To be sure, Aragonés was right to make Sanya the primary target of this attack, and if Manila wanted to start an all-out war with Haihan, it would undoubtedly be asking for trouble. Even if the Spanish Empire can be called a maritime power in the world, if it comes down to the South China Sea, Manila's colonial government is still not as strong as the newly rising Haihan State in terms of military strength.

What's more, at the end of the previous year, Haihan also pulled a large group of countries to form a paramilitary alliance in the South China Sea in the name of trade alliances, and among the member states, Annan and the like were just the likes of Annam, but Portugal and the Netherlands were very jealous opponents of the Manila authorities. Although Portugal is still nominally a vassal state of Spain, the Portuguese will not treat Spain as a suzerainty overseas, and if there is a chance to fall into the ground, Aragonés has no doubt that the Portuguese will be ruthless to his side, and there will be no friendship between the two countries.

Not to mention the Dutch, if those red-haired ghosts knew that Spain was going to war with Haihan, then they would probably get involved out of their own pockets and help Haihan fight against Spain. Although the authorities in Manila were not afraid of the Dutch East India Company, they did not want it to become a help to Haihan.

Cross-sea operations require extremely high logistical supplies, and the Spanish fleet does not have much advantage in this regard. On the contrary, Haihan, who is sitting on the home field, once the battle situation is stabilized, can rely on Hainan Island to maneuver with the Spanish fleet. At that time, even if the Spanish fleet, whose base was thousands of miles away, achieved some advantages in the early stage, it would be difficult for it to fight the Haihan army for a long time on Hainan Island. If you are to withdraw to Manila because of supply problems, it is better not to go to this trip at all.

Aragonés did not want to leave his Western rivals with any chance, and his tactical design was to destroy the center of the Haihan before everyone could react, so as to avoid a protracted war. However, the actual difficulty of executing this tactic is not as easy as his own brain to make up, Sanya, the capital of the Haihan Dynasty, as the center of the country and one of the most prosperous trading ports in the South China Sea, has quite complete defense means, and the Spanish fleet wants to attack the city of Sanya, which is not so easy to achieve.

In the past two years, information has been transmitted back to Manila through intelligence officers one after another, and Aragonés and the military generals have also roughly understood the defensive measures deployed by Haihan in the two main ports of Sanya, and it is indeed a bit risky to let the fleet rush to the port under the firepower of the shore defense artillery and the Haihan navy. However, if the Spanish fleet does not enter the port, the substantial damage that can be inflicted on Haihan will be relatively limited, and it will not be able to fully realize the combat intent. In the process of formulating specific tactics, this contradiction became the biggest problem for the Manila authorities.

But Aragonés has made up his mind, this battle must be fought, and the combat goal must be clear, and he can't go all the way to Sanya just to show off his muscles and come back. Either destroy Sanya or annihilate the main force of the local Haihan Navy, one of the two must be realized. Of course, if the latter can be realized, then it is likely that Sanya can be taken down logically.

Aragonés entrusted the task to two of his most trusted officers, Juan Luis, commander of the Manila Armed Fleet, and João Pinto, commander of the American galleon fleet. Both men have made great achievements in the regions where they have served, and have been honored by the royal family at home more than once.

Of course, their main opponents are naturally not strong men like the Haihan Army, but the aborigines of the colonial area, those who are still stuck in the primitive era of slash-and-burn farming, hunting and fruit picking. In addition, there were colonists from Europe, who were also the main combat targets of the Spanish armed sailing ships, and some of the tough battles were fought.

Taken together, the two fleets can almost make up about 40 combat ships, plus nearly 20 comprehensive supply ships to transport armed personnel and supplies, which can be said to be a large fleet. Among the ships belonging to the American Fleet were as many as eight large ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, each armed with more than twenty guns, which was also an armed force on which Aragonés had high hopes.

Although the reputation of the Haihan fleet is great, according to the information obtained by Aragonés, the size of its fleet is generally only more than ten warships, and the warships with a tonnage of more than 1,000 tons often have only one or two in a fleet. Although it was said that the naval warships were fierce in their guns, Aragonés and the two fleet commanders believed that this was an exaggeration, and even if it was fierce, it should not be able to match the armed forces of the Spanish fleet, after all, the Spanish side seemed to have a clear advantage in terms of total tonnage and number of ships.

From the finalization of the plan of action by Aragonés to the departure of the two fleets after the completion of preparations and assembly, it took only a little more than a month, which was already a very rapid response in the history of the Spanish fleet. However, this efficiency of preparation is also because Aragonés knew very well that the movements of the fleet could not be concealed from everyone, and Manila was not a pure land, and he would never believe that there were no Haihan spies in this city with a considerable proportion of Chinese. Once the spies on the other side noticed that the Spanish fleet docked in Manila Bay was moving, they would inevitably try to send the news back to Hainan Island, and there was no effective way for the authorities to stop such a means, unless the port was completely blocked a month in advance and ships were not allowed to enter or leave, but this was obviously impossible. If you don't shorten the preparation time, it will be tantamount to exposing your plan of action in advance.

Even so, Aragonés was actually a little worried about whether his own movements would be detected by the Haihan people in advance, but now that the arrow was ready to be sent on the bow, he had to send it, even if the news leaked, he could only hope that his own fleet would move fast enough to attack their doorstep before the Haihan people could react.

The two commanders, Louis and Pinto, naturally knew the importance of racing against time, so after setting off quietly from Manila Bay in the early hours of the morning, they drove at full speed all the way, heading west to the target area. The little time gained during the voyage may be able to turn into victory on the battlefield.

