Like Batavia, Manila is a city with a Chinese population.

In the Philippines, the Chinese were called "biological people" because the early Spanish colonists asked the Chinese, "Who are you?" ”

The Chinese replied, "Businessman." ”

The Spaniards mistakenly thought that "physiological" was the nationality of the Chinese, and since then they have referred to all Chinese as biological people.

The Spaniards pursued a policy of segregation of Chinese rule in Manila, and the area inhabited by the Chinese was called the "Balion District" (i.e., the Eight Districts). In Spanish, the word balion means untouchable. Now located on the south bank of the Bashi River in the northeast corner of Manila, this untouchable area was originally a swamp that the Chinese would soon turn into a prosperous area of houses. The Balion district is under the direct control of the San Crypto and San Diego batteries in Manila, and only Chinese converts to Catholicism can move out of the segregated Dalit area.

The Chinese artisans in the Philippines toiled for the meagre wages offered by the Spaniards, without whom the Spanish colony would not have survived. The most obvious of these are the construction workers, who dig up oysters and coral, make lime and fire bricks. The construction of the Spanish castle and the high wall of the Chinese area to enclose the Chinese provided convenience for several massacres of the Spaniards.

This is a bloody number, the Spaniards massacred 22,000 Chinese in 1603 and another 22,000 in 1640. After each massacre by the Spaniards, the city was emptied. It won't be long before new immigrants from the mainland will be heading to the Philippines. Fill the eight couplets again and wait for the next regular purge of the Chinese by the Spaniards.

The mainland is simply too poor. The Zhu Ming clan, who did not work hard, and the nobles who retired with the country grabbed most of the production. Civilians rushed to death in the South Seas for a salary of one riyale a day. By this time, the Ming Dynasty was already a decadent feudal dynasty that was bound to perish, but it was completed by a foreign race, which is a pity.

"Your Excellency, the coalition forces have landed."

Harris whispered a reminder of order.

A coalition of Sulu and marines landed on the Cavite Peninsula. The Sulu galleys had a shallow draft, and the first wave of landing parties did not have to waste time changing to longboats, and could go directly to the flat beach on the western side of the Cavite Peninsula.

The Marine Corps has been preparing for this battle for half a year and has held numerous exercises. Thanks to the large number of Chinese in the Philippines, the Federation was well aware of the hydrology and Spanish fortifications near the Cavite Peninsula. Unlike heavily armed armies, the Marine Corps is trained in a way that favors similar pirate raids.

"Let the battleship fire."

The frigates Yuexiu and Qingyun bombarded the shore with naval guns, one south and one north, and the shelling speed was not fast.

Shou Xiang did not think that the Spaniards would dare to send warships at night, and under the dark sky, they did not know what was behind. Maybe there's a whole combined Dutch fleet with the Confederation there? However, the order was still prepared, and two notification ships were pulled out three nautical miles to the north to provide early warning for the fleet.

Crossfires spread throughout the southern part of the Krabi Peninsula and nearby towns, and fires are raging everywhere. Judging from the sound of gunfire, the resistance of the Filipinos was fierce, probably because of the invasion of the Dutch, and the Spanish provided the Pampanga people with a certain degree of armament. But that wasn't enough, and the fire was still moving forward.

The fire and shelling cut off Spanish reinforcements from both north and south, and the Cavite Peninsula groaned in flames.

The sand leaked down the tiny holes, and the minutes passed. Three hours later, the spark ignited the nearby accumulation of flammable ship materials such as wood, tung oil and canvas, and the skyrocketing fire ignited uncontrollably.

The fire was pressing, and the coalition forces carried all kinds of worthless booty and escorted hundreds of prisoners to board the ship and retreat. Six large and small sampans unloaded from frigates and notification ships were also involved in the transfer.

Under the starry sky and the darkness, Shou Xiang closed his eyes, felt the night breeze, and embraced it all with open arms.

The flames danced in the wind, and the shadows of the order flickered and dimmed, falling on the white canvas, as if possessed by a demon.

Chen Shangchuan and Zhu Youliang were silent behind him for a long time.

Before dawn, with the help of offshore winds, the fleet withdrew from Manila Bay and headed south along the coastline of Luzon.

The number of captives was not large, just over 200, all of them shipbuilders from the Krabi dockyard. Four-fifths of them are native Filipinos, and one-fifth are Chinese or Chinese-Filipino mixed-race.

The workers at the Krabi dockyard are predominantly Bisayans from the central region of the Philippines, living in Mindoro and the Pisayan Islands, and are the sworn enemies of the Sulu. The process of replacing a primitive witchcraft religion by Catholicism has not been peaceful, and there are still a large number of rebels in the name of restoring the faith.

The Order had people announce among the Bisayans that they would not be slaves to the Sulus, and that the Federation would hire them for five years at double pay if they wished. After five years, they can choose to leave freely. If not, the Federation will now send them to the witch god or God, depending on the captive's faith.

This is a multiple-choice question that quickly gives the right answer.

Captain of the Qingyun Mountain, Emmanuel. Nan Suti brings a special guest to Order.

"Ash. Phoenix, sir is British? ”

"A real Londoner."

"How did you show up in Cavite?"

Phoenix smiled wryly, "That's a long story. ”

"It's okay, sir, I happen to have some time right now."

"I came to the New World, traveled throughout the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and then boarded the Manila galleon in Acapulco......"

