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Chapter 512 Zheng Chenggong occupies the Philippines
After Liu Guoxuan established the bridgehead in Lingayen, within a few days, he rallied the Han people in the surrounding countryside of nearly a hundred miles.

Villages, towns and villages with Han people as the majority sent representatives to serve Master Wang one after another. According to Liu Guoxuan's preliminary statistics, there are more than [-] purebred Han people and more than [-] mixed blood people.

The military rations donated by the initiative reached more than [-] shi, and the royal division of the imperial court used money to buy more than [-] shi of grain and dried meat. In this way, the conflict of military rations for the long-term battle of the army can be greatly alleviated, and the rear supply fleet also Don't push yourself too hard.

The area of ​​the bridgehead controlled by Liu Guoxuan also quickly spread from Lingayen City to the west to the entire Angonor Peninsula, and captured the Spanish military fortress San Fernando Fort at the northern entrance of Lingayen Bay to the east, and wiped out the entire area very easily. The defenders in the fort, according to the last statistics, there are only more than 200 musketeers and four light artillery.

In this way, Liu Guoxuan took over the three coasts and the depths of Lingayen Bay.The south side extends nearly a hundred miles to the south, and it is only 150 miles away from the city of Manila.

It’s just that if you go further south, you need to cross some hilly areas and face the mountains on the north shore of Manila Bay.So Liu Guoxuan was not in a hurry, and directly re-established his forward camp on the edge of the hill, in case Zheng Chenggong's main force would join forces.

……

On the side of Zheng Chenggong's main force, he learned that Liu Guoxuan's landing on the northern line was going smoothly, so he boldly continued to advance south, trying to establish a second landing site directly near Manila Bay.

Although it is okay to wait for Liu Guoxuan to push south from Lingayen Bay by land, but it will be slower after all.And Luzon is no better than the mainland. In fact, the indigenous villages and towns are scattered and the level of development is not high. The 150-mile road to the south is not full of people, and there are still some primitive rainforests in the middle.

So if we really want to talk about the convenience of marching, it is actually much more convenient to travel by boat than to climb mountains.The greater value of Liu Guoxuan's stronghold is to raise food for the Ming army on Luzon Island, so that Han people who want to support Wang Shi can have the opportunity to contribute, and they can find the court's asylum in the first place.

This consideration is absolutely necessary, because with Liu Guoxuan's establishment of the landing site, Spain's Philippine governor Manuel Aguirre responded almost immediately, increasing the massacre and looting of Han innocent civilians on the island, Lest these people become internal agents.

And this also caused the Han people on the island to flock even more frantically to the small safe zone established by the Ming army. The villages and towns between Lingayen City and Fort San Antonio were crowded with people who fled from other places in just a few days. Han people.

A considerable number of these Han people didn't care about politics at first, they just accepted it, and they didn't intend to be the people of Ming Dynasty, but now they are completely forced to come here.

Knowing this situation, Zheng Chenggong strengthened his determination to try for a quick solution.So on the second day of November, after sailing to the entrance of Manila Bay, he decisively broke into the bay and launched a sea offensive.

Zheng Chenggong's original idea was not to fight fortified castle battles. He knew that although the Ming Dynasty had the Vauban siege method, other old-fashioned western fortresses could also be breached, but the Vauban siege method required several months of construction preparations after all. , Tens of thousands of troops crossed the sea to fight, the consumption of food and grass was too great.

The Spaniards have always been proud of their naval power. If they can severely damage their fleet first, completely destroy their confidence in fighting, and surrender directly, it will be twice the result with half the effort.

It's a pity that Zheng Chenggong thought well, but because Liu Guoxuan's landing had already warned the Spaniards.

Lieutenant General Ramond Prado, commander of the Spanish fleet in Southeast Asia, chose to sail the main fleet out of Manila Bay in advance to avoid the battle.Only Governor Manuel and Major General Francisco Paula were left behind to lead the army garrison to guard the vital points along the coast of Manila Bay.

