The soldiers, who had been looking for cover in a hurry, also stopped, and they raised their heads in astonishment, and their eyes fell behind them, the north gate of the beautiful city of Manila, surrounded by thick smoke and dust, and the strong stone walls were crumbling under the raging artillery fire.

Major Diego's expression was numb as if he was waiting for a civilian to be driven into the gas chambers by the SS, the flintlock pistol in his hand had fallen to the ground at some point, and the tip of the command knife in his hand was drooping, dragging it on the uneven ground.

In the Doge's Palace, the pale and haggard Spanish Governor Marcello stared at the crumbling city wall with dull eyes, and he cursed the bitch Colonel Alfonso countless times in his heart, if it weren't for his demagoguery, how could he agree to provoke these damned Qing pirates.

Although he didn't think that the Qing pirates were capable of destroying Alfonso's mighty combined fleet, the reality was like a twenty-four-pound cannon that smashed his heart into powder.

And the other side's shameless camouflage behavior made Manila lose the last line of defense: the shore defense battery.

Manila's coastal defense artillery is not a lot, there are ten 24-pounder guns that can be regarded as shore defense heavy artillery, and nearly 50 eighteen-pounder guns, in the face of those pirates cruising in the South Seas, such a defense force can definitely be called stable as Mount Tai, and the prestige of the Spanish Navy has always made those pirates fearful, Manila has not been baptized by war for too long, so that the vigilance of those soldiers has been greatly reduced.

And the important thing is that the other side made despicable use of the Spanish warships and flags, disguised as the victorious Spanish Combined Fleet, and saw the return of their heroes, the Spaniards, who have always been enthusiastic and unrestrained, naturally will not suppress the excitement and excitement in their hearts.

The officers and men guarding the fort even stood outside the fort to take off their hats and cheer for the returning heroes, and as a result, after the opponent reached the range of the naval guns, they beat them with the most fierce artillery fire, which made the guards have no time to react at all, and there were very few who were launching a counterattack, and each shore defense gun fired at most once or twice, and was destroyed by the fierce and crazy artillery fire of the other side.

You must know that the power of more than 20 warships and hundreds of battleship heavy guns after reaching the firing range is absolutely terrifying, even if it is a fortress that has stood for more than a thousand years like Constantinople, it will be reduced to ruins, not to mention the fort built more than 100 years ago in Manila.

Otherwise, if the intruding pirates can be detected in time, and with the powerful shore artillery group relying on the dock for defense, even if they can't repel these Qing pirates, they can suffer a lot of losses, but unfortunately, everything is just a hypothesis, and the reality is always crueler than the hypothesis.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

"Your Excellency the Governor, now that the city walls have collapsed, Manila City will definitely not be able to be saved, what should I do now?" Lieutenant Jerry, commander of the Governor's Guard, rushed in and shouted at Marcello, his crisp uniform as if he had been stuffed into a sauerkraut jar for two months, his hat and face covered with a furrow of dust and sweat.

"What is it called! What can I do? Do you want to escape?! I'm the Governor, and even if I escape, the loss of the kingdom's colonies is enough to hang us all on that damn gallows. Like a monkey that has been stepped on by the tail, Marcello roared loudly in front of the Guard Commander with his teeth and claws, as if to vent his fear and despair.

Lieutenant Jerry, the commander of the guard, hung his head in a dead gray face and let Marcelo shout loudly in his ear.

Seeing the expression of the captain of the guard, Marcelo also lost the heart to roar, sat back in his chair, and buried his face deep in his palm: "Evacuate the guards from the city walls, and, tell Major Diego to bring back the remaining soldiers to guard the Doge's Palace, and also, send small boats, hoping that they will break through the blockade and ask for help from our allies, the French." Hopefully we can sustain it for ten days, at least ten days, or else we'll all have to go to God. ”

"Ten days? ......" Lieutenant Colonel Jerry, the commander of the guards, was completely cold, and wanted to rush out of the dock under such intensive artillery fire, which was simply a fantasy, the huge fleet of the other side had at least nearly 10,000 people, and on his side, plus the Governor's Palace Guard, there were only 550 regular soldiers in total, plus those civilians who had been trained, there were less than 1,000 people.

However, the frenzied artillery fire of the sudden attack just now, the two hundred soldiers and armed civilians who were carrying out the construction task on the dock, I am afraid that they have gone to see God, and now, except for the four gates of Manila, a total of sixteen twelve-pounder guns, there is no heavy firepower to fight the other side, so they rely on the remaining manpower to guard the governor's palace, I am afraid that it will be broken by those Qing pirates in less than an hour.

