Carlos, the Spanish governor in Manila, must not have known that Luzon's minerals were already coveted by the government departments in Nanjing, the heart of China. Pen ~ fun ~ Ge www.biquge.info China's mining sector and military industry are even considering the method of mortgage borrowing to seek the first start-up capital!

Carlos didn't care about anything else. All the lawsuits he has in his head are trying to stabilize the situation in Luzon. Those damn indigenous monkeys, at this time, suddenly jumped up.

This fateful point in time is really terrible.

In a short period of time, the northern and central parts of Luzon gathered six large-scale rebel forces, each with no less than 5,000 troops. At the same time, there were many small rebel armies that burned and looted Luzon like locusts. The Caucasian people scattered in the area, the mixed descendants of the Caucasians and the Chinese and natives, including some churches, became the targets of the rebels' retaliation.

Manors were set on fire everywhere......

This sudden outbreak of the great anti-Western uprising shook the foundation of Dabanya in Luzon every day.

And what made Carlos even more troublesome was that he didn't know what was going on, and suddenly a group of Chinese armed forces also jumped out. This is a little bit of a conscription, like a monster jumping out of a stone, these Chinese armed leaders are clear, there is no problem of infighting, and they have a little musket and artillery, God knows how these weapons appeared on the land of Luzon. In any case, these Chinese armed forces controlled the situation in the local Chinese concentration area in a short period of time, and completely overthrew the local Spanish colonial government.

This is a very bad phenomenon.

The colonial government headed by Carlos made a great mistake, and in the past time, he did not find any secret connections between the Chinese, nor did he find that there were thermal weapons flowing into Luzon.

If this fact were to reach Manila, Carlos would suffer a major setback in his life, and it is likely that he would say goodbye to politics.

Although Carlos could think about it with his ass, he could know who was the instigator behind this Chinese power. But what's the use? He didn't have the strength to balance those damn Chinese now.

Those rebels were the first to be suppressed by the Spanish army.

Even the Chinese in Manila City, Carlos ordered the military and police to strictly monitor on the one hand, and on the other hand, he also greeted the people who carried out the order, and there must be no stories of extortion, doing whatever he wants, and lawlessness.

In the face of today's grim situation, the big duck is not arrogant at all.

The shadow of war had swept across Luzon, and Carlos did not know at this time that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had submitted a declaration of war to the Spanish representative in China. But under tremendous pressure, he now does not dare to take any measures against the Chinese. lest it give China an excuse to go to war!

You know, a rapid reaction fleet of the Chinese is cruising around the Sulu Sea, and they will appear near Cebu from time to time, and sometimes even at the mouth of Manila Bay.

The Spaniards' detachment was completely retracted into Manila and Cebu, of which the detachment at the Cebu base was the strongest, and the Spaniards were well aware of the situation in Manila Bay, which was a perfect anchorage, but there was no danger to defend. If the Spaniards were able to fully control the sea superiority, anchoring a large number of warships in Manila Bay would be their best option.

But the current situation is that China's sailors occupy the strategic initiative, and if the main forces of the sailors are put in Manila Bay, it is possible that they will be stewed by the Chinese. It is better to put the main force in Cebu, where there are many islands and easy to hide, Manila only leaves a small force, which is enough to deal with the rebel natives, and if the Chinese really fight, Cebu, which is in the middle of the islands, and Cebu, which has a waterway link in all directions, is the real place where the main fleet can be used.

At noon on the ninth day of September, a small fleet of three Chinese warships, including a medium-sized flying scissor bow warship and two light flying scissor bow warships, once again arrived in the Sea of Mindanao.

The Sea of Mindanao is an inter-island sea in the southern part of the Luzon archipelago. It is bounded by the islands of Gros, Cebu, Bohol and Leyte to the north and Mindanao to the south. It is connected to the Sulu Sea to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the east by the Surigao Strait, the Tagnon Strait between Negros and Cebu to the northwest, the Bohol Strait on the west side of Bohol Island and the Canicaau Strait to the east to the Sea of Kamotes. It is an important shipping route from the Sulu Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

The topography of the islands in this area is mainly mountainous and volcanic. The islands here are not like Wanwan and Qiongzhou, all of which have winding coastlines and bay types. There are small plains near the estuary of the river, and the coast in other areas is dominated by steep banks, especially the northern islands, where the mountains are close to the coast and the coastline is tortuous.

The depth of the sea is also astonishing, only ten miles from the shore, and the depth can reach more than 100 meters.

Therefore, although the coastline of this sea area is tortuous, the ships sail very smoothly, and there are few navigation obstacles in the whole sea area. And there is less fog and good visibility.

Chinese naval warships were in the Sea of Mindanao, apparently targeting the Spanish naval fleet in Cebu. Just like when they appeared at the mouth of Manila Bay, the target was definitely Manila.