Although Zheng Chenggong tried his best to replicate his success in "secretly crossing Luermen" on Dayuan Island, he let the fleet break into the mouth of Manila Bay at night.But after dawn the next day, he couldn't find a single Spanish main battleship in the open area of ​​the bay.

Waiting for Zheng Chenggong is only the bastion fort in the main city of Manila, the coastal defense fortresses on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island at the mouth of the bay, and a few shallow-water mortar gunboats with a single-masted schooner.

It was the first time that Zheng Chenggong encountered Europeans using shallow water mortar boats for naval battles, because the Dutch did not have such warships when they attacked Dayuan Island occupied by the Dutch before.Zheng Chenggong was careless at first, and was almost plotted against.

Speaking of this kind of small single-masted warship with mortars, in fact, players who have played "Empire Total War" in later generations are no strangers. In the late 17th century, Western naval powers already had them.

This kind of ship is equipped with 2 to 4 heavy-duty mortars with a large elevation angle, so there is no need to consider the recoil of rolling, and the accuracy of the shelling.

Whether you can hit it after firing depends entirely on luck, but the effective range can reach [-] paces or even two miles, which is much farther than flat-firing naval guns. In the game "Empire Total War", it is very dangerous for a heavy battleship to be hit by several shots.

This type of ship later entered the era of steam warships in the 19th century. When it was transformed into a steam engine power, it became the "mosquito ship" that Li Hongzhang bought with money in the late Qing Dynasty.

The reason why the Spaniards prepared shallow-water heavy artillery ships in Manila was also because they regarded Manila as too important. This was the only port for them to receive American silver and import Ming goods. After nearly a hundred years of colonial construction, they had their own warships in Manila. The shipyard, which can build gunboats on the spot, can also supply this type of ship.

In contrast, before the Dutch were in Dayuan Island, the construction efforts were not strong enough. The Dutch just regarded Dayuan Island as a trading base. There was no local shipyard that could produce warships. The warships were built in the Netherlands and sailed there. Far East.That being the case, it is difficult for a small ship such as a single-masted mortar ship to sail far across the ocean, and it cannot appear in the Far East.

It can also be seen from this that the Spanish colonists' accumulation of farming in the Philippines for a hundred years should not be underestimated, and it is far more difficult to fight than the Dutch.

Zheng Chenggong didn't pay attention at first, and focused his attention on the coastal defense batteries in Manila City. As a result, those single-masted mortar ships stole many rounds in vain, until a troop carrier was directly hit, and the water was blown through the bottom of the ship. Zheng Chenggong was shocked and angry, fully aware of the threat of these little guys.

Fortunately, it was not too late. After Zheng Chenggong switched firepower, even though these small gunboats were still firing recklessly, the accuracy was too poor after all. Zheng Chenggong's fast frigate pushed forward and sank in just half an hour of artillery battle. Seven or eight single-masted mortar boats.

However, only one 32-gun sail frigate of the Ming army was hit by a mortar, and it was blown through the deck and one side of the ship's side, and it was tilted by the water.

It's a pity that the remaining Spanish single-masted mortar boats immediately took advantage of their shallow draft and retreated to avoid the cover range of Manila and Bataan Peninsula's coastal defense forts.

The warships of the Ming army were afraid of the threat of coastal defense fortress artillery, and because of the draft problem, they could not get too close and would run aground, so they had to give up temporarily.

……

After the first day of the naval battle, Zheng Chenggong also found that if he wanted to land directly in Manila, he would be easily injured by the single-masted mortar fleet, and he had to beware of attacks from all directions.

Although the area of ​​Manila Bay is much larger than that of Dayuan Anping Bay back then, the depth of the bay is fifty miles, and the forts on both sides cannot reach the sea area in the middle of the bay.

