Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 466 Landing in Manila

After discussing the supply of baggage and supplies with the civil officials, Meng Jun immediately issued an order to appoint Bai Yongfu as the commander, leading his own Guwu Town, the four infantry towns reorganized from the Yuyuan Army, and 20,000 firearms soldiers transferred from Huaibei to the north. He also ordered Jiang Xiang to leave 20,000 infantry to garrison the Datong defense line, a total of 90,000 people to defend the Great Wall defense line.

Afterwards, Meng Jun appointed Zhao Yongping as the general of the southern expedition, leading his own Wu'an Town, Qian Biao's Wuning Town, Chen Changgong's Po Lu Army, Liu Tichun's Zhongwu Town, Li Laiheng's Huwei Town, and Hao Yongzhong's Yingyang Town, and also transferred Gulbuha's 5,000 Mongolian cavalry under his command.

The only ones left by Meng Jun's side were Gao Yi's 10,000 heavily armored troops, Huang Cheng's 5,000 cavalry, and Meng Jun's 2,000 personal guards led by Yu An, who were stationed in Beijing.

Meng Jun's strategy was simple and crude, and there was nothing worth writing about. He just waited for Zhao Yongping to arrive in the Xuchang area, and then attacked from two directions at the same time. Zhao Yongping attacked Nanyang, and Lin Shiqi went north from Jingzhou to attack Xiangyang.

In this battle, Lin Shiqi was the main force, while Zhao Yongping's troops were a detachment. After Lin Shiqi's Huguang camp had gathered 50,000 firearms soldiers, the strength of the troops had reached 130,000. Except for the firearms soldiers who were new recruits, the remaining 80,000 were all veteran soldiers who had been on the battlefield for a long time.

Even Zhao Yongping, the detachment leader, had a force of nearly 70,000 men, and the two armies of 200,000 were all regular troops, not including auxiliary soldiers.

At Meng Jun's current point, it is time to use the country's strength to pacify the four directions. Although there are some minor troubles in fighting Wu Sangui, Meng Jun no longer needs to lead the army himself. He has such a big advantage and Wu Sangui's main force is still in Yunnan. If he still loses, Meng Jun thinks he should find a rope to hang himself.

Just when Meng Jun learned that Wu Sangui had captured Kunming and was sharpening his sword to march south, Zheng Chenggong in Fujian had completed the material preparations and began his expedition to Luzon.

At the dock of Xiamen, Zheng family’s naval warships were anchored in the river, with masts like a forest, very spectacular, especially the two three-masted gunboats, which were extremely large, making everyone who saw them marvel at the size of the giant ships.

Zheng Chenggong stood on the dock, looking majestic and heroic, gazing at the vast ocean with great emotions in his heart. Beside him, Chen Yonghua, Shi Lang, Chen Ze, Chen Bin, Zhou Quanbin, Chen Yaoce, Lin Bencheng, Liu Guoxuan and other generals were waiting in line, all of them were in high spirits.

At this time, Zheng Chenggong said to Chen Yonghua: "I am personally leading the fleet to the Western Barbarians, and the King of Zhou has also sent a thousand infantrymen and twenty warships to join us on the expedition. I don't think they will invade Fujian, but we must be on guard against them. You will be in charge of the rear and make sure to secure the border and prevent them from sneaking in."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yonghua whispered, "The prince fought with the prince of Zhou in Huguang in the past, and they did not become enemies. Moreover, the prince of Zhou has sent troops to help this time. From what I see, Fujian should not be worried. However, since the prince of the county has given an order, I will do my best to stabilize the rear."

Zheng Chenggong nodded, and then said: "That being said, we must be on guard. I will only bring 13,000 infantry with me this time. I will leave 40,000 infantry and three generals, Lin Bencheng, Liu Guoxuan, and Zhou Quanbin, in your care. Please remember to act with caution."

The horns sounded, the drums roared, and the whole port was instantly boiling. Hundreds of warships set sail one after another, the sails spread, and the warships gradually left the dock and advanced towards the deep sea in the southeast, heading directly for Manila.

On the sea, Zheng Chenggong's fleet was densely packed, connected end to end, and it was a spectacular sight. When the merchant ships along the way saw this huge fleet, they were all shocked and tried to give way.

At this time, on the flagship three-masted gunboat, Zheng Chenggong was talking to Zhang Shun, a naval commander sent by Meng Jun.

Zheng Chenggong smiled and said, "General Zhang, where are you from?"

Zhang Shun clasped his fists and replied, "My Lord, I am from Xiangcheng, Suzhou."

Zheng Chenggong was stunned and asked, "Suzhou? Didn't General Zhang follow King Zhou when he started his career?"

Zhang Shun said with some pride: "That's right. I joined the army after the king took Suzhou." Although Zhang Shun was not prominent in the battles between Meng Jun and others in recent years, when Meng Jun formed the navy in the early days, Zhang Shun transferred from the army to the navy. Up to now, Zhang Shun is the second person in the navy after Shen Tingyang.

Zheng Chenggong said with a smile: "King Zhou is a hero, and General Zhang really has good vision!"

Since Zheng Chenggong completely defeated the Spanish-Dutch coalition's warships at sea, he has been eyeing Manila. Especially after Manila Governor Manlik killed Han people, Zheng Chenggong decided to capture Manila and occupy Luzon.

In Manila, Governor Manrique was furious when he heard that King Zhou had announced a ban on trade with Spain and declared war on Spain: "King Zhou is too arrogant, so rude and barbaric. I have not violated his interests. Why did he declare war on us?"

Ed on the side said with some worry: "Your Excellency Governor, I heard that King Zhou occupied a vast territory. His army has nearly one million people. He also expelled the barbaric and powerful Tatars. From this, it seems that he is an extremely terrifying person. The news from Macau confirms that King Zhou has sent troops to join the Zheng family's expedition. He has declared war on us. If the war continues for a long time, I am afraid that Manila will not be able to defend it!"

Manlik replied confidently, "Don't worry, Ed. Manila has 3,000 musketeers, enough to destroy any enemy who dares to land. Although we failed in the naval battle, we fell into the enemy's trap. How can these Orientals be civilized opponents? This time I will use a clean and decisive battle to tell these Orientals what a civilized war is."

…………

A few days later, the fleet led by Zheng Chenggong arrived in the waters of Manila. At this time, the remaining eleven Spanish warships had not yet been repaired. Ed could only lead five warships with less damage out of the port, and the remaining warships hid in the port under the protection of the port artillery.

After Ed led five ships out to sea, he saw hundreds of warships in the distance, including two huge three-masted warships. He was frightened and turned pale. He knew that the Zheng family would definitely retaliate, but he did not expect that so many ships would come.

Ed was so frightened that he dared not stay for long, and even dared not go to the port protected by artillery. He retreated towards Batavia. Before leaving, Ed sent a small boat to inform Governor Manrique that the Zheng family fleet was so huge that he had to fend for himself.

Zheng Chenggong had a large army at his command, and there were not many Han people in Manila. Therefore, without hesitation, he lined up his warships and bombarded the harbor and Manila city until the barrels of the cannons on the side were red and many houses and streets on the shore were in ruins. Then Zheng Chenggong waved his hand and signaled the infantry to begin landing.