While three Chinese warships were roaming around the eastern end of Bohol Island, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez, commander of the Luzon Naval Detachment in Cebu, also came with a group of Spanish warships. Watching the three enemy warships show off their might at the door of their homes, it was like a goose feather constantly cutting through the palms of the big ducks' feet, which was teasing their nerves, and this was challenging their endurance.

Both in terms of morale and spirit, Gonzalez had to make a counterattack, once or twice to endure, three or four times to no one, otherwise the morale of the entire Luzon detachment could not be maintained. If he doesn't fight back now, will he wait until the Chinese run to the gates of the Cebu naval base?

But such a counterattack is a 'degree' that needs to be mastered.

'Counterattack' is not a war, not even the first shot. Spain must not give China an excuse. So a Spanish third-class battleship opened fire when it was still seven or eight miles away from a medium-sized flying scissor warship at the head.

The 74-gun St. Anthony's third-class sail battleship was far larger than a 1,000-ton medium-sized flying shear bow warship, and its cannons were much more numerous. On both sides of the hull, two layers of gun decks, dense honeycomb-like cannon muzzles rumbled one after another.

The white smoke was released from the head to the tail at a very fast speed, and the roar of the explosion was connected to the dense cannon sound, which was really shocking.

White smoke rose from the battleship and was quickly blown away by the sea breeze.

It's really not a salute.

Ye Tingyang, who appeared on the front line of the war again, put down the telescope in his hand and looked at the Spanish Navy and smiled disdainfully. These stupid ducks have absolutely no idea what they are here for. Otherwise, they would not have appeared at the eastern end of Bohol Island in such a red way.

"Lean in. Act as planned. ”

According to some investigation reports brought back by Xie Qinggao, the Spaniards' naval strength -- no more than 60 capital ships, more than half of which were deployed in mainland Europe, and most of the rest were deployed in the Americas, and the Luzon Squadron in Asia originally had only two third-class sail battleships, but when a reinforcement arrived, the total number of warships exceeded 20, of which there were five third-class sail battleships, six fourth-class sail warships, and then more than 10 sail cruisers and two-masted sail warships.

This is the entire combat force of the Luzon detachment at the moment.

One of them, a third-class sail battleship and a thousand-ton fourth-class sail battleship, led a three-masted cruiser and a two-masted sail warship to anchor in Manila Bay, and the rest of the main naval force was in Cebu.

The six Spanish warships that appeared in front of them were less than half of the number of warships of the Cebu Squadron, but they included two third-class sail battleships and four fourth-class sail battleships, which were completely the essence of the Spanish Navy.

According to the previous plan, in this fishing operation, as long as there is a big fish biting, the rockets will be concentrated on the big one.

The medium-sized flying scissor bow warship singled out one, and the other two light flying scissor bow warships were two-on-one.

Ye Tingyang's purpose today is to really start fighting.

At this moment, Leopoldo Calvo González, commander of the Spanish Luzon Naval Detachment, had no idea that war was coming.

The three arrow-like warships began to turn at a position of 400 meters, and the deepest position of the warships was only more than 300 meters away from the prey, and one after another rockets with scorching tail flames pierced the sky and swooped towards the Spanish warships. This is no longer a mutual show-off, a deterrent, let alone a drill, but a real war.

Even with great confusion in his heart, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez could only scream loudly to turn and fight back. The Spaniards, of course, wanted to dodge the incoming rockets, but it was simply impossible.

The first is the death of the flagship St. Anthony with the command flag, perhaps God saw that the duck was too stupid and cursed Gonzalez fiercely, or it may be that God suddenly favored the Chinese sailors, anyway, the Spaniards were very unlucky, and the flagship of the Spanish Luzon detachment was hit by the first rocket at the ammunition depot. Before the roaring explosion stopped, an even louder explosion sounded, and then the 1,600-ton battleship was completely enveloped in a glowing orange fire.

A huge column of water and fire rose in the middle of the battleship, shining like a sun falling to the surface of the sea, and the whole battleship was broken in two in an instant, and sank into the sea as quickly as two stones.

The 550 officers and men of the ship, from the Spanish rear admiral and the commander of the Luzon naval detachment, Leopoldo Calvo Gonzalez, down to the most ordinary low-ranking sailor on the ship, did not survive.

The captain of the 3rd class sail battleship Jimenez was completely Spartan, his brain was in a state of death, and he could not accept this fact at all. It wasn't until the Jimenez was shaken by two rockets that the captain screamed and retreated like mad in the silence of the command cabin!

The Spanish warships have an absolute numerical superiority, and they also have an absolute artillery superiority, if everyone fights to the death, at least line up in a row and take turns firing the cannons, Ye Tingyang really may not be able to comfortably eat only meat and not gnaw bones.

