Because the storm deviated from the course, Zheng Sen's army did not reach Manila Bay directly, which also lost the suddenness of the attack, making it much more difficult to attack Manila City.

The total number of Spaniards in Luzon was less than 2,000, and half of them were family members. With less than a thousand troops controlling such a large island, it is naturally very difficult.

However, most of the natives of Luzon were killed by the Spaniards, and they had long lost the courage to resist, and with the Manila castle and forts, the Dutch and the English did not dare to fight the idea of Manila.

So, in the eyes of the Spaniards, there was no force that could threaten their presence in Luzon. The only threat is the growing number of Ming immigrants, but the Spanish rulers have been suppressing the Ming and sowing discord between the local natives and the Ming people, playing a very slippery balance.

When Zheng Sen arrived in Luzon with his army, the Spaniards were mostly scattered across the vast space around Manila, busy collecting spices and collecting taxes from indigenous tribes. Hearing the arrival of the Ariake fleet, they hurriedly gathered their troops and retreated to the city of Manila. However, the total number of troops assembled was only five or six hundred.

However, this bit of talent also brought a heavy blow to Zheng Sen.

More than 20,000 troops landed in Manila, facing only hundreds of Spanish troops, whether it was Zheng Sen or Zheng Jun's generals, they all thought that there was no problem in taking Manila City.

On the third day of the landing, under the order of Zheng Sen, Zhou Quanbin and others began to attack Manila City with 5,000 troops, and the soldiers carried the hastily tied siege bamboo ladder and rushed towards Manila City. However, first fierce artillery and then sharp guns awaited them.

Outside the Manila Castle there was a Spanish fort to control the nearby bay and assist in the defense of the city. It was this fort that forced Zheng's fleet to anchor on the coast ten miles away from Manila. And now it has brought a great blow to the Zheng army that is besieging the city.

The heavy projectiles roared and landed in the ranks of the marching Zheng army, and they were smashed and rubbed and touched, all of which were broken bones and tendons. Although the casualties caused were not very large, the blow to morale was great. Even the strongest shield is useless in front of the cannon.

It was easy to attack the vicinity of the fort, and when Zhou Quanbin commanded the soldiers to attack the fort, he was met with heavy fire from the city of Manila not far away. The fort was fifty paces outside of Manila, and any attack from any point would be met with an attack from the city's head.

The battle for the fort alone cost more than 300 casualties, but the fort did not suffer a single injury.

The assault on the Manila Citadel was even more devastating, as every attacking soldier had to face blows from three sides in front of the fortified fortress, and the structure of the fort made it completely impossible for the attacking team to deploy.

More than 1,000 people were killed and wounded, and Zhou Quanbin and others had to retreat, and the first attack was defeated.

Zheng Sen summoned the generals to plan a way to attack the city, but in the face of the strong castle, everyone had no idea. This kind of fortress is different from the boxy city of the Ming Dynasty, just like a hedgehog full of sharp thorns, which makes people have nowhere to speak.

"General system, we don't have much food, we have to come up with a way as soon as possible." Zheng Zhibao said.

"If you can't attack, let's surround it!

Third uncle, you are responsible for leading people to mobilize all the Ming people in Luzon and gather them for our use. Most of the estates in Luzon were owned by our Ming people, numbering more than 20,000 people, and we had no food, but they did, and spent money to buy food from them, and warned them not to provide any food items to the Spaniards in the city.

Quan Bin, you are responsible for leading half of the army and the Ming people who have gathered, taking the tools found from the local people's homes, digging earth and building a wall three miles outside of Manila, and building an earthen wall for me to enclose the city of Manila, I will completely trap the Spaniards in the city!

The rest of the army cultivated the fields in the flat areas on both sides of the river and carried out the tuning. We have no backup, we can only grow our own grain and eat, now it has just entered the summer, the climate of Luzon is warm and humid, now plant grain seeds, and harvest a season of autumn rice after autumn. ”

Zheng Sen ordered them one by one. After the failure of the storming of the Manila Citadel, he prepared for a protracted battle. There were only a few men left in his army, and he didn't want to spend any more time on needless sieges.

Isn't your Manila castle fortified? Lao Tzu surrounded you and trapped you to death, to see how long the food in your castle could last?

In the following days, under the command of Zheng Sen, more than 20,000 troops dug ditches and built walls, opened up wasteland and cultivated land, and were busy in full swing.

As for the arrival of Zheng Jun, tens of thousands of Ming people in Luzon welcomed it, and most of the Ming people in Luzon came from Fujian and Guangdong provinces, and there was no one who did not hear of the reputation of the Zheng family. These people left their homeland to make a living, but they were still brutally oppressed by the Spaniards.

Fearing that more and more Ming people would threaten their rule, the Spaniards supported the indigenous Luzon natives and tried their best to suppress the Ming people, not only imposing heavy taxes, but also carrying out a massacre after a while. In history, the Spanish massacre of the Ming people occurred twice, one was the 35th year of Wanli and the other was the 12th year of Chongzhen, each time the heads were rolling, and tens of thousands of Ming people died tragically under the butcher's knife of the Spanish and indigenous people. In the massacre of Chongzhen's twelfth year, a total of 50,000 Ming people died tragically.

However, knowing the cruel attitude of the Spaniards towards the Ming people, there are still countless Ming people who have crossed the sea to make a living here, which cannot but be said to be a kind of sadness. Because the rule of the Spaniards was cruel, the warm and humid climate of Luzon and countless fertile lands still attracted the landless poor people in Fujian and Guangdong. Although the Spaniards paid heavy taxes, they were not as heavy as the gentry and landlords, and as long as they worked hard, they had no problem earning money to support their families, and in Luzon, most of the Ming people fared better off than in their hometowns.

However, the Ming people are Ming people in the end, and they identify with their Chinese identity wherever they go, and now the army from the mainland, although they are uneasy, still actively helps the Zheng soldiers to gain a foothold on the island.

They took out their own food, and they helped the army build the earthen walls of the siege and build fortifications. Because they knew that once the Zheng army was defeated, the Spaniards would definitely not be able to spare them, who were also Ming people.

Seeing that the Ming army actually made a posture of long-term siege, and seeing the earthen wall outside the city stretching longer and longer, the Spaniards in the castle were also anxious, if this continued, Manila City would be completely besieged by the Ming people. Although there is a lot of food in the city, how long can it last?

In the Luzon Islands, the Spaniards only have two strongholds, Manila and Cebu, and the Spaniards on Cebu Island are even less, with only more than 200 people, even if they know that they are besieged and unable to rescue. The closest army to Manila was the New World, and the Spaniards had a strong army in Mexico. But the New World is tens of thousands of miles away from Luzon, and when the governor of Mexico knows the news of Luzon and then sends an army, where will it be too late?

Therefore, the Spanish governor knew that he had to take the initiative, and only by defeating the Ming army could Manila have any hope of holding on!