After Liu Guoxuan established a bridgehead in Lingjiayan, he entangled the Han people in the surrounding countryside for nearly 100 miles in just a few days.

According to Liu Guoxuan's preliminary statistics, there were more than 7,000 pure-blooded Han people and more than 20,000 mixed-race people.

The military rations donated on their own initiative also reached more than 4,000 stones, and the imperial court and the royal division took out money to buy more than 10,000 stones of grain and dried meat, so that the contradiction between military rations for the protracted war of the army could be greatly alleviated, and the rear supply fleet did not need to be too tight.

The area of the bridgehead controlled by Liu Guoxuan also quickly spread from Lingayan City to the west to the entire Angno Peninsula, and to the east captured Fort San Fernando, the military fortress of the Spaniards at the northern entrance of Lingayan Bay, and wiped out the defenders in the fort very easily.

In this way, the three coasts of the entire Lingayen Bay, as well as the deep zone, were all taken by Liu Guoxuan. Nearly 100 miles to the south, and there are only 150 miles left from the city of Manila.

Just further south, you need to climb over some hilly terrain and face the mountains on the north shore of Manila Bay. Therefore, Liu Guoxuan was not in a hurry, and directly re-established the advance camp at the edge of the hill, in case Zheng Chenggong's main force was in charge of it at the same time.

……

On the side of Zheng Chenggong's main force, he learned that Liu Guoxuan's landing on the northern line was gaining a firm foothold, so he boldly continued to advance southward, trying to establish a second landing ground directly near Manila Bay.

Although it is okay to wait for Liu Guoxuan to push south by land from Lingayen Bay, it will be slower after all. Moreover, Luzon is not as good as the mainland, in fact, the indigenous villages and towns are very scattered, the degree of development is not high, this 150 miles to the south, not everywhere is inhabited, there are still some primeval rainforests in the middle.

Therefore, if you really want to talk about the convenience of marching and hurrying, in fact, it is much more convenient to take a boat than to climb the mountain. The greater value of Liu Guoxuan's stronghold was only to raise food for the Ming army on Luzon Island, so that the Han people who wanted to support Wang Shi could have the opportunity to contribute, and they could also find the protection of the imperial court as soon as possible.

This consideration was also entirely necessary, because with the establishment of the landing ground by Liu Guoxuan, the Spanish Governor of the Philippines, Manuel Brown. Aguirre reacted almost immediately, intensifying the slaughter and plundering of the innocent Han Chinese civilians on the island, lest they become the victims.

This led to an even more frantic frenzy of Han Chinese on the island to flock to the small security zone established by the Ming army, and the towns between Lingayan and Fort San Antonio were crowded with Han Chinese fleeing from other distant places in just a few days.

A considerable number of these Han people originally didn't care about politics, they were obedient, and they didn't plan to be the people of the Ming Dynasty, but now they have been completely forced over.

Zheng Chenggong understood this situation and strengthened his determination to try a quick solution. So on the second day of November, after sailing to the entrance of Manila Bay, he decisively broke into the bay and launched a naval offensive.

Zheng Chenggong's original idea was that he didn't plan to fight a castle siege, he knew that although the Ming Dynasty now had the Vauban siege method, and other old-fashioned western fortresses could also be breached, but the Vauban siege method required several months of construction preparation after all, and tens of thousands of troops crossed the sea to fight, so the cost of grain and grass was too great.

The Spaniards have always been proud of their naval strength, and if they could inflict heavy damage on their fleet first, completely destroy their confidence in fighting, and surrender directly, it would be twice the result with half the effort.

It's a pity that Zheng Chenggong thought very well, but because Liu Guoxuan's landing had already warned the Spaniards.

The commander of the Spanish fleet in Southeast Asia, Ramon Brown. Vice Admiral Prado chose to sail the main fleet out of Manila Bay ahead of time to avoid the battle. Only the Governor of Manuel and Francisco were left. Major General Paula led the army garrison to defend various key points along the coast of Manila Bay.

Although Zheng Chenggong was familiar with trying to replicate his success in "secretly crossing Luermen" on Dayuan Island, he allowed the fleet to break through to the mouth of Manila Bay at night. But after dawn the next day, he did not find a single of the Spaniards' main ships in the open area of the bay.

The only things that awaited Zheng Chenggong were the forts in the main city of Manila, and the coastal artillery forts on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island at the mouth of the bay, plus a few shallow mortar gunboats with single sloops.

It was also the first time that Zheng Chenggong encountered the Europeans in a naval battle with shallow-water mortar boats, because the Dutch did not have such warships when they attacked Dayuan Island occupied by the Dutch. Zheng Chenggong was careless at first, and was almost plotted.

Speaking of this kind of small sloop warship equipped with mortar guns, in fact, players who have played "Imperial Total War" in later generations are no strangers, and in the late 17th century, Western naval powers already had them.

