The next day, everyone split up to prepare, and the Zhao brothers led three merchant ships to set sail and continue south along the coastline. After another day of sailing, we sailed into Manila Bay.

After driving some more distance, sure enough, at the mouth of the Bashi River, three Spanish warships were spotted. The soldiers on the merchant ship were also very nervous, but probably seeing that they were merchant ships and sailing into the Bashi River, the Spanish warships did not intercept them, and gave way to let them enter the Bashi River.

In the actual sense of the word, Manila is actually a vast area that includes the city of Manila and the banks of the Bashi River. Because Manila City was a small castle in this era, the size of the city was about the same as a small county town in China, living east of Manila Bay, north of Taal Lake, south of the Bashi River, and some distance from the Bashi River and Manila Bay, so the Spaniards built a Fort San Diego fortress at the mouth of the Bashi River as a barrier to the city of Manila. The city of Manila was inhabited by Spanish soldiers, adventurers who came to Asia, missionaries, and their families and servants. There were also a small number of indigenous aristocrats.

The south bank of the Bashi River is called the Barian District, and the north bank is called the Binongduo District, which is the real business district, and more than 90% of the Chinese in Mani City have settled here or opened shops. There are also many Spaniards who live in Mani, and they also have their own shops, estates and, of course, many churches in the Barien or Binondo districts. There were also some naturalized natives, as well as a small number of other Asian traders, all of whom settled here. Therefore, a situation of convergence of various civilizations has also been formed here.

In the early 17th century, Manila was also home to a considerable number of Japanese, who were also accomplices in the Manila Massacre in 1603, but with the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of closing the country to the outside world, the number of Japanese in Manila gradually decreased, and now there are less than 200 people, who are basically the descendants of the original group of Japanese. Upon entering the Bashi River, you can find that there are traces of destruction in many places in the Barian district on the south bank, and there are very few shops open, and there are few pedestrians on the streets, and several groups of small natives are found smashing a shop, and behind the natives, there are two missionaries and several Spanish soldiers, pointing and pointing, apparently directing the natives. The North Shore is slightly better than Nongduo, but less than half of the commercial establishments are open.

The Zhao brothers saw that there were a large number of warships moored in Manila Bay, and they obviously didn't have them when they left a few months ago. There were only a few old Spanish ships in Manila Bay, and it seemed that they were the new arrival of Spanish reinforcements.

After remembering the number and displacement of the ships, the Zhao brothers left Manila Bay with the merchant ships and returned to Tortoiseshell Harbor.

At this time, Wang Jinbao's army had all come to the tortoiseshell port, and more than 40 large and small merchant ships and cargo ships were moored in the port. This is some soldiers in red shirts and blue pants on the dock unloading cargo.

It was also the first time that the Zhao brothers had seen a Ming army dressed like this, which was very similar to the Spanish army. The two brothers parked their boats and came to the newly built camp on the shore to meet Fu Wenlong.

"Two strong men, how are you going to investigate?"

"My lord, now there are suddenly more than twenty warships in Manila Bay, and they should be the new reinforcements of the Franco. Not much has changed in the city of Manila, although there are no more mass killings, but there are still sporadic aborigines robbing the Chinese. ”

After listening to the intelligence of the Zhao brothers, Fu Wenlong frowned, now that the army has just arrived, some equipment has not yet been unloaded, and there are more than 20 warships that suddenly have an extra 20 What the hell? Didn't the previous intelligence say that Manila's Franco-Robot had only five or six old warships?

After Fu Wenlong thanked the Zhao brothers, he asked people to find Wang Jinbao and Zhang Hai, after all, how to fight a war must listen to the opinions of professionals.

Zhang Hai also frowned when he heard Fu Wenlong say this, if the difference is not too much, he can still use his speed to win, and now that he has five or six times more people than him, this naval battle cannot be fought at all.

The three of them were thinking hard about the solution in the house, Zhang Hai thought for a long time, and said: "Your Excellency the Governor, no, tomorrow the Zhao brothers and I will go to Manila again, I will take a closer look, maybe there is a way." ”

Fu Wenlong didn't think of a good way, so he had to agree to Zhang Hai's request.

The next day, Zhang Hai went out with the Zhao brothers again, this time without much fanfare, but just took a small boat of 400 materials to Manila.

After a day of investigation, Zhang Hai returned to Tortoiseshell Harbor on the third day to meet Fu Wenlong.

Fu Wenlong saw that Zhang Hai was happy, and it seemed that he had found a way, so he hurriedly asked, "Admiral Zhang, have you found a way?" ”

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, your subordinates have found a way."

"Tell me about it!"

Zhang Hai took a sip of water and said his solution. In fact, it is very simple, it is to fight at night, and most of the ordinary people nowadays have night blindness, as long as it is dark, they basically can't see ten meters away. The Spaniards were the same, so the naval battles of this era were all daytime, and there were rarely night battles.

Zhang Hai said: "My lord, I found that the defense of the Francophone fleet in Manila Bay is lax, and there are no small boats patrolling at night, so we can release mines at night by the water ghost team, and then detonate them together." As long as you blow up and sink those big ships, the other small ships will not matter. ”

Fu Wenlong nodded again and again, "Okay, please ask Admiral Zhang for the matter of the water war." When are we going to start attacking? ”

"I see that the night is long and I have a lot of dreams, I will go tonight, and Lu Zhan will ask Master Wang for this side."

Wang Jinbao patted his chest on the side and said, "Don't worry, we haven't been afraid of anyone in the land war!" ”

Fu Wenlong saw that the two of them had a strong fighting spirit, and said with a smile: "Admiral Zhang, you go and prepare, we are waiting for the good news of Admiral Zhang, as soon as the news of your victory arrives, we will immediately get on the boat and set off." ”

After the time was set, Zhang Hai went out to prepare.

The mines made in the Ming Dynasty include underwater mines, underwater dragon cannons, mixed river dragons, underwater thunder and so on.

According to the "Martial Arts" compiled by Tang Jingchuan in the 28th year of Jiajing, the underwater mine is recorded by the general, using a big wooden box to make a box, the putty sticks, the fire inside, the upper part is stumped with a rope, and the lower part is dropped with a three-iron anchor, and it is ambushed in various ports. This is a manually manipulated mine.

According to the records of the Underwater Dragon King's Cannon "Wu Bei Zhi", this kind of mine is made of wrought iron, each weighing four, five or six catties, and the inside is filled with five liters of gunpowder to one bucket. The length of the incense head is determined by the distance of the enemy ship to be bombarded. After lighting the incense, the cannon is loaded into a sac made of ox floating, sealed, loaded on a wooden plank, and stoned into the water. The sheep intestines in the bag were led out of the water and placed on the floating felling made by the goose goose feathers. In order to ventilate the air, it was lowered downstreams in the night, and when it approached the enemy ship, the incense was close to the fire, causing an explosion. This type of mine is similar to the modern timed drift mine.