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Wednesday, December 24, 1642.

Although today is the eve of Christmas in the Western calendar, Manila, the Spanish and Philippine colonial capital, has fallen into an atmosphere of war and panic that has rarely been seen since its establishment.

The bells of Augustine's church have been ringing several times a day since a week ago, symbolizing the call for help and prayer for war.

The most recent military threat that terrified the Spanish colonial army was probably the attack of a Ming pirate named Lin Feng more than half a century ago. Although the city of Manila was ultimately spared by the inexplicable abandonment of the attack by its opponents, it also filled the Spanish colonists with a deep fear of the Oriental people from the other side of the Big 6.

Governor Coquilla had just sent several warships full of soldiers to Lingayen, who was "in turmoil" in the north, intending to teach the Chinese there a good lesson, but in the middle of the night eight days ago, armed Chinese militia gathered from nowhere to surround many Spanish colonial strongholds outside the city. Some came from outside the city, and some came out of the Chinese neighborhood of Balian in the city, and there seemed to be several thousand people, and "almost everyone" had a staggering flint gun, which immediately caught Governor Coquela by surprise.

The tall and heavy ramparts had been damaged in several places, and the explosions of a few days ago had destroyed almost all the gun emplacements around the blast site. The only thing to be thankful for is that the power of the explosion is insufficient, except for a small collapse, there are no loopholes that can be penetrated by opponents.

At present, the entire city of Manila, including the army and civilians, the Spaniards are less than 10,000, and they are completely chaotic as soon as they are attacked from multiple points. When fires broke out in the Spanish ghetto and the port, the Governor of Coquela, who did not know how to deal with him, ordered the church to ring the emergency bell for refuge, and then thousands of Spaniards fled towards the main castle fortress.

In less than two days, a huge Manila city was half empty. Most of the civilians and the remnants of the Spanish army retreated to the main city fortress. In this key defensive zone, a large number of weapons, ammunition and food have long been stored, which can theoretically withstand attacks from several times the number of troops from the sea or from the inner 6.

The Spanish civilians who had time to flee were executed by the red-eyed Luzon Independence Army as they had been when they had suffered injustice decades earlier, and the tyrannical act of revenge was not more merciful than the adversary.

The same scene is still found in Cavite, the gateway to the southern peninsula in Manila Bay, Legazpi on the southeast coast of Luzon, Batangas in the southwest, and Lingayen in the north. Basically, within a day or two, most Spaniards were relegated to the main castle or port fortress, and only a few fled to the outskirts.

The indigenous Filipino territories in various places decisively took a wait-and-see after a period of shock. From the heart. They may not like the Spanish colonizers more than the Chinese, but after nearly a century of forced proselytizing and colonial rule, these Filipino natives have long since changed their demands for land domination, and they are more concerned about whether they can reap their own benefits in this sudden war.

……

As the key center of the Philippine colony, the castle fortress of Manila City has been planned for Chinese or Filipino natives inside and outside the city for many years, especially after the Dutch East India Company entered Southeast Asia, several Philippine governors have spent great efforts to renovate their daily armaments.

At present, the uprising is quite smooth, but it is similar to Liu Erchun's estimate in advance. Spain's natural vigilance and sense of precaution were not weak, and most of the Spanish colonial troops retreated to the main city of security and defense in the panic, and the Luzon Independence Army basically did not deal much damage to the core strength of the Spaniards except for occupying the outer city and port.

The ensuing general assault on the main city of Manila did not go well. The Luzon Independence Army's attacks were repulsed for several days. The power of the few remaining gorgeous 24-pounder heavy fortress guns in the hands of the Spanish defenders was amazing, so that Liu Erchun and other military commanders who had served in the Huamei Foreign Legion for many years were dumbfounded.

The Spanish enclave adjacent to the main castle and the port fortress has been reduced to rubble in the midst of repeated battles, and few decent buildings are barely visible. Due to secrecy, some of the Chinese residents of Manila only learned the truth about the war a few days after the start of the war. He hid in his own house in fear.

A few elderly people seem to recall the massacre of Chinese people decades ago, and their faces are like ashes, and their families are crying. It is as if he does not believe that the situation has been reversed at this time, let alone the ability of the Luzon Independence Army, which has vowed to avenge his fellow people. War, probably in the eyes of ordinary Chinese residents, does not have any morality, mercy or luck in itself, and war means that wealth is not repaid.