This kind of ship is equipped with 2 to 4 heavy mortars with large elevation angles, so there is no need to consider the roll recoil, and the accuracy of the shell can be fired, and the shells fired can be several times heavier than the flat-firing naval guns, and the hull can rock up and down for a long time when a shot is fired.

Whether or not you can hit after firing a cannon is completely a matter of luck, but the effective range can be up to 800 paces or even two miles, which is much farther than a flat-firing naval gun, and in the game "Imperial Total War", it will be dangerous for a heavy battleship to be blinded by a few shots.

This kind of ship later came to the era of steam warships in the 19th century, and as soon as it was transformed into a steam engine power, it became a "mosquito ship" that Li Hongzhang once spent money to buy in the late Qing Dynasty, and was famous for its small boats to resist heavy artillery at large elevation angles.

The reason why the Spaniards have prepared shallow water heavy gunboats in Manila is also because they regard Manila as too important, it is the only port for them to accept American silver and import Ming goods, after nearly a hundred years of colonial construction, they have their own warship shipyard in Manila, which can build gunboats on the spot, and can also supply this type of ship.

In contrast, the Dutch did not build enough on Dayuan Island before, and the Dutch only used Dayuan Island as a trading base, and there was no local shipyard that could produce their own warships, and the warships were all built in the Netherlands and sailed to the Far East. In this case, it is difficult for small ships such as dhows to sail far and wide oceans, and they cannot appear in the Far East.

It can also be seen from this that the accumulation of Spanish colonists in the Philippines for a hundred years should not be underestimated, and it is far more difficult than the Dutch to fight.

Zheng Chenggong didn't pay attention at first, and focused his vigilance on the shore defense batteries in Manila City, but was stolen by those dhows and mortar gunboats for many rounds in vain, until a troop transport ship was directly hit and blew through the bottom of the ship and entered the water, Zheng Chenggong was shocked and angry, and fully understood the threat of these small points.

Fortunately, it was not too late, after Zheng Chenggong turned the firepower, even if these small gunboats were still firing recklessly, but after all, the accuracy was too poor, Zheng Chenggong's fast frigate pressed up, and in just half an hour's artillery battle, seven or eight sloops and mortar gunboats were sunk.

And only one 32-gun sail frigate of the Ming army was hit by mortar shells, which was blown through the deck and one side of the ship, and the water was tilted.

Unfortunately, the remaining sloop gunboats of the Spaniards also immediately took advantage of their shallow draft and retreated to avoid the cover range of the coastal defense batteries of Manila and Bataan.

The Ming warships were afraid of the threat of the coastal defense fortress artillery, and the draft problem could not get too close and would run aground, so they had to give up for the time being.

……

After the first day of naval battles, Zheng Chenggong also found that if he wanted to land directly in Manila City, he would be easily injured by the sloop artillery fleet, and he had to beware of attacks from all directions.

Although the area of Manila Bay is much larger than that of Anping Bay, the depth of the bay is 50 miles, and the batteries on both sides of the strait cannot reach the sea area in the middle of the bay.

However, having been surrounded in the middle, Zheng Chenggong also had to worry about being approached by the enemy's small gunboats at night and worrying that the main Spanish fleet that had taken refuge in the open sea would come back at any time to sneak attack. Zheng Chenggong decided that it was better not to disperse the troops, and it was better to attack and break through each step by step.

As a result, the Ming army temporarily withdrew from the eastern half of Manila Bay and concentrated on attacking the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island, which served as the outer barrier of the bay.

After the Ming fleet contracted its position, it re-established a beachhead on the west bank of the Bataan Peninsula and set up camp to transport siege artillery to the shore. After a few days of short preparations, it was almost time to storm the storm.

During this period, the Spaniards also tried to send a small death squad to attack the Ming siege artillery camp at night, but they were all annihilated by the Ming army patrolling the night.

At the same time, Liu Guoxuan's troops also opened up more than 100 miles of land passage in the north, connecting the occupied areas from Lingayen Bay to the Bataan Peninsula. More and more fugitives from the occupied areas gathered, and although they brought some food, because these Han people also had to eat, the rations became a little tight for a while.

Zheng Chenggong ordered the troops to divide their troops to find the local natives who had conflicts with the Han people to collect grain, and let the Han people lead the way. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed directly - of course, Zheng Chenggong strictly explained, and only allowed to start with those hateful indigenous tribes who had "assisted the Spaniards in killing the Han Chinese".

After arranging the military supply for the protracted war, Zheng Chenggong asked Liu Guoxuan about the composition of the Spaniards' troops.

Liu Guoxuan had been ashore for many days, and he had also received detailed information from the local Han Chinese, so he told him in 1510: "These Franc machine people have been stationed in Manila for more than 2,000 to 3,500 people all year round, and this place has been operated by them for a hundred years, and they attach great importance to it.

