1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 464 Difficulties for the Spaniards

On February 1643, 2, Luzon, in the southeast waters of Ping An Island (now Lago Noi Bay, Catanduanes Island, southeast of the Philippines).

The two small fleets faced each other far away on the sea three miles away.On one side are the two Manila galleons of the Spanish Far East Task Force, and on the other side are two armed merchant ships and two special immigration ships from Qi State.

These two warships of the Spanish Far East Task Force delivered supplies to the Spaniards stationed in Laoag (now Laoag City, Philippines) in the northwest of the Philippines, and then returned to Legazpi.But he didn't want to bump into four unidentified ships in this bay.Through the binoculars, it was found that the opponent's ships were relatively large, and two of them had a lot of artillery. When they saw them, they immediately formed a battle defense formation, showing that they had a certain amount of sea combat experience, and they were not ordinary without protection. merchant ship.

Considering that there are only two armed merchant ships on our side, if there is a battle with them, it may not take much advantage.Therefore, the two Spanish ships circled the sea from a distance, watching each other carefully.You know, since Manila was captured by the navy of the Ming Dynasty more than two years ago, and they have continuously sent ships to harass Laoag, their important stronghold in the northwest of the Philippines, making life difficult for the Spaniards.

Madrid has received news that the Philippines has been attacked by the Ming Dynasty. The Governor of the Philippines and most of the colonial officials below have been captured, and several strongholds around Manila have also fallen into the hands of the Ming Dynasty.The king was furious and ordered several governors in the Americas to mobilize the navy and army again to recover the Philippines across the Pacific Ocean, rescue the captured Spanish soldiers and civilians, and punish the Ming who dared to attack the Spanish overseas territories.

After the Spanish king's order was conveyed to several governorships in the Americas, it immediately aroused opposition from the native white forces in the American colonies.For more than five years, the governorships of New Spain (Mexico), Peru, New Granada, and La Plata successively organized more than 1000 white musketeers and more than a dozen warships to go to the Philippines to maintain and consolidate the Philippines. ruling order.

But what happened? First, they were beaten up by the Dutch and a bandit, destroying the Cavite shipyard, and then losing the two strongholds at the northern end of Formosa (now Taiwan), and then broke out in the Philippines. People rioted, and then the army of Ming Dynasty Navy Commander Zheng Zhilong invaded, and finally lost Manila. All officials, soldiers and civilians below the governor were captured and killed.

You know, two years ago, the four governorships of the Americas managed to gather eleven galleons and more than 200 soldiers to form the Far East Task Force to go to the Philippines to rescue Manila. was conquered.After several unsuccessful counter-offensives, the Far East Task Force retreated to Laoag in the northwest of the Philippines to temporarily rest and wait for an opportunity.

However, the Laoag colonial stronghold with a sparse population and a serious shortage of output could not supply the daily supplies of more than 3000 people in the Far East Task Force.In desperation, the task force sent messengers back to the Americas to inform the Philippines of the situation here, and at the same time separated part of the fleet to Legazpi in the southeast of the Philippines.

Faced with this situation, Rear Admiral Mario Ramirez, the commander of the task force, found sadly that with the strength of their task force alone, it was impossible to counterattack and recover the entire Philippines, and could only maintain the few remaining Spanish stronghold.But if the confrontation lasts for a long time, the Ming general Zheng Zhilong will receive continuous support. One day, their task force may not be able to hold on and retreat back to the Americas, causing the Kingdom of Spain to completely lose the Philippine colony.

However, the stubborn King Philip IV of Spain did not understand the situation in the Far East at all, but firmly wanted to defend and recover the Philippines. He believed that this colony in the far east represented the great glory of the Spanish Kingdom, and there were countless sons of the Lord there. The people are waiting for the king's salvation, and the dignity of the kingdom cannot be easily provoked by an eastern country.In short, for the face of His Majesty the King, you must find a way to gather more troops from the governorships of the Americas to take back the Philippines for me.

In the past year, the imperial envoy from Madrid has been arguing and discussing with the four governors of New Spain, Peru, New Granada and La Plata, how to transfer personnel and ships from several governorships again, and organize a A larger expeditionary fleet headed for the Philippines.

But at the end of the debate, there was still no feasible plan and personnel ships.Every viceroyalty is complaining and complaining, but it is not a prevarication to the king's order, because there are really no extra troops and ships.

