Beiyang new warlord

It's not that the Manila defenders are not resolute enough, it's because of the disparity in strength, all the outer strongholds have been occupied! And the last fortress of Ming Dynasty on this land is also crumbling in the thick smoke.On the top of the city, the eyes of the scarred Daming defenders were all red from the smoke, the tears of the iron-clad men still flowed unstoppably, and the coughing sounds kept ringing one after another.

Now they know how hard it was for the Spanish defenders in Manila!

But even so, it's been three days!St. Philip's Castle is still standing!

But being able to endure to this point is almost reaching the limit of human beings. His eyes are swollen like peaches, and he can't stop coughing even though he covers his mouth and nose with a cloth stained with urine. His beautiful face is full of smoke poison. Qinghei, resisting to follow the enemy army who was watching the fire below, Gu Moyi couldn't help it, and asked again expectantly and desperately.

"Mr. Army! Reinforcements, ahem, when will the reinforcements arrive?"

The face that had been re-raised in the past two years and even turned white was re-stained with the dust marks left by the war, and even several wounds were festered by the poisonous smoke, and pus flowed downward, but Huang Degong's The imposing manner seems to have returned to the time when he was wearing a strong sword and went straight into the army of hundreds of thousands of thieves. Looking down like a statue, listening to Gu Moyi's question, his expression didn't even change slightly. , still humming so indifferently.

"Reinforcements are coming soon! Keep going!"

"But, really, I can't hold on anymore"

Hypoxia cannot be overcome by training and will. It has really reached its limit. In the trembling voice, Gu Moyi also leaned on the city wall and fell slowly. Hearing the sound of thumping, Huang Degong finally couldn't help it He turned his head, but only for a second or two, but he was still staring at the battlefield again.

In fact, the order to retreat has been conveyed by Kuaima a month ago, and in fact, these overseas colonies are also discardable pawns for the empire, just like the British Commonwealth, the empire on which the sun never sets, and the Mayflower first arrived in North America. More than 500 Puritans, more than half of them did not survive that winter. The first thirteen colonies were also massacred again and again by Indians in the Mississippi and Tennessee River valleys. Death is also a common occurrence. The glory of the Western countries in later generations was also conceived in this kind of cruel and bloody death and rebirth like leeks. Even if Daming abandoned Manila, it would be considered a common thing. thing.

This is not Huang Degong's hometown either. Like Mao Jue, his hometown is in the ice and snow of Liaodong.

But for some reason, Huang Degong still couldn't bear to abandon this hot and new land, no matter what price he paid!

Perhaps it was the old scholar who would rather be buried with the Spaniard than admit his identity as a great Ming that touched him!

The empire can decide to abandon the colonies, but the soldiers are responsible for guarding the land! If they don't guard the land and the people living overseas, who will guard it?

Maybe dying here, dying in battle, is also the best destination for a veteran like him!The lack of oxygen also caused his brain to start to go into a trance. The French mercenaries and Milan mercenaries seemed to be slowly dissipating in his pupils. The original war-torn Fort St. Philip regained a little calm. The land is shining golden.

I don't know how many people's blood was stained on his hands, but on Huang Degong's face, there was an incomparably serene smile. Maybe this is the kindness of people who are about to die!

"Army Chief! Army Chief! Fan ghosts are retreating! Retreating!"

The sudden violent shaking brought Huang Degong back to his senses, it was Gu Moyi who had fallen to the ground and cheated his body, just like a psychopath, the girl shook his shoulder desperately and shouted excitedly.

"Mr. Jun! Mr. Jun! Fan ghosts have really retreated! It must be the reinforcements from my Daming! Mr. Jun!"

It was not an illusion!For some unknown reason, the mercenaries from various countries who were besieging the city suddenly gave up their positions and retreated, one by one hastily disappeared in the city of Manila that had been blown into ruins. Can't help but stunned.

"It's no wonder Mr. Jun is so calm. It turns out that he has a plan in his chest. Reinforcements are coming! Manila can be saved!"

But he didn't know what Huang Degong was thinking. After slapping his old face hard, the hot and bold female staff officer shouted excitedly towards the empty city. With her shouting, the already lifeless The city of Manila has finally regained some vitality. The exhausted and scarred sergeants lay on Chengcheng's head, cheering non-stop. This feeling of surviving after a catastrophe is really exciting.

It is because of the love of life that people will give up their lives!

This time it's not a repetition, nor is it a trick by the Westerners, but the damn reinforcements, finally arrived!

Zheng He's majestic oriental fleet reappeared in the sea. Ships, large and small, wagged their heads and tails like a large group of divine fish, marching forward with dignity.

This fleet division is like a pack of wolves, 50 to 75 meters, flexible but powerful second-tier battleships are fiercely distributed in the shape of a diamond at the forefront and edges, and every dozen second-tier battleships are surrounded by vinegar A first-class battleship of about [-] meters, these large and small warships form a squadron that fights alone.

In the middle of the entire fleet, there are three Pangu-class ships, which are completely modeled on the huge supply ship of the Ming Dynasty super treasure ship as the core mothership of the battle.

Further on, there are mighty, large and small small functional ships, transport ships, and landing craft. The huge fleet has more than 220 ships in the main fleet alone. Unscrupulously coming directly from the north, standing on the most central mothership, commanding such a large-scale battle alone for the first time, the commander of the Imperial Fleet, Pang Hai, is simply high-spirited, his chubby body propped up his armor like a fat-headed fish, Standing on the bridge, the binoculars looked directly at the sea level.

With only this level of military pressure, the oppressive Michel had to turn around and prepare for the battle with all his might.

Although it has been known for a long time that the maritime military strength of the East is increasing year by year, when it is actually faced, the size of the huge fleet is still shocking. On the flagship, looking at the front, even the old fox Kurt couldn't help but take a breath of cool air from the bottom of his heart.