In addition to the militia secretly organized in advance, even if Li Guozhu has a high reputation in the Balian community, but after the start of the war, the banner of recruiting soldiers was erected for a week, and there were still not many Chinese young people who volunteered to join the army, but many people were still inquiring about the situation of the Spaniards, as if they were afraid of being implicated, so angry that several young men around Li Guozhu were eager to send these people to the castle in Spain.

After waiting for feedback from the uprising in various places for several days, it was not until the early hours of this morning that several Independence Army messengers brought back information from Batangas and Legazpi. When he learned that the uprisings in the two places were also moving smoothly, Li Guozhu's nerves, which had been tense for a long time, were able to relax a little.

At noon, the heavy artillery fire between the port fortress and the main city fortress stopped, although the artillery battle could not directly threaten the Balian block, but the battle situation still made Li Guozhu, who stayed at home to preside over the uprising, anxious.

With the help of the artillery fire of the port fortress, the Luzon Independence Army sank a number of Spanish warships anchored in Manila Bay and captured the largest 1,000-ton sail galen warship in the Spanish Philippine colony, but it could not prevent several small Spanish clippers from slipping out of Manila Bay.

It has been almost ten days since the war in Manila, and theoretically in another half a month at most, there will be reinforcements from the Spanish Navy from Cebu Island. According to Li Guozhu's familiarity with the Spaniards in Luzon, these escaped Spanish clippers will definitely go to Cebu Island to move rescue troops.

Cebu Island was the terminus of the Kingdom of Spain's Pacific Silver Route, and was a frontier military center for the defense of the southern Sulu state, where half of the Spanish naval force in the Philippines was permanently stationed. Once the Spanish reinforcements from Cebu rushed back to Manila, the Luzon Independence Army, which had less than 2,000 troops in Manila, would have a hard time coping.

What made the leaders of the Luzon Independence Uprising even more uneasy was the situation in the northern Lingayen. Governor Coquilla transferred thousands of 6 sea reinforcements. How much pressure it will put on the local Luzon Independence Army can be guessed by just thinking about it. If Lingayen was defeated prematurely, tens of thousands of local Chinese would inevitably suffer heavy damage, and Lingayen's Spanish army would also be able to return to Manila.

……

In the Chinese neighborhood of Balian, several mansions temporarily converted into medical homes were already full of wounded soldiers of the Independence Army who had been wounded in the battles of the port and the main castle, numbering at least two hundred.

Even if they were rubbed by heavy artillery shells, they hardly survived overnight, and most of those who could still hold on to moaning now were unlucky people who were hit by a volley of Spanish flint guns. Except for some veterans led by Liu Erchun personally. Most of the secretly trained militia were in a mess, often not approaching the opponent's defensive positions, and as soon as the sound of artillery fire sounded in their ears, the Independence Army militia fired in panic from a distance of several hundred meters, and then retreated uncontrollably.

Now talking about military law, it is estimated that Liu Erchun, the commander-in-chief of the front, has no confidence to implement it himself, but once this situation continues to drag on, even if there are no reinforcements from other places, maybe as long as the governor of Coqueilla sees the truth. Pulling out the remaining 1,000 Spanish colonial troops in the main castle will crush the Independence militia of less than 2,000 men.

"Sir! Master! The governor of the Westerners sent a messenger and sent the letter. ”

Just as he was anxiously walking around the living room in front of several colleagues, suddenly the butler ran in. He also held a scroll with fire paint in his hand.

"Hmph, I must have known that I was cornered, I knew today, why did I ...... in the first place" first glanced at the other Chinese businessmen present. Li Guozhu still tore open the scroll hard, and his mouth was still cheering himself up.

"Li Da is the shopkeeper, but the Westerners are asking for peace and surrendering?" Several Chinese businessmen involved in the uprising came over cautiously.