……

Half an hour later, Shou Xu asked in surprise, "Are you a shipbuilding engineer?" ”

"I built warships for the British Navy, and I didn't leave until the Civil War broke out."

Order's interest was instantly aroused, "What kind of battleship did Mr. build?" ”

"Both single-deck cruisers and double-deck heavy gunboats have been built."

"Oh, oh, double gun deck, sir, by means of battleline gunboats?"

"Battleline? It was a tactic that the British Navy was exploring. Phoenix snapped his fingers, "Battleship, I like the name." ”

"What kind of battleships did you design before, sir?"

Phoenix immediately began to complain, "Actually, I am not satisfied with the existing design of the battleship. The warships of various European countries were born from the Galen type of the Spaniards, and Galen was born from the Clark ship. Used on armed merchant ships, Galen had no problems. But if it is used for a special warship, Galen has too many shortcomings. Battleships needed speed, and Galen's stern was too heavy, resulting in a deep tail draft and slow speed. The battleship needs to be flexibly steered, also because of the stern, the rudder effect is too poor. The battleship needed firepower, but Galen's gunwales destroyed the integrity of the gun deck, resulting in wasted tonnage and almost useless bow and tail guns. Just like in land battles, battleships lined up in neat formations are far more powerful than single-ship dogfights. If we want to maximize the firepower of the battle line, we should start designing the battleship from the gun deck. It should be clear to you that now not a single battleship is designed from the gun deck! ”

Shou Order: Hearing Phoenix skip his question, he is then stunned by Phoenix's barrage of complaints. Recalling the summing up of the combat experience over the years, Phoenix mentioned that these shortcomings of Galen were more or less reflected in the past.

"So, what does Sir's ideal battleship look like?"

"Long live the flat deck! Eliminate the gunwales, cancel the stern, raise the lower gun doors, and improve the combat capability of the battleship in high sea conditions! ”

Orderly listened to a burst of tongues, flat decks are the trend of the future. But Shou Xiang has never dared to try to build a flat-deck ship in the local shipyard. In today's shipbuilding industry, the size and weight of each part of the hull are controlled in the mind of the shipwright, and there are too many aspects involved in making big changes to the ship type.

"We don't need flat-deck warships for the time being, only traditional Galen warships."

"I've heard the name of the Federation for a long time, and I'd be happy to work for you, but I swore before God that I would never build the traditional Galen again."

Phoenix is serious.

Shou Orderly cautiously asked, "Sir, you only build flat-deck warships?" ”

"That's right! Long live the flat deck! “

The Native Navy would not rashly accept a new ship type that had not been proven, and Order, with some distress, asked, "What wood is Mr. Phoenix most familiar with?" ”

"Oak, of course."

Well, I can only ask Mr. Phoenix to go to Taiwan, where there are many oaks.

"I can provide a platform for my husband's trial. Mr. for the service of the Confederation would have received double the salary of the Spaniards. ”

"I don't want double pay, I only have one condition."

"Please."

"The naming rights of the battleship, I hope to name this brand new class of battleship."

Naming is an honor, it's a trivial matter to order.

……

The flotilla reunited at Batangas.

The port of Batangas was the most important port in southern Luzon, with 400 defenders in the city. Stirling dismantled some of the ship's guns to cover the Sulu siege. Manila's attention was drawn to the Dutch, and Batangas never received the reinforcements they were looking for.

The defenses of one of the walls were destroyed, and the Sulu and Marines entered the city.

The Order stopped a massacre.

Alimoud had intended to execute all the soldiers he had captured. This is unnecessary, and only fuels the resentment of the local indigenous people. Since the soldier has chosen to surrender, this behavior of the enemy should be encouraged. Besides, the Sulu people don't care, and the Federation still has to pay attention to its reputation.

Alimoud agreed to keep the order, but he made conditions.

"The Sultan hopes that your country will provide us with some artillery in this prisoner of war business."

"Do you accept the cast iron cannon? The cannon is heavier, but better than the existing cast iron cannon on the market. ”

"Yes."

Bronze cannons were too expensive, the Sulus could not afford them and did not need them too much, they did not have battleships to carry large naval guns. The Sultan of Bensu needed more of heavy artillery to defend his city of Hole and provide some means of attacking the Spanish castle. The Shenwei cannons that He Liangtao forged in Hainan were very suitable for the Sulu people, cheap and sufficient, and the power of 9 pounds and 12 pounds was enough.

The coalition captured 4,000 prisoners of war at Batangas, plus the previous 3,000, and the Sulu ships transported the captives to Sanya. Raphael, Nanhai and two notification ships led by Stirling escorted the group and piloted it.

The Orderly led the remaining schooners, along with the Sulu galleys, to continue plundering the coast of the South Philippines.

The southwest monsoon is disrupted by the Philippine Islands, and the wind direction appears unstable in the complex and varied shipping lanes of the Tablas, Mindoro, Sibuyan and Visayas Seas. This is exactly the battlefield that schooners love.

As news of Manila Bay gradually arrived, the Dutch fleet had conquered the city of Abukai, and the Dutch, who prided themselves as civilized, carried out a massacre and killed all the captives of the city. Captain Juan, the hero of Spain. Morality. Chaves led an angry fleet to attack and again inflicted heavy damage on the Dutch fleet, expelling them from Manila Bay.