Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 523: Breaking the Bastion
After clearing the periphery, the First Regiment of the New Army, as planned, reinforced its defenses, isolated the inside and outside, and left only the side facing the sea, clearly allowing the Spaniards to escape by ship.

Six originally weak indigenous tribes, including the Sioux, chose to cooperate with the Celestial Empire.

There were not many of them, and they were organized into six camps according to different tribes, with more than 500 people in each camp.

The commander was still the leader of each tribe, and Jia Lian was only an instructor assigned to each camp and a staff officer responsible for logistics.

What does it mean? Weapons, ammunition, and food are all under their control. Of course, the indigenous army is equipped with muskets, and the cannons are four rapid-fire cannons in each battalion.

With weapons in hand, the next step was training. There was no rush to send the native troops into battle, which greatly relieved the native leaders.

The third division of the sweep, in addition to clearing out the Spanish estates, would naturally beat up any uncooperative natives they encountered.

As the mopping-up operation progressed, there were no more Spanish estates within a hundred miles of Manila. There were some further away, but they were not planning to take action for the time being.

The Security Army also received training at the same time. The Security Army was composed of two battalions. The first battalion was composed of Hai Longtou and his men, and had four infantry battalions and one artillery battalion. Each infantry battalion had more than 500 people, and each battalion contained four infantry squads and a rapid-fire artillery squad. The artillery battalion was equipped with eight 12-pound cannons captured from the Spanish. The second battalion was composed of expatriates, with the same size and organization.

The rifles equipped by the security forces are also percussion cap rifles, which give them an advantage over the indigenous army. All the newly formed troops are undergoing intensive training.

The clipper sent a letter, saying that the main fleet encountered the Indian fleet of the Royal Navy. The commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Churchill, said that he would come to see Jia Lian in person and wanted to observe the battle of Zhou's army. Jim could not make the decision, so he asked Jia Lian if he agreed. From this detail, Jim is still very good. The letter also mentioned another thing, that is, Penang is now in the hands of the British, and Lijiaopo is controlled by the Portuguese. According to the agreement signed with Britain and France, the Strait is also within the sphere of influence of the Zhou Empire, asking whether to go and take over.

Jia Lian wrote back, allowing Churchill to come and watch the battle and take over the defense of the two places. There was no need to rush for the time being.

Jia Lian certainly knew Churchill's intention to spy on the military, but he didn't care. The best way to deal with the Anglo-Saxons was to show his fists and let them know how powerful they were.

If you try to hide things, they will think you are guilty and will test you further.

The East India Company did a good job, and the British government increased its investment in order to monopolize the interests of India. As for the Portuguese stronghold in Goa, it has been retained because of the good relationship between the two countries.

In view of this, Britain set up a Governor-General of India and upgraded the rank of the Indian fleet, and Churchill's interest rose. In fact, he had wanted to come and see for a long time, but was afraid of irritating Jia Lian, so he waited until the battle started and tried to test it through Jim. Unexpectedly, Jia Lian agreed very straightforwardly and was not afraid of him watching.

Under the escort of the squadron, Churchill's flagship arrived at Manila Bay. Because the port was not taken, it could only board a small boat near the landing point.

Jia Lian was very considerate and personally went to the landing point to greet him. At this stage, strengthening cooperation between China and Britain is beneficial to the Zhou Empire.

On the other hand, the British were even more afraid. The war in North America was stuck in a quagmire. The shameless French, from sending officers at the beginning to personally participating in the war. Across the Atlantic Ocean, even with the Canadian colonies as a base, the British army still had a hard time suppressing the rebellion. Jia Lian hoped that the British army could hold on for a few more years, so instead of making things difficult for the British, he gave them many concessions and conveniences at the trade level.

In this regard, the British government spoke highly of it, believing that Sir Henry's visit had yielded rich rewards and that the Zhou Empire had great goodwill towards the British Empire.

The British government believed that the Zhou Empire had no interest in anything outside of its traditional sphere of influence, because the traditional threat to the Zhou Empire came from the north. In order to strengthen the security of the north, it even crossed the Pamir Mountains and entered Central Asia. This move indirectly compressed the expansion space of the Russian Empire. Although the current Russian Empire is still fighting with the Ottoman Empire.

Obviously, Daiying didn't know that the so-called Zhou Empire's foreign policy was formulated by Jia Lian, who hoped that Daiying could stay in North America for a few more years.

