Dominate the Country

Carlos, the Spanish governor in Manila, certainly didn't know that the mineral resources in Luzon were already coveted by the government departments in Nanjing, the heart of China. China's mining and military departments are even considering using mortgage loans to obtain the first start-up funds!

Carlos didn't care about anything else. He was now trying his best to stabilize the situation in Luzon with all the lawsuits on his mind. Those damn native monkeys suddenly jumped up at this time.

This fatal time point is really fatal.

In a short period of time, six large-scale rebel forces gathered in the north and central parts of Luzon, each with no less than 5,000 troops. At the same time, many small rebel forces were burning, killing and looting in Luzon like locusts. The white people scattered in the local area, the mixed-race descendants of white people, Chinese and natives, including some churches, all became the targets of the rebels' revenge.

One manor after another was set on fire...

This sudden anti-Spanish uprising was shaking the foundation of the Spanish in Luzon every day.

What made Carlos even more headache was that, for some reason, a group of Chinese armed forces suddenly jumped out. There was no call for conscription at all, just like a monster jumping out of a stone. The leaders of these Chinese armed forces were clear, there was no problem of internal strife, and they had a few muskets and artillery. God knows how these weapons appeared on the land of Luzon. Anyway, these Chinese armed forces took control of the situation in the local Chinese gathering places in a short period of time and completely emptied the local Spanish colonial government.

This is a very bad phenomenon.

The colonial government headed by Carlos made a huge mistake. In the past, he neither found the secret connection between the Chinese nor the influx of hot weapons into Luzon.

If this fact spread to Manila, Carlos' life would suffer a major setback, and it is very likely that he would say goodbye to politics.

Although Carlos could know who the instigator behind this Chinese force was by thinking with his buttocks. But what's the use? He no longer had the energy to check and balance those damned Chinese.

Those rebels were the first targets that the Spanish army needed to suppress.

Even the Chinese in Manila, Carlos ordered the military and police to strictly monitor them, and on the other hand, he also told those who executed the order that there must be no extortion, arbitrary behavior, and lawlessness.

Facing the current severe situation, the big duck was not arrogant at all.

The shadow of war has swept across Luzon. Carlos did not know at this time that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had submitted a declaration of war to the Spanish representative in China. But under great pressure, he dared not take any measures against the Chinese now. Fearing that it would give China an excuse to go to war!

You know, a Chinese rapid response fleet is cruising in the Sulu Sea. They will appear near Cebu from time to time, and sometimes even appear at the mouth of Manila Bay.

The Spanish fleet completely retreated to Manila and Cebu. Among them, the fleet in Cebu was the strongest. The Spanish were very clear about the situation in Manila Bay. Although it was a perfect anchorage, it was not safe. If the Spanish could fully control the sea advantage, anchoring a large number of warships in Manila Bay would be their best choice.

But the current situation is that the Chinese navy has the strategic initiative. If the main force of the navy is placed in Manila Bay, it is possible that it will be caught by the Chinese. It is better to put the main force in Cebu, which has many islands and is easy to hide. Only a small force is left in Manila, which is enough to deal with the rebellious natives. If the Chinese really come, Cebu, which is located in the middle of the islands and has a wide range of waterways, is the real place for the main fleet.

On the ninth day of the ninth month, at noon, a small fleet consisting of three Chinese warships, including a medium-sized clipper warship and two light clipper warships, once again arrived in the Mindanao Sea.

The Mindanao Sea is an inter-island sea in the southern part of the Luzon Islands. It is bounded by the islands of Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Leyte in the north and Mindanao in the south. It connects to the Sulu Sea in the west, the Pacific Ocean in the east through the Surigao Strait, the Visayan Sea in the northwest through the Tanyon Strait between Negros Island and Cebu Island, and the Camotes Sea in the north through the Bohol Strait on the west side of Bohol Island and the Ganigao Strait on the east side. It is an important waterway from the Sulu Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

The terrain of the islands in this sea area is mainly mountainous, with many volcanoes. The islands here are not like Wanwan and Qiongzhou, which are all of the type with tortuous coastlines and many bays. There are small plains near the river estuaries, and the coasts in other areas are mainly steep coasts, especially the mountains of the northern islands are close to the coast, and the coastline is tortuous.

The depth of the sea water is also surprising. It can reach more than 100 meters when it is only ten miles away from the shore.

Therefore, although the coastline of this sea area is very tortuous, it is very smooth for ships to sail, and there are few navigation obstacles in the entire sea area. There was little fog and visibility was good.

The Chinese naval warships appeared in the Mindanao Sea, and their target was obviously the Spanish naval fleet in Cebu. Just like when they appeared at the mouth of Manila Bay, their target was definitely Manila.

Just as the three Chinese warships were wandering around the eastern end of Bohol Island, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez, the commander of the Luzon Navy Squadron in Cebu, also came with a team of Spanish warships. Watching the three enemy warships showing off their power at the doorstep was like a goose feather constantly scratching the soles of the feet of a big duck. This was teasing their nerves and challenging their endurance.

Whether in terms of morale or spirit, Gonzalez must fight back. He can tolerate it once or twice, but not three or four times, otherwise the morale of the entire Luzon Squadron will not be maintained. If he doesn't fight back now, will he have to wait until the Chinese run to the gate of the Cebu Naval Base before fighting back?

But such a counterattack is a "degree" that needs to be mastered.

"Counterattack" is not to start a war, or even to fire the first shot. Spain must never give China an excuse. So a Spanish third-class battleship opened fire when it was still seven or eight miles away from the leading medium-sized clipper warship.

The third-class sailing battleship of the San Antonio, which carried 74 guns, was much larger than the medium-sized clipper warship weighing thousands of tons, and had many more cannons. On both sides of the hull, on the two gun decks, the densely packed muzzles like honeycombs rumbled one after another.

The white smoke was released from the head to the tail at an extremely fast speed, and the roar of the explosions was connected with the dense gunfire, which was really shocking.

The white smoke rose from the warship and was quickly blown away by the sea breeze.

This is really not a salute.

Ye Tingyang, who appeared on the front line of the war again, put down the telescope in his hand and smiled disdainfully at the Spanish Navy. These stupid big ducks definitely don’t know the purpose of their coming today. Otherwise, they would not appear so openly at the eastern end of Bohol Island.

"Get closer. Act as planned."

According to some investigation reports brought back by Xie Qinggao, the Spanish naval forces - the main battleships do not exceed 60, of which more than half are deployed in Europe, and most of the rest are deployed in America. The Luzon Squadron in Asia originally had only two third-class sailing battleships. Later, after a reinforcement arrived, the total number of warships exceeded 20, including five third-class sailing battleships, six fourth-class sailing battleships, and then more than ten sailing cruisers and brigs.

This is the total combat force of the Luzon Squadron at the moment.

One of the third-class sailing battleships and one thousand-ton fourth-class sailing battleship, led a three-masted cruiser and a brig each to anchor in Manila Bay, and the remaining naval forces were mainly in Cebu.

The six Spanish warships that appeared in front of them were less than half of the number of warships in the Cebu Squadron, but they included two third-level sailing battleships and four fourth-level sailing battleships, which were the essence of the Spanish Navy.

According to the previous plan, in this fishing operation, as long as a big fish bites the hook, the rockets will be concentrated on the big one.

The medium-sized clipper warship will fight one alone, and the other two light clipper warships will fight two against one.

Ye Tingyang's goal today is to really start a fight.

At this moment, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez, commander of the Spanish Luzon Navy Squadron, did not know that the war had come.

The three warships, like fast arrows, began to turn at a position of 400 meters. The deepest position of the warship was only more than 300 meters away from the prey. Rockets with hot tail flames cut through the sky and rushed towards the Spanish warships. This is no longer showing off or deterring each other, nor is it an exercise, but a real war.

Even with great confusion in his heart, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez could only shout loudly to turn and fight back. The Spaniards certainly wanted to avoid the rockets, but it was impossible.

First, the flagship San Antonio with the command flag was in trouble. Perhaps God saw that the big duck was too stupid and cursed Gonzalez severely, or it might be that God suddenly favored the Chinese navy. Anyway, the Spaniards were very unlucky. The flagship of the Spanish Luzon Squadron was hit by the first rocket in the ammunition depot. The loud explosion had not yet subsided, and a louder explosion sounded immediately, and then the 1,600-ton battleship was completely wrapped in a ball of shining orange fire.

A huge column of water and fire rose in the middle of the battleship, shining like a sun falling into the sea. The entire battleship was broken into two parts in an instant, and sank into the sea as quickly as two stones.

All 550 officers and soldiers on the ship, from the Spanish Navy Rear Admiral, the commander of the Luzon Navy Squadron, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez, to the most ordinary low-level sailor on the battleship, none survived.

The captain of the third-class sailing battleship Jimenez was completely Spartan, his brain was in a dead state, and he could not accept this fact at all. It was not until the Jimenez was hit by two rockets that the captain shouted like crazy to retreat in the silent command cabin!

The Spanish warships have an absolute advantage in numbers, and they also have an absolute advantage in artillery fire. If everyone fights to the death, at least line up in a row and take turns firing. Ye Tingyang may not be able to eat meat comfortably without gnawing bones.

Because there are many small islands in the eastern waters of Bohol, the battlefield is inherently cut off. The war room left for clipper bow warships is not broad. To be honest, the latter said that their best battlefield is the vast ocean, with huge space for the flying scissor warships to maneuver around. In that way, they are like the Mongolian cavalry, constantly harassing the enemy's large fleet with "mounted shooting", launching attacks from all angles, paying casualties to themselves while also consuming the enemy's strength bit by bit. Use your powerful lethality and the huge difference in firepower on both sides to kill your opponent bit by bit.

However, the death of Gonzalez dealt a heavy blow to the Spanish fleet. Without the presence of the commander, another third-level sailing battleship chose to retreat, and most of the four thousand-ton fourth-level sailing battleships also chose to escape. Only one fourth-level sailing battleship bravely chose to bombard, and then sank into the sea at the eastern end of Bohol Island under siege by rockets.

The commander of Marlin No. 12 asked Ye Tingyang, "Sir, is it too hasty to start a war now?"

"Isn't the time limit already up?" The rapid response fleet received instructions from the court after retreating from Yogyakarta. Chen Ming drew a timeline for them. Once that line is reached, regardless of whether there is a decree from the court or not, Ye Tingyang You can decide whether to go to war depending on the situation. At this point, he has great initiative and is more 'free' than the Nanyang Navy. "The imperial court must be at war with the West. At this time, the decree to start a war may be coming to Luzon soon."

Ye Tingyang said this, but he was very anxious in his heart. How he longed for a naval battle, so he couldn't wait to fire the first shot. To be honest, he had no intention of causing the established fact in his heart. Now that the dust has settled, there are only some messy debris floating on the sea where the St. Anthony sank.

China and the West are definitely going to war.

Even if there is no edict to start a war on the sea route to Nanyang, this war must be fought.

Besides, what if you really disobey orders? The victor is free from blame. He won! Now Ye Tingyang has won the battle. Taking advantage of the gap when the Spaniards did not dare to completely break up, they made a sudden sneak attack. Three scissor warships defeated six Western sailing warships, sinking two and damaging two. They were unscathed in this battle. I really made a lot of money.

The power of the flying scissor warship was clearly revealed in this battle.

Ye Tingyang ordered a light scissor warship to return to Sulu and report the news of the battle to the Nanyang Fleet as quickly as possible. At the same time, he ordered Sulu's rapid response fleet to quickly come to the Mindanao Sea to counterattack. .

If a war breaks out, then we must strike while the iron is hot.

Ye Tingyang made up his mind, and he put aside the worry that Nanjing might 'delay' the war with Spain. Anyway, he is now the leader of the entire rapid response fleet.

Ye Tingyang led the other two scissor-bow warships directly to the outskirts of Cebu Port.

There are so many islands in this place that we can't count them.

Between Bohol and Cebu, which is no less than a hundred miles apart, there are dozens of densely packed islands. The larger one is Mactan Island, where Magellan died more than 200 years ago. The island is low and flat, with large swamps covered with mangroves. The Spanish built a fort on it.

The island's presence largely shields Cebu's port.

Ye Tingyang could only break into the outskirts of Cebu Port. He was very brave, but he really didn't dare to go inside. The scissor-bow warship is not very resistant to attack. It would be terrible if it got in and was ambushed by the artillery group deployed by the Spaniards.

Dabanya's morale is very low, so many warships dare not come out.

From the distance on both sides, he could only see a corner of the flag on the turret outside the port.

As for the Spanish officers and soldiers who ran back to their lair in fear, they had truly seen the power of the Fire Dragon Bomb.

The fact that the first rocket accidentally killed the St. Anthony was really shocking.

Except for the shortcoming of relatively short range, in this era, this kind of weapon is simply a devil! They have no intention of leaving Hong Kong to fight.

As the Spanish's first foothold in the Luzon Islands, and as the earliest city established by the Spanish in Asia, Cebu is of course indispensable for churches and priests.

The death of Gonzalez left Cebu without a leader. At this time, the center relied on by the Spanish was not the colonial governor of Cebu, but the priest of the Cathedral of the Holy Innocents.

The Cathedral of the Holy Innocents is the first church built by the Spaniards in the Luzon Islands. It has special significance to the Spaniards and the church.

"We suffered a shameful sneak attack by the Chinese, and the navy paid a tragic sacrifice. Now we have entered a state of war. In this war, we will suffer heavy losses, but no matter how terrible the damage is, we will strive for victory; no matter how terrible the damage is, we will fight for victory. The road is long and difficult, but we must strive for victory because without victory we cannot continue to survive here.”

"Please don't be afraid of sacrifice! Maybe I will die in any case, but the glory of the Lord shines on Spain, and the people of the Peninsula never need to compromise with the pagans. We know our lofty vocation, and we will stick to it unswervingly. This is our The only creed in a difficult situation.

The Lord will not abandon His loyal people as long as we fulfill our vocation! Let us believe in the mercy of God and in the noble destiny of the white man..."

What the priest said seemed to be nonsense, but the people in the town hall all felt courageous. Whether it was true or false.