Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 455 Manila (Part )

At the beginning of the war, Zheng Chenggong did not use the two three-masted gunboats, but first used galleons, as well as traditional warships such as Fu ships and Haicang ships to deal with the coalition forces, while cooperating with a large number of fire ships to attack and encircle the enemy.

This tactic had been used long ago in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, so it was used again with still amazing results. Flames shot up into the sky and smoke filled the air, affecting Ed's vision. Many of the coalition ships were towed away by fireboats.

Just as the allied fleet was struggling to cope, Zheng Chenggong's trump card began to quietly appear. That was the three-masted gunboat that Zheng Chenggong carefully prepared for the Spanish-Dutch coalition forces.

The huge body was equipped with 120 guns. Although it moved slowly, a round of salvos from it was enough to render any warship incapable of combat.

At this critical moment, the three-masted gunboat joined the battle, instantly changing the situation. The devastating blow caused chaos in the coalition formation. The two warships lost their combat effectiveness in the first round of bombardment, and even their masts were broken, completely losing their ability to move.

Many warships of the Western-Dutch coalition were severely damaged in a short period of time. Facing the sudden addition of large warships, Ed shouted, "God!"

Knowing that he had fallen into a trap, Ed immediately issued flag signals and ordered all ships to withdraw from the battlefield. However, many warships were hit due to the containment and encirclement of a large number of fire ships. Zheng Chenggong took advantage of the opportunity to pursue the enemy, and the rumbling sound of the cannons could be heard for dozens of miles on the sea.

On the blue sea, countless wood chips and corpses were drifting with the waves, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and death.

The Spanish had 27 warships and the Dutch had 16 warships, but only 19 escaped. Of the remaining 24 ships, 11 sank in the naval battle, and seven were seriously damaged and abandoned by Zheng's army. Six Western galleons were captured. In this battle, the strength of the Spanish and Dutch fleets in the Far East was greatly damaged.

The sea surface after the war was quiet and desolate, with only occasional cries for help and groans breaking the silence. The once proud warships were now only broken husks, with seawater gradually pouring into the hulls. As time passed, they would eventually sink to the bottom of the sea.

In the city of Manila.

After hearing Manlik's exclamation, Ed said dejectedly: "Your Excellency Governor, this operation is a trap set by the Zheng family. We were fooled! The Zheng family built two huge warships and used small boats and those warships to hold us back. The two huge warships took the opportunity to defeat us with powerful firepower!"

Rather than believing that this huge fleet was defeated by the Zheng family, Manlik would rather believe that the fleet encountered a storm, which was more credible.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty actually fought with Portugal and the Netherlands successively, and the outcome was always a victory for the Ming Dynasty.

In the 16th century, the Portuguese were the first to arrive in the Ming Dynasty and fought with the Ming army in the Battle of Tuen Mun and Sai Cao Wan. Both wars ended in the defeat of the Portuguese.

Not long after, the Dutch also came to the Ming Dynasty and fought with the Ming army in Penghu and Liaoluo Bay, but also ended in failure.

The Spaniards had never fought against the great Eastern powers before. Manrique believed that the reason for Portugal and the Netherlands' previous failure was that they had too few warships and had to fight alone.

Now that the two maritime powers, Spain and the Netherlands, have joined forces, how could the pirate Zheng family possibly be their opponent? Dayuan could naturally be taken back, but I never expected that Ed would be defeated so badly.

This result shocked Manrique extremely. The great Spanish fleet could conquer Mexico with only a thousand people, but this time the huge fleet of forty-three galleons actually failed.

Manlik's face was gloomy, but he couldn't help but feel a little flustered. He said to Ed, "The Zheng family won the naval battle and will definitely attack Manila. We must not let these damn pirates occupy Manila."

After Manlik finished speaking, he walked to the window, looked at the streets outside the bastion and the Chinese merchant ships moored at the dock, and said in a cold tone: "These Ming people must be a threat to the empire's governance of Manila."

Upon hearing this, Ed immediately understood what Manlik meant. In order to guard against the Zheng family's attack, it was necessary to first purge the Ming people in Manila.

Ed also came over and said to Manlik: "There were originally more than 20,000 Ming people in the city. Since the war started, many of them have fled, but now there are nearly 10,000 people. How does the Governor plan to clean them up?"

Manlik stared at Ed and said coldly: "Block the port!"

…………

Fang Liangchun had already sensed the danger, so he had been urging the coolies to load the porcelain onto the ship. However, porcelain was a fragile item and could only be loaded slowly, which made Fang Liangchun anxious.

"Boss, the three ships have been loaded." The guy wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Fang Liangchun breathlessly.

Fang Liangchun also wiped his sweat off his forehead, feeling relieved, and said to the waiter, "Go back to the boat and wait. I'll go pay the tax and then sail right away." After that, he patted the waiter on the shoulder and said, "When we get back to Guangzhou, the boss will treat everyone to a good meal!"

Soon, Fang Liangchun hurried to the port management office, wanting to pay the money and leave with his goods.

Just as Fang Liangchun handed the cargo list to the management office, the person inside said, "The governor has ordered that all ships cannot go out to sea for the time being!"

Fang Liangchun was shocked, but he still forced a smile, handed over another small piece of silver, and said, "When did you give this order? I'm in a hurry to sell this batch of goods, please give me some money."

The man at the counter took the money and said in a cold tone, "The governor just issued an order. Go back and wait for the notification from the governor's office!"

Before Fang Liangchun could ask more, a team of Spanish soldiers armed with muskets arrived at the port management office and drove out all those who wanted to go out to sea.

Fang Liangchun was feeling uneasy as he walked on the street. At this time, the streets of Manila were controlled by the Spaniards and were under martial law. Fang Liangchun could only go to his ship at the dock.

Just then, the guy came hurriedly with several other people, looking around as if they were looking for someone.

Fang Liangchun shouted, "San'er, why aren't you guarding the boat?"

San'er, the waiter, was a little panicked. When he heard the boss's voice, he almost cried. He hurried to Fang Liangchun and said, "Boss, I don't know what the Spaniards did. They drove us all off the boat and told us to go home and wait. They said they wanted to investigate the Zheng family's spies. I saw a boat next door. The people on the boat didn't want to get off the boat, so they were shot to death by the soldiers. We have no choice but to get off the boat."

Fang Liangchun's heart trembled, and he thought to himself: "People die for money, birds die for food, it's over, the Spaniards are going to take action!"

Fang Liangchun showed a bitter smile on his face and said to everyone, "Let's go back to the yard first!"