"American troops are landing. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info gentlemen, you have to find a way. "Basilio. Augustine looked wryly at his senior officers, and at the former Governor, Mr. Rivera, who had persisted in pushing him into the fire pit in this moment of great danger, but had no chance of escaping himself, and hoped that they would give him a little advice—he needed an idea, even if it was just a bad idea that anyone could see.

It didn't occur to Augustine that if an idea could be seen as a bad idea, it wouldn't really be a bad idea at all. But it wasn't a cause for concern, as his officers and Rivera were silent: at a time like this, it was never a wise decision to speak first.

After waiting for a while, Augustine urged, "Gentlemen, I need your help. ”

The answer is still silence.

"Gentlemen!" He raised the volume, but nothing worked. So Augustine let his stern and pleading gaze slowly sweep over the officers. Unfortunately, however, every time he set his eyes on someone, the gentleman would immediately turn his gaze in other directions, the floor, his boots, the ceiling, and the chandelier, or whatever, as if they were of higher research value than Mr. Doge's question.

Rivera, who stood on the sidelines, chuckled: when he was the governor of the Philippines, the same situation had been repeated in this office. Of course, he was always annoyed by the uncooperative attitude of the officers at those times, but now, seeing another person enjoying it, he was in a very happy mood.

There is no doubt that the former governor did not know what it meant to be happy and sad.

"Mr. Rivera, what do you suggest?" When all the officers avoided his gaze, Augustine was left with one last option. Then it dawned on him that he should have done it in the first place—and even though Rivera hadn't answered the question yet, his mood had improved.

At this moment, Augustine gets the thrill of revenge.

However, this did not help him in solving the dilemma he faced, and Rivera was not a worthy object to be questioned, he was incapable of solving anything, otherwise he would never have been incoherent and dancing with excitement when he was ordered to transfer him out of the Philippines; The only advice he was able to make was: "Surrender, Mr. Governor." I think we can only surrender to the American army, and beyond that, no measure can guarantee the safety of the Spaniards in Manila. ”

"The Spaniards of Manila" - Augustine knew what Rivera meant, not anyone else, but himself; Of course, he would have loved to survive the war - but surrender, a proposal worthy of serious consideration, could not be adopted for the time being.

"I can't surrender to the American army now, absolutely not." Augustine exclaimed, like a true warrior, "I must defend the honor of Spain...... His Majesty's honor must be upheld! ”

But he just wanted to preserve his own honor. It's as if Augustine understood Rivera's meaning, and Rivera understood what Augustine meant—everybody knew that Mr. Governor had said "now." Rivera smiled wryly, Basilio. Augustine was a face-saving guy who would never surrender unless there was some way to ensure that his reputation would not be damaged, or that American troops would occupy Manila......

Perhaps this was the only reason why Madrid appointed him as Governor of the Philippines at a time when war was about to break out. While Augustine protected his face, he also protected the honor of Spain.

But the problem is that if he refuses to surrender, many people will die, and Rivera doesn't want to be on the list of the dead.

"I don't think we have the capacity to hold on," he advised, "of course, we have very good reasons to keep fighting, but the situation doesn't allow us to do that......"

"We still have 36,000 soldiers." Augustine waved his straw and a basin of cold water poured over him.

A colonel officer spread his hands. "The Filipinos in the army are unreliable and ineffective, and they can count on less than 20,000 soldiers."

"Twenty thousand soldiers." Mr. Governor repeated, but the "not to" was ignored. Then he continued: "We still have the strength to fight. ”

It meant little to his officers and Rivera. They had begun to doubt the extent to which Mr. Governor was aware of the situation. "Our opponents are 14,000 U.S. soldiers and more than 60,000 Filipino rebels, and they have naval support." Rivera emphasized.

"Those American soldiers weren't really American soldiers, they were mercenaries," added another officer—and everyone came alive when Rivera made a suggestion—with worry and fear written on his face. "They exterminated thirty thousand Italians in Abyssinia, and only three thousand mercenaries went into battle. But now there are 14,000 mercenaries outside the city, and our soldiers are not enough to fill their teeth. ”

He still had some words to finish, but Augustine was glaring at him and began to shout: "Do you mean that the glorious Spanish Army has degenerated to the point where it can only be compared to the Italians, Lieutenant Colonel Osorio?" ”

Lieutenant Colonel Osorio, of course, did not dare to answer the question, but someone muttered: "Actually, it's ......"