Because there are many small islands in the sea at the eastern end of Bohol Island, the battlefield is cut by nature. There was not much room for war left for the Flying Shear Bow warship. Seriously, the latter's best battlefield is in the vast ocean, where there is a huge space for flying and cutting warships to make detours. In this way, they are like the cavalry of the Mongols, constantly harassing the enemy's large fleet with 'cavalry shooting', attacking from all angles, and depleting the enemy's strength little by little while paying their own casualties. Use your own powerful lethality, use the huge difference in the killing of firepower on both sides, and kill the opponent little by little.

However, Gonzalez's death dealt a heavy blow to the Spanish fleet, and without the presence of the commander, another third-class sail battleship chose to retreat, and most of the four thousand-ton fourth-class sail battleships also chose to escape. Only one fourth-class sail battleship bravely opted for an artillery attack, and then sank into the sea at the eastern end of Bohol Island under the siege of rockets.

The pipe band of Marlin 12 asked Ye Tingyang, "My lord, is it a bit hasty to start a war now?" ”

"Isn't the time out of the day?" The rapid response fleet received instructions from the imperial court after the retreat from Yogyakarta, and Chen Ming drew a timeline for them, and after arriving at that line, regardless of whether there was a will of the imperial court or not, Ye Tingyang could decide whether to go to war or not depending on the situation. At this point, he has a great initiative, and he is more 'free' than the Nanyang sailors. "The imperial court must be fighting with the West, and the will to start a war at this time may be almost Luzon."

Ye Tingyang said this, but his heart was full of emotions, how much he longed for a naval battle, so he couldn't wait to fire this first shot. Seriously, he had no intention of creating a given fact. Now that the dust has settled, there is nothing but a mess of debris floating in the sea where the St. Anthony sank.

China and the West are definitely going to war.

Even if there is no edict to start a war on the sea route to the South Seas, this battle must be fought.

Besides, what if you do disobey orders? The victor is not to blame. He's won! Now Ye Tingyang has won the battle. Taking advantage of the gap that the Spaniards did not dare to completely tear their faces, they suddenly attacked, and the three flying shear bow warships defeated six Western sailing ships, sank two, and damaged two.

The power of the Flying Shear Bow was evident in this battle.

Ye Tingyang ordered a light flying shear warship to return to Sulu and report the news of the battle to the Nanyang Fleet as quickly as possible, and at the same time he ordered Sulu's rapid reaction fleet headquarters to quickly come to the Mindanao Sea to fight him.

If there is a war, then strike while the iron is hot.

Ye Tingyang made up his mind, and he put aside Nanjing's worries about the time to 'delay' the war with Spain. Anyway, he is now the head of the entire rapid reaction fleet.

Ye Tingyang led the other two flying shear warships to the periphery of Cebu Port.

There are too many islands in this place to count.

Between Bohol and Cebu, that is, at intervals of not more than 100 miles, there are dozens of densely packed islands. The larger of these is Mactan Island, where Magellan hung up more than 200 years ago. The island is low-lying and flat, with large swamps overgrown with mangroves. The Spaniards built forts on it.

The presence of this island largely covers the port of Cebu.

Ye Tingyang could only break into the periphery of Cebu Port, he was very bold, but he really didn't dare to continue to break inside. The Flying Shear Bow Ship was not very resistant, and it would be terrible if it got into it and was ambushed by the artillery group set up by the Spaniards.

The morale of the big duck was very low, and so many warships did not dare to come out.

Far away on both sides, he could only see the corner of the flag on the gun emplacements outside the harbor.

And for those Spanish officers and soldiers who ran back to their nests in fear, they really saw the power of the fire dragon bullet.

The fact that the first rocket was fired by the Divine Commander to kill the St. Anthony is so shocking.

In addition to the flaw of relatively short range, in this day and age, this weapon is simply devilish! They don't have the slightest intention of going out of the harbor to meet the battle now.

As the first foothold of the Spaniards in Luzon and the earliest city established by the Spaniards in Asia, Cebu certainly has churches and priests.

Gonzalez's death left Cebu leaderless, and the center of the Spaniards was not the governor of Cebu's colonial government, but the priest of the Cathedral of the Holy Child.

The Basilica of the Holy Child, the first church founded by the Spaniards in Luzon, has a special significance for both the Spaniards and the Church.

"We have been subjected to shameful sneak attacks by the Chinese, the navy has paid tragic sacrifices, and now we have entered a state of war. In this war, we will suffer heavy losses, but no matter how terrible the damage is, we will strive for victory; No matter how far and difficult the road may be, we must strive for victory. Because we can't continue to survive here without victory. ”

"Please don't be afraid of sacrifice! I may die for anything, but the glory of the Lord shines on Spain, and the people of the peninsula never have to compromise with the infidels. We know that we have a noble vocation, and we will keep it. This is the only credo we have in our predicament.

The Lord will not abandon His faithful people, as long as we fulfill our vocation! Let us believe in God's mercy and in the noble fate of white people......"

The priest's words seemed to be nonsense, but there was a surge of courage in the people in the town hall. It doesn't matter if that's true or not. (To be continued.) )