In this way, the artillery groups of the battalions and companies alternately covered the advance, and soon approached from a distance of about 200 paces to a distance of about 100 paces. At this distance, the three-pound shell-clad steel light artillery began to effectively carry out tests with the suppressive fire of at least 100 light shotguns of twenty or thirty grams per fire, and under the command of the hot air balloons responsible for reconnaissance and liaison in the air, the subordinate team also launched a suppression of some mortar positions on the inner side of the city wall. The archers were also able to effectively coordinate with the company in this situation, and the rounds of arrows covered it quickly made the head of the city garrisoned by thousands of enemy soldiers feel a huge pressure.

The Spanish defenders had thought of the strength of these enemies who had come ashore, but they did not expect the firepower of the two thousand men to be so strong, and in this way, when it was determined that there was no room for some of the defenders to be defeated at the head of the city, the grenade attacks and explosive attacks of the marines were launched at this time.

First of all, approaching to a distance of about thirty paces, under the cover of direct fire with a strong bow, one after another, with well-trained bombing skills, he threw one after another black or io grenades, which were not too heavy, near the opponent's city wall, and launched a fierce bombardment. Previous combat has proved that although these black powder grenades cannot play a sufficient lethal role because of their limited power, they can deter and interfere with the opponent to the greatest extent.

Although the approach of the battalions and companies, the suppression of the defenders on the inside of the city wall in the direction of the dead angle became more and more violent, which made the team's attack encounter counterattacks in some places, but the accurate and effective fire suppression made the defenders never organize a decent counterattack, although the strength was superior and in a defensive situation, but the obvious difference in combat effectiveness made the course of the battle one-sided.

Compared with some previous combat operations of the elite main force of the volunteer troops, for some reason, the rhythm and speed have become noticeably slowed down, but even so, in about a quarter of an hour, the siege assault operation was quickly launched in accordance with the arrangements decided by drawing lots before.

The dull sound of explosions suddenly sounded from the city at this time, and many of the Spaniards who remained on the inner defense line of the fortress also began to fire back with imitation black powder grenades, but perhaps because the Spaniards who remained in Manila lacked experience in the elite combat of the volunteer troops in the real sense, the limited resistance was also crushed in a short time. One after another, officers and soldiers began to climb the city with very simple climbing tools.

The remnants of the ambush on the city took advantage of the trenches and covers that had been prepared on the city to launch a counterattack, but often even if only a small group of a dozen elite soldiers broke through to the city, they could kill and wound dozens of charging people in a very short time with a fierce rain of arrows, and contain the counterattack of hundreds of people. The stray bullets that continue to come from all directions often pose little real threat under the combined protection of sophisticated shields and armor. However, the heavy arrows fired by the fine strong bow can pose a threat to the armor of most defenders. If the defenders at this time were on the defensive and fully covered their bodies with shields, they might be able to avoid casualties to the greatest extent, but this would also lose the possibility of driving down the officers and soldiers who broke through the city wall in the shortest possible time.

When at least one battalion or a few hundred men took the city, the Spaniards began to disintegrate in the direction of Manila. Although the defenders in the city still have many artillery batteries that can effectively bombard, the killing effect of the officers and soldiers who are also very well-protected in the face of scattered formations is not very good.

In order to prevent unexpected dangers, after gradually capturing the head of Manila through the offensive, the team did not continue to attack and sweep into the city and engage in street fighting, but built fortifications while the sun had not yet completely set, preparing for a possible counterattack by the enemy army after the arrival of a new round of reinforcements.

After all, although many defending enemy troops had been killed and wounded in previous battles, in general, the attacking marines did not defeat the opponent by annihilating means, but drove the defenders out of the city through the pressure of the attack.

As night approached, a huge explosion suddenly came from under the fortified buildings, and thousands of pounds of black powder finally brought a huge momentum, as if it could not blow up the target or completely flatten it, and after that, there was not much resistance and no sign of survival.

In this way, the attacking Marines occupied the most important Spanish stronghold in the Philippines at the cost of more than 150 casualties, including 42 killed. Although the attacking team did not carry much provisions, the officers and men of the Marine Corps at this time believed that in a few days at most, the enemy would approach again.

When night gradually fell, the main ship group led by Wang Yuan also entered the third night of strict security since the start of the war, but this time the preparation was finally not in vain, the time was about some distance away from the early morning, the fire on a peripheral guard ship suddenly lit up, and then many hot gas lamps with a diameter of one person gradually rose into the night sky. The hundreds of lights in the night sky released by the seventy ships did not have the same effect as flares, but they could at least respond to the shadows of enemy ships approaching the group when they were close to a distance of about 100 paces.

With the more dazzling light brought by the rockets flying out one after another, many enemy wheel boats that came to carry out the blasting attack mission began to show their figures, and then the central mortar guns on each ship began to continuously hit hundreds of pounds of heavy pottery shells to positions ranging from dozens to 100 steps.

The greater light brought by the successive huge explosions illuminated many enemy ships, and the light guns on the ships, which had already been loaded with ammunition, also launched fierce fire at this time, and at the same time, the hull of the ship began to move gradually. Eventually, enemy demolition ships sank one after another, or there were earth-shattering explosions.

More than 200 demolition and rocket blasters were involved in the attack, so the initial failure of the attack did not seem to have made the enemy feel a real deterrent.

When the seventh approaching enemy boat was lost before it could enter the effective range, a huge explosion finally began to explode at a distance of about three or four feet from one of the armored ships of the main ship regiment. The firelight, accompanied by a loud noise, also reflected the surface of the water in a radius of at least 100 paces.

(End of chapter)