The slogan can be shouted loudly, but to what extent it can be achieved, that is a very real question. Neither Guersman, Fernández, nor Alcarázo had the determination to die in the Far East for the glory of their kingdoms. But out of duty, you can't just run away without letting go, and if the Haihan people are not as powerful as Gusman describes, it would be a foolish act to give up too soon. Therefore, it is time to continue to prepare for the battle, and if you can defeat the uninvited guests outside the city, then everyone can use this record to make a great contribution.

The strong enemy soldiers approached the city, and Alcarazo did not dare to relax, and checked the combat readiness overnight with red eyes. The result was mixed: the good news was that most of the city's anti-aircraft guns in El Salvador were still in good condition and could carry out normal combat missions, but the worry was that the amount of ammunition in stock was not enough to support long-term high-intensity combat, and the average reserve of each gun was less than 20 rounds. If the fighting is fierce, it may take half a day to exhaust this bit of war materiel.

Having learned from the experience of the city, the defenders did not choose to retreat to the city from the beginning, but deployed a defensive line outside the city overnight to deal with the enemy forces who were likely to force a landing there. Alcaraço deployed three hundred musketeers, three hundred spearmen, and ten artillery pieces on this line. He believed that even if this line of defense could not prevent the enemy from landing in the end, it would at least have a chance to inflict relatively large casualties on the enemy troops.

Fernandez's naval forces were more relaxed, and because of the obvious disparity in the strength of the two sides, it was impossible for the Spanish side to have three armed sailing ships to fight their opponents head-on. His task was to harass the Haihan army from the sea while launching a landing operation. Although the effect of this harassment is likely to be limited, if it can delay the progress of the opponent's landing operation, it can also reduce the defensive pressure of the land defenders to some extent.

Gusman, who knew that his military literacy was limited, took the initiative to apply for the command and coordination of logistics, and as long as he could stay away from the battlefield, it was fine, and what specific work was not the focus. Anyway, he doesn't need to do it himself, just use his mouth to let others run errands and do things.

On the morning of 5 March, the good weather, which had been stable for more than half a month, suddenly changed, and a sudden storm descended on the northern part of Taiwan, and the waves on the sea reached more than three meters, making it impossible to conduct a real-time near-shore landing operation. Takahashi Minami had to give the order to delay the attack and wait for the weather to improve before making plans. The Spanish defenders on Slau Island also had a precious respite, but unfortunately due to the weather, they were also unable to send a boat south to the sea to alert Manila.

At noon on March 7, God finally received his magical powers, and the weather gradually cleared. Before the defenders of Sheliao Island had time to sigh, they discovered that an organized Haihan Army had appeared on the coast of Jilong Harbor, which was only separated by a narrow waterway, blocking their only retreat route to the island of Taiwan.

This unit followed Gesman's fleeing party all the way overland to the offshore area of Jonlong Harbor, but because of the weather two days ago, they did not rush to blockade the coast, but patiently waited until the weather improved today before quietly deploying a blockade on the coastline.

The speed of the Haihan Navy did not lag behind the army at all, and Fernandez, who commanded three armed sailing ships at sea, suddenly discovered that three Haihan warships had been deployed on the sea about two nautical miles north of Sheliao Island. If Fernandez's three galleons wanted to attack Haihan in the event of a landing, they would have to be on guard against the three ships that could attack from the rear at any moment. Fernandez did not have the courage to face the front and rear attacks of the Haihan warships, so he could only command his three ships to keep in a relatively safe position, so as not to be directly copied by the Haihan warships.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, the main fleet of Haihan slowly sailed out of the temporary docking point, and during the storm of more than two days, several ships were also damaged to varying degrees, but fortunately, the impact on combat capability was not great, and there was no obstacle to completing the basic combat mission. Coupled with the absolute superiority in numbers, Takahashi Minami did not think that there was any need to be afraid of the opponent's three armed sailing ships, and only needed to prepare for the corresponding engagement. He did not interfere too much in the command of the navy, and only demanded that the navy ensure that it would not be interfered with from the sea during the landing of the special operations battalion.