However, being surrounded all the time, Zheng Chenggong also had to worry about being approached by small enemy gunboats at night for a surprise attack, and also worried that the Spanish main fleet, which had escaped to the open sea, would come back for a surprise attack at any time.Zheng Chenggong decided that it is better not to disperse his forces, but to gradually attack and defeat each one.

As a result, the Ming army temporarily withdrew from the eastern half of Manila Bay, and concentrated on attacking the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island, which were the outer barriers of the bay.

After the Ming fleet shrank its position, it re-established a beachhead on the west coast of the Bataan Peninsula, camped and transported the siege artillery to the shore.After a few days of short preparations, it is almost ready to attack.

During the period, the Spaniards also tried to send a small-scale death squad to sneak attack the Ming army's siege artillery camp in the dark at night, but they were all annihilated by the Ming army on night watch.

At the same time, Liu Guoxuan's troops also opened up a land passage for more than [-] miles in the north, connecting the occupied area from Lingayen Bay to the Bataan Peninsula.More and more fleeing Han people gathered in the occupied area. Although they brought some food, because these Han people also wanted to eat, the food rations became a little tight for a while.

Zheng Chenggong ordered the troops to divide their troops to find the local aborigines who had conflicts with the Han people to collect food, and let the Han people lead the way.Anyone who dared to resist would be killed directly—of course, Zheng Chenggong strictly explained that he was only allowed to start with those hostile indigenous tribes who had previously "assisted the Spaniards in killing Han people".

After arranging the military supplies for the protracted war, Zheng Chenggong asked Liu Guoxuan about the composition of the Spanish troops.

Liu Guoxuan has been ashore for many days, and he has also obtained detailed information from the local Han people, so he told him in detail: "These Frangji people have a garrison of more than 500 to [-] people in Manila, and this place has been occupied by them. It has been in business for a hundred years and attaches great importance to it.

A few years ago, after these Flang machinemen slaughtered our Han people, they were afraid that Ming Dynasty would retaliate, so they repeatedly asked their country to increase their troops. Since then, they have increased their troops by about 500 every year, and the number has increased two rounds so far.Today, Manila, the Bataan Peninsula, and the three fortresses of Corregidor Island have a total of [-] Franji Zhenyi people. The key is that they have also gathered tens of thousands of indigenous soldiers who hate the Han people.

The local aborigines are lazy and often hate the Han people from Fujian and Chaoshan who are more diligent than them and good at amassing family wealth, so they are malicious and often rob the Han people.The Frangji people know the people's sentiments well, and have used the laziness and greed of the natives for many years to instigate them to deal with the Han people. Some of the tribes got rich by extorting the Han people and became the accomplices of Flangji's rule. It is impossible to win over them. "

Zheng Chenggong heard the words, his face was cold and stern: "Then what is there to fight for? Anyone who dares to deal with our Han people with the Frangji people will be killed! I heard that most of the natives belong to different tribes and rarely communicate with each other. Let's stare at a few Annihilation of a tribe will not offend everyone.

Given time, other tribes would naturally not dare to hate indiscriminately.Six thousand five hundred real barbarians and tens of thousands of natives are nothing to be afraid of! "

Zheng Chenggong knew very well that it was impossible for the Spaniards to have a good relationship with all the natives. They just needed some thug tribes, enough for them to suppress the Han people.Because the Spaniards are not here to do charity, they will not be so kind as to rob the Han Chinese who are good at doing business, but treat the natives kindly, and the natives are also exploited and squeezed by the Spaniards.

In fact, during the same period, European colonists engaged in the slave trade in West Africa in the same way. They would recruit some black indigenous tribes as thugs to capture captives, and then asked them to buy captives at a low price, so as to save white people from catching them by themselves.The native Filipinos recruited by the Spaniards are equivalent to the tribe of thugs who "helped capture other blacks as slaves".

If you kill them, you don't have to worry about falling into the vast ocean of civil war. Instead, you will punish the people for Tian Xingdao.

