The night in Manila was not peaceful, with shouting crowds, burning houses, and corpses lying on the ground. Pen ~ Fun ~ Cabinet www.biquge.info Governor Marquina knew that his strategy had completely failed, and he was a little annoyed.

His men came running to report: "Governor, the whole city has been badly damaged by the shelling, the human losses are incalculable, and the losses are enormous, a large number of houses have been blown up and burned, including the temporary prisons where we hold the Chinese, some of the guards have temporarily left their posts to avoid the shelling, and some of the Chinese have escaped. ”

Marquina was a little confused, but he quickly said strongly: "The intensity of this kind of shelling just now, the Tang Navy doesn't know how many Chinese have been killed by themselves, see how they explain!" ”

Father Valdés looked at this already somewhat paranoid guy with some pity, since the Tang Navy dared to open fire, it was obvious that he would have estimated such a loss, and Valdés had always felt that the Chinese here were actually subjects of the Kingdom of Spain, so why should the Tang people have any scruples.

Marquina was also a little crazy, he waved his arms and shouted: "Since those Tang Navy don't value the lives of these Chinese, then it's useless for us to keep them!" Gather my troops for me, slaughter all those cumbersome treacherous and filthy yellow dogs, and let the Dons know that we Spaniards are not easy to mess with. ”

Valdés' eyelids jumped, and he immediately reached out and grabbed the officer who gave the order, and then he glared at Marquina angrily, "Governor, you have lost your mind, do you know what you are doing?" The Don Army could attack Manila at any time, and there were tens of thousands of men, women, and children from Spain. And our clergy. The Tang people have already made it very clear in the previous words. If we kill the Chinese. They will bloodied Manila afterward. You yourself admit that we are no longer able to hold the city, and now, when we are about to lose it, to provoke our enemies by killing the Chinese, do you want to drag tens of thousands of Spanish compatriots in the city to their deaths? This is something that our Church cannot agree to at all, and I now reverse your decision with the power conferred on me by the Spanish crown, and you are no longer fit to fulfill your duties as governor! ”

Valdés' voice was so powerful that Marquina sobered up a little. The strength and toughness of the Tang people have just been taught. The Tang people were unwilling to be coerced by Marquina, and even directly expressed their hearts by bombarding Manila. The Tang people will not compromise, and if Marquina really slaughtered the Filipino Chinese, then the fate of these Spaniards who remained in the Philippines would only be very, very miserable.

Brigadier General Mariano, the commander of the Spanish army, said loudly: "The city of Manila is on the seaside, and it is under the bombardment of the Tang army at any time, and the Tang Navy does not seem to be distressed at all, even if they destroy this city, they have no burden, which gives us a very unfavorable situation, and we cannot fight with the Tang army on a battlefield with such an advantage in the Tang Navy's artillery fire." Next their land was landed. We can only suffer more losses. If the Governor is still interested in continuing to fight against the Dons, I suggest. We withdrew our troops from Manila and fought the Don Army on the island of Luzon. After all, this is our home field, and we can grasp more initiative, and without the artillery support of the Tang Navy, the Tang Army's advantage in fighting against us will be greatly reduced. ”

Although Valdés is a priest, he doesn't understand anything, he shook his head and said: "It's just that there is no naval artillery, but is there no artillery in the Tang Army?" The world unanimously believes that the Tang Republic has the world's strongest, most technical indicators and the strongest artillery capabilities, even without the support of the navy, they can use army artillery to attack us, and the Tang Army's equipment advantage is huge, I believe no one can refute this. When our army withdraws from Manila, will we be able to defeat them in the wilderness and in the mountains? Perhaps the natives of the mountain jungle are more suitable, but how many of them can form a reliable and combat-ready force? We must not forget that once we leave Manila, we will lose our greatest support, and it will be difficult to replenish food and ammunition smoothly, and the day will come when we will run out of ammunition. Even more tragically, if we retreat from Manila, the natives who were originally obedient to us may be incited by the Tang to attack us, and we will be attacked on all sides! ”

Valdés' reasoning and logic cannot be said to be incorrect, and it is very rare for him to see so thoroughly as a clergyman. Although he didn't know much about military affairs, he knew that without bullets and food, the army would definitely collapse. The Spaniards did not build large numbers of war warehouses in many other parts of Luzon. After the retreat of the Spanish army in Manila, it was equivalent to losing the supply of Manila. An army without supply logistics wants to achieve victory, it is simply a fool's dream.

Marquina knew that although the Pacific Ocean was huge, it was not so difficult for the Tang Navy to blockade the Philippine Islands, and they had enough strength to make it difficult for reinforcements and other supplies from Iberia to arrive, so all the Spanish forces in the Philippines could only fight alone, and there was no end in sight.

Mariano added: "Although this is a difficult choice, and it is indeed difficult for us to defeat the Tang army, but such a disparity in a war should soon come to the negotiating table, maybe as long as we continue to support it for a while, it will be enough for the Spanish Kingdom to gain some advantages at the negotiating table, maybe we will not lose so much in the end." ”

This is indeed a very realistic consideration, but Marquina and Valdés looked at each other, and they both saw a deep sense of disappointment and pessimism in each other's eyes. The Spanish army could not hold out for a long time, and the morale of the current garrison was already very weak, and if they left Manila and continued to fight, I am afraid that a complete collapse is possible.

Valdés sighed, but still spoke on his own: "Your Excellency, I hope that you will fully consider the well-being and safety of your Spanish subjects in the Philippines, it is not hopeless to continue the resistance, but there is little hope, and it is difficult for us to guarantee the tens of thousands of Spaniards in Manila, a decent and proper surrender, perhaps the best." At least after the war is over, maybe some people can continue to live here, and if they can't, they will be released back to Spain. I just hope that the Tang people are not angry about the previous exchange proposal. ”

Marquina was secretly stabbed by Valdés, but he only pretended not to understand, after the terrible shelling, Maquina had long since lost any luck. (To be continued.) )