Lord of Ming Dynasty

Zheng Zhi's soldiers and horses were assembled, where they were assembled, how many troops they had, and the domestic and ideological trends of the Nanyang Kingdom. The Spaniards had long been familiar with these people.

The Spaniards still used their usual method of sending people to contact the local aborigines, and then instigating them to do something to the Han people, messing up the Nanyang Kingdom first, this is the reason why they did not do anything.

Time passed by, and after the liaison ships sent from various places reported back the news and the situation of the action, the Spaniards provoked the indigenous tribes that supported them to attack the indigenous tribes that were friendly to the Han people.

That night, around the Nanyang Kingdom, indigenous tribes from all over the country fought each other, bloody fights everywhere, gunshots rang out all night, and the next day, more indigenous tribes joined the vendetta. During the day, the news spread to the Nanyang Kingdom, Zheng Zhi was even killed Called back for a meeting, but the meeting lasted until evening, many people proposed to send some gold and silver to the Spaniards, and send them to forget, things that can be solved with money, there is no need to start a war and waste lives, besides, everyone has already understood that the Taixi people The attack was fierce this time, and many people questioned whether Zheng Zhi, who was the main force in the battle, could stop the Spaniard's attack. If not, it would be best to negotiate peace.

Zheng Zhi had no choice but to rely on their support, so he followed their advice and sent envoys to the Spaniards for peace talks.

While waiting anxiously for an answer, he knew that relying on these people could not defeat the Spaniards, no, it should be said that the Thai-Western coalition forces, he had to wait for the support of the two brothers Zheng Keshuang and Zheng Jing.

Others couldn't count on it. He felt that Zheng Keshuang was the one he could count on the most. If he was quicker, there should be an answer tonight.

Zheng Keshuang has actually received his request. After some discussion and contact with the local Huaxia Kingdom's garrison commander and governor, he brought [-] warships and warships, and led [-] merchant ships, loaded with [-] soldiers The horse was heading for Wright Island.

Only three days away from here.

It's been two weeks now.

And the ships going to the Australian kingdom where Zheng Jing is located are still sailing in the sea.

It will take another seven or eight days and a month for them to reach the port of Darwin.

But Hong Tianpao who was going to the Ryukyu Kingdom was still hesitating, anxiously waiting for Hong Tianpao's reply.

In the evening, the news came back that the peace talk envoy was beheaded and hung on the flagpole in the port of Manila for display. This completely cut off the dreams of all the merchants in the Nanyang Kingdom.

The Nanyang Kingdom was in turmoil, and many merchants began to use their own merchant ships to load wealth, preparing to flee this place, and the situation became extremely difficult.

By the next morning, the chaos in the Nanyang Kingdom continued. There were no pedestrians on the streets, and there were aborigines who took advantage of the chaos and robbed everywhere, Han hooligans, gangsters, and some Thai and Western homeless people who had wandered in Nanyang.

Zheng Zhi knew that war was inevitable.

The militiamen were sent to maintain order, and the militiamen fought against the troublemakers. There were gunshots and fighting sounds everywhere. Zheng Zhi's soldiers and horses patrolling the streets also joined in the pursuit of those who took advantage of the chaos to rob.

Finally, Zheng Zhi decided to take the initiative to attack. He ordered to leave some warships and warships to guard the port, and then led the brigade of sailors towards the port of Manila, preparing for a decisive battle with the Spanish navy. As long as the Spanish navy is defeated , he felt that the Spaniards could at least sit down and negotiate with him, losing some benefits but maintaining their rule.

"Raise the sails and set sail." He stood on a [-]-ton former main battleship of the Huaxia Army and calmly said to the captain of the ship.