The angry governor quickly turned his head. "What are you talking about, Colonel Campos!"

"Nothing, Your Excellency the Governor." Colonel Campos did not seem to be flustered at all, and replied slowly, seriously: "I think we have the ability to hold out a few more days, maybe a week." ”

"You're smart, Colonel, but not enough." Augustine said in a tone that implied that he was by no means confused. Campos wasn't his main target, though, and neither was Osorio. He looked back at Rivera. "Mr. Rivera, we can't surrender now, it's my order."

"Of course, your orders, Mr. Governor." Rivera shrugged his shoulders and began to consider whether it would have been wise to hand over the governorship to Augustine on Madrid's orders. If you think about it, maybe it was a mistake.

And it's evolving from a small mistake to a big one.

Augustine was announcing his decision: "We will hold on to Manila until our battle has succeeded in preserving the honor of the Kingdom of Spain and the King, or Madrid demands that we hand over the city to American troops—which, of course, I don't think is possible." ”

A lieutenant officer walked into the office. Augustine looked at him. "What's the matter, Buzz?"

"Your Excellency the Governor." The officer saluted and replied mechanically, "There is skirmishment in the positions of the Filipino rebels. ”

"Chaos?"

"Filipino rebels are withdrawing from some of their positions, and U.S. troops are moving into those positions. The handover between the two sides has caused some confusion and the situation is intensifying. According to estimates, before the American army took full control of the position...... It's about an hour, and the chaos won't end. ”

Augustine saw a hope. "Opportunity! We can launch a raid. ”

The officers were taken aback by the idea: the Filipino rebels had built extremely fortified positions outside Manila, and an intricate system of trenches could both hide large numbers of soldiers and move the rebels quickly, while Manila's artillery fire had no effect at all. Ordered troops to attack such a line of defense...... In the raid, almost every officer had seen a miserable picture of corpses strewn all over the field.

Lieutenant Colonel Osorio was the first to object. "Your Excellency, you should think carefully about ......"

"Launch a surprise attack on the area taken over by the American army. While they have not yet fully controlled their positions and are not yet firmly established. Augustine insisted on his decision, "This is the opportunity. As soon as we were able to hurt the Americans, they would have to abandon the offensive and send emissaries to negotiate with us. ”

"It's just your fantasy, Mr. Governor." The lieutenant colonel strongly refuted this ridiculous idea, "Our opponent is a damn mercenary, and it will only be us ...... who will be hurt in the end."

Whatever his opinions, Augustine didn't like it when someone was so forthright against him. Such people must be punished. "Lieutenant Colonel Osolio, this task is up to your troops."

"I'm against it!"

"Objections are invalid!" Augustine roared, "Lieutenant Colonel, I am the Governor of the Philippines, you must obey my orders, or I will dismiss you and send you to a military court for trial." He further threatened: "Lieutenant Colonel, do you want me to send you to a court-martial now?" ”

Of course, court-martials were by no means the result that Osorio had hoped for. In fact, no soldier in his right mind would want to be court-martialed. There was hardly anything to think about, and the lieutenant colonel gave in in to the threat. "Yes, Your Excellency."

He gave Augustine a perfunctory military salute and strode out of the office, leaving Rivera and the other officers staring at each other.

At the same time, mercenaries are perfecting their trenches. This was a bit redundant, but it had to be carried out, and the trenches dug by the Philippine army did not take into account the side-fire and the protection of the soldiers, and the mercenaries had to make all-round improvements.

Of course, as is customary, almost everyone is complaining loudly, but in reality the Filipinos are reluctant to cede their positions to the late American allies.

"It's the funniest thing I've ever seen," Vane said to Moon.

But he didn't seem to hear it - he kept his eyes on Manila. "I think we have a guest." He whispered, then replaced it with a loud shout: "Prepare for battle!" (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )