A large fleet cleaves the waves from north to south, and a large number of seabirds fly up and down around the fleet. On the flagship Taishan, Zheng Haitao, commander of the Nanyang Fleet, and Wen Biao, deputy commander. Liu Mingchuan, commander of the 1st Army of the Taiwan Front, stood side by side in the command cabin and looked ahead. After the expansion of the Taiwan Front, Liu Mingchuan was appointed commander of the 1st Army and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. At this time, Zheng Haitao was in a good mood and was showing off.

"Commander Liu, before attacking the Philippines, I deliberately studied the history of the Philippines, are you interested?" "Commander Zheng, don't sell it, let's listen to it!" Liu Mingchuan said a little stiffly. Zheng Haitao said: "A long time ago, the Philippines had contacts with the mainland, and in the Ming Dynasty, exchanges began to be frequent. In 1521, Magellan sailed to discover the Philippine Islands, and Spain began to effectively rule the Philippine Islands, which have been in existence for 300 years??????。 ”

Because of Deng Zixuan, the later Spanish-American War was gone. At present, the Spaniards still effectively rule the Philippines, and there are about 80,000 Spanish troops stationed in the Philippines. Out of favor for the Philippines, the United States also sent 20,000 troops to the Philippines. Since the Allied Pacific Fleet was all concentrated on the Japanese mainland, the Philippines had only a small number of gunboats and offshore torpedo boats, and most of the gunboats and torpedo boats were concentrated in the Manila military port.

Half a month after landing on the Japanese mainland, the Nanyang Fleet carried the landing force and advanced along the waters east of the Philippines, but it was far from the coast. Taking advantage of the confusion at the headquarters of the coalition forces, it is the right time to plot against the Philippines.

"Commander Zheng, I didn't expect you to be so well-versed in the history of the Philippines. I am deeply impressed by the humble position! Liu Mingchuan gave a thumbs up. Don't listen to his nonsense, it's just a matter of learning and selling," Wen Biao smiled and revealed the old bottom. The crowd burst out laughing. Zheng Haitao put away his smile and asked, "Commander Liu, we don't know anything about the situation in Palayan, the port in the eastern part of Luzon. Although it has been analyzed, the real situation is not known. Once you have landed, you are all on your own. ”

Liu Mingchuan picked up the conversation and said, "Commander Zheng, you don't have to worry. According to intelligence, most of the U.S. troops were stationed around Manila, while the Spanish army had only 50,000 troops on Luzon. The main force is deployed in the north, and the remaining 30,000 people are distributed on the southern islands. As long as we succeed in landing, the soldiers will go straight to Manila. The Spaniards, faced with a crisis, would quickly mobilize their troops in the north, and then our second landing force would take the opportunity to go ashore in Santa Ana in the north. Wave your troops south. Alas, the Philippines! Liu Mingchuan spoke with confidence.

Liu Mingchuan was leading a field army for the first time, and it was difficult to express the surging and excitement in his heart. Being able to command such a strong unit to fight is an honor that Liu Mingchuan has dreamed of for several years, and letting the First Army be the vanguard shows that the front army command, especially Commander Kazakh, has given him a new appointment. Seeing the young fleet commander in front of him and the powerful fleet, Liu Mingchuan, as a former general, had a stronger perception than anyone present. Today, the Chinese Empire has not only ended its history of having a sea without defense. And the mighty fleet has begun to dominate. Everything in front of him made Liu Mingchuan's blood boil.

Since Liu Mingchuan came on the ship, it has been difficult to sleep for several days. The troops have been on the sea for three days since they came aboard. The fleet is still a day away from the landing site. Today, Zheng Haitao and Wen Biao talked and laughed, which touched him a lot. Maybe a battle would break out at any time, but there was no nervous expression on their young faces, and Liu Mingchuan was both envious and self-blamed. I envy the young Imperial Navy and the young general, who are so calm in the face of dangers that may arise at any time. The self-blame is that he weishenme has been nervous.

"Commander Liu, what do you think? There is still a day to go before the landing site, there is no need to be preoccupied, I can guarantee that the Spaniards will flee when they see us," Zheng Haitao said lightly. Wen Biao said: "What Brother Zheng said is not wrong, the Spanish army is the weakest in combat effectiveness among the coalition forces, and you will see the scene of the imperial army being invincible." At present, we do not know how many warships the coalition forces have deployed in Palayan, and our task is to attack the inter-coalition warships first to ensure the absolute safety of the landing force. "The two generals are full of confidence, and I have nothing to worry about."

"In that case, how about we have a drink? It just so happens that I have Moutai wine! Zheng Haitao suggested. Liu Mingchuan's expression was a little embarrassed, "Commander Liu, since Commander Zheng has such good intentions, why are we hypocritical" Wen Biao signaled Liu Mingchuan not to be polite. The young generals of the empire are simple and bold, they show a strong military temperament, and there is no fault with domineering, Liu Mingchuan is very relieved in his heart, and he readily accepts the invitation with a sweep of embarrassment.

The next day, the fleet reached Palayan. The warships of the coalition forces in the harbor suddenly found the fleet of the Chinese Empire suddenly appearing on the sea, and immediately panicked. The Coalition Fish Speedboats made an emergency sortie, but they were dealt a heavy blow, and dozens of Coalition gunboats were the first to flee south, and the torpedo boats also chose to escape. The cargo ships in the harbor saw that the big thing was not good, and they all raised white flags and surrendered. There are more than a dozen forts in the port of Parayan, which are very old and contain mostly old-fashioned fortress guns. The old fortress guns had no problem against sail ships, but they didn't work at all against modern large steel ships.

