Qi Jianye and Qi Jianxun's brothers jumped into waist-deep water, and then went ashore under the cover of night. www.biquge.info The place where they disembarked was called Cavite, one of the most important Spanish military ports in the Philippines. A few days ago, there was a legend that the Spanish fleet, after returning "victoriously", sailed into this port for repairs.

The port is located on a small peninsula, and the connection between the peninsula and Luzon is very narrow. In the Treaty of Anping, the Spaniards stipulated that the Chinese were not allowed to live on the peninsula. As a result, monitoring the port has become relatively difficult. Before this battle, the Zheng family often used fast traffic ships to approach reconnaissance at high speed, but after this battle, due to the storm, several fast traffic ships were damaged to varying degrees, and this method could not be used. In order to determine the situation of the Spanish fleet in the port of Cavite, the only way to detect it was to infiltrate the most dangerous personnel.

Opposite the port of Cavite, there is a Chinese settlement. The settlement, Zhangjiapu, is now one of the most hated thorns in the side of the Spaniards, and was once under siege. It was only after the news of the naval battle came back that the Spanish lifted the siege of Zhangjiapu. This may be because they expected that after such a brilliant "victory" in the naval battle, the Philippines would be blockaded by the Chinese fleet for a long time, and the offensive and defensive forms on the ground would be reversed, so they were unwilling to consume too many valuable supplies in order to attack the strong fortress.

Zhangjiapu and Cavite face each other across the sea, and the distance between them is only seven or eight miles. It's not hard to find a moonless night and row a small boat to get there. Qi Jianye turned around and looked at the sea, the sea was dark and he couldn't see anything, but he knew that a small boat was turning around and leaving there.

With the faint starlight, Qi Jianye and Qi Jianxun quickly left the beach and ran to a forest in front. There is a high tide in the early hours of the morning, and the sea will bulldoze the footprints they leave on the beach.

Although there are no Chinese people living in Cavite, because it has always been the target of the Zheng family's great attention, the Zheng family has still figured out the topography of this place through various means. Cavite is a small area, but the weakness of the Spanish population in the Far East made it difficult for them to maintain tight control over the entire Cavite Peninsula. Like most of the Philippines, the peninsula is covered with dense rainforests. Only in the vicinity of the Krabi port battery is it slightly more open. The Spanish built checkpoints in the narrowest part of the peninsula and Luzon, and after the outbreak of war, they organized patrols to patrol back and forth along the coast of the peninsula, but these tricks can only be said to be better than nothing, the dense rainforest is the biggest friend of Qi Jianye's Qi Jianxun brothers, as long as they get into the rainforest, it is difficult for the Spaniards to find and catch them. Of course, the premise is that they were not discovered by the Spaniards before entering the rainforest. Otherwise, the dogs raised by the local Spanish patrol are not easy to deal with.

The two men went to the edge of the rainforest, took some medicine from their satchels, and smeared it on their legs and all the exposed skin on their bodies. The rainforest is home to a variety of poisonous snakes and insects, which cannot be left unguarded, especially at night. The two of them quickly made preparations, and then disappeared into the vast forest.

……

"Daddy, daddy, there's the latest news, it's sent back by the second brother." Zheng Sen took a small note and said to Zheng Zhilong excitedly. Then he hurriedly said: "When the child got the news of the second brother, he was so happy that he forgot that he should ask his father for peace first." ”

"Those who achieve great things are not informal. Is there any news from your second brother? Zheng Zhilong said. The significance of this battle for the Zheng family, Zheng Zhilong is very clear. Zheng Zhilong had been to that place in Luzon many times before, and he knew that if he could really take Luzon this time, it would really be "the king of Qindi". In the future, you can peek into the world, and you can also stand on your own when you retreat.

"Yes, Daddy. The second brother's ship arrived in Luzon, and his people were safe. In addition, they found the escaped Spanish battleship at sea. According to the news he had returned, they saw with their own eyes that the ship's capital had been knocked off by the waves, and the bowmast and foremast were gone. Although the second brother didn't see whether the boat sank in the end. But this kind of damage can't be repaired in a short time, and the child thinks that when my fleet is repaired, they will still be lying on their stomachs in the dock. Without this henchman, there would be nothing to worry about in the war situation in Luzon. This time, the second brother has really made a great contribution! Zheng Sen added this sentence at the end.

