The Neduno, which was badly damaged but did not lose its ability to sail, flew back to Manila Bay with the signal flag that had assembled in front of us.

The Majesty and Aglaia hoisted as many sails as they could.

It was already dark, and a Spanish wounded ship accidentally crashed into a reef in a hurry, leaving Lopez with four ships left to return to Cavite.

Order and Sterling turn in front of Corregidor Island. It was important to clean up the battlefield, and Guard did not want to risk sailing into Manila Bay with a lost warship.

In the two battlefields of the north and south, the Spaniards left 10 ships, 3 of which caught fire and 1 hit the reef, none of which were worth saving. The remaining 6 ships are floating at sea.

The Federation permanently lost 4 frigates, the South Seas and Raphael sank, and the Laxis had no salvage value, with a total loss of 7 ships.

According to a preliminary inventory of human losses, the Spaniards were about 4 times larger than the Federation, and they had a lot more prisoners.

The notification ship shuttles through the battlefield to rescue the crew of the overboard, both the enemy and ours. In the dark night, the search and rescue efficiency was not high, and the reporting ships did their best.

At night, the wind becomes stronger and has a tendency to turn into a storm.

If it weren't for the slight deflection of the wind, I'm afraid that all the ships that lost their masts would have been wiped out.

The ships could only retract their formation, tow the wounded ships, and retreat to Lubang Island for shelter.

One of the captured warships was wounded and capsized in the towing process, but the Hyperion cut the cable in time to avoid further losses.

Lubang Island is a rectangular island 26 nautical miles south of the capital ship battlefield, and the commanding height of the island is about 500 meters above sea level.

The fleet anchored on the leeward side, and the mountains held out the increasingly violent north winds.

In East Asia, if there are no typhoons, the southerly season is the favorite season for seafarers, with the wind continuing and gentle, and the waves not rising. In the northerly season, the raging cold wave often sets off monstrous waves, and milky white waves hit one after another, and the intact battleships may not be able to hold on, let alone these crippled ships after the war.

In such sea conditions, the fleet could not go anywhere until the battleships were repaired.

In the days that followed, sailors and prisoners helped each other in the temporary anchorage, repairing masts and sewing canvas.

The enemy and the enemy joined hands, the naval battle was over, everyone was a seafarer, and only with such efforts could we survive the storm.

The battleship came with spare mast materials, and after piecing it together, it was barely usable. It is common practice to tie new mast timbers to the base of the broken mast, clamp them with two or three logs, and finally tie them with iron hoops.

Rearrange the sins, trusses, hang the sails. Such a mast is naturally not capable of supporting 3 to 4 sails like the original cargo, and generally can only hang 1 lower sail, at most a small upper sail.

At most, this only restores the ability to sail, you can run with the wind, and you can barely turn with the wind, and the wind is boring. And there is a 60-nautical-mile windy route from Lubang Island to the base of Subic Bay, and Shou Yu does not want to take any risks.

So, after the storm was over, the Vigilante drew out the best ships, the Croto and the Hyperion, and put the three frigates under the command of Collingwood, and returned to Subic Bay.

Before leaving, Shou ordered to instruct: "Burn the camp, load the army, and go to Lubang Island to join us." ”

Collingwood confirmed: "End the blockade operation? ”

"Yes, the end. The officers and men have been on the expedition for nearly four months, and we have to fight this decisive battle with a breath in their breath, and all we have to do is to bring them home safely and enjoy this victory. ”

"Got it, I'll work well with Carl."

After Collingwood left, Thomas Mello looked at the bandaged, smoking officers and men on the battleship and said, "Sir, look at the relaxed smiles on the soldiers' faces. After this decisive battle, our naval officers and men will no longer fear any opponent in Asia. ”

"Yes, Thomas. These officers and men who have withstood the test of blood and fire are our greatest wealth. They are so tired that we have to take the soldiers home and rest as soon as possible. ”

Melot: "I'm afraid we'll have to hurry, the Spaniards will run back 3 ships, and Manila can also urgently refit 1 or 2 merchant ships." They have much more convenient ships in Cavite than we do, and if they repair their ships and rush out to save their comrades, our trophies will definitely suffer. ”

Melo was talking about the benefits of being close to home in the era of sailboats.

Wooden ships are difficult to assault well-fortified harbor forts, and even if a home fleet is defeated, they will be much more resilient than an expeditionary fleet.

The Dutch blockaded Manila several times and suffered from it almost every time. Spain fought a naval battle with the Netherlands, consuming part of the Dutch fleet, and the last swarm of swarms poured out to fight a decisive battle with the Dutch fleet in poor condition, and the Dutch could not bear it at all when they came from afar.

The highest-ranking captive in this battle, Juan. Morality. Chavis. The commander of the Spanish Zamboanga fleet was seriously wounded, his left calf was broken, and he fainted in pain when he was captured.

