The 5,000-strong army of the Songjiang Army and the 3,000 North Luzon Garrison Division, which opened the road in front, were stationed in the welcoming of the people in the Ifugao area.

As an invader from a foreign country, it is undoubtedly a very rare thing to be welcomed by the local people, even if they have Agno and other generals to lead the way. He Shixiang's warm welcome was initially skeptical. But when I learned about what was happening nearby, it soon dawned on me.

For no other reason, the people of the Ifugao region were fed up with the bullying of the Principality and the Legazpi forces.

It takes a lot of labor to develop the gold mines, and when the principality was in the past, the people in the vicinity were exploited by the mines, but they could barely make ends meet. But when Rygazpi's rout returned, they burned and plundered along the way, capturing a large number of laborers and slaves to serve him. Even, many people's wives and daughters were plundered into the cottages of the mines, causing their families to be ruined!

With such oppression in front of them, coupled with the prestige of the Songjiang Army from abroad, it is not surprising that the local people will regard them as saviors and liberators. Even, due to Legazpi's indiscriminate actions, not only ordinary people, but also the local manor owners and the aristocratic class, hated Legazpi to the core.

In the Duchy of Luzon, this is a rare scene.

In any case, this kind of popular situation is always something that the Songjiang Army is happy to see. With the help of the locals, they not only quickly gained a foothold, but also gathered a lot of intelligence about the Ifugao gold mine and the Legazpi forces.

"The veins of the Ifugao gold mine stretch for dozens of miles, and the terrain is undulating, easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"The main force of Legazpi's army was the rout of the Medan Legion, but after recruitment, the number of troops expanded dramatically, and there was at least a large battalion!"

"They are half buying and half grabbing from the Banaway terraced area. A large amount of grain was stored. ”

"There is only one road to enter the mine, and the cottage of the mine is built in it, which is more than 200 meters above sea level."

"A few days ago, I saw a caravan coming from the north (Sulu region) and bringing in more than a dozen carts of swords. They also forcibly took away local blacksmiths to make weapons for them. ”

The news was summarized one after another, which made He Shixiang frown.

Before this trip south. He didn't think he would encounter any strong enemies. Even the destination Ifugao gold mine is nothing more than a small remnant of Suleiman V's troops. The Matsue army took advantage of the previous great victory, and it was easy to take the gold mine. Who would have thought that it was not until he was close to the Ifugao area that he knew that the gold mine had changed hands, and that it had been robbed by an unknown officer named Legazpi, and that such an army had been raised!

This is the loss of insufficient intelligence.

If it was around the three counties of Songjiang, the military intelligence bureau in Ganxing would naturally not have missed such important information. But right now, on the island of North Luzon in the South Seas, the strength of the MIA is beyond the reach of the whip. He Shixiang couldn't do anything. The troops could only be ordered to rest on the spot for the time being, and at the same time, they were ordered to step up the investigation of the intelligence around the Ifugao gold mine.

This stop is two days.

The events in the Ifugao region and the appearance of Legazpi were sent back to Manila, the royal capital, under the swift speed of the cavalry. While asking the rear to bring in a batch of siege weapons, He Shixiang was also thinking about how to defeat this motley army and recapture the Yifugao gold mine as quickly as possible.

At first glance, this is not difficult. 5,000 regular troops of the Songjiang Army, plus 3,000 soldiers of the local garrison division who served as cannon fodder. A full 8,000 people, dealing with only 5,000 miscellaneous cards. Both the number and average combat power far surpass the opponent. Victory, it seems, was easy. But in fact, this battle is harder than imagined!

If it was a field battle, Legazpi's troops certainly had nothing to fear. But the terrain of the Yifugao Mine Cottage is too favorable for the defenders. The troops of the Matsue Army had to attack with their heads up, and the nearby terrain was not gentle and wide. It also limited the deployment of the Songjiang Army. What's more, the Songjiang Army did not bring siege weapons with them this time!

Relying only on light infantry and archers, if you want to attack a well-defended fortress, the difficulty is at least several times more out of thin air.

Under the guidance of a local guide, I personally took dozens of rides into the mountains for a walk. After conducting a field survey, He Shixiang firmly established this idea. On the front, the maximum number of offensive forces that the Songjiang Army could commit at the same time was only one or two hundred. Even if the Songjiang Army had 8,000 troops, it would not be able to give full play to its advantages!

What's more, after learning about the old miners who had mined in the local mines, they learned that there was a mountain spring in the mountain, and that Legazpi had stored at least enough grain to eat for at least half a year. This means that the siege will not work either.

