In fact, it is not just Mendoza, almost everyone knows that the Kingdom of Spain is at war with the Tang Republic, either clearly or vaguely, and understands a fact, that is, Spain cannot defeat the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps some proud Spaniards believe that Spain is a glorious country, once an invincible armada. However, it has to be mentioned that after the defeat of the Armada by the British, Spain did not achieve any satisfactory results in the European theater of wars, whether on land or sea, and the weakening continued.

More critically, Spain's core forces were in Europe, whether it was the navy or the army, but this war was actually a war for colonies, which took place in the Americas, in Southeast Asia, but not in Europe. Datang did not have the slightest strength in Europe, but in North America and the Far East, it had a strong strength that no European power could match. This is like the upper part of the horse against the lower horse, the Tang Dynasty is originally strong, and it uses its strongest part to fight the weak part of the enemy. The Spaniards' hopes of victory could no longer be described as slim, they simply did not exist.

Mendoza knew that it was impossible to win, but that did not mean that he would surrender to the Don Army without much pressure, as his fellow Army men in the Americas did. In fact, even if it was a battle in Mexico City, if it weren't for Flores being frightened by the mustard gas of the Tang Army, I am afraid that he would have to resist for a while.

A soldier has his own integrity and perseverance, and when he knows that it is impossible to win on the battlefield, the brave man may choose to die generously, although this spirit seems to be uncommon in Europeans, but in fact it is not uncommon to die. In particular, the navy chose to die with the ship when it was sunk, which was also a source of honor.

Mendoza knew that these six Spanish ships would not be able to escape, and the Tang Army had no interest in the backward Spanish ships, so these ships would only have one end. That is, sunk. He didn't want to surrender, at least to die in battle, which could be regarded as the completion of his mission. As for Manila and the Philippines, they can hold on. It's not something he needs to think about.

Mendoza, who had thought clearly, finally made a decision. Ordered the flagship San Liandroid to approach the Tang warship, he wanted to bring the battleship within range, and then attack the Tang Navy, he thought that he must not let the Tang people win this victory unscathed, and the Spaniards also wanted to let the Tang people bleed.

However, the initial decision to evade, and now the decision to approach when it is known that there is no way to escape, the entire Spanish naval fleet's operational thinking is confused. In fact, the Europeans have not yet touched the head of the naval battle under the new situation of this new weapon. In addition, they are facing the Tang Navy, which is far superior to them, so such a mistake is not a mistake.

Under the command of Mendoza, the San Lyandro rushed towards the Tang naval array without hesitation, and the rest of the Spanish warships also followed after a moment's hesitation, but one of the frigates did not keep up with the footsteps of the San Lyon, but broke away from the formation and sailed in the direction of Haikou, intending to escape from the Manila Bay battlefield.

Mendoza was scolding: "Navaletti, a coward, actually abandoned everyone at this time!" This will shake us! ”

But then he took a few more breaths and calmed down about the captain's choice. It's not that he can't understand that in such a situation, everyone wants to survive. Mendoza chose to die an honorable death, but there were people who wanted to live, and saving the battleship and sailors in defeat was not a sin but a merit. If this Navaletti can really escape the pursuit of the Tang people and return to Spain, he will inevitably be regarded as a hero. But from the South China Sea all the way to the Indian Ocean, there are bases and ships of the Datang Navy everywhere. Even now, the Tang army, which has superior forces, only needs to send one frigate of its own side, which is enough to destroy him. Navaretti couldn't run away either.

However, Mendoza can't control anyone else. Because at this time, his flagship St. Lyon was shot.

It was a Pinghai-class cruiser that hit the San Liandroid. The 203-mm guns grazed the stern part of the cruiser above the waterline. Due to the large kinetic energy of the cannonball, and the defense of the St. Lyon, the shell actually made a piercing at the stern of the St. Lyon, although it wounded the flagship, but did not cause fatal damage.

Jiao Qiang also discovered this problem, because the Spanish Navy warships have armor protection, the fleet uses ordinary armor-piercing shells, not high-explosive shells for land support, but Jiao Qiang did not expect that the thickness of the Spaniards' armor is so low, and the armor-piercing projectile with a delayed fuse has not had time to detonate after penetrating the hull of the enemy ship, and the powerful kinetic energy continues to move forward with the armor-piercing projectile, and the hull on the other side of the bow of the ship, and then the explosion exploded in the water, which did not cause any substantial damage to the battleship.

This situation especially occurs here with large-caliber naval guns, especially the 203-mm shells of two-stage cruisers, which pass through as soon as they are pierced, and the damage is limited. In fact, the Makino's 305-mm shells were the same, but because the shells were powerful enough to hit almost any position of the enemy ship, the kinetic damage alone could make the ship suffer greatly.

So Jiao Qiang adjusted it and ordered the naval guns above 203 mm to be mixed with armor-piercing shells and high-explosive shells, while the naval guns below 130 mm were still using armor-piercing shells.

Of course, even if this adjustment had not been made, the Spanish fleet would have been finished. More and more shells began to hit the Spanish battleships, and some of the shells hit the good position, a 305 mm shell fired by the Makino hit the shell of a Spanish frigate, and rushed down directly to detonate the ammunition depot below, the explosion of the shells and the ammunition depot caused strong damage, and its power was so great that it directly blew the ship into two sections.

The artillery bombardment of the Tang naval fleet became more and more intense, even if the Spanish fleet was moving, but the sailors of the Tang Navy, who had already controlled the rhythm of the shelling, kept shooting shells into the enemy ships, and the explosions continued to sound, and the Spanish battleships with thin skin and big stuffing often could not withstand the shooting of many shells, and they were about to be crushed.

After 11 minutes of engagement, 130 mm shells fired from two Makino secondary guns hit the command compartment of the Lisandro, killing Captain Mendoza and more than 20 of the Spanish naval officers and sailors on the spot, and the Spanish fleet completely lost its command.

Twenty-five minutes after the battle began, the Spanish frigate, which was trying to flee the battlefield, raised its white flag and surrendered after being hit by two shots, and together with one ship that had surrendered earlier, and four ships that were sunk, including the San Lionio, the Spanish fleet was completely destroyed in Manila Bay. (To be continued.) )