A few years ago, after these Franc machine people slaughtered our Han people, fearing the retaliation of the Ming Dynasty, they repeatedly asked their country to increase their troops, and since then, they have increased their troops by about 1,500 every year, and they have increased twice so far. Today, there are three fortresses in Manila, the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island, with a total of 6,500 people in the Buddha Lang Ji Zhenyi, and the key is that tens of thousands of indigenous soldiers who hate the Han people have also been gathered.

The local natives are lazy and often hate the Han people from Fujian and Chaoshan who are more diligent than them and are good at accumulating family wealth, so they have evil intentions and plunder the Han people every time. For many years, the people of the Franc Machine have taken advantage of the laziness and greed of the natives to instigate them to deal with the Han people, and some of these tribes have become rich by looting and extorting the Han people, and have become the accomplices of the Franc Machine's rule, and it is impossible to fight for them. ”

When Zheng Chenggong heard this, his face was cold: "Then what else is there to fight for, if you dare to deal with my Han people with the Francophone people, you will kill them all!" I heard that most of the natives belong to different tribes, and there are few contacts, so we will not offend everyone by staring at the destruction of a few tribes.

In time, other tribes will naturally not dare to hate indiscriminately. Six thousand five hundred true Yi, tens of thousands of natives, not to be afraid! ”

Zheng Chenggong knew very well that the Spaniards could not have a good relationship with all the natives, they just needed some thug tribes, enough for them to suppress the Han Chinese. Because the Spaniards are not here to do charity, they will not be kind enough to rob the Han Chinese, who are good at business, but they are kind to the natives, who are also the object of exploitation and oppression by the Spaniards.

In fact, during the same period, the European colonizers engaged in the slave trade in West Africa in the same way, they would recruit some black indigenous tribes to be thugs to capture prisoners, and then ask them to buy prisoners at a low price, so as to save the whites themselves to arrest. The indigenous Filipinos co-opted by the Spaniards are equivalent to a tribe of thugs who "help catch other blacks as slaves".

Kill them, and you don't have to worry about falling into the vast sea of all-people war, but instead you are hanging the people for the crime of Tianxingdao.

……

In the remaining days of early November, Zheng Chenggong made siege arrangements at the Bataan Peninsula landing field. The Ming army dug some peripheral artillery bunker tunnels according to local conditions, but did not dig too close to the fort.

After all, the siege artillery of the Ming army this time was transported by sea, and the sea route was the most suitable for transporting heavy equipment, so the tonnage of the siege mortar guns carried by the Ming army must be much heavier than when Li Dingguo fought the city of Awa in Burma - Li Dingguo was going to cross the Kyaukshan Mountain to transport artillery by land, so he could only use cavalry artillery.

With heavy siege mortars, the range of the defender's fortress guns is not much different, and the Vauban siege trenches that need to be dug can also save a lot of length. A little digging of one or two hundred steps is enough for the range of the mortar cannon.

The Ming army soon spared no effort to bombard with heavy flowering shells, and the Spanish defenders were not to be outdone, counterattacking with fortress shore defense artillery. It is a pity that the ballistics of the straight shore defense artillery mostly hit the dorsal slope of the Vauban siege trenches, and they had no effect at all.

After the Ming army blasted a gap in the parapet wall of the security fortress, they drove a large number of indigenous captives forward and were responsible for filling the trenches. If you dare not go to the former, you will immediately shoot him in the back with a platoon gun -

And these natives, of course, are all people of the tribe who were identified by the Han Chinese as lackeys for the Spaniards, and they are completely retribution. After the Ming army captured them, they were not in a hurry to slaughter the tribe, just to give them a chance to use the merits and atonement waste.

The Spaniards looked at the natives who flocked up to destroy the moats, and they could only shoot back frantically, and the Ming army took muskets to supervise them outside the range of the rear, and the dead were resting on the ground for a while.

In the end, after several days of destruction, the moat outside the fortress of Bataan was almost filled with earth and corpses, and thousands of cannon fodder were used by the indigenous people, and the Ming army forced a way to attack, and then the main force rushed up under the fire preparation, rushed to the fortress wall to shoot at the Spanish army, fighting bayonets hand-to-hand.

After a series of bloody battles, the 2,000 Spanish defenders in the Bataan Security Fortress and the more than 5,000 indigenous defenders were all annihilated by the Ming army.

After the Spaniards had lost more than 600 people in the battle, hundreds of the remaining 1,400 people were wounded, and they surrendered spinelessly.

The indigenous army was used as cannon fodder by the Spaniards, and was often in the most dangerous position, so the casualties were higher, with two or three thousand casualties, and the rest were captured by the Ming army.

The Ming