When Su Hao was thinking about Hongyi, Hongyi was also thinking about him.

"Mr. Kevin, I swear to you, the Ming army that landed is definitely more than 100,000 people, their warships cover the entire sea, at least 100 ships, each with no less than 1,000 heavily armed soldiers."

The Spanish company commander Cristo cried to Kevin, the commander of the Spanish fleet, with tears and snot in his eyes, about his tragic fate.

He didn't even fire a shot, just seeing the Ming army's fleet, he was so frightened that he ran hundreds of kilometers in a row, and finally fled to Reims. During the escape, Christo sprained his leg, and the second half of the way was supported by the guards, limping away, and by the time he came to Reims, his injured leg was swollen twice as thick, and the pain can be imagined.

"Mr. Christo, are you sure you can count to 100?" Kevin sat in his office at the Reims mine, crossed his legs and asked Christo.

As the commander of the navy, Kevin knew very well what a fleet of 100 ships meant, and according to the intelligence spied on by European missionaries, the Great Ming Navy did not have 100 ships that could be used for operations in the open sea. Even if the Ming Dynasty has been building ships in the past few years, it is impossible to build so many ships at once, right? What's more, ships also need sailors and commanders, and these naval officers and sailors cannot be trained overnight.

Because his fleet was plotted by the squadron and lost a lot of ships, Kevin was already mentally prepared for the Ming army to send troops to Luzon. He believed that there must have been a Ming army unit that landed in the area defended by Christo, but to say that there were 100,000 people on the other side, Kevin absolutely did not believe it.

"Even if there aren't 100,000 people, at least there are ......" Christo hesitated, thinking about what kind of number would make Kevin believe. In fact, he didn't see clearly how many ships the Ming army had, and the warships of the Ming army only fired one shot on the shore at that time, which stunned him and his soldiers, so how could he care about calculating the size of the Ming army.

"I ask you. What weapons are they equipped with? Kevin interrupted Christo's thoughts and asked himself. He didn't expect to use Christo's numbers to support his decision-making, but he had to understand the Ming army's weaponry clearly.

"They have cannons!" It's a question that Christo was able to answer.

Nonsense, of course the navy has artillery, is it possible that the navy of the Ming Dynasty can use bows and arrows to fight naval battles? Kevin thought to himself, and he asked, "How many cannons are there on each ship?" ”

"This ......" Christo was dumbfounded again, how did he know how many cannons there were on the Ming ship?

Kevin said hatefully, "Are they firing at you head-on, or are they firing on the side of the side?" Several ships opened fire. How many shells were fired. You do the math. Isn't it possible to figure it out? ”

"They...... In total, only one shell was fired. Christo told the truth.

"What, just one shell was fired, and you're all gone!" Kevin's eyes widened, and he almost drew his knife and hacked Christo to death. You are also a dignified Spanish officer, okay? How can a single shell make you collapse?

Christo hurriedly explained: "Mr. Kevin, you listen to my explanation, the Chinese shell is not an ordinary shell, but a shell that can explode." After that shell hit the ground, it exploded...... Such a big pit. ”

He gestured with his hand, trying to tell Kevin how big the pit was. Sweat dripped from Kevin's head, and he suddenly remembered his warships that had been blown up by the Chinese, but with a loud bang, a ship sank irretrievably.

"Go down and rest. If I have something to ask you, I'll let the guards inform you. Kevin didn't have the heart to discuss it with Christo anymore, so he hurriedly sent Christo away, and then called his counselor, Raphael.

"Mr. Raphael, I just got the information. The Chinese have a very terrible gunpowder. Most importantly, I've heard that they were able to put this gunpowder in a cannonball and make a cannonball that exploded. Kevin said to Raphael.

"You mean that the Chinese are able to project this explosive with artillery?" Raphael asked.

Kevin said: "Yes, they bombarded Christo's position with such shells, and Christo, a fool, was frightened when he heard the explosion and abandoned his position without making any resistance. ”

"It's going to be a tough thing to do." Raphael gasped and frowned.

In the West, exploding flowering shells have not yet been invented, and artillery battles at sea are all about attacking each other with solid or chain shells, smashing each other's ships or knocking down the masts of the opposing ship, so as to achieve the goal of defeating the other side. Due to the limited destructive ability of solid shells against ships, battles between two ships often require hundreds of shells to be fired at each other to decide the winner.

If Christo's message is true, it means that the Chinese fleet has a much more powerful weapon than the Spanish fleet, a shell capable of exploding, if it falls on the ship, can cause far more damage than a solid shell. In a naval battle with such an opponent, one's own side will be completely in a position of being beaten passively.