"It's too much of a deception! When I am a rebel, no one cares! "I believe it perfectly. Li Guozhu had already thrown the scroll to the ground with a trembling voice, "It should have been decades ago?" Today, the old man will personally go into battle and fight to the death with the evil chief of Nakoquera! ”

Everyone looked at each other, and finally understood the position of Governor Coqueira's letter today. The treacherous and cunning Governor of Coquilla has seen through the reality of the Luzon Independence Army in Manila, and is even deliberately provoking the Independence Army to attack in order to weaken the strength of the Independence Army.

"At the moment we can't attack and we can't attack, how can this be good...... Why don't I wait or avoid its edge for the time being, and Xu Tu has stamina? "I was just rushing ducks to the shelves, and such a threatening letter will inevitably sound the retreat in some people's hearts.

"Don't worry, Liu Erchun has sent elite soldiers to bury explosives deep in the wall last night, and he will definitely blow it up this time! If the Westerners dare to fight back, they will definitely face it head-on! If we are defeated, none of the tens of thousands of Chinese in Luzon will be spared......"

Li Guozhu finally calmed down, but his face was still a little pale, and he began to regret why he didn't buy more explosives in the first place, otherwise he would have made such a wolf.

For now, we can only hope to take Manila as soon as possible, or even hope that Huamei will fulfill its secret promise of "military intervention", otherwise the Luzon independence uprising is likely to collapse halfway.

……

Inside the main citadel of Manila, the official residence of the Governor's Palace.

Governor Coquela's lunch today is still hearty, and there are even a few bottles of high-end canned beef and fruit wine imported from the overseas territory of the Pearl Island a few months ago. But the people who participated in the luncheon were extremely depressed.

After drinking several glasses of wine in a row in an irritated mood, Coqueilla turned his head to the Archbishop of Manila on the opposite side: "Your Excellency, please believe me, our clipper ship must have arrived in Cebu, as long as we abandon it for the time being and defend the city of Manila with all our might, the victory will still be ours." In terms of time, they will be able to return for reinforcements in two weeks at most, and we can gather the forces to fight back and sweep the whole city. These disgusting pigs should all be hanged, no, they should all be thrown into the sea! ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, shouldn't we consider asking the Americans and the Dutch (East India Company) for help?" The Bishop of Manila touched his goatee, still a little hesitant.

"Asking for help? Dutch? They wish we had lost a piece of the ocean! Coqueira bit the beef fiercely, and a fierce light appeared in her eyes, "I can now clearly identify that Li Guozhu must have the support of the Americans, and I know that they are ready to move and never restless, and they have long been in collusion with the Americans!" This is an outright conspiracy that no longer belongs to any excusable partiality! ”

"Then we should inform His Majesty the King that we need more troops to come to the Far East." The Bishop of Manila hastened to add.

His Majesty the King? You're a pig...... Governor Coquilla glanced at the high bishop here, and he didn't know how many nasty words he had cursed. The Philippine colonies are no more than the United States of China on Pearl Island, not to mention any European reinforcements, and it takes at least eight months just to send a letter asking for help from the Philippines to Europe for the magnates in Madrid to see.

"The Isabella rushed out before the port was captured, but I would have preferred that order would have been restored before it reached Seville. Let these pigs continue to attack, I will make them bleed! Coquela gulped down the wine, his face extremely gloomy.

"God will bless the Kingdom of Spain!" Seeing that the fighting spirit of the other party was undiminished, the bishop of Manila was also relieved.

Suddenly, there was another loud bang, followed by a black cloud rising again in the direction of the outer city wall of Manila's main city. The earthquake trembled, and countless pieces of debris fell from the sky, and the farthest ones even fell into the blocks less than a hundred meters away from the governor's palace. Several wine glasses on Governor Coquela's table collapsed, and the precious wine flowed on the table, and the Bishop of Manila was even more frightened to burrow under the table.

The tremors, clouds of smoke and rain of rubble dissipated, but disappointingly, the carefully planned approach blasting was still unsuccessful. The last bit of explosives left in Liu Erchun's hand was also used up, and the fortress fortresses built by the successive governors of the Spanish colonies were simply so strong that they were terrifying.

A commotion slowly spread through the dining hall of the Doge's Palace, and the Bishop of Manila was still shivering under the table, wet under the beautiful bishop's robes. The Governor of Coquilla, on the other hand, stared at the fortress ramparts in the distance outside the window with blood-red eyes. (To be continued......)