Five hours after his fleet left the port, a fast boat sailed into the port of Manila. At the Governor's Mansion in Manila, Governor Gerald Pick received a Nanyang businessman who came to report, "Dear Governor, I honor you , the Han rebel Zheng Zhi has already brought his fleet towards the port of Manila, and it may arrive in two hours."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Zhou, I guarantee that your family will still be able to do business in Luzon Island in the future. We welcome you businessmen very much. We only want to take back the right to rule Luzon Island, not to punish you. How, do you think, without you, where would we go to collect taxes, don’t worry, we will not treat those our friends cruelly. As long as you don’t rebel against the rule of the empire, then the empire will treat you well, don’t listen to those who rebel against the empire Instigated by people, it is purely non-existent, understand?"

"Yes, yes, Governor, we know that the Han people in the Nanyang Kingdom headed by me just want to do business and don't want to see swordsmen again."

After sending off the Nanyang merchants, Gerald Pick said to his fleet commander: "Let's go, lie in ambush [-] nautical miles outside the port, and when the enemy bombards the port, you will surround them from all sides. Oh, yes, let the Portuguese and The armed merchant ships of the French, Italians, Poles, and Swedes stay in the port, don't tell them that the enemy is coming, just say that we will go out to meet the British fleet."

Those Taixi people who were only thinking of taking a share would never have thought that the Spaniards sold them to Zheng Zhi in a blink of an eye and asked them to consume Zheng Zhi's fleet, but they all left the port to avoid Zheng Zhi's fleet.

The Thai and Western people also plot against each other, and they are very proficient at playing this game, not inferior to the Chinese people at all.

In the evening, Zheng Zhi's fleet reached [-] nautical miles outside the port of Manila, and the clippers ahead had repeatedly exchanged fire with the Spanish guard ships arranged outside the port. After Zheng Zhi arrived, he took the fleet and headed directly towards the port. , It took an hour to reach the periphery of Manila, and the huge fleet blocked all within ten miles of Manila port.

Realizing that the Portuguese, French, and other Thais and Westerners who were blocked in the port were in a panic, they quickly boarded their warships in rowboats amidst the sound of vigilant cannons, lifted the anchor and prepared to run out of the port, but were blocked in the port Inside, it is definitely not what a qualified naval general should do, or it is definitely a dead end. They have to run to the vast sea. The port can only be attacked by enemy artillery, but they cannot maneuver. The loss must be heavier than the enemy.

They were busy and fled in a hurry, but the Spanish fort on the shore opened fire rumblingly. Huge fireballs burst out in the dark night, which was very beautiful.

And Zheng Zhi's fleet also attacked the battleships. Nearly [-] battleships blocked the periphery of the port. Dozens of cannons on each battleship burst out with bigger flames one by one, firing solid shells at the enemy.

9 Chapter Forty

Thirty warships are blocked outside the port of Manila, surrounded by thirty 36-ton warships as escorts, and [-] [-]-ton warships and armed merchant ships are cruising around, and the others are several nautical miles away. Zheng Zhi This was not the first time he had fought this kind of naval battle, and he also knew that the enemy's troops and warships were much stronger than his own, so he came here purely to give it a go, and he would drag the Spaniards with him to die.

Thirty warships on the sea opened fire together. Each warship had 81 cannons, and 24 cannons could be used to attack the shore. Ten ships equaled 240, and thirty ships equaled 720.

They first attacked the River Bend Fort extending outside the port of Manila. The River Bend Fort is the cannons erected on the high platform of several castles similar to the style of ancient fortresses. According to intelligence, he knew that these shore cannons were [-]-pound guns from Spain before. and twelve-pound guns, and later twenty-pound guns were added, and there were only thirty artillery pieces in total, divided into three shore artillery groups.

Thirty battleships are divided into three parts, each attacking a colony, 240 artillery pieces against ten enemy artillery pieces, this is a sure win no matter what, but the artillery on the battleships is not accurate due to the waves and muzzle storms. It is not as good as the artillery placed on the high platform on the shore, and the enemy has castle walls as protection, while the hull of the battleship is made of wood, and there are many masts and sails, which are much larger than the shore artillery fortifications.