Since the Spanish sailing ships could not put enough pressure on the Haihan fleet at sea, they also sailed unhindered all the way to Sheliao Island, and soon came to the predetermined landing area on the western coastline of Sheliao Island. Because the east of Sheliao Island is the Pacific Ocean, the coastline has been washed by stormy waves for a long time, and the terrain is relatively steep, which is not suitable for landing operations, and only the west side of the island facing the Jilong Harbor has a relatively flat area suitable for ships to dock, and the only wharf on the island is also built in this location.

Minami Takahashi stood on the deck, carefully observing the island's defender fortifications with a telescope. The Spaniards deployed the defensive line outside the castle in an arc in a very targeted manner, forming a semi-encirclement posture for this only landing site, and there were obviously many artillery positions on the defensive line, ready to use artillery fire to drive the Han army into the sea.

However, this is not invulnerable in the eyes of Takahashi, because the Spaniards are limited by the performance of their weapons, and their defense line is only about 100 meters from the coastline. Even so, the muskets in their hands can probably only shoot at will, relying on face hits, the lethality that can really be exerted is extremely limited, and they still have to rely on those few guns to hit the main force. What they didn't know was that the range of Haihan's naval guns far exceeded that of their European counterparts, basically more than 200 meters, and even some of the guns could reach 300 meters. Of course, the hit rate of shelling land targets from the sea must be quite low, and it is unrealistic to destroy the defenders on this line of defense, as long as it can buy the land opportunity for the landing.

The Haihan fleet slowly drew an arc on the sea, adjusted the formation, and then aimed its side at the shore. Although the Haihan fleet was still at least two hundred meters away from the Spanish defense line on the shore, the purpose of this posture was very obvious. The Spanish army was not without capable people, and at first glance they understood what the Haihan people were planning to do, and immediately ordered the infantry on the defensive line to enter a hidden position.

This line was only a makeshift fortification erected overnight the previous night, and apart from a few gun emplacements, there was only a section of the breastwork wall made of earth and stones to cover the infantry from completing the build-up behind it. This defense may be good for blocking rifle bullets, but it is really ineffective against shelling.

"Open the gun, open the gun!" The Spanish officer, who had a quick response, immediately gave an order to the gunner next to him, and at this time, he didn't bother to ask Lord Alcarazo who was sitting in the rear, and if he didn't fire the gun, he might not even have a chance to counterattack.

The two sides opened fire almost simultaneously, one sea and one land, one attacking and one defending, and the shells drew arcs in the air and staggered through the air and smashed at their respective targets. The Haihan side had an absolute advantage in the number of artillery, but it was a matter of luck to hit this narrow line of defense on the shore. Although the Spaniards only deployed ten guns on this line of defense, the advantage of shore guns over the hit rate of naval guns was very huge, not to mention that the size of this row of Haihan warships was really not small, and there was not much difficulty in aiming, and at a distance of about 200 meters, aiming at a distance of about 200 meters could basically guarantee that it would not miss the target.

In the first round of shelling, the Spanish side with a smaller number of artillery guns obtained a higher hit rate, but at this time the Spanish discovered that their inferior weapons were not only numerous, and the small-caliber six-pounder guns could not directly penetrate the side of the Haihan warship at this distance, and after hitting the ship's board, it was only smashed out of a pit and was catapulted into the water, which failed to achieve the effect of damage at all.

This is also the military standard of Haihan, the board is thick enough, and if it is replaced by a civilian ship of the same tonnage, the side board will not be able to block the shells flying at this distance. The Spaniards had to do so by bringing the shelling closer together, or by increasing the charge or switching to larger caliber guns.

