Chapter 698: Halfway to Kill a Journey to Bite Gold
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The two fleets of the Great Qin Royal Navy pursued Thomas all the way to the sea off Manila.
After receiving the report, the Spanish governor in Luzon, Andre, and the supreme military commander of Luzon, General Pique, and Bishop Narlen, led a total of 18 warships from the port of Manila;
Together with Thomas's 2 ships, the Spaniards had a total of 20 warships, which can be described as a splendid.
André was appointed by Philip IV of Spain only last year as the new governor from the mainland.
He had long heard of the ancient country of the East, and that the Spaniards, who had returned from the Far East, had said that "the only place where the force of force can be expressed is in a large number of people, and their weapons and soldiers are meaningless today, and they emphasize civility over military force, so that even a small civil official dares to fight against the military generals, and does not value him at all." ”
The Portuguese said: "The Viceroy of Malacca does not need as much force as is said to be in the Chinese to subdue them, for they are weak and vulnerable." Frequents and captains said that the Indian governor, who had led dozens of ships to conquer Malacca, would have taken all parts of the Chinese coast without much effort. ”
The Dutch said: "Twenty-five Chinese together are not enough for a Dutch soldier, and if you put a volley of guns and kill a few of them, they will scatter and flee in terror and all of them will collapse." ”
Although the country is too big and populated for Spain to swallow up the great empire now, after hearing too many legends about this country, André is full of contempt for the fighting power of the Qin army.
This time, he only heard that there were too many warships sent by the Qin State, so he set out to give the Qin people a good lesson, what is the real navy.
On the boundless sea, the sea and the sky meet, and the blue sky is infinite.
In the distance, some black sails jumped out of the sea, and immediately a sharp whistle sounded from the Spaniards' warships. The Spanish sailors, who heard the alarm, immediately became nervous and prepared for battle.
André kept watching with his telescope, and there were more and more black sails on the sea level, like huge clouds when a storm was approaching;
With such a huge momentum, his brows couldn't help but frown. It seems that this decrepit country not only has many people, but also many ships!
"Captain Thomas, how many of their ships have naval guns, and how many naval guns? How far is the range? What about the rate of fire? Andrei asked suddenly.
Thomas, who had just joined the main force, replied: "Your Excellency the Governor, they have about 80 ships with naval guns, maybe a little more, but no more than 100. Each battleship is equipped with 20 to 30 naval guns, and the rate of fire and range are not weaker than ours;
The rest of the small and medium-sized warships numbered more than 400 of them, and there were no naval guns on them, but every soldier had a gun and a bow and crossbow. The dozens of others that look like supply ships, and even hospital ships."
"Hospital ship?" Surprised, Andrei asked, "You mean they have ships dedicated to treating the sick and wounded?" ”
"Your Excellency the Governor, it should be."
Pique, the top military commander in Luzon, had been stationed in Luzon for several years and had some knowledge of the Chinese army's combat methods. It was he who urgently requested the dispatch of warships to reinforce Luzon.
He was afraid that Andrei would underestimate the enemy too much, so he said: "Your Excellency the Governor, let's be careful, I heard that the Qin people have just defeated the Tatars in the north. Zheng Yiguan's fleet was also co-opted;
Although their combat effectiveness is not strong, they have a large number of ships, and if they are allowed to surround them, things will become very troublesome. They would scatter lime down the wind to fascinate the eyes of our soldiers, and they would use a lot of small boats as fireboats to besiege them.
Our army first retreated to the port of Manila and defended it with the help of shore artillery. It would be best to wait for a few days until their supplies were in short supply before leaving the port to attack. ”
Bishop Naren said disapprerovantly: "After taking in Zheng Yiguan's fleet, they will not become very strong, Zheng Yiguan can defeat the Dutch, in addition to relying on the large number of people, but also using a despicable sneak attack to defeat the Dutch." You see, they sent hundreds of ships this time, and they look the same as before, and we don't need to be afraid of them at all. ”
It's no wonder that Naren, none of the Western countries has fought with the Great Qin Royal Navy, and in the past, Zheng Zhilong and their defeat of the Dutch did rely on more people and more ships, often fighting one in a hundred, and barely won the victory.
The perception that has been formed for a long time has made Westerners very contemptuous of the Chinese army's fighting.