"The East is so terrifying! This fleet, even the Spanish Empire in its heyday, is less than half!"

However, standing next to him, the famous Dutch general Michel, who was also holding the binoculars high, had eyes that were still sharp even though they were dizzy due to aging, but they were staring at the flagship of the Ming Dynasty Pangu, which was cutting through the waves. Murderous aura as deep as the sea!

Chapter 877. Escaped?

The two largest maritime military forces in the seventeenth century collided head-on in this narrow Southeast Asian ocean. One was the confluence of several old maritime empires, and the other was a vigorous emerging maritime empire. The sea west of Luzon Island Between the Mautra Islands, you can see two fleets facing each other head to tail, with no head in front and tail behind, and between the densely packed high sails, the scene is like a plain forest emerging on the sea level.

In terms of situation, the Ming army is in the upper hand. This time Mao Jue gave two-thirds of the imperial navy to Pang Dahai. After all, the island is a colony that Ming has been operating for several years. Although the western area of ​​the island is a mess plundered by the Xi Fan, the descendants of Ming on the island are still full of enthusiasm when the fleet of the mother country arrives, and they scramble to provide help for the fleet.

Moreover, this is the first time that the Royal Navy of the Ming Empire has launched such a large-scale battle at sea. Cao GUI said: Go all out! The boys are at the peak of their vigor.

But the Sea Crusade of the Western United Fleet is not so optimistic. After more than a month of continuous siege, there are as many as eleven main battleships that have been damaged and lost their combat effectiveness. The Batavian colony is thousands of nautical miles away.

However, Westerners are not without a chance of winning. In terms of naval combat experience, the fledgling Royal Navy of Ming Dynasty is actually very immature, like a freshly graduated college student, but these guys have been in the seven seas and five oceans for two centuries. He is an old ruffian who has been hanging out in society for a long time!

Although experience is invisible and intangible, it can be lethal if it is really used! Just like in Western history, the French navy can't beat the British Royal Navy at any time, even in the Napoleon era when France was extremely powerful. Every time the British Royal Navy cut their noses and swollen their faces.

So for this battle, the strategy given by the Ministry of War is to fight slowly! Take it slowly! Anyway, the Mao Ming Empire is richer than the previous Zhu Ming Empire by many times. This is still under the feet of the Ming Dynasty, and it can afford it. !

Arriving in Luzon Island at the end of June, Pang Dahai was not busy marching. From Mindanao Island in the north to the edge of Luzon Island, forcing the Dutch and Spaniards' fleet to shrink back, after gathering together, he was in the small port north of Manila. Wen also set up camp.

It is estimated that the prestige of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty also impressed these old Westerners very deeply. The Western Crusaders occupying half of Manila Bay did not make any moves immediately. Instead, they leaned back slightly and seized the time. To repair the damaged warships, they were not busy launching an attack.

During the confrontation, the days passed by every minute and every second.

However, big battles can’t afford it, but small battles continue. When the army goes out, the army needs supply lines, and the navy also needs it. So before the decisive battle, the small-sized ships between the two armies first fought like a raging fire, smearing the sea first. Somewhat bright red.

When it comes to tropical islands, people probably have the impression of sunshine, sandy beaches, coconut trees, warm sea and endless seafood, but there is one thing that people ignore besides the joy, and that is the typhoon.

From May to November every year, there is a high incidence of typhoons, especially in June and July.

The face of the originally bright sea changed at this time. Within ten thousand miles, the sky seemed to be as dark as a huge pot cover. The originally warm sea breeze became a stepmother's slap, rolling up the originally calm waves several meters high. , Bean-sized icy rain slapped violently on his face.

But even in such bad weather, there are still two fleets chasing each other non-stop in the stormy sea.

The 30-meter Tier [-] battleship is not small anymore, with [-] materials, and one weighs dozens of tons, but in this day's anger, it is still like a toy ship in a bathtub, being thrown up and down by huge waves, The bumps kept coming.

"At three o'clock on the starboard side, fire! Fire!"

Facing the icy icy storm that was coming towards us, the hiss of the watchman was barely audible. In the gun cabin, he endured the violent bumps up and down, sweating profusely but shivering from the cold. The gunners yelled and stuffed the shells into the barrel, and then struck the gunpowder with a flintlock with great difficulty.

But at this critical moment, an even more violent wave rushed towards the face, and the entire hull tilted upwards at an angle of more than [-] degrees. It was ejected suddenly, but it drew an arc in midair like a ping pong ball, and finally fell hard into the sea.

Looking at this scene, the eyes of Zhang Zhenyuan, the commander of the fleet standing on the bridge and the commander of the squadron, were so red that they were about to spit fire.

It took more than 100 lives, a few ships, and a full month to fully figure out the Dutch supply route and travel time from Batavia. After eating conch and drinking coconuts to survive in the wilderness for several days, I squatted down to this Dutch supply fleet, but I can finally eat meat, but the weather is not good, a storm hits like this, and the violent turbulence almost He managed to stand still without shaking him, and raised the binoculars again. On the dark sea, the Dutch light boat sailing in zigzag seemed to be a little further away. Sails on a plane.

His pupils were on fire, and Liu Zhenyuan roared angrily: "Where's the boatswain? Man Fan! Kill them, we must never let the prince escape!"

"My lord! No way!"

In the violent wind and rain, the boatswain Kang Jianguo's usual firecracker voice was much weaker, pointing at the creaking mast, he shouted anxiously.

"The wind and waves are too strong now! The mast is already unbearable! If the sails are fully loaded, the ship is in danger of capsizing!"

"This time, a military order has been issued. If you don't kill the barbarian ship, you won't return! I will order you to fill the sails quickly, or I will kill you first!"