"Welcome Sir Churchill!" Jia Lian, standing at the edge of the pier, raised his hand and saluted first, giving Churchill enough face.

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency!" Churchill was in a good mood. After all, he had confirmed once again that the Zhou Empire's attitude towards Britain was friendly. If the relationship with France could improve, it would be perfect.

Regarding Churchill's unrealistic fantasy, Jia Lian said that you are thinking too much, both sides are the same, and he hopes that the two countries can spend a few more years in North America.

There was no carriage, so after the two sides met, they took a short rest and then rode to Manila.

Seeing the natives helping to build the road along the way, Churchill was very surprised and asked: "Governor, it seems that you and your army have a good relationship with the natives."

"That's not the case. Only a few of the natives are willing to work for us. More of them choose to resist. They hide in the mountains and forests. We don't have the energy to deal with them for the time being." Jia Lian told the truth, but only said half of it.

Jia Lian ordered that if they met the natives within a radius of fifty kilometers, they should be attacked. If they were farther away, they should be ignored. At this stage, Jia Lian's plan was to maintain stable rule within a radius of fifty kilometers. As long as the other party did not enter this range, he would not attack. If you go to the front line, it is not difficult to find that the two sides are actually doing business. The natives sold a lot of rice to Jia Lian in exchange for cloth, ironware, tea, porcelain and other materials recently transported by merchant ships from Dayuan. It is also a big deal if there is not enough rice, gold and silver are also collected.

Fighting a war can't just be a simple expenditure, we have to find ways to generate revenue.

The current situation in Manila is as follows: the Spaniards are trapped in the fortress area and the port, and the Nanyang New Army adopts the tactic of encircling but not attacking, while also using hot air balloons to drop leaflets every day to publicize policies.

After suffering a great loss in the last counterattack, the Spaniards no longer made any counterattacks and just held on and wasted time.

The urban area outside the fortress area and the port area is now controlled by indigenous tribes such as the Sioux, who exist as vassals of the Zhou Empire.

Don't think that the life of these vassals is easy. They have to work every day. What do they do? Jia Lian formulated a sanitation plan. Under his guidance, the natives have to work every day. Clean up garbage, clean ditches, dig drainage canals, repair houses, etc. And many regulations were formulated. Those who fail to complete the tasks will not be given food. These natives no longer have to hide in the mountains and forests to avoid attacks from their enemies, but they can't continue to be lax, unless they are willing to watch others eat good food while they eat dirt.

After arriving in Manila, Churchill asked to go to the front line without waiting to check in.

In response to this, Jia Lian still said that it was no problem, full of "goodwill".

As a qualified soldier, Churchill saw a lot of valuable intelligence along the way. For example, the rifles of the new army had no matchlocks and no flintlocks, which was very scary. When he arrived at the front line, he saw the new army soldiers digging trenches, and Churchill raised his telescope to observe curiously.

The Spanish fortress was a bastion. The Zhou Empire's army had a clear division of labor. Some people stayed in the trenches to prevent the Spaniards from rushing out and counterattacking, while others were digging Z-shaped trenches.

Churchill really didn't understand and couldn't help asking: "Governor, why do you want to dig a Z-shaped trench?"

This distance was beyond the range of the cannons on the top of the city wall. Jia Lian stopped observing, put away the telescope and said, "Sir, please look at the top of the city wall. The Spanish cannons are high up, and our cannons will definitely be at a disadvantage in the counterattack. How can we solve this problem? If you look carefully, you should be able to find the answer."

Churchill raised his telescope again and observed carefully. He found that the Spaniards on the top of the city had no intention of firing, but allowed the enemy to continue to extend the trench forward. In other words, they actually tried, but unfortunately it didn't work.

Suddenly, Churchill understood and exclaimed: "I know, I know, the angle of elevation, it is the angle of elevation. When your artillery advances along the trench to a suitable distance, the artillery on the top of the city cannot hit the people below the city because of the angle of elevation. On the contrary, the artillery below the city can hit the top of the city. It is a great discovery. This discovery turns the bastion, a solid fortification, into a passive target."

Churchill was an expert and quickly saw the purpose of digging trenches. From the day the bastion appeared, it was the most difficult bone to chew for the attacking side. Because once the attack was launched, it would be attacked from multiple directions and there would be no blind spots.

In fact, the Z-shaped trench digging operation had been going on for six days. At the beginning, the Spanish did use artillery to bombard the area, but it cannot be said that it was completely ineffective, only that it was fruitless.

And there is another situation, digging trenches is not just digging one side, but digging all over. The purpose of trenches is not only to avoid artillery fire, but also to provide better defense.

Just as Jia Lian was accompanying Churchill to observe at the front line, the three-person leadership group consisting of the Spanish Governor-Bishop and the Fleet Commander in the fortress held another meeting to discuss how to deal with the trenches being dug.

"We can't let this situation continue to develop, otherwise the enemy will bombard us with cannons from below, but we won't be able to fight back with cannons." Yes, the Spanish governor quickly understood the beauty of Jia Lian's trench tactics. If he didn't want to be bombarded unilaterally every day and unable to fight back, he had to take the initiative to attack.

The bishop didn't understand this, but the fleet commander understood it immediately and his face turned very ugly. Now that we are trapped here, don't expect the Dutch to help attack the logistics supply line.

"Damn it, we shouldn't have left the fleet in the port. We should have left the port and hidden outside. That way we could strike the enemy's shipping supply lines at any time." The fleet commander was either shirking responsibility or simply complaining and venting his emotions. Humans are emotional animals. When they are surrounded by others, they are under great mental pressure. Even if they play with women and drink every night, they will continue when they wake up.

"Well, now is not the time to argue about this," the Bishop spoke, interrupting the fleet commander's venting.

"Attack, let the militia attack, otherwise we will all be doomed." The Governor made the suggestion in a serious tone. If the two did not agree, he could not do it.

Why? Because the morale of the militia is extremely low. Not only are leaflets dropped every day, but they also have to worry about the enemy invading every day. They are tense all the time and their life is extremely hard.

In this situation, the bishop plays a greater role. If the militia is to be mobilized to attack, only the bishop can step in.

As for why it was the militia that attacked instead of the Governor's Guards, let alone the sailors of the fleet, the reason was very simple. There were not many elite troops left. In the previous attack, more than half of the elite troops on both sides were lost.

The militia are not elite troops, so let some die. We won’t feel bad if any of them die, and we can also save some food.

"Well, since the Governor has made the decision, I will try my best. I believe that God will definitely favor his people." The bishop knew what he should do, and although he was under a lot of pressure, he had to hold on.

The church bells rang, and more and more citizens gathered in the open space outside the church.

The bishop appeared at the door of the church and gave a loud speech to the citizens: "People of the Lord, we came here under the guidance of the Lord. Now the pagans are here. This is a test of the Lord's people. The devout will be saved. Please believe that the Lord will not abandon any devout believer."

The bishop gave a speech with great effort, but the citizens below were obviously not in a good mood. Their eyes were full of worry. Since the siege, the security situation in the city has continued to deteriorate. Several vicious incidents have occurred. In one incident, people from both sides even opened fire on each other. It was completely like I don’t care whether I die or not, I want my enemies to die first.

"People of the Lord, it is already the end of June and the typhoon season is coming. Believe in the Lord, He will definitely send the pagans to hell, provided we can hold out until the typhoon arrives."

The bishop's words did have some effect. After all, they all came here by ship, and they knew that once a tropical storm appeared, the enemies on the shore would be in trouble, but the enemies on the sea would definitely suffer.

People are always optimistic, not to mention that this is the bishop preaching the gospel of the Lord. In fact, the bishop did not say that God would use the typhoon to repel the enemy.

This ambiguous statement is obviously a classic tactic used by charlatans.

"Bishop, what do you think we should do?" A devout believer in the crowd spoke up. Never underestimate the role of religion. There are many devout people who are willing to die for their Lord.

Speaking of the most amazing aspects of religion, we have to mention India. Not only does it classify people into different levels, it also makes the Dalits at the bottom of society believe that they will be reborn into a good family in their next life.

Speaking of India's colonial period, so many people starved to death but they did not rebel. The only person who explicitly sought armed independence was Chambers, but the army he formed was still defeated by the British Indian Army.

Of course, Indians also admire him very much. Chambers, Gandhi and Nehru are respected as the three heroes of independence.

I won’t talk about the last two, Chambers is respected, and he really makes up for what is lacking.

In short, India is amazing. The way the British Indian soldiers revered Chambers was to defeat Chambers' national army under the command of the British.

(End of this chapter)