Thomas hurriedly said: "Your Excellency the Governor, when I fought with the Qin people, I found that they were well-trained and had strong combat effectiveness, and compared with the previous Ming army, they had made great progress.
I think what General Peak said is reasonable, let's retreat into the port of Manila first, and when the supplies of the Qin people are almost exhausted, then go out of the port to counterattack, and the chances of victory will be much greater. ”
Andre raised the binoculars again, looking at the Qin warship that was getting closer and closer like a black cloud, the huge scale invisibly gave people a very strong pressure, plus Pique and Thomas both said so, he was no longer reckless, and agreed to withdraw to the port of Manila first, and drag it out for a few days.
The two sides were still separated by four or five miles, and the 20 Spanish warships began to turn the rudder and quickly sailed back to the port of Manila.
The Great Qin Royal Navy, which was sailing desperately, couldn't help but scold her mother when she saw it.
They came from afar, and their supplies were limited after all, and it was not good to delay for a long time.
Seeing the Spaniards pouring out of the nest, everyone thought that they could solve the problem quickly, and they were happy.
I didn't expect that the battle was about to begin, and the Spaniards were talking about it, seeing that the cooked duck was flying, how could everyone not be annoyed?
The Port of Manila is located in the easternmost part of Manila Bay, which is almost completely closed to land, with deep harbor channels and a natural barrier between the Bataan Peninsula and the mountains of the Central Cordillera.
The Spaniards had been running the port of Manila for almost a hundred years, and with batteries blocking the shipping lanes, it was almost impossible to storm it.
This time, the Great Qin Royal Navy came to attack Luzon, originally intending to make a surprise attack, but it was encountered by Thomas at the northern tip of Luzon Island, and his whereabouts have been exposed.
Now it would be a great trouble for the Spaniards to cower in Mani Harbor and not get out.
Although the Qin army brought dozens of supply ships, there were more than 20,000 horses, and the daily consumption of fresh water alone was staggering.
It's hard to see things in the world!
Gu Rong and Zheng Sihai had to urgently gather the generals to discuss countermeasures, and the commanders of each battalion had just come to Gu Rong's flagship in a small boat, when the small ships on the periphery of the guard suddenly heard the rumbling drums.
This sudden warning signal surprised everyone, and they didn't care about any more discussions, and returned to their warships one after another.
As soon as Hai Rufeng returned to his command ship, he looked through the telescope at the southern sea, and six warships flying the flag of Holan jumped out of the sea.
The six Dutch battleships were not to be underestimated, all of them had two decks, and the number of guns on each side was at least twenty or more, and the six ships together could shoot more than a hundred shells in a single salvo on a single side.
What's going on? How could the Dutch suddenly have such a powerful fleet off the coast of Manila?
From the binoculars, the sailors on their ships could be seen in a mess, nervously rushing to their positions.
The Dutch probably didn't see the huge fleet outside, only the sea like the wind and their detachments patrolling the periphery. So he was so bold that they took the lead in firing at several eagle ships of the Qin army with the intention of expelling.
Rumble! Boom!
The fierce sound of artillery instantly broke the calm on the sea, and the whistling cannonballs flew in, stirring up columns of water around several eagle boats, and the danger was full of dangers.
Is this still worth it?
"Damn, if the tiger doesn't threaten you, you should be a sick cat, quick! Kill it, don't let it go, wipe out all the enemies, be sure to wipe out all the enemies" The sea roared like the wind continuously, and he didn't forget to take out his black blindfold and put it on.
The Qin army came this time, with the intention of quickly attacking Manila and even the entire Luzon Island, and did not intend to provoke the Dutch.
The Great Qin Royal Navy, which had nowhere to spill its anger, couldn't help but be angry when they saw the Dutch firing their guns, Gu Rong and Zheng Sihai were no exception, the East China Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet were commanded by two people, and all kinds of flags and drums quickly passed on one combat order after another to the two fleets.
Suddenly, the two fleets roared like enraged lions and pounced on the enemy
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PS: Well, there will always be surprises in things, if the brothers vote for more monthly passes, it will also be a great surprise for me, the competition is very fierce this month, I drag my tired body, and I insist on updating with difficulty, no matter what, please support the brothers. Kneel and beg for a monthly pass!.
(To be continued......)