A group of inconspicuous-looking routs inadvertently became a nail that was a little difficult to pull, which made He Shixiang feel quite troublesome. Knowing this, during the naval battle of Yanji'an Island at that time, the Ninghai Division should have fought to pay a little more price, and it was also necessary to catch up with the remnants of the Principality's Naval Division in Cagayan.

However, it has come to this point, and it is useless to think too much.

After the messenger from the royal capital of Manila sent back the news that he had begun to organize the transportation of a batch of siege weapons, He Shixiang made preparations for the official march.

With poor transportation conditions on land, it took at least ten days for this batch of weapons to be organized and delivered. If it is rainy during this period, it may be delayed even more. The 8,000 members of the Songjiang Army obviously can't just wait for nothing. At the very least, it is necessary to launch a few feints in the advanced mountain to test the true strength of the armed forces of Li Yashibi.

Maybe they just look tricky, but in fact they don't have a strong fighting spirit?

With the idea of giving it a try, 8,000 troops drove into the vicinity of the Ifugao gold mine a day later.

Lai Gazpi, who had already received the news, immediately dispatched a group of bold men to ambush at the foot of the mountain, and used the terrain to carry out a sneak attack and harassment of the Songjiang army. He was well aware of the true combat strength of the Songjiang Army, so the attitude he adopted was to delay as much as possible, and the longer it dragged on, the greater the casualties caused to the Songjiang Army, the better!

This plan is half the battle.

The initial attack, due to the surprise that came, was dozens of arrows in the face, which did make the Songjiang army suffer a little. However, as the Songjiang army increased its vigilance and used foot archers and a small number of accompanying cavalry to counteract in time, the men sent by Li Yashibi were not so lucky. Although he relied on his familiarity with the terrain several times and got rid of the counterattack of the Matsue army after the raid, there were basically injuries on both sides.

If the exchange is exchanged, the Songjiang army is obviously not afraid.

Although Legazpi claims to be the number of 5,000. But most of them were slaves looted from the manor, and the only ones who could really fight were the more than 1,000 defeated soldiers of the Medan Legion. As long as this group of people suffers heavy casualties, Legazpi's ability to control the troops will be greatly reduced. After a few times, Le Ya Shibi also realized this, seeing that the military defense of Songjiang was strict, and his own people did not have a good chance. I took the initiative to choose to stop.

This allowed the 8,000 soldiers of the Songjiang Army to reach the foot of the cottage, with a vertical height difference of about 200 meters above sea level!

Legazpi's troops were already on the ground. After seeing that the Songjiang army had set up camp and mobilized two hundred-man teams to try to attack, they immediately fought back.

If it was just a foot archer, the Matsue army would not have to worry. This group of Songjiang troops, some of them are equipped with shields, plus standard leather armor, and ordinary bows and arrows pose little threat to them. What's more, the Matsue army also has archers of its own, although it is a disadvantage to shoot from the bottom up. But at least it won't be suppressed by one-sided efforts. What really caused damage to the Songjiang army was Legazpi's stone thrower!

That's right, even the backward and barbaric Duchy of Luzon had such an attack/defense weapon.

Compared with the torsion stone throwing machine that had already matured in the empire, and the larger counterweight stone throwing machine developed by the Songjiang army, the stone throwing machine in the Duchy of Luzon was still in a very simple stage. The launch interval is long, the accuracy is very low, and the weight and range of the stones that can be thrown are also very different. If it is placed in a normal city defense battle, such as Krabi Dicheng at the northern gateway of the royal capital, it will not pose a threat to the Songjiang army at all.

But here it is different!

There is a huge disparity in height between the mountains and the mountains. It magnified the advantage of defending the city, and also increased the range and power of the rudimentary stone throwers of Legazpi's troops in disguise. In addition to this. The ore that can be found everywhere in the mine also makes the trebuchet completely free from thinking about ammunition. Although these miscellaneous forces defending the city had no experience in the use of simple stone throwers, the fragmentary ores, ranging from more than ten catties to more than thirty or forty catties, still caused a lot of casualties to the Songjiang army.

Before they could fight, there were seven or eight casualties.

"Coral . Manipulate the stone machine to kill an Imperial person, and reward five taels of gold! ”

"Su Lai, manipulate the stone machine to kill one enemy, seriously injure one, and reward ten taels of gold!"