Philip asked the military doctor to do his best to treat Chaves, amputation and bandaging.

Chaves endured all this with an astonishing will, and the medic reported that Chaves bit the rubber rod while sawing his leg without letting out a single wail.

Tough guys are respected everywhere, even enemies. When he was a little better, Shou Xiang invited Chaves to dinner.

"Can you give me another fork?"

"Of course, orderly."

"This meal is very good, the Chinese cooking skills are really good. Please pour me some more tea. ”

"General Chaves, Governor Fajardo has transferred back your fleet, isn't he worried that the Sulu people will take the opportunity to attack Zamboanga?"

Chaves was silent for a moment, "For the sake of this meal, I'll just get straight to it, and you'll find out soon anyway." I burned down Fort Pilar. ”

"You abandoned the fortress where you fought the Moors?"

Chaves looked up, "It's a fortress to fight Moors and pirates." ”

"I heard that you have put in many years of hard work to build this fortress, won't it be a pity to give up?"

"I'll admit you're right, but what's that? It's just a small castle, with only a few small islands behind the Moors, and behind us is the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and we have the Americas. Finally, we have the mighty Kingdom of Spain. ”

"If you were as strong as you say, you wouldn't have been able to defeat the Moros for so many years."

"That's because the southern part of the Philippines is so small on our map that our attention is not being cast on this small corner of the planet."

Shou Xuan smiled, "Your country is still at war with France, and there is still Catalonia in the country. General Chaves, when will His Majesty Philip IV set his sights on the Philippines? ”

Chavis was silent.

"General Chaves, you are a soldier, maybe the distance between you and Madrid is too far."

Chaves shook his head, "I never cared about that, I would only be loyal to His Majesty and obey his every command." ”

"Aren't you curious about what the future holds?"

"What curiosity can a captured general have? Only God can guide the future. ”

"Forgive me for disagreeing with your conclusions, General. What the future holds depends on the choices we both make. ”

"Maybe you're right, Lord Order, but that doesn't concern me anymore."

At this moment, the ship's watchman walked in and reported to him after a Roman salute, "Sir, the ship is ready. ”

"Got it."

The officer on duty turned to leave, and Chaves looked at his back.

"Roman, morituri te salutant."

"Those who have been with death salute you." The original meaning of Roman rite was the absence of weapons in the hands and the absence of malice.

Shou Zhi stood up, "General Chavis, as I said, we are all soldiers. My subordinates reported to me about your bravery in battle and healing, and as you can see, they admired you. Philip promised you what you deserved, and his promise is my promise. Considering that it is difficult for you to sail far, I have made a decision to release you and 100 other wounded prisoners, and you can stay on Lubang Island, and I will leave you tents and some food and water. It should be able to hold up until your ship arrives. ”

Chaves looked at Order in disbelief, and Order smiled and waved his hand as he left the cabin.

By the time Collingwood and Carl Langman arrived at Lubang Island with Subic Bay troops, the prisoners of war had been transferred.

The expeditionary fleet lifted anchor and withdrew.

As soon as one of the Spanish warships came out of anchorage, they began to flood, and Orderly had to order the removal of the cannons and dispose of the leaky hull.

If it is near the national naval base, the leaky ship can travel while draining the water and enter the port for repairs. But now, it is impossible for Orderly to return thousands of miles with this leaky ship.

The sailors poured oil and set fire to the damaged ship. Thick black smoke rose into the sky, like a farewell firework.

The orderly return voyage did not take the shortest route across the South China Sea, but followed the coastline of the Philippine archipelago south, passing through the narrow island of Palawan to Borneo.

The safety factor of inshore navigation is high, and in case of a ship that is not supported, there is a chance to enter the harbor and anchor for maintenance.

In Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei Darussalam, the troops were divided in an orderly manner. Eight warships and transports in the best condition, including the Aglaia and the Hyperion, returned to the capital with all the best land forces.

The other warships continued their nearshore voyage to Kuching Harbour.

Kuching Deputy Administrator Rejah and Defence Commander Titch fired a 21-gun salute to welcome the triumphant fleet.

The officers and men of the fleet stood on the starboard side and shouted long live with the Kuching garrison on the walls of the fortress.

The battleship anchored in the harbor.

The mighty fleet shook everyone around Kuching City. News of the Battle of Manila Bay centered around Kuching and quickly spread to the entire borough.

Two docks were dug on one side of Kuching Harbour, one to accommodate battleships and the other to accommodate cruisers.

The level of shipbuilding at the Kuching Shipyard is not good, and it can only build a notification ship, but the level of ship repair is acceptable. It is home to the largest timber reserve in the federation and is plentiful in terms of raw materials. The craftsmen on the ship cooperated with the shipyard, and it was not difficult to repair the battleship.