The two sides were separated by two nautical miles, nearly five miles, and bombarded each other. Although there were many artillery pieces here, the accuracy rate was not very high. Many shells hit the shore artillery fortifications, destroying some houses and residences built around them. Trees, shells hit the opponent's castle wall, it looked vigorous, but it didn't hurt the artillery operators in the opponent's shore artillery fortifications, and the opponent fought back violently.

Although there were only ten cannons, the shells gradually approached the fleet from near to far. The fleet fired while passing through a small area of ​​the sea. In the first quarter of an hour, neither side achieved anything. The firepower gradually became more accurate. Compared with shore artillery, it was more accurate. One shot knocked out the foremast of a battleship, opened several small holes in the hull, and killed more than a dozen sailors and soldiers.

However, this does not affect the battleship's continued bombardment mission.

The bombardment lasted for an hour, and ten warships were damaged, but they were still able to continue sailing and perform their missions. The fort was also hit with thousands of holes, but in comparison, it was only traumatized, and some artillerymen and Spanish soldiers were killed and wounded. , without reducing their threat to warships at sea.

After an hour and a quarter of an hour, the escorting warships over there had already merged with the coalition warships from various countries rushing out of the port, causing mutual casualties. Only then did the forts be severely damaged here. One fort was destroyed, all ten artillery pieces were lost, and the Spaniards were killed and injured. There are nearly a hundred artillerymen.

The two warships here were severely damaged and had to retreat further out to sea for repairs. The remaining warships continued to attack the Spanish forts. Half an hour later, the more accurate artillery finally destroyed all three forts in the river bay. swarm, and inflicted heavy damage on the garrison at the bend, but at the cost of fifteen ships wounded, two sunk, and two badly wounded.

The wounded warships continued to fight with the enemy warships and warships rushing out from the bend of the river. The warships rushing up from behind bombarded the enemy's shore artillery group on the high ground near the port. Where the enemy's fortifications were done better, they had to destroy The enemy's coastal artillery fortifications built on the top of the cliff, the battleship has to pay more time and price.

The artillery at the head of Manila also shelled the fleet that rushed out of the port and within the range of the shore artillery.

In the dark night, the sea breeze is blowing, but the gunpowder smoke is confused, the flames are soaring into the sky, and hundreds of ships are fighting on the sea. The warships rushing out of the port are trying to escape, and those coming in from the outside must be blocked desperately. The sea inside the port is not big. It's only three or four miles away, but there are nearly five or six hundred ships inside, one ship next to the other. For the navy fleet of the Nanyang Kingdom on the sea, as long as they rush up, even a hundred-ton warship can If you can make achievements, even armed merchant ships can hit the shells on the enemy ships, because the enemies are too dense.

The two-hour naval battle had already caused heavy losses to the fleet of the Thai-Western coalition forces. Although they also inflicted heavy damage on the opponent, they sank ten warships of the opponent, severely damaged ten ships, injured five ships, and only five ships remained The battleship led a handful of seven or eight [-]-ton warships, a dozen [-]-ton warships, and a dozen armed merchant ships, blocking the exit to the sea.

But no matter how you look at it, there seems to be no winner in this battle. Twenty armed merchant ships of the Poles were completely destroyed, fifteen of the Swedes were sunk, ten were sunk, five were seriously injured, and they were unable to fight back. Thirty armed merchant ships of the Italians Fifteen ships were seriously injured, ten ships were sunk, and five ships desperately broke out of the sea to meet with the thirty warships that the French broke out. Chuang's warship, and five seriously injured warships, were surrounded by nearly thirty armed merchant ships from the Nanyang Kingdom.

The number of warships attacking the shore artillery has always maintained [-]. They have destroyed many forts on the hills, destroyed as many as two hundred shore artillery of the enemy, and sent to the cliff fort in the last harbor, which is also the last Strong, the largest caliber shore artillery, the largest number, as many as one hundred shore artillery groups attack, and at the same time have to deal with the shooting from the fort above the Manila Castle that is getting closer.