"Ganasi, shoot one of the Empire with a bow and arrow. Reward five taels of gold! ”

In order to fulfill his previous promise and boost the morale of the army, Li Yashibi ordered his henchmen to personally stack several boxes of gold on a high platform in the center of the cottage, and specially arranged for people to record the results of the battle. Whenever there were casualties among the Imperials, someone would report the results of the battle. Once confirmed, cash out the reward on the spot.

The tempting, golden gold was placed there, and the distribution was carried out without any deduction, which really boosted the morale of the defenders.

Those who had previously doubted Legazpi's promise no longer had doubts after the first batch of rewards were issued. In an instant, the morale of the front-line defenders rose again. Just from the cheers and the sudden shouts of killing, you can feel the morale and fighting spirit of the defenders.

After only a quarter of an hour of temptation, He Shixiang frowned and gave the order to withdraw his troops.

The casualties of more than 30 people were insignificant compared to the entire 8,000-strong army, but the strength of this army was even stronger than he had expected. Of course, with He Shixiang's current strength, he really attacked at any cost, and he believed that Li Yashibi would definitely not be able to hold it for too long. But the problem is that He Shixiang doesn't want to make so many sacrifices!

Fighting the royal capital of Manila, a large number of casualties was a last resort. But at the moment, it is just a mine occupied by miscellaneous armed forces, and it would be a great loss if it still held on to 81,000 casualties.

Not to mention that I'm sorry for these subordinates who trust him, just saying that the Ifugao gold mine is just a stage target, and then there are the Cebu Army, the remnants of the principality of Davao Province, the Laag and Sulu regions waiting for them to fight, He Shixiang can't afford to sacrifice too much here.

After all, when the internal situation of the empire was already very tense and the originally scheduled reinforcements could not come, He Shixiang could only rely on the existing troops to attack Northern Luzon.

"The Imperials have retreated!"

"We've won!"

Seeing that He Shixiang recalled the two tentative hundred-man team early, Li Ya Shipi's subordinates couldn't help but be overjoyed. Although they knew that the Imperials must not have used all their strength, being able to hold off the first wave of attack so easily still reassured these restless ragtag soldiers. Seeing that the army's heart was available, Li Yashipi, who was relieved, immediately announced that he would kill pigs and sheep and eat at night, and everyone would be able to drink broth.

This undoubtedly drew another round of cheers!

The sound echoed in the mountains, making the soldiers of the Northern Luzon Garrison Division at the foot of the mountain feel a little uncomfortable. In contrast, the Songjiang Army, which had seen the big scene, was very calm, and was not impetuous at all because of a little bad start, and still arranged to fetch water, cook food, and set up night sentry posts and patrols in accordance with the step-by-step arrangements.

That night, Lygazpi did make a move.

He was self-aware, and did not dare to send elite night attacks on the camp, but only arranged a small number of henchmen to try to infiltrate the camp and set fire to harass, creating chaos and achieving an effect similar to that of a tired army. Of course, it would be better if it could burn the grain and grass of the Songjiang army.

As a result, needless to say, He Shixiang was originally from the regular army of the empire, and the military discipline and discipline of the Songjiang army were only stricter than those of the empire, so naturally Li Yashibi would not be given any chance. But the daytime response and the nighttime harassment made He Shixiang wary of the previously unknown Luzon officer.

In his opinion, Li Yashi is more powerful than many high-ranking generals in the Principality of Luzon!

Thanks to the fact that this principality was corrupt enough and had a high hierarchy, Legazpi was never promoted to the top level, but was always pressed into the lower echelons of the army. Otherwise, if such a nimble and thoughtful officer were allowed to sit in a high position, the Songjiang army would have to pay a much higher price if they wanted to defeat the Duchy of Luzon.

After dawn the next day, the Songjiang army finished breakfast and regrouped.

This time, it was the turn of the North Luzon Garrison Division to go into battle - cannon fodder was used for this. Under the supervision of the Songjiang Army, 1,000 soldiers of the North Luzon Garrison Division were divided into five groups and took turns to attack under the cover of the Songjiang Army's infantry archers. Although it was true that the defenders in the cottage paid the price of more than 100 casualties, and for a time it was full of blood and screams, but they still failed to make a decent breakthrough.

With the high bounty on Legazpi, the morale of this motley army did not drop much because of these casualties.

After such an offensive was repeated for several days, He Shixiang finally decided to suspend the offensive and patiently wait for the arrival of siege weapons. Although the soldiers of the North Luzon Garrison Division are cannon fodder, and the casualties are not distressed, after all, they have also spent time and energy training. Moreover, after observing for the past few days, He Shixiang vaguely had a new offensive plan in his heart. (To be continued.) )