were desperate to find that the three armed sailboats that could still see the shadows of sails at sea had disappeared, and they seemed to have slipped away during the night.Although we know that even if these three ships stay here, it will be useless to change the situation of the battle, and they are likely to be attacked by the Haihan army from the back, but the departure of these three ships is undoubtedly taking away the last lifeline of the defenders. Straw, making its psychology gradually slide to the brink of collapse.

Takahashi Minami continued yesterday's tactics, using artillery for long-range strikes.He was not in a hurry to invest in the infantry, and planned to let the infantry enter the city to fight after blasting down the city wall.

However, this plan was not successfully implemented. After only an hour of artillery battle, a white flag was raised above the city to declare surrender.Although this was good news for Haihan, it was a bit discouraging news for the soldiers of the Special Operations Battalion who had gathered on the shore and waited for two days.This means that the soldiers seemed to have just played soy sauce in the process of attacking the city of Salvador, and did not make any actual combat exploits.The veterans who have experienced several battles are fine, but the recruits who entered the battlefield with enthusiasm are very disappointed by this state of affairs.

Soon the city sent an envoy to the Haihan camp for peace talks. This envoy was not an unfamiliar face, and he was Gesman who had just escaped from Santo Domingo at the mouth of the Tamsui a few days ago.As one of the few management personnel in the city who had dealt directly with the Haihan people and had sufficient authority to make decisions, Gesman was entrusted with the important task of going out of the city to negotiate the terms of the truce.

With the previous contact experience, Gesman seems to have become more familiar with the road, and he directly cut to the topic when he came up, demanding that the Haihan Army guarantee the safety of the people in the city, and not detain any of the Spanish side for reasons such as prisoners of war. personnel.

But this time the Haihan people are not as easy to deal with as before. Takahashi Minami rejected Gesman's proposal with a smile: "Your big ships have already run away. Even if they are all released, where can you go?" ?”

Gesman pretended to be calm and said: "There are still some fishing boats on the nearby coast, we can requisition them."

Gao Qiaonan said: "How about this, I will arrange a boat for you, and you will send people to the south to report the news, and let Manila send a boat to pick them up here. During this period, we will take care of the prisoners who stay here. What do you think? Sample?"

Gusman is not a simple-minded guy. After listening to it, he naturally thought that Takahashi Minami's initiative might have other meanings.But he couldn't figure out what Takahashi Nan's starting point was for a while, so he nodded in agreement with Takahashi Lan's idea.After all, the reality is that the defenders can no longer evacuate here at once. They can only send people to the south on a fishing boat to report the news, and then Manila sends a boat north to pick them up.Although this process will take a long time, it is indeed the only feasible way at present.However, what Gao Qiaonan said next made Gesman almost spit out a mouthful of old blood.

"Considering the high cost of taking care of prisoners of war, we will charge a symbolic fee for the management of prisoners of war. The standard is not high, let's say 3000 taels of silver per day!" Gao Qiaonan said very relaxedly, as if 3000 taels of silver was just Just an inconspicuous little number.

(End of this chapter)