Baek replied, "It's a factory called 'Klaus'. ”

Lin Fei asked, "Where is this factory?" ”

Bai Shanhe replied, "This factory is in Zamboanga. ”

Lin Fei's heart moved, and he secretly thought, Zamboanga? Just as I'm going to hit it! Lin Fei said at this time: "Master Bai, you can take me to the factory to have a look, and I will see what level the steam engines of the Spaniards are." ”

Bai Shanhe smiled and took Lin Fei to the warehouse, and said as he walked: "The steam engines sent by the Spaniards can be divided into two categories according to their use, one is for ships and the other is for factories. ”

Lin Fei took a look inside and found that there was still a lot of room for improvement in these steam engines, so he thought of some ways to improve in his heart before coming out of the factory.

Lin Fei thought to himself, the steam engine factory is in Zamboanga, then I must do my best to march to Zamboanga, I also know that there are rubber tree plantations on Cebu Island in the Visayas, rubber is also very important to me, if I want to build a warship, I must use rubber to make sealing parts, so I will lay Zamboanga first, and then gradually march to the Visayas.

Lin Fei decided to attack Zamboanga, the first thing to do was to be familiar with the terrain and cultural conditions of Zamboanga, the terrain Lin Fei was very familiar with, he had received the training of naval officers, and had also followed the warships to many countries, and had a certain understanding of the terrain around the world, although the era in which Lin Fei lived was more than a hundred years later than this era, but the terrain would not change much.

The location of Zamboanga is very interesting, the main body of Mindanao is a square, and a long strip is drawn on the westernmost side, like an outstretched arm of a person, and Zamboanga is at the end of the strip, and the terrain where Zamboanga is located is flat, but there are many mountains around.

The city of Zamboanga was first built by the local Muslims, and was later occupied by the Spaniards, who rebuilt it after the occupation, and they entrenched it as a base to intimidate the Sulu Sultanate in the Sulu archipelago, because Zamboanga is very close to the Sulu archipelago, and Isabela Island in the Sulu archipelago is only 15 kilometers from Zamboanga.

After Zamboanga was occupied by the Spaniards, the Sultanate of Sulu was considered a serious problem by the Spanish and the Muslims of the Sulu Sultanate who fought fiercely in Zamboanga, but in the mid-to-late 19th century, due to the rapid development of Western military technology, the Sulu Sultanate was stagnant, and the Spanish colonizers used the strategy of gentleness to divide and disintegrate the various Muslim tribes, and the Sulu Sultanate gradually became unable to pose a threat to Zamboanga.

After the Spaniards lifted the threat of Zamboanga, they regarded this place as the core of the Sulu Sea trade, and the Chinese often traded with the Muslims in the Sulu Islands through Zamboanga in history, so there were many Chinese merchant ships in this area, and the Spanish authorities ordered that all ships trading with the Sulu Sultanate must first register and pay taxes at Zamboanga, and whoever dared not obey would be killed.

If you go to Zamboanga to pay taxes, then most of the profits from trade will be extorted by the Spaniards, if you don't go to Zamboanga to pay taxes, the Spaniards will meet the whole ship and the goods will be robbed, so Zamboanga is a devil's cave that embezzles the blood and sweat of the Chinese.

Zamboanga had an urban population of 150,000 at this time, and a surrounding agricultural population of 100,000, because the maritime trade was developed and grain could be purchased, so the agricultural population was small, and the proportion of urban Chinese was as high as 60%.

Kotabato is about 350 kilometers away from Zamboanga, and the middle is vast and sparsely populated, so there is no need for land reform, and the speed of the march can be accelerated, and it can be reached within ten days, and there is no need to worry about the food problem of the army.

There are more Chinese in Cotabatar, and they are also very easy to mobilize, so they can mobilize these people to transport food for the front-line troops, and the problem of logistics and supply is solved, Lin Fei asked the troops to replenish the battle-damaged soldiers, and then began to prepare Zamboanga's intelligence.

Lin Fei collected the latest situation of Zamboanga throughout the city, and two days later, the guards of the port suddenly reported to Lin Fei: "A Chinese merchant ship returning from Zamboanga has been found. ”

Lin Fei felt a burst of excitement in his heart, thinking that this was a godsend opportunity to find out about Zamboanga's situation, so Lin Fei said, "Invite the Chinese on the ship immediately." ”

At that time, a few soldiers led an old man of medium stature back, the old man had been adrift at sea for several days, obviously not knowing that Cotabato was already the territory of the Chinese Empire, and he couldn't believe it when he heard about the emperor of the Chinese Empire, until he saw Lin Fei, his face was happy.

A soldier told Lin Fei about the old man, whose name was "Zhong Nancheng", a 50-year-old Cantonese man, who sold raw silk and tea from Guangdong to the Sulu Sultanate, and then bought timber from the Sulu Sultanate, sold it to Cotabatar, and then brought some industrial products back to Guangdong from Cotabato to sell.