Zheng Zhi dispatched all the warships patrolling the periphery to break into the port, and put down the landing troops at the bend of the river. Fifty of the two hundred merchant ships were put down, nearly [-] soldiers and horses, [-] musketeers, [-] cavalry, and one Thousands of five hundred artillerymen, as well as two thousand civilians accompanying the army, laid down a large amount of supplies.

After the fourth hour of the battle, the army drove out of the barracks and was attacked by a thousand soldiers sent by the Spaniards. The two sides lit torches in the dark and lined up to shoot at each other. With the support of artillery, the five thousand soldiers quickly After defeating the enemy's counterattack of a thousand soldiers and horses, they then advanced towards the city of Manila. On the way, they were besieged by [-] indigenous people around Manila. The battle here became a war of attrition and continued.

Thirty warships and thirty wounded armed merchant ships rushed into the port and the bay, destroying all the enemy's merchant ships and the warships inside, and then followed suit in the harbor full of sunken ships. The artillery fire from the city head and coastal defense forts covered the landing of fifty merchant ships, and lost more than a dozen armed merchant ships, seven merchant ships, and three warships approached the pier. Two thousand soldiers and horses were put down on the pier. It was attacked by the soldiers and horses of the Polish and Italian coalition forces. With the support of the artillery on the warship, it took two hours to put down [-] soldiers and horses, [-] musketeers, [-] cavalry, and [-] artillery.

Soldiers and horses braved the enemy's firepower to wipe out the remaining enemy soldiers and horses in the port, but ushered in the Swedish cavalry attack. Three thousand cavalry almost wiped out 5000 people, but in the end the Nanyang Kingdom won the final victory. More than a thousand soldiers could only retreat to the port. When Zheng Zhi knew about it, he dispatched another group of soldiers who had just defeated the allied forces of the natives and [-] French soldiers to rush to help here. Five hundred cavalry, [-] musketeers, [-] artillery, and [-] civilians.

The Spanish cliff fort was really hard to hit. Fifteen warships were sunk, fifteen warships were sunk, thirty armed merchant ships were sunk, and two rescue merchant ships were also sunk before they were destroyed. About half of the enemy's firepower, the enemy's coastal defense batteries are still firing, and Zheng Zhi's losses are increasing every hour.

Zheng Zhi's heart was bleeding.

Chapter 941 Besieged on All Sides

Standing on the top of the castle in the twilight of the morning sun, Gerald Peake looked at the fleet of the Nanyang Kingdom that had been fighting all night on the sea, and said to his lieutenant, Captain Edward, "It's time for our fleet to go into battle. The night has not dissipated, we can get as close to the battlefield as possible, and in another hour, I am afraid that our allies will be wiped out by others, that would be a shame to us, and we might offend our allies."

When he said these words, there were only [-] warships on the sea that were still resisting. The merchant ships and warships in the port were all sunk by the fleet of the Nanyang Kingdom. Zheng Zhi came here this time to destroy. He wanted to capture these merchant ships, so he didn't intend to leave one for the enemy.

Half of the battleships on his side were lost, 56 battleships were sunk, 36 battleships were damaged, and they were still bombarding the enemy's shore artillery. They still use artillery to support the battle of the soldiers who are constantly laying down on the shore.

On the shore, a coalition of 1000 and [-] troops from the French, Swedes, Dutch, Italians, Poles, and Spaniards is attacking the port. Nearly [-] native soldiers and horses are besieging the port. attack.

The [-] Japanese servants who have landed, the [-] Goguryeo servants, and the [-] Han soldiers, plus the sailors and artillery who have been continuously picked up from the water, have joined in. In total, nearly [-] soldiers and horses are fighting against Manila, Spain. attack.

Fighting seems to be more beneficial to the Nanyang Kingdom, but after Zheng Zhi calmed down, he replaced a warship as the flagship, but thought of a problem, the port is full of warships flying the flags of merchant ships from various countries, and no Spanish ships can be seen , where did their ships go?