How many troops could the Kingdom of Spain mobilize? This is a big problem.

In the past few years, Spain mobilized a mixed force of 9,000 indigenous Filipino and Spanish soldiers, defeating all powerful countries such as the Sultan of Sulu in one fell swoop.

It's just that Sun Tianniu has to worry about Sun Tianwei's speech: "We care about the difference, our question is how many troops are there in Manila now?" Remember, this is not 1762! ”

The year 1762 is a time point of special significance in the history of the Philippines.

Before 1762, the indigenous people of the Philippines thought that the Kingdom of Spain was an empire on which the sun never set, and you must know that the Philippines was not an independent colony, but a subsidiary colony managed by Mexico, and all the affairs of the Philippines were managed by a Mexican vice-king, and how powerful the Kingdom of Spain was on top of it.

When Spain conquered the Philippines, it was just in time for the Philippine Islands to catch up with the late stage of primitive society, and there were actually no countries, only some large tribes, so the Catholicism brought by Spain overwhelmed the primitive religion, and the technology brought by Spain completely overrode the natives.

If it weren't for the arrival of the Spaniards, the entire Philippine archipelago would have fallen into the hands of Islam, knowing that during this period the Philippine Islands already had a feudal sultanate regime, and they were sweeping the entire Philippine Islands with an unstoppable momentum, and even Manila had a mosque.

The Spaniards descended from the sky, breaking the offensive of the Sultans, and turned into a three-hundred-year confrontation and fighting, the Philippines thought that Spain was a god in heaven, but after 1762, the natives no longer worshiped the Spaniards.

In 1762, 6,800 British troops stormed Manila. And conquered the city in the whole Philippines, so that the Filipinos saw the English for the first time, and also realized that the Spaniards were just poor little pawns in front of the British.

In the nineteenth century, the collapse of the once formidable Spanish colonial empire, the independence of Peru in 1823 represented the loss of Spain's entire American colonies, and the civil war in Spain itself lasted until 1849. Even those of mixed race with Spanish blood became the vanguard of the anti-Western.

The Manila Mutiny of 1823, led by Creole (Spaniards born in the Philippines), represented a dangerous signal, and the Mutiny of 1843 also involved a significant number of Mistizo (West Filipino descent).

Therefore, Sun Tianniu did hit Sun Tianwei's vital point: "So what? In 1762, there were only five hundred and fifty Spanish soldiers in Manila. Eighty Filipino gunners, but the Philippines today is still under the control of the Spaniards! ”

It's true, he continued: "This kind of story has been played out once! When Lin Feng tried to attack the Philippines, he had 6,000 men on his hands, while the Spaniards at that time only had ......"

He could not remember how many Spanish troops there were in Manila at that time, but he remembered that there were only a few hundred Spaniards in the whole Philippines at that time, and the Spanish troops used to reinforce Manila were only seventy.

Sun Tianniu was very solemn: "Yes, this is the second time Lin Feng has conquered Fei, do you want to know how many troops there are in Manila now?" I tell you. Only two hundred artillerymen, a squad of the 70th regiment! ”

As soon as Sun Tianniu's words came out, the entire Sun family present ignored the authority of Sun Tianwei, the head of the family, and whispered to each other, they didn't expect that the Spaniards' strength was so weak.

Although the fortifications of Manila were the strongest fortifications in all of Asia, the two hundred artillery men seemed to be too little, considering that even in 1762 Manila was garrisoned by 550 Spanish soldiers and 80 Filipino gunners. Later, 4,000 indigenous Filipino soldiers armed with cold weapons arrived from the periphery in an attempt to rescue Manila.

But think about it. However, it was felt that this figure was at least not far from the truth, since Spain acquired three steamships in 1848. At sea, they completely crushed the slave clippers of several southern sultans and switched to a full-scale counteroffensive, but these attacks on the Moros took up most of the strength of the Spanish garrison.

The Spanish garrison in the entire Philippines consisted of only six infantry regiments, and in fact some of them knew more detailed figures, which under normal circumstances were 2,000 Spanish soldiers and 6,000 indigenous Filipino soldiers, in addition to 4,000 "National Guards" similar to the militia, but these National Guards could not be counted on at all.

And now at least a few of the troops are used for operations in the Southern Islands, and the remaining forces are to be stationed in the entire northern Philippine Islands, so the entire Luzon Island is garrisoned by a 70th Regiment, and the rebellion to interfere with China is used, although mobilized retired veterans are used in the early stage, but it seems that this batch is directly sent to China part of the 70th Regiment.