Lin Fei said with a smile: "Old Mr. Zhong only came back from Zamboanga recently, right?" ”

Zhong Nan sighed and said, "Don't mention Zamboanga again, my fleet paid taxes in Zamboanga once, and seventy percent of the profits are gone!" ”

Lin Fei smiled lightly and said, "Don't be sad, old man, I'm going to attack Zamboanga to get rid of this big trouble for the Chinese." ”

Zhong Nancheng's face changed, and Lin Fei suddenly thought to himself, before I attacked Wuduan City and Kota Bato, someone told me how difficult these places were, could it be that Zhong Nancheng also sued me for saying these things?

What Lin Fei didn't expect was that Zhong Nancheng said: "Now is the heaven-sent opportunity to attack Zamboanga. ”

Lin Fei was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why did the old gentleman say that?" ”

Zhong Nancheng said: "At this time, the Muslims of the Sulu Sultanate are besieging Zamboanga, the snipe and the clam are fighting, and the fisherman is profiting, why don't we Huaxia Empire be the fisherman?" ”

Lin Fei's heart moved, thinking that if the Sulu Sultanate and the Spaniards were at war, then I would have a chance to take advantage of it, Lin Fei hurriedly asked: "Mr. Zhong, please tell me about the battle situation carefully." ”

Zhong Nancheng looked up at the wall behind Lin Fei and asked, "Is there a map of Zamboanga here?" ”

Lin Fei replied repeatedly: "Yes, yes, of course." Lin Fei stood up as he spoke, took out a map drawn by the Spaniards from the cabinet, and handed it to Zhong Nancheng, this map was already very similar to the map of Lin Fei's time, with a grid of latitude and longitude, and mountains drawn with contour lines.

Zhong Nancheng looked at the map for a while and said: "Here's the thing, originally the Spaniards were fighting with Le Island and Yagurur Sultan, and the Linghu General Servette commanded the troops to defeat the main force of Yagurul Sultan, but at this moment, the Spanish fleet was suddenly sunk by a mysterious battleship, and it is said that sinking their mysterious battleship was to take away the cruiser Cuba. ”

Lin Fei couldn't help but laugh when he heard what he had done, Zhong Nancheng was stunned for a moment, and asked, "What are you laughing at?" ”

Lin Fei said with a smile: "The cruiser Cuba was taken away by me, and the Spanish fleet was also sunk by me and my people, the Spirit Fox General you just said has already been my ghost under the gun!" ”

Zhong Nancheng exclaimed in surprise and said in a trembling voice: "There is such a thing! ”

Lin Fei smiled and nodded, and Zhong Nancheng exclaimed: "The Huaxia Empire is really powerful!" Zhong Nancheng praised a few words, and then said: "After the Spanish fleet was sunk by the mysterious man, the Sultan of Yagurul brought the remnants of the main force to Isabela Island, where he re-recruited Muslim warriors to attack Zamboanga. ”

Lin Fei asked, "When did this happen?" ”

Zhong Nancheng replied: "This incident happened on February 6, that is, six days ago. ”

Lin Fei then asked, "Then are they still fighting now?" ”

Zhong Nancheng nodded and said: "I think they must still be fighting, the Sultan of Yagurul has suffered a lot of losses on Hole Island, and this time he must get his face back in Zamboanga, so he mobilized all the Muslims on Isabela Island, and organized a large number of Muslims near Zamboanga, the total number of Muslim warriors gathered in Zamboanga is around 20,000, and the total number of defenders in Zamboanga is only 3,000." ”

"The Muslim warriors, though numerous, were poorly equipped, only a few had muskets, the rest used spears, machetes, and bows and arrows, while the Spaniards had Maxim heavy machine guns and mountain artillery, and the Muslims were certainly no match for them."

Lin Fei frowned and said, "What do you say the Spaniards have?" Mountain artillery? ”

Zhong Nancheng nodded and replied: "Yes, the Spaniards stationed in Zamboanga have an artillery battalion equipped with ten 75mm mountain guns. ”

Lin Fei's heart tightened, and he asked, "Who did you listen to about this matter?" ”

Zhong Nancheng said solemnly: "This is what I saw with my own eyes. ”

Lin Fei asked in surprise, "How can you see the artillery battalion of the Spaniards?" Could it be that the Spaniards would have put their artillery barracks outside for people to see? ”

Zhong Nancheng said with a smile: "In order to give confidence to businessmen, the Spaniards specially put out advanced weapons such as artillery for exhibition, of course I have seen it. ”

"Mountain artillery" can be regarded as a howitzer according to its ballistic characteristics, with a simple structure, can be quickly disassembled, and then transported to various terrains for assembly and use, especially suitable for transportation to the mountains, so it is called "mountain artillery".

Lin Fei secretly thought in his heart, the Spaniards in Wuduan City had Makqin machine guns, Cotabato had reinforced concrete walls, and the Spanish army in Zamboanga actually had mountain artillery, which seemed to be more difficult to deal with than the other.

Zhong Nancheng pointed to the map at this time and said: "Zamboanga is surrounded by the sea to the west, and there are high mountains on the east, north, and south, and the Sultan of Yagurul attacked from the south, and the military camp is probably in this location. Zhong Nancheng said and pointed to a point on the map.

This book was first published from 17K Novel Network, the first time to see the genuine content! I734