……

In the remaining few days in early November, Zheng Chenggong made the siege deployment at the Bataan Peninsula landing site.The Ming army dug some tunnels for the outer artillery bunkers according to local conditions, but they did not dig too close to the fort.

After all, the siege artillery of the Ming army this time was transported by sea, and the sea is the most suitable for transporting heavy equipment, so the tonnage of the siege mortars carried must be much heavier than when Li Dingguo attacked Ava City in Myanmar. Those who want to transport artillery by land across Jiaoshan can only use cavalry artillery.

With the heavy siege mortars, the range is not much different from that of the defender's fortress guns, and the length of the Vauban siege method traffic trenches that need to be dug can be saved a lot.A little digging of one or two hundred steps is enough for the mortar to shoot.

The Ming army quickly spared no effort to bombard it with heavy-duty explosive shells, and the Spanish defenders were not to be outdone, and counterattacked with fortress artillery.It's a pity that most of the straight coastal defense artillery ballistics hit the back and side slopes of Vauban's siege trenches, which had no effect at all.

After the Ming army blasted a gap in the parapet wall of the security fortress, they drove a large number of indigenous captives forward to fill the trench with soil.If he dared not to go up to the former, he immediately shot him to death with a row of guns in the back——

And these natives, of course, are all members of the tribe identified by the Han people as running dogs for the Spaniards, which is completely retribution.After the Ming army captured them, they were not in a hurry to slaughter the tribe, and just gave them a chance to use the meritorious atonement waste.

The Spaniards looked at the natives who swarmed up to destroy the moat, and they could only shoot back wildly. The Ming army was urging them with muskets from beyond the range, and the dead were scattered on the ground for a while.

Finally, after several days of destruction, the moat outside the Bataan Fortress was almost filled with earth, rocks and corpses. Thousands of local cannon fodder were used, and the Ming army forced a way to attack. The firepower is ready to swarm up, rushing up the bastion wall to shoot at the Spanish army and fight hand-to-hand with bayonets.

After a series of bloody battles, the [-] Spanish defenders and the [-]-strong native defenders in the Bataan security fortress were all annihilated by the Ming army.

After the Spaniards killed more than 600 people in the battle, hundreds of the remaining 400 people were injured, and they surrendered spinelessly.

The indigenous army was used as cannon fodder by the Spaniards, often in the most dangerous position, so there were more casualties, a total of two to 3000 casualties, and the rest were captured by the Ming army.

The Ming army did not support idlers, and directly disarmed these prisoners, and gave them some shoulder poles and sandbags, allowing them to take the lead in subsequent battles to destroy the city defense facilities.

Then the Ming army repeated the old trick and took Corregidor Island in less than half a month.There were about 800 Spanish soldiers and more than [-] native soldiers on the island. They were also annihilated by the Ming army, and the remnants collapsed and surrendered.

After clearing all the external obstacles within one month, from the south bank of Lingayen Bay to the Bataan Peninsula, all the land west of this line has been occupied by the Ming Dynasty, forming a single piece.It can also be said that the land of Luzon Island west of Manila basically fell into the hands of Daming.

In the first ten days of December, Zheng Chenggong took a short rest. From the middle of the month, he finally advanced outside Manila and began the final preparations for the attack.

The total Spanish garrison in Luzon was no more than 500 people. Two important areas were occupied, and some other outlying cities were lost. There were only 700 Spanish white soldiers in Manila.

Governor Manuel Aguirre had no choice but to put all his eggs in one basket, concentrating all the single-masted mortar boats and preparing to rely on the city of Manila to defend.

At the same time, a liaison ship was also sent to allow Vice Admiral Ramond Prado, who had been hiding in the open sea to cruise and try to determine the supply fleet of the Ming Army, to bring the Philippine fleet back to support the decisive battle.Now, it is impossible to expect the security fortress to consume Zheng Chenggong's fleet. If the Spaniard's fleet is captured, even the old nest will be gone.

It is the last one left to die or live, or surrender.

(End of this chapter)