It was impossible to shorten the distance or change the guns on the spot, so the Spaniards chose to increase the charge in order to increase the muzzle velocity of the guns, but because the number of their guns was too small, the firing frequency was certainly not as high as that of the Haihan warships that discharged the wheel array and entered the firing position one after another. After the shelling of the Spanish positions had stopped, the second Explorer-class ship was in a firing position, and more than a dozen guns on the side of the board rained shells on the shore one after another, and this time one shell was lucky enough to hit the defensive wall in front of one of the gun emplacements on the shore. Although it did not directly hit the gun position, the debris flying from the defensive wall instantly injured the three gunners on the gun position, causing the gun position to temporarily lose its combat ability.

After increasing the charge, the second round of shelling by the Spaniards really improved significantly, and the battleship "Tian Du" in the Haihan fleet was hit twice in a row, one hit the side side, and although the plank was not penetrated, there were already obvious cracks. The other shot hit the angle of impact near the bow of the ship, but the copper was wrapped in it, but it was only dented. But in this round of shelling, the Spaniards still did not cause any casualties to Haihan, just a white joy.

Takahashi Minami regretted it a little at this time, and originally waited for about ten days before he could take the majestic class capital ship that had completed the overhaul and maintenance to go out together. With the thickness of the majestic side and the number of guns, it is completely possible to stop on the shore and have a close confrontation with these Spaniards, and there is no need to be afraid of the enemy's small-caliber artillery like scratching the shelling, and it is relatively easy to solve the fortifications on the shore.

Although the Spaniards' artillery attack seemed to have some advantage at the beginning of the engagement, as the battle progressed, the numerical superiority of the Haihan naval guns gradually suppressed the artillery fire on the shore. Although the hit rate was not high, after the eight Haihan warships completed a full round of shelling from the opposite shore through the firing positions in turn, three of the ten guns on the shore were still dumb. Two of the guns were gunner-wounded, and it took time for the reserve gunners to be replenished. The other gun was unfortunately hit directly by a shell on the gun position, and the gun was scrapped along with the two gunners on the gun position.

Although the Haihan army had achieved a certain advantage, after completing one round of shelling, the fleet had to make a large circle at sea and then circle back for the next round of shelling, and the time spent in the middle left enough respite for the Spaniards. Before breaking this line of defense on the shore, Takahashi Minami could not have ordered the army to force a landing, in which case the army without cover would be completely exposed to the guns of the Spaniards, and Takahashi Minami would not do this kind of loss-making business.

Now the competition between the two sides is the will to fight, and whoever can't hold it first can only be defeated. Haihan's will to fight is very firm, this expedition to Jilong Harbor is well planned, the supplies are sufficient, and the personnel are complete, except for the first two days here, which was not able to launch an attack immediately due to weather conditions, everything else went smoothly. So far in the battle, there have been no large losses on the Haihan side, and there is no need to fear that the Spaniards will be able to launch a decent counterattack, as long as they are patient and continue to attack the Spanish defense line on the shore with naval guns.

The Spanish defense line was set up too close to the coastline, and the number and power of the artillery were not superior, which caused the defenders to fall into a great passivity. The hundreds of infantry deployed on the defensive line had no other use than to carry ammunition, but from time to time there were small casualties due to the indiscriminate bombardment of the Haihan naval guns. This was not the worst of all, and what really disturbed the Spanish officers on the firing line was that they had prepared a small base of ammunition in advance, and after only a few rounds of fighting, there was very little left. If the Haihan people continue to carry out artillery bombardment with the current tactics, then the artillery on the defensive line will probably not be completely destroyed by the enemy's shells, and they will run out of ammunition first and lose their combat ability.

The only thing the officers could rejoice in was that the enemy forces at sea did not know that their condition was already so bad, otherwise they would have saved some ammunition and sent their infantry to land in advance.

The officers could only send someone to bring the bad news back to the city, and all Alcaraso could do was send more ammunition from the city - don't think about defending the city later, and try to prevent the landing of the Haihan army first.