In Manila, Philippine Governor Marquina witnessed the destruction of the Spanish fleet, and it was a moment of great disillusionment for the governor. Although he has thousands www.biquge.info of colonial troops in Manila, the core of the Philippine Islands under Spanish rule, and can even contact the local indigenous tribes to oppose the Tang army, Marquina knows that the Tang Republic has more than 100,000 troops in the entire Far East, and they not only have tens of thousands of regular troops, but also a large number of servant armies from the Qing State and Japan, plus the servant armies of small countries in Southeast Asia, this force just sounds scary enough.

Although the Philippines has been run by the Spaniards for 200 years, even Mexico has been broken by the Tang army, and the Philippines will not be much of an exception. When the war went on for more than two months, almost all Spaniards knew that it was stupid enough to go to war with the Tang, especially in the Americas and Asia, where Spain was not capable of confronting such a large country. And almost everyone hated the idiot captain who gave the Don people an excuse to attack.

Although only the fleet of the Tang Navy appeared at this moment, Marquina understood that it would not take long for the Tang Army's army to appear, and it took them a few years to sweep across the entire Sunda Islands, and at the same time fight all the way from Indochina to India, the Philippines is too small, and even the Spaniards feel that it will not be too difficult for the Tang people to attack the Philippines - they have lost all optimism and confidence.

The gap between the two armies in the confrontation is too great, and the difference in the national strength of the two countries is also too great. The last time a large-scale war of this magnitude was fought around the world was during the Seven Years' War. All countries are almost desperately bankrupt and pulling their allies to fight with their opponents. And at this point of view, from any point of view. The war did not even affect the normal economic state of the Tang Republic. They are still living in a steady stream of migrants in their own countries, producing large quantities of goods that are sent to all parts of the world. Even, the military factories in their country have not stepped up their efforts to start the production of military supplies and produce weapons and ammunition. This is because over the years, the Tang Army has accumulated a large amount of inventory, and it is not a problem to consume them before they expire.

for the foreseeable period. The Datang leadership did not believe that the war with Spain would last forever, nor did they think that it was necessary for them to produce more equipment and ammunition to meet the needs of the front. Due to the characteristics of the Tang Army's tactics, a large amount of ammunition and materials will be consumed, which is also something that the Datang Ministry of Defense has known for a long time, so they all prepare combat readiness materials according to the degree of exceedance. European countries, on the other hand, did not have automatic weapons in the first place, and there was no exact estimate of the consumption of ammunition on the battlefield, even when the Spaniards fought the Don army in Mexico. There are cases where there are rifles that are too empty and lack matching rifle cartridges.

There are many details that Marquina will not know. But he knew that as long as the Tang Army made a move, the Spanish army in the Philippines was no opponent. So he had to think of a great way to get out of it. Marquina, who had basic political wisdom, realized that the Tang Army's war against Spain was actually a war of full-scale colonial plundering against Spain under the pretext of a pretext. Therefore, Marquina had no hope of retaining the Philippines at all, and his hope was to be able to retain as much Spanish power, money, manpower and some privileges as possible.

Father Valdés, who was in charge of Catholic affairs in the Philippines, stood beside Marquina and said: "Mr. Governor, I have understood your intentions, and I agree that the priority is to protect every God's people, the loyal subjects and interests of Spain, but the Tang army is menacing, and I don't know how many troops will be sent to the Philippines, and the Tang people have always been known for their tyranny and domineering, how can your idea be realized?" ”

"The Tang people want the Philippines, and their enthusiasm for colonies is almost something I've never seen in my life, and they have a very big appetite, and when they didn't have a large population, they began to try to constantly challenge bigger opponents than themselves, and now this country is not inferior to any European country, and it has far superior technology and military power to European countries, so we don't have much choice," Marquina said. Fortunately, the Tang people are a calculating people, and they will definitely not pay too much for what they can accomplish with the least amount of strength. That's what we need to do. ”

Father Valdés asked, "I don't understand what you mean, Your Excellency the Governor. ”

Marquina said: "When the Netherlands was invaded by the British, the Tang people wanted to blackmail the Netherlands and hand over their colonies in the East Indies, but they offered to exchange cash and weapons and equipment in exchange, and even allowed the Netherlands to keep all the assets in the original colonies, and promised them to continue to trade in Batavia and other colonies. Although the sovereignty of these colonies changed after that, the Dutch did not suffer much, and rationally the Dutch were ten times less capable of running the colonies than the Tang people. Pontianak was just a city that had been run by the Tang for more than a decade, and now it has surpassed Manila in size, and Batavia, after being governed by the Tang people, has flourished, providing more economic benefits for the Dutch. ”

Father Valdés frowned and said, "Then you mean that we put forward similar conditions to the Tang people, asking them to spend money to buy the Philippines, and asking to keep our various possessions here, allowing us to continue to operate and trade here?" Well, let's not mention whether the Tang people will agree to us for the time being, but if you make these decisions in private, without the authorization of His Majesty the King, then they will not be recognized. And now that the blade of the Tang Army is on our necks, we don't have any bargaining chips with them. ”

A glint flashed in Marquina's eyes, and he said: "This plan is naturally the best for the Kingdom of Spain, and if His Majesty the King who has just ascended the throne is not stupid, he will definitely agree." As for how to coerce the Don people to agree, well, I already have a way. ”

Father Valdés suddenly came to his senses, pointed to Marquina, and said, "Those Chinese people who have been summoned by you...... You're not planning to threaten the lives of those Chinese people, are you? It's, it's a terrible idea! Many of them have been converted to God and have served us for many years, and will the Tang people succumb to the lives of the Chinese? ”

Marquina said: "I have observed that the Tang people are quite concerned about the lives of their own people or Chinese, and part of the reason for launching this large-scale war is that the overturning of the train caused the death of more than 200 of their nationals. And at worst, we can exchange the lives of these Chinese people for letting us leave the Philippines, so that at least there is a way to live. (To be continued.) )