Chapter 413 The Battle of Manila Bay Under the thick twilight, Manila Bay was calm.

The seagulls croaked www.biquge.info the pen "Fun", circling back and forth in the red cloudy sky, and the sea surface danced with golden light waves, like countless pieces of gold, constantly jumping on the sea surface.

In the lavishly furnished captain's office of a four-masted and three-story ship, Vice Admiral Andrés of the Spanish Navy was drinking red wine glass after glass.

These wines, native to Grenada, Spain, are the most famous wine producing area in Spain, and after many years of cellaring, the taste is quite good, so Andrés drank it very happily and to the fullest.

It's just that his face is already red, although on the surface he is Andres, who has drunk so much, but his heart is indescribably bitter and confused.

Andrés was originally a very ambitious man, but a few years ago, because of his excellent fight against piracy in Central America, he was transferred to the Philippines and became the commander of the Spanish Empire's Far East Navy.

He originally thought that he wanted to do a great job, and he wanted to compete with the Dutch and the British on the sea of the Far East, but after several years, he could only helplessly face the bleak reality.

The Spanish Empire, which was destitute and embarrassed, was unable to take care of the Far Eastern Fleet, even with its own financial supply difficulties.

What's more, Philip IV, nicknamed the Emperor, was actually a garbage monarch with a bright appearance and a straw bag inside, under his rule, the empire was in chaos in terms of politics, economy, and military, and the Spanish army was defeated by the British, the French, and even the former slave Dutch, so that the dignity and glory of the Spanish Empire for hundreds of years were like bubbles in the wind, and they were fleeting.

And in such a poor state of the country, Philip IV still spent all his time drinking and spending money, balls and salons one after another, as if life was a never-ending feast.

In order to get more money for pleasure, Philip IV decided to borrow money from Jewish merchants by paying Spanish taxes in advance.

From then on, many Jewish merchants came to the Spanish palace every day to lend money.

And the Spanish Empire, which was originally invincible and dominated the world, has embarked on an irretrievable decline after even mortgaging its future.

Like now, the Far East Fleet of the Empire has not purchased a new ship for more than 20 years.

On the contrary, with the destruction and retirement of ships, there are now only more than 50 old ships left in the entire Imperial Far East Fleet.

And these more than 50 ships, because of the lack of maintenance funds, even the ocean voyage is difficult, can only be entrenched in this Manila Bay all day long, like old people in the last years of the wind and candles, eating and waiting for death, and nothing more.

Consider how glorious it was for the Spaniards to march to Luzon with hundreds of brand-new ships and successfully occupy this rich land in the Far East.

And now, it has reached such a depressed and desperate situation, and the commander of the navy, Andres, sighs in his heart.

Therefore, now he can only borrow wine on the boat every day to drown his sorrows, and every day is a day, and the original Andrés, who was full of ambition and ambition, can no longer be found.

Just when Andrés was drunk and hazy, suddenly his soldiers hurriedly came to report.

"General, no! In the waters west of Manila Bay, a large number of warships with the flag of the Tang Dynasty have appeared, numbering nearly 500, and they are speeding toward our warships. ”

The sentinel's urgent report made Andres's eyes widen.

The sailors of the Tang Army?

！

Didn't Governor López say that there was a Tang army that was attacking cities and plundering land on land north of Luzon?

Why, their sailors were also dispatched, and they even came directly to Manila Bay?

A chill rushed from Andres's back to the ground.

That is to say, the Tang Army was not only the Tang Army north of Luzon, but also the troops that made a special trip to Manila, so as to directly attack the central Spanish city in the Philippines.

In this way, the empire's rule in the Philippines is really coming to an end.

Andrés could no longer sit still, jumped up from his chair, and followed the guard briskly to the side of the ship.

When he saw that under the afterglow of the sky, the overwhelming Tang fleet was moving towards his fleet at full speed in a semi-encircled state, Andres couldn't help but gasp.

Oh, my God!

The fleet of the Tang Army is so large, the hull is so large, my own fleet, I'm afraid there is no room to fight back!

In the battle of the naval division, the tactics are often secondary, and the most important thing is the comparison of the specific strength of the two sides.

And in this battle, which was completely outnumbered, the Tang army could be said to have firmly gained the upper hand.

Because, the average tonnage of the ships of the Tang Army, the speed of the ships, the configuration of firepower, the range of artillery, etc., were far superior to those old and dilapidated Spanish sailors on the opposite side.

For example, as the command ship of the Dutch first-class battleships, the Thang Long, there are at least fifteen ships of the same type in the Tang Army, which is almost overwhelming for the current Spanish Navy.

Looking at the half-arc outflanked by the Tang Army's sailors, Lieutenant General Andres who was on top of alcohol, suddenly an illusion appeared in his mind.

It seems that the Tang Army sailor who came over this bag is like a huge beast, opening its bloody mouth and wanting to swallow it in one gulp.

"General, what are we going to do now?"

The guards on the side, whose faces were pale, asked anxiously.

Andrés seemed to have suddenly woken up from his delusion at this moment, and he shouted: "Hurry up, meet the enemy immediately!" ”

The flying flags were hurriedly raised, and more than 50 Spanish ships rushed to the battle, and they became a mess.

At this time, the ships of the Tang Army had already rushed to a distance of several hundred paces from the Spanish ships.

"Bang bang bang!"

The ships of the Don Army, which came from the ring, opened fire almost simultaneously.

Li Xiao saw that he took the lead and rushed to the front of the command ship Thang Long, and on the full gun deck on one side, seventeen eighteen-pounder guns and twenty-three thirty-two-pounder guns fired together.

In the deafening sound of cannons, the muzzles of each cannon erupted with blazing red afterburns, and dozens of black iron bullets of various sizes roared and swooped towards the enemy ships that came over from the bag.

A Spanish armed light warship on the left was hit by more than a dozen shells from the Thang Long, the mast of the ship broke, the sail fell into the sea, the ship's side exploded into the air, and several large and small guns on the side of the ship were lifted high into the air by the huge impact force, and then smashed down on the deck, smashing the gunners and sailors who could not escape into meatloaf.

At the draft of the side of the ship, it was also hit by artillery, and several sudden holes were shocking, and the whole ship began to enter the water rapidly, gradually tilting towards the side that was shelled.

It looks like it won't be long before the ship capsizes completely.

To the right, a smaller, armed Spanish merchant ship, a massive thirty-two-pound iron bullet pierced through the belly of the ship, piercing through the other side, leaving a shocking hole in the center of the hull.

An eighteen-pound iron bullet struck the bow chamber so hard that the whole ship immediately lost control of the steer, and began to spin blindly in the sea like a toy, gradually being pushed away by the current.

Seeing that the ships of the Spaniards, under the heavy artillery fire of the Tang Army, they quickly showed a rout on one side, and the deputy head of the naval division of the Tang Army, the Dutchman Joseph, laughed.

Now, Joseph, who has bought property and land in Taiwan and is ready to immigrate his family from the Netherlands to settle in Taiwan, has become Li Xiao's staunchest supporter and most loyal subordinate.

"Haha, you hateful Spaniards, you Habsburg grave keepers, have tasted the might of our Tang warships. Again, it's just a pre-dinner appetizer. ”

Joseph Dutchman, the deputy chief of the naval division who operated the Thang Long, laughed loudly and directed his gunners and seamen to adjust the angle and gun position before attacking the other ships that surrounded him.

The other Don ships that had been copied by the envelopers also opened fire one after another, fighting separately while maintaining their formation, and either wounding or sinking the Spanish ships that were caught in them.

Everyone in the Tang army can see that the battlefield advantage of this naval battle has been firmly gained by themselves.

Seeing that the naval battle had shown a one-sided status quo, Li Xiao was also very happy in his heart.

He suddenly remembered the tactics of naval warfare summarized by Yu Dayou, a famous anti-Japanese general, based on years of experience in naval warfare, which is: "The method of naval warfare is nothing more than defeating small ships with big ships and defeating small guns with big guns; Win a few ships with a lot of guns, and win a few with a lot of guns"

。

Now, Li Xiaojun has a huge advantage in all aspects, such as the number of ships, the tonnage of ships, the speed of ships, the rate of fire of artillery, the range of shells, and so on.

In order to end this naval battle as soon as possible before dark, Li Xiao decided to capture the thief and capture the king first.

That is, to take out the enemy's command ship first with all your might.

In this case, the remaining ships of the enemy army will be leaderless, and their combat strength will inevitably be greatly reduced, and they will be able to defeat each of them.

"Pass on the order of the Duke of Ben, attack the enemy command ship with all your might, and be sure to sink the enemy command ship in one fell swoop!"

"Order!"

Li Xiao gave an order, and the Shenglong was like a tiger that broke into the wolves, with a huge body and strong firepower, and rushed all the way to sink the two ships blocking in front, one was sunk, and the other was damaged, and it was only a short distance of about a hundred steps away from Andres's command ship!

"Quick, stop the enemy ship!"

Andres, who was standing at the bow of the command ship, saw the ship of the Tang Army rushing over like a wild beast, his face turned pale with fright, and his pale blue eyes were full of extreme fear.

After hearing the commander's panicked shouting, the soldiers on the side, who were also trembling, desperately waved flags to the ships on both sides, signaling them to immediately detour and protect the main ship.