In less than 10 minutes of artillery bombardment of the Spanish fortress, 4 batteries were destroyed by naval artillery. Seeing this, the artillerymen of the Spanish fort immediately fled in a hurry. On the flagship Taishan, Zheng Haitao held a telescope and stopped firing at the fort when he saw that the fortress battery was firing dumbly. Then the frigate and destroyer were ordered to approach the harbor and shell the shore indiscriminately. After more than 10 minutes of shelling, the Spanish soldiers were seen to drill out of the fortifications one after another, and they were rushing to their deaths like rabbits. Zheng Haitao ordered the artillery fire to extend.

"Commander Liu, how is the Spanish army doing?" Zheng Haitao put down the binoculars and asked. Liu Mingchuan also put down the binoculars and said, "Commander Zheng, what you said is not wrong at all, the Spanish army is a rabble. Then Liu Mingchuan ordered the 1st Division to land on the beach, and after the order was issued, the landing ship successfully docked, and the soldiers jumped onto the pier one after another, as if no one was in a no-man's land. About two hours later, the port of Parayan was declared captured. "Two commanders, the landing is a bit unexpected, and my subordinates say goodbye!" Liu Mingchuan clenched his hands into fists as a sign of respect.

"Commander Liu, after you go ashore, I will leave the battleship Songshan in Palayan, two frigates and two destroyers respectively, to serve as the escort of the port. The situation was very good, and I immediately led the main fleet to the north to meet the second landing force. Zheng Haitao realized that he had to hurry. Liu Mingchuan led the military headquarters ashore, the fleet was divided into two, and the main fleet left the port of Palayan in the afternoon of the same day and headed north. After Liu Mingchuan landed ashore, he immediately ordered two divisions to follow the Spanish army and attack Manila.

The port of Parayan is about 300 kilometers from Manila Bay, and the Spanish governor of the Philippines was immediately shocked when he heard of the sudden landing of Chinese troops in Parayan. While reporting to the Allied Forces Headquarters in Tokyo, he ordered the troops in northern Luzon to reinforce south. The U.S. troops stationed in Manila learned that the Chinese troops had landed in Parayan and immediately chose to flee in shock, and the U.S. troops did not contact the Spanish governor at all, but acted unilaterally. The U.S. military moved very quickly, quickly requisitioned all the ships in Manila Bay, and retreated to the Malay Peninsula under the cover of more than a dozen gunboats.

In the Spanish Governor's Palace in Manila, the fat governor has a gloomy face, and his usually pampered cheeks are gray. The sudden crisis in the Philippines left the Governor General stunned. "Report to your lordship, the U.S. military forces have requisitioned all the ships, and it looks like the U.S. troops are going to retreat." "The Americans are simply bastards, they actually ran away without firing a single shot, how can it be that this is still an Allied army? I want to meet the commander of the U.S. forces immediately. The Governor roared. The subordinate said: "My lord, the US military headquarters has already boarded the ship, and I am afraid that it has reached the high seas at this time, what should we do?" "The Governor has a duty to defend the territory, and if it is a capital offense to run away without permission, this old fellow has repeatedly decided to stay in Manila.

The landing force marched to Manila in great strides, and the Chinese along the way, regardless of their status, were all overjoyed to hear that the Chinese troops had landed in the Philippines, and they spontaneously organized themselves to express their condolences to the warriors from the mainland along the way, some volunteered to lead the way, and some farmers took the opportunity to organize a civilian army, which virtually created conditions for the rapid progress of the attacking troops. During this period, the number of overseas Chinese in the Philippines was about tens of thousands, and their strong support played a great role in helping the landing force, at least the situation in the Philippines, and the landing force was able to grasp the situation in a timely manner as soon as possible, thus speeding up the time for the occupation of the Philippines.

At the military headquarters of the 1st Army in Parayan, Liu Mingchuan was in a good mood. "Report! A large number of Spanish troops were found in the north, with a strength of about 20,000 men! A subordinate reported urgently. Liu Ming said: "Immediately order the naval artillery to form supporting fire, and order the 3rd Division to arrange the defensive line." At dawn the next day, the Spanish army discovered that the Chinese army in the port of Parayan had only one division, and immediately made an ambitious decision to retake the port. The Spanish army attacked in a row, beating waist drums, a somewhat comical move, presumably to boost morale.

The infantry artillery of Xibaya fought first, and then the infantry lined up in a horizontal line and pounced violently. Entering the range of the ship's guns, at the sound of an order, countless shells smashed into the Spanish army sequence. The Spanish soldiers were in a violent explosion, and the ranks immediately became a mess. Blocking the soldiers on the position, the Spanish soldiers who saw it crawled and fled. Liu Mingchuan held up the binoculars and saw this scene with contempt: "The Spaniards don't know how to fight at all, so they ordered the naval guns to stop firing and the troops to attack on all fronts." ”

Soon, the roar of the ship's guns stopped, the loud trumpets sounded, and the soldiers jumped out of the trenches and shouted, and launched an attack in a volley. The situation on the battlefield reversed, the attacking side was defeated and retreated, and the defending side began to switch from defense to attack. The soldiers attacked quickly and sharply, and the Spaniards passed through this formation, and the officials were the first to flee, and the soldiers herded the sheep. The rout in front of them rushed into disarray, and the rear side of the centaurs also began to flee. The Spaniards threw away their artillery, military supplies, and even their rifles.

One unit pursued 20 kilometers before the men captured about 3,000 Spanish soldiers in the pursuit. After the short blocking operation, Liu Mingchuan said to his subordinates: "The Spaniards almost can't fight, the fierce artillery fire will not form an army, and a charge will defeat the army, you say that such an army also becomes an army, it is incredible, they are far worse than the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army." I'm sure it won't take more than a month, and the Philippines will have it at your fingertips. (To be continued......)

PS: The timing is very good, so the combat efficiency is extremely high.