"What should we do?" Raphael asked Kevin.

Kevin said: "This matter must be reported to the commander of the fleet, and we should concentrate on all the warships in Asia, destroy the Chinese fleet, and then deal with the Chinese army." Otherwise, their fleet will always be a threat to us, and we will not even be able to transport our forces. ”

"Yes, with the strength of our small fleet, it is impossible to compete with the Chinese." Raphael agreed.

Kevin said: "I very much agree with you, now I order the fleet to temporarily withdraw from Reims, leave Luzon, and wait for the fleets from Sumatra and other places to arrive, and then we will try to recover Luzon." ”

Having made up his mind, Kevin immediately ordered all the Spanish soldiers in Reims to pack up and prepare to retreat. At this time, the remnants of the company brought by Christo had already spread the rumors about the landing of the 100,000 squadron on Luzon. Hearing the commander's order to retreat, the soldiers had no fighting spirit, rolled up their clothes, property, and other things, and fled to the ship, and after a while, the entire Reims mining area became empty.

"The Hongyi people have run away!"

The villagers hidden in the mountains rushed to tell each other, and Lu Aniu and other young people came to Liao Yiming and asked for instructions on their next move.

"The Hongyi people fled because they knew that our Ming officers and soldiers had landed in Luzon and would soon enter Reims. What we need to do now is to control the mining area and not let the outlaws destroy the gold mine. Liao Yiming said.

"Master Liao, after the Ming officers and soldiers arrive, what will happen to this Lance gold mine?" Miner Qian Wu asked tentatively.

Liao Yiming said: "Of course, continue to mine, how you did things for Hongyi in the past, and how to do things for me in the future." The chief soldier of my family is a benevolent and righteous person, and the salary he gives everyone will definitely be much higher than that of the Hongyi people. ”

"But why can't we give it back to us, so this gold mine is obviously ours from Luzon?" Qian Wu said. On this issue, in fact, there has been a discussion among miners for a long time. Some people believe that the Ming army sent troops to drive out the Spaniards, and when the Spaniards were broken, the Ming army should be withdrawn, and the gold mines should be owned by the miners. Of course, there are other people who are not so optimistic, they think that there is no free lunch in the world, and the Ming army sent troops, obviously for the gold mine, which will eventually fall into the hands of the Ming army.

Liao Yiming smiled slightly and said, "Brother Qian, think about it, if it weren't for my Daming army, would this gold mine be snatched back from the hands of the Hongyi people?" If these silver taels are not compensated from this gold mine, will the people of Luzon be unable to pay additional taxes? ”

"This ......" Qian Wu was a little speechless, it wasn't that he didn't have anything to say, but he noticed that a cold light flashed in Liao Yiming's eyes, and at the same time, he also saw that the other soldiers of the survey camp around him seemed to be holding up the flintlock pistol in their hands intentionally or unintentionally.

"This great tomorrow soldier saved my Luzon people from fire and water, of course, it was not for nothing." Lu Aniu hurriedly took over the conversation and said with a smile, "Fifth Brother Qian, aren't we actually mining, whether the gold mine belongs to the Hongyi people or to the Ming Master, it has nothing to do with us." Master Liao also said just now, Master Daming is a benevolent and righteous person, and the salary given to us will definitely be higher than that given by Hongyi, what are we not satisfied with? ”

"Ah Niu is right." Liao Yiming patted Lu Aniu's shoulder, "After our general army comes, a certain family will promote you to be the manager of the mine." ”

"Master Xie Liao lifted." Lu Aniu said happily.

The large army of the survey battalion led by Deng Kui and Zhang Yunlong advanced to the area of Reims two days later, and joined forces with Chen Guanyu and Liao Yiming victoriously. The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty quickly took over the Reims Gold Mine, and as Liao Yiming said, immediately announced that the treatment of the miners would be raised, calling on everyone to resume work as soon as possible, and the gold was mined and shipped to the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing the mighty spirit of the Ming army, the miners, including Qian Wu, extinguished the idea of recovering the gold mine and began to accept the Ming as the new owner. However, what made them feel relieved was that the mine managers sent by the Ming Dynasty were much gentler than the Hongyi people, at least they would not whip the workers, and the treatment given to the miners was indeed very generous. With this change, the miners no longer have anything else to think about.

The camp continued to expand its territory and soon occupied all of Luzon. Civilian officials such as Li Zhen and Cheng Dong followed in the footsteps of the army and continued to take over local power in Luzon. The patriarchs who had previously gone to Daming for help also returned from Daming one after another, and when they were in Daming, they were received by Wanli and were given various official titles with no power. After these people returned to Luzon, they could naturally only speak for Daming.