In that case, the Spanish troops in Manila would certainly be surprisingly small, even if they exceeded the two hundred artillery men Sun Tianniu had said, they would certainly be very limited.

One could not help but think of the Viceroy's inexplicable decision to declare that he was not ready to mobilize people of Spanish origin, such as Mistizo or Creole, on the one hand, and that he was ready to mobilize thousands of indigenous soldiers.

Is this an opportunity for the Sun family?

But Sun Tianwei disagreed, he stood up straight and said in a sacred and great tone: "We have lived in this country for a hundred years, what about only two hundred Spanish artillerymen in Manila?" ”

"The Spaniards have ruled this country for three hundred years, three hundred years, and the Qing Dynasty has not yet entered the customs at that time!"

This is an uncompromising fact, Sun Tianwei continued: "In my opinion, the Spaniards will continue to rule this country for hundreds of years, and Isabella is a true ruler who will bring new light and hope to this country......"

"She brings not hope and light, but destruction!"

Sun Tianwei immediately lashed: "Tianniu, you take your bloodline too seriously, this will make a fatal mistake, you should." We have to live in this country first, and then we have to Chinese......"

"In fact, whether I can be considered Chinese is all a question!"

This is a very localized family, and there are even a large number of Catholics in the family, who have severed the so-called ancestral faith, in this case, Sun Tianwei said loudly: "Please put the interests of our family first." We must remember that there were three bloody massacres in Manila......"

At the mention of the three massacres of Chinese in Manila, everyone was silent, everyone knew how bloody it was, Sun Tianniu seemed to be isolated, Sun Tianwei happily declared his victory: "We must remember the blood of our predecessors, forget what kind of blood we have in our bodies......"

This is what compromise means. For a Zhongfei Mistizo family whose main business is business, most people stand on Sun Tianwei's side intellectually, but this Sun Tianniu smiled at this time: "I wished I was a Spaniard a month ago, a real Spaniard......"

He spoke with a gritted teeth, and everyone understood the meaning, but he quickly got to the real point: "But the problem is that the current country, even Creole, is only inferior......"

Creole is Spanish. It means that both parents are Spanish, but they were born in colonial Spain, which is a unique term in Spanish history.

It's just that although Sun Tianniu's words can get a lot of sympathy points, everyone is still on Sun Tianwei's side intellectually, and they are unwilling to take risks, even if there are only a few hundred Spanish soldiers in Manila, but the Chinese businessmen are still cautious about running their own business.

But the next sentence made everyone sit still: "You should know that the reason why I made such a suggestion is not just personal impulse and enthusiasm. Rather, it is closely related to the interests of the family. If we don't do it, the British will leave us alone and do it on our own! ”

Briton?

This sentence made the Sun family jump. Could it be that the British are on the side of the Chinese? That's a factor to consider!

At this time, it was the time when the killer appeared, and a blonde foreigner walked in from outside the door, and he said loudly: "That's right, I agree with Mr. Sun Tianniu's suggestion, the country's operating system has reached the point where it has to be changed, if you are not interested in Fimistizo, we will work together with Sifi Mistizo!" ”

Siphie Mistizo, which was a descendant of Creole, was involved in the mutiny of 1843, so everyone felt that Sun Tianniu's suggestion became feasible.

When Sun Tianwei saw the English volley, he knew that he was in defeat, and this Mr. Napuli was one of the most vocal Englishmen in Manila.

He knew how Spain had offended the British, and that in the last three hundred years Spain had done everything possible to drive out all non-Spanish Europeans and monopolize all the interests of the colonies, and just last year, in 1857, Spain had issued a decree expelling all foreign merchants who entered the Philippines, the fourth time in the century that such an order had been issued.

Although this order soon had to compromise with reality, the British and Europeans were very unhappy with the reality in the Philippines, where they could have gained dozens of times more benefits.

And Napuri's next sentence sentenced Sun Tianwei to death: "On the way to Manila, Chinese has broken through the defenses of 170 Spanish soldiers and indigenous Filipinos, which is the last defense outside Manila, and it is also the desperate resistance of the 70th Regiment to gather several outposts...... Now Manila is an undefended city for them, so to speak. Therefore, I think Mr. Sun Tianwei should be kept calm. ”

PS: The strength of this chapter is based on the strength of the Spanish army before the Philippine Revolution in 1896, although it is a bit unbelievable, but there are only 200 artillery garrisons in the whole of Manila, and only a few hundred soldiers scattered throughout Luzon.