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The battleship Manila was the flagship of the Spanish Navy's fleet in the Luzon Islands, with a length of more than 60 meters, a displacement of 1,800 tons, and a total of 74 guns on three decks, including 28 32-pounder guns, 28 18-pounder guns and 18 9-pounder guns. There were more than 500 sailors on board the battleship to ensure that this huge battleship could bring out the most powerful combat power.

As the flagship of the Luzon fleet, the battleship Manila generally had a range of activities in the waters near Luzon and would not easily leave there. Only this time, Governor Anthony Pedro gave an order for the Manila to transport a ton of gold back to Spain.

At this time, the Kingdom of Spain was no longer the number one power in the world three hundred years ago, and after the Armada invaded Britain and suffered a crushing defeat, the strength of the Kingdom of Spain suffered a heavy blow. The British almost trampled on the corpses of the Spaniards and became the new sea hegemon. However, the Kingdom of Spain was not willing to lose so many interests, and when France challenged Britain, the Kingdom of Spain also sided with France. However, even if France and Spain were united, they were no match for Britain. The two battles of Cape Saint-Vincent, as well as the Battle of Trafalgar thirty years earlier, ended in defeat for France and Spain, and allowed Britain to consolidate its position as a maritime supremacy. In the competition for the world's oceans and overseas colonies, Britain firmly had the upper hand.

After losing its vast overseas colonies, the Kingdom of Spain collapsed. Although 300 years ago, Spain was also the world's largest power, and accumulated a lot of wealth from its colonies. However, this wealth was used for the royal family and nobles to squander, as well as to finance the war. As a result, the industrial strength of the Kingdom of Spain was far less than that of European powers such as Britain, and it was reduced to a second-rate country.

Colonel Adrian was the captain of the battleship 'Manila', and although he felt a little fussy about His Excellency the Governor's request for the flagship of the Luzon fleet to transport gold, he was not at all averse to returning to Spain. Although these colonizers can be powerful in Manila, how can Manila compare to the bustling city of Madrid? It took almost half a year to return from Luzon to Spain. When the Suez Canal was not opened, the fleet had to make a detour to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Back and forth, it takes almost a year. Colonel Adrian had already decided that after returning to Spain this time, he must find a way to transfer out of the Luzon fleet and return to serve in the Spanish mainland fleet.

Not far from the battleship Manila was a fifth-class battleship. The cruiser 'Warrior' was a fifth-class battleship attached to the Luzon fleet, with a displacement of just over 600 tons and only 36 guns, including 18 18-pounder guns and 18 9-pounder guns. However, the Warrior was much faster than the Manila.

A fleet of battleships USS Manila and USS Warrior sailed in the South China Sea. The Warrior was the pioneer in front and the Manila followed. However, both Colonel Adrian and ordinary Spanish sailors thought it would be an easy journey. Although there are many pirates in the South China Sea, they believe that as long as these pirates are not caught in the door, they will not come to their trouble. Whether it's the battleship Manila or the battleship Warrior, you can easily send a pirate ship to the bottom of the sea!

On January 20, in the western waters of Palawan Island, two pirate ships flying black skull flags cruised on the sea, which were the cruisers 'Xinhua' and 'Zamboanga' of the Xinhua Navy. In order to carry out this mission, the two warships did not fly the temperament of the Xinhua Navy, but hung the pirate flag, in order to keep it secret and avoid leaking the news.

On the cruiser 'Xinhua', Luo Sangu, commander of the First Fleet of the Xinhua Navy, was using a telescope to inspect the waters around the cruiser. Compared with the pirate ships they used before, the 'Xinhua' cruiser can be said to be one in the sky and the other in the ground. It's just that the navy of the new country has just become an army, and the sailors have not been trained for a long time, and they have not yet been able to fully master the performance of the warship. But even so, Luo Sangu also has great confidence in this operation, even if the opponent has a third-class battleship.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the watchman on the cruiser 'Xinhua' raised the alarm, and in the northeast of the fleet, two Spanish-flagged warships were spotted. Undoubtedly, this was what they were aiming for, the battleship "Manila" and the cruiser "Warrior".

"Give the Zamboanga a signal, hit the Warrior first, and then lay siege to the Manila." After discovering the target, Luo Sangu immediately issued a combat order. According to the information they received, the gold was on the battleship 'Manila', sinking the battleships of the Spanish Navy, which was not the main purpose, their target was the ton of gold on the battleship 'Manila'.