This book was first published on the Genesis Chinese website, and the following content will be re-edited later for anti-theft

To be sure, Aragonés was right to make Sanya the primary target of this attack, and if Manila wanted to start an all-out war with Haihan, it would undoubtedly be asking for trouble. Even if the Spanish Empire can be called a maritime power in the world, if it comes down to the South China Sea, Manila's colonial government is still not as strong as the newly rising Haihan State in terms of military strength.

What's more, at the end of the previous year, Haihan also pulled a large group of countries to form a paramilitary alliance in the South China Sea in the name of trade alliances, and among the member states, Annan and the like were just the likes of Annam, but Portugal and the Netherlands were very jealous opponents of the Manila authorities. Although Portugal is still nominally a vassal state of Spain, the Portuguese will not treat Spain as a suzerainty overseas, and if there is a chance to fall into the ground, Aragonés has no doubt that the Portuguese will be ruthless to his side, and there will be no friendship between the two countries.

Not to mention the Dutch, if those red-haired ghosts knew that Spain was going to war with Haihan, then they would probably get involved out of their own pockets and help Haihan fight against Spain. Although the authorities in Manila were not afraid of the Dutch East India Company, they did not want it to become a help to Haihan.

Cross-sea operations require extremely high logistical supplies, and the Spanish fleet does not have much advantage in this regard. On the contrary, Haihan, who is sitting on the home field, once the battle situation is stabilized, can rely on Hainan Island to maneuver with the Spanish fleet. At that time, even if the Spanish fleet, whose base was thousands of miles away, achieved some advantages in the early stage, it would be difficult for it to fight the Haihan army for a long time on Hainan Island. If you are to withdraw to Manila because of supply problems, it is better not to go to this trip at all.

Aragonés did not want to leave his Western rivals with any chance, and his tactical design was to destroy the center of the Haihan before everyone could react, so as to avoid a protracted war. However, the actual difficulty of executing this tactic is not as easy as his own brain to make up, Sanya, the capital of the Haihan Dynasty, as the center of the country and one of the most prosperous trading ports in the South China Sea, has quite complete defense means, and the Spanish fleet wants to attack the city of Sanya, which is not so easy to achieve.

In the past two years, information has been transmitted back to Manila through intelligence officers one after another, and Aragonés and the military generals have also roughly understood the defensive measures deployed by Haihan in the two main ports of Sanya, and it is indeed a bit risky to let the fleet rush to the port under the firepower of the shore defense artillery and the Haihan navy. However, if the Spanish fleet does not enter the port, the substantial damage that can be inflicted on Haihan will be relatively limited, and it will not be able to fully realize the combat intent. In the process of formulating specific tactics, this contradiction became the biggest problem for the Manila authorities.

But Aragonés has made up his mind, this battle must be fought, and the combat goal must be clear, and he can't go all the way to Sanya just to show off his muscles and come back. Either destroy Sanya or annihilate the main force of the local Haihan Navy, one of the two must be realized. Of course, if the latter can be realized, then it is likely that Sanya can be taken down logically.

Aragonés entrusted the task to two of his most trusted officers, Juan Luis, commander of the Manila Armed Fleet, and João Pinto, commander of the American galleon fleet. Both men have made great achievements in the regions where they have served, and have been honored by the royal family at home more than once.

Of course, their main opponents are naturally not strong men like the Haihan Army, but the aborigines of the colonial area, those who are still stuck in the primitive era of slash-and-burn farming, hunting and fruit picking. In addition, there were colonists from Europe, who were also the main combat targets of the Spanish armed sailing ships, and some of the tough battles were fought.

Taken together, the two fleets can almost make up about 40 combat ships, plus nearly 20 comprehensive supply ships to transport armed personnel and supplies, which can be said to be a large fleet. Among the ships belonging to the American Fleet were as many as eight large ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, each armed with more than twenty guns, which was also an armed force on which Aragonés had high hopes.

Although the reputation of the Haihan fleet is great, according to the information obtained by Aragonés, the size of its fleet is generally only more than ten warships, and the warships with a tonnage of more than 1,000 tons often have only one or two in a fleet. Although it was said that the naval warships were fierce in their guns, Aragonés and the two fleet commanders believed that this was an exaggeration, and even if it was fierce, it should not be able to match the armed forces of the Spanish fleet, after all, the Spanish side seemed to have a clear advantage in terms of total tonnage and number of ships.

From the finalization of the plan of action by Aragonés to the departure of the two fleets after the completion of preparations and assembly, it took only a little more than a month, which was already a very rapid response in the history of the Spanish fleet. However, this efficiency of preparation is also because Aragonés knew very well that the movements of the fleet could not be concealed from everyone, and Manila was not a pure land, and he would never believe that there were no Haihan spies in this city with a considerable proportion of Chinese. Once the spies on the other side noticed that the Spanish fleet docked in Manila Bay was moving, they would inevitably try to send the news back to Hainan Island, and there was no effective way for the authorities to stop such a means, unless the port was completely blocked a month in advance and ships were not allowed to enter or leave, but this was obviously impossible. If you don't shorten the preparation time, it will be tantamount to exposing your plan of action in advance.

Even so, Aragonés was actually a little worried about whether his own movements would be detected by the Haihan people in advance, but now that the arrow was ready to be sent on the bow, he had to send it, even if the news leaked, he could only hope that his own fleet would move fast enough to attack their doorstep before the Haihan people could react.

The two commanders, Louis and Pinto, naturally knew the importance of racing against time, so after setting off quietly from Manila Bay in the early hours of the morning, they drove at full speed all the way, heading west to the target area. The little time gained during the voyage may be able to turn into victory on the battlefield.

(End of chapter)