The local native whites who are alienated from Germany, the free and lazy mixed-race residents, and the rebellious Indians, it seems that everyone is reluctant to go to the distant Philippines to fight against an eastern country and regain the king's territory.In the past, the sale of exquisite oriental porcelain and silky and noble silk might have aroused the interest of some greedy businessmen and officials.If you want to fight and die, I'm sorry, we won't do it!
Therefore, the Far East Task Force, which was looking forward to support, has not waited for any support from the Americas, and because of Zheng Zhilong's navy fleet coming to harass from time to time and the local climate is not acclimatized, they have lost hundreds of people.

Now, the two warships of the Spanish task force hesitated a bit, and did not dare to easily enter into a state of engagement with the other four ships. They just kept going around in circles with each other, keeping a safe distance of two or three miles, and observing the purpose of these ships coming here .They dare not easily compromise any power, even damage to ships is unacceptable.

You must know that neither Laoag nor Legazpi have the places and personnel available for ship maintenance.For more than a year, for the maintenance and maintenance of the ships, the task force secretly sailed to the Portuguese in Haojing (now Macau).However, because the Portuguese in Europe were engaged in a war of independence against the Spanish, their attitude towards the arrival of the task force ships became increasingly hostile.

Maybe, after a while, the Spanish ships stationed in the Philippines may have to rely on the sailors on board to repair and maintain the ships themselves.Everything is too bad, the Spaniards seem to have no trusted "friends" in the entire Far East, but their enemies are everywhere.

When the four ships of the Qi State that were transshipping immigrants encountered the Spanish warship, they were still a little panicked at first.Although they are superior in number, the two armed merchant ships are the ones that are really capable of fighting, while the other two are special immigration ships without any weapons at all.Moreover, the four ships were all filled with immigrants from Hanxing Island.Therefore, after seeing that the two Spanish warships did not launch an attack immediately, they cautiously kept a distance from each other.

"I reckon that the other side doesn't want to fight us either." She Mingguang, the captain of the Yongjin, stared at the two Spanish warships in front of him. When the Chinese ship was slowly moving towards Ping An Island, the other party followed unhurriedly.

"They don't think they want to follow us to Ping An Island?" Chief Officer Zhan Chaowu frowned and said, "If so, wouldn't the Spaniards discover the supply transfer point we built there?"

"Why don't we let the two immigration boats go first, we will continue to confront them here. If there is a fight, we will go around in circles with them on the sea. At night, we will return to Ping'an Fort (now Katanduan) Bagamanok town, north of the Isle of Ness)."

"They retreated!" Zhan Chaowu shouted in surprise.

She Mingguang heard the words and looked, sure enough, the two Spanish warships made a bend ahead, then turned around and headed southwest.

"The Spaniards must have a stronghold in the southeast of Luzon, and we will send someone to take it away." She Mingguang looked at the Spanish warships that were gradually going away, and said softly with a long breath.

"Then you have to go back and ask the Spaniards in the navy to find out where their strongholds are nearby. Otherwise, it will also be a threat to our Ping An Island. By the way, the Spanish stronghold in the north of Luzon seems to have been so far. There is still no breach there, right?"

"The Spanish stronghold was built on the bank of a river seven or eight miles deep inland. They blocked several warships on the river, which made it impossible for Zheng Zhilong to take advantage of the large number of people and ships. Unless they landed on the seashore and then launched One road leads straight to the Spanish stronghold."

"Actually, the Zheng family probably didn't have the heart to attack that stronghold. They have already occupied Manila and the surrounding areas, and now they are busy digesting and absorbing, emigrating vigorously, and are too lazy to spend time and energy attacking the Spanish stronghold. Even if they take down , not much oil and water."

"Indeed, for them, to attack the northern stronghold of the Spaniards, it is better to spend more energy to subdue the rioters in the Kalamba area. This is much more cost-effective. Not only can they replenish a lot of manpower, but also Get a large developed area."

"If those Ming people who rebelled still refuse to move to the southeast of Luzon, they will probably be eaten by the Zheng family sooner or later."

"Everyone is smart, what's the point of fighting!"

"The land along the Great Lake (now the Inner Lake of the Philippines) is fertile and has been developed for a long time. It is the land that the Zheng family vowed to seize." She Mingguang shook his head and said: "But the leaders of those rioters are not willing to give up those lands, let alone If you don't want to be recruited by the Zheng family, in the end, there will probably be a fight."

"It's just a pity that those more than 1 Ming people crossed the ocean and came to Luzon to ask for a living, but they were bullied and bullied by the Spaniards. After the Spaniards were driven away, they would face the Zheng family again. If they all How great it would be to get it to our country of Qi!"

"For those who have abandoned their homes and businesses, it may be difficult to persuade them to leave Luzon. I am afraid that they will eventually be brought under the rule of the Zheng family."

(End of this chapter)