"Well, go about your business, and besides, if my wife returns, please send twenty men to escort her out of Manila by land, which I am afraid I can do as a husband in the end." Marcello's face was full of sadness and despair, and his haggard face looked like that of a terminally ill patient who had run out of oil.

"Yes, Lord Governor, I will retire first." Lieutenant Jerry nodded silently and left the room...... Governor Marcello staggered to his ornate mahogany desk with gold and silver, and stroked this precious desk, on which were placed all kinds of papers, quill pens and ink, and in addition, there was an Oriental jade Ruyi, a beautiful and warm jade Ruyi, which made him often yearn for the mystery and wealth of the East, but now, Marcelo was not in the mood to play with this precious treasure, and his fingers ran over the table and walked to a wall.

His gaze landed somewhere, his pupils narrowing. There, the two silver-handled muskets hung cross-hung were extravagant, they were meant to be used by the nobility to decorate the room, but it was undeniable that it still had all the functions of a gun, and it was so easy to destroy a life.

The heavy artillery fire from outside had completely stopped, and Marcelo knew that those Qing pirates who had come to take revenge must have been preparing to land, and he could clearly hear the chaos in the Doge's Palace, and Marcelo knew very well that as long as those Qing pirates had the patience to unload a few cannons from the ship, then this seemingly tall and majestic Doge's Palace would be as fragile as a chocolate shell wrapped in cream.

"God, forgive your faithful servant......" Governor Marcello paused, withdrew his hand and kept drawing a cross on his chest, he really didn't have the courage to commit suicide and die for his country, he had already passed the age of blood to sacrifice his life for the country, but the end of being caught and executed by the pirates of the Qing Kingdom, or the end of being hanged after escaping back to the kingdom, made Marcelo feel that the most unlucky moment in his life was this moment.

Bang bang bang...... The rapid knock on the door was like a talisman, and Marcelo's heart was beating wildly.

"Who is it? Who's out there! Marcelo's hand jerked forward, and he removed the silver-handled musket that hung on the wall, and cried out loudly.

"It's me, Your Excellency the Governor, and there's good news." Outside the door, the excited voice of Lieutenant Jerry, the commander of the guards, was heard.

"Good news?" Confused, Marcelo walked to the door and pushed it open, only to see Lieutenant Jerry's young face full of surprise. "What the hell is going on?"

"Just now, Major Diego sent guards, and asked me to inform Your Excellency the Governor that those Qing pirates have sent envoys to ask for negotiations." Lieutenant Jerry was too excited to seem a little speechless, and it took him a long time to make his meaning clear.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

This news made Governor Marcello stunned for half a minute before coming back to his senses, like a rich man's home suddenly rushed into a ticket of kidnappers, not only smashed the door of his house and stabbed the dog in the yard, but also arrested his wife and children, but in a blink of an eye, the leader of the kidnappers suddenly took his hand and wanted to sit down with him and chat about the weather affectionately, this huge contrast made Governor Marcelo feel that either the pirate leader of the Qing Kingdom who had won the battle was crazy, Or maybe there's something wrong with your ears.

"Are you sure?" Governor Marcello reached out and pulled out the earwax to make sure there was nothing wrong with his ear, and asked again.

"Yes, Lord Governor, after the Qing pirates destroyed the wall north of Manila, they did not continue to fire, but sent a clipper ship with a white flag raised to ask Major Diego to negotiate with Major Diego, who was directing our resistance on the docks." The guard, who had been summoned by Major Diego, said with great certainty: "Moreover, the representatives they have sent are the officers of our Spanish Luzon fleet. ”

"Those officers are still alive?!" Marcello pulled the wig off his head with his hand, his fingers unbuttoning his collar, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. "Can anyone tell me what the fuck this is all about?"

A bad premonition rose in the heart of Governor Marcello, could it be that the leader of the Qing pirates who defeated the Spanish combined fleet had some terrible conspiracy?

Marcelo shook his head and put that thought behind him, and what he wanted to know most now was whether the news that the negotiators had brought him was good or bad, or should I say, how bad it was!

"Let them come. I wonder when our excellent Spanish naval elite was so shameless as to act as lobbyists for their enemies. Governor Marcello put his wig back on his bald head and groomed, not forgetting that he was still the governor of the kingdom's colonies.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

(To be continued)