"He's just lucky." Although Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said this, the smile on his face could not be hidden.

"Daddy, the child thinks that everything else can be learned, but only luck can not be learned anywhere. However, many times when you want to do great things, you can't do without good luck. Zheng Sen also laughed.

"You're right." Zheng Zhilong smiled, "But you still have to be careful about this matter." It's better to confirm it first. ”

"The boy has already arranged for someone to scout." Zheng Sen replied.

……

Qi Jianye stretched out his binoculars from the woods and looked out towards the bay in front of him, where several large and small ships were parked at the berth of the Krabi Harbor. Qi Jianye observed carefully, and whispered: "Two patrol ships, one patrol ship, there are no other big ships." ”

"Aren't there any battleships? Do you see clearly? Also, what is the condition of that cruiser? Qi Jianxun asked.

"There were no battleships. The cruiser had a lot of damage to its hull, and its mainmast was broken in half. I don't understand the rest of the situation. Qi Jianye replied.

"It seems that the Spanish battleship really sank." Qi Jianxun nodded.

"Wait, there's a ship coming." Qi Jianye said suddenly.

In the distance, a ship did come, and it looked like a large ship, its white sails shining in the sun.

The ship was fast, and in a short time approached the port of Cavite. Qi Jianye saw that the Fort in Krabi suddenly spewed out a few puffs of white smoke, and after a while, the sound of cannons reached Qi Jianye's ears, and at the same time, he also saw the cannonballs fired by the Fort falling down and splashing water columns at a distance from the big ship.

The boat did not go any further, but went back and forth in two circles against the firing range of the battery, and then turned in the direction of Manila.

"Look at the flag as if it's a Portuguese ship, what are they doing here?" Qi Jianye said.

……

The armed merchant ship "Tulip" of the Dutch East India Company slowly approached Manila. Although Spain and China are now at war, the trade activities of the Port of Manila have not stopped. Of course, at present, there will be no Chinese merchant ships in and out of Manila, but merchant ships from other countries can still enter the port for trade.

The "Tulip" dropped its sails and quietly waited for the Spanish pilot ship. On deck, Captain Vincent was talking to his son Edmund.

"Father, who do you think won the last naval battle?" Edmund said.

"There is no doubt that it will be the Chinese who will win. Your Uncle Bill saw the captured Spanish battleship with his own eyes in North Harbor. And it also confirmed that although the Chinese fleet suffered heavy losses, the most important warships were still there, and they could be repaired within a few months. The only question now is how much the Spaniards have suffered. Figuring this out is very important for companies. Vincent replied.

"Is the company planning to move to Cebu?" Edmund asked. After the war between Spain and China, the East India Company took the opportunity to intervene in Spain and seize Cebu and the whole of Mindanao. Even the sound of seizing Manila is not small. Of course, the latter voice is not currently mainstream.

"Who can say this kind of thing clearly. What to do in the end should first be based on a full grasp of information, not on assumptions. Vincent said, "Don't think about it yet, let's just get the things at hand right." As for who and where to go to war, these things are not for us to worry about. ”

At this time, a small boat came from the port of Manila and leaned next to the "Tulip". The sailors lowered the gangway, and several Spaniards climbed up the gangway.

"Hello, I'm the tax officer of the Port Authority, you can call me 'Carlos.'" A man who looked like a civil servant said, "You're going to Manila to trade?" Not many people still come here today. What's on board you're on board? ”

"Not many ships are here now?" Vincent laughed, "Then it looks like I've come to the right place." God, how much I love war. What's on my boat? What else could it be? There are iron nails from Guangdong, which are of very good quality; There are ropes from Batavia and the quality is also very good; There are also cloth from Taiwan, and crow (harmony) tablets from Taiwan, do you need to talk about the quality of this thing? I think these are the things you need now, and if you can give me a good price, and get rid of some damn harsh taxes, maybe I can bring you more that you can use. ”

"Sir, it's not for me to decide. If you want to talk about these things, you can go and talk to the port officer once you enter the port. The tax collector said, "Now, can you show me the manifest and take me to the hold?" ”