The sails on the cruisers 'Xinhua' and Zamboanga began to adjust their angles and rushed towards the 'Warrior' at high speed. At this moment, the distance between the cruiser "Warrior" and the battleship "Manila" was five kilometers.

When the cruisers "Xinhua" and "Zamboanga" rushed towards the cruiser "Warrior" at high speed, the watchmen on the cruiser "Warrior" also spotted the enemy and immediately gave a warning.

"Damn! Pirate! When did pirates have such big ships! Colonel Bernal, the captain of the cruiser Warrior, scolded as he looked at the two ships in the distance that were flying pirate flags, but were larger than the cruiser at his feet. It was a battleship he had never seen before, with a slender hull and a shear-like bow that looked even more beautiful, at least much more beautiful than all the warships of the Spanish Navy.

However, at this time, Colonel Bernal did not have the heart to sigh at the beauty of the enemy's warships. The menacing pirate ship made him feel a huge crisis.

"Contact the Manila now, we're in trouble!" Colonel Bernard shouted.

'Colonel!' The Warrior's reports spotting two pirate ships and is approaching them! How many colonels of Bernard ask for instructions! A signal corpsman reported to Colonel Adrian. In this era, maritime communications relied on flag language, and if two warships were too far apart, communication would be a problem.

"Pirate ship? Are they here to die? Signal the Warrior to attack, take out the damn pirates, and we'll be in for it!" Colonel Adrian ordered excitedly. The voyage on the sea was dull and boring, and although it had only been two days from Manila, Colonel Adrian was already idle, and now there were pirates who did not know whether they were alive or dead, and this undoubtedly added some spice to their lives.

On the orders of Colonel Adrian, the battleship 'Manila' rushed forward at full speed. However, the displacement of the battleship Manila was too large, and the wind on the sea was not strong at present, so the speed of the battleship was relatively low, and it was estimated that it would take more than half an hour to reach the front. Of course, Colonel Adrian didn't think that two pirate ships would be able to take the cruiser Warrior in half an hour. Although the cruiser 'Warrior' was only a cruiser with a displacement of several hundred tons, it was only a minor role in the navy of the Kingdom of Spain. However, after all, this is a regular warship, and it is not comparable to those pirate ships.

It's just that at this moment, on the cruiser 'Warrior', Captain Bernal is not as optimistic as Colonel Adrian. These two huge pirate ships that suddenly appeared gave him a great crisis. This kind of pirate ship with a displacement of thousands of tons is definitely not something that any pirate can equip with a force. In addition, the peculiar shape of this battleship was also something he had never seen before. All this made him feel that these two pirate ships might not be easy to deal with.

At 2:15 p.m., the cruisers "Xinhua" and "Zamboanga" were less than 3,000 meters away from the cruiser "Warrior." At this distance, Luo Sangu gave the order to open fire.

The bow of the cruiser 'Xinhua' was two 105-mm guns, which were reloaded in the rear hall, which was much simpler than the breech guns and had a much higher rate of fire.

"Boom! Rumble! "Two 105-mm naval guns opened fire almost simultaneously, and two shells weighing 12.5 kg whizzed towards the cruiser 'Warrior' in the distance. Compared with the breech guns of the West, the firing range of the 105-mm naval guns of the Xinhua Navy is much higher, and the maximum firing range can reach about 6,000 meters, and at a distance of 3,000 meters, it can also pose a deadly threat to local warships. However, the prerequisite is to be able to hit the opponent's warship. In contrast, the maximum firing range of the large-caliber artillery of the Western Navy at this time was less than 3,000 meters, and most of their engagement distances were within 1,000 meters, and more often they were bombarded within two or three hundred meters.

The sudden firing of the corsair startled the Spanish naval officers and sailors aboard the cruiser Warrior.

"Oh God! Opened fire from so far away, are those pirates crazy? Do they think they will be able to hit us at this distance? Some Spanish naval soldiers said disdainfully.

Many Spanish sailors thought the pirates were stupid, so they opened fire at this distance.

Bernardo, the captain of the cruiser Warrior, saw something more, as the two sides were facing each other at the bow, and the pirate ship was able to fire at them, indicating that the pirate ship was equipped with large-caliber guns in the bow. And the warships of the Western Navy, the main guns are installed on the sides of the battleship!