It's just that the Spanish ships, which have been beaten by the Tang Army, have already panicked, and it is quite difficult to even protect themselves, so they don't have the heart to come to the rescue at all.

Joseph saw through the clairvoyant mirror that the man on the command ship, who was fat, wearing fine armor, and dancing and shouting with his forehand, was probably the enemy's commander-in-chief, and a sinister sneer crossed his blue eyes.

"Listen to my orders, seven sixty-pounder cannons in the bow of the ship, all loaded with shotguns! Attack the enemy command ship with all your might! Joseph turned his head and yelled at the gunners with a hideous expression. The gunners rushed to the bow of the ship, and immediately began to load the bow of the Shenglong, the seven sixty-pounder guns, and filled the huge muzzles of the black hole with gunpowder and shotgun particles composed of scattered iron balls and gravel. At a distance of only about a hundred paces from the enemy's command ship, all seven huge cannons were ready. "Ignition!" "Ready!" "Put!" "Bang 。。。。。。" The muzzles of seven sixty-pounder cannons, the embers of the flames fluttering like flying red cloth, and like the tongue of death licking blood. Seven 60-pounder cannons fired at the same time, and in the thick smoke of gunpowder, countless shotguns screamed and flew out from the muzzles. These shotguns, some of which were made up of sharp stones, flew all over the sky with a terrible whistling sound, and swept away like a torrent of iron and stone, and swept away the enemy's command ship, which was already less than a hundred paces away. In fact, the effective attack distance of the shotgun was within 60 paces, but the intensive attack of the seven 60-pounder cannons was like a dense rain of death, causing the personnel on the enemy ship nearly 100 paces to suffer tragic damage. Every gunner could clearly hear that on the enemy command ship opposite, the continuous miserable sound sounded violently, blood and scraps of flesh were splashed everywhere, and the entire side and deck of the command ship were sprayed with dark red blood and colorful human tissue, and the whole ship was like a hellish slaughterhouse, extremely bloody and terrifying. And Vice Admiral Andrés, the Spanish Navy standing at the bow of the ship, was covered with dense thick blood holes from head to toe, all over his body! Perhaps, at this moment, the commander of the Spanish Far East Navy, who had always been depressed, may finally be completely relieved. Like a hurricane blown up by a shrapnel and a toy blowing, he crossed a long parabola from the bow of the ship, threw himself on the deck behind, and did not move. "Your Excellency, Commander!" The sailors on the Spanish command ship howled loudly, and then a first mate molded fellow shouted loudly: "The commander is dead, quickly, quickly withdraw to the shore, abandon ship and go ashore!" "If you want to run, it's not that easy! At this time, the seven 60-pounder cannons at the bow of the Thang Long fired in unison, but this time they fired double-ball chain bullets specially used to attack the sails of enemy ships. The white cloth canvas on the Spaniard's command ship was immediately punched out of a dense hole by this chain bomb, and the whole ship instantly lost the support of the wind, and was caught up by the Thang Long behind in an instant. "Surrender quickly, you can avoid death!" Joseph ordered the sailors to raise the flag for the surrender of the enemy ship, and the Spanish command ship, which was already motionless on the sea, finally reluctantly raised the white flag. The Thang Long immediately took up the board with it, and a large number of energetic sailors rushed onto the enemy ship with swords in their hands, and immediately took over the pilot. Seeing the surrender of the enemy's command ship, the morale of the Tang fleet was greatly boosted, and they immediately attacked and chased in all directions, and those Spanish naval ships were terrified with low morale. However, in a quarter of an hour, the remaining Spanish naval ships, no longer having the motivation and courage to fight, raised their white flags and surrendered. When the sun was completely setting in the west and the sky was gradually shrouded in darkness, the naval battle of Manila Bay finally ended with a complete victory for the Tang army. In this battle, Li Xiaojun sank a total of 11 enemy ships, damaged 16 ships, and killed the enemy's main general, Andres. Li Xiao ordered the abandonment of seven seriously damaged ships among the injured ships, and the final result was 24 Spanish sailors, which were captured by himself. These ships, all of which had been sent auxiliaries and sailors, took over the control of the captured ships. And the ships of the Don Army, only one of the smallest Eagle Strike-class armed light warships, was unfortunately hit by the Spanish Navy in the tail compartment drain, thus sinking and capsizing. Other Tiger Roar-class ships and an Eagle Strike-class ship suffered minor injuries, but other than that, there were no casualties. Amid the thunderous cheers of the officers and men of the whole army, Li Xiao ordered all the ships to go straight to the coast of Manila, land ashore, and surround Manila City, the heart of the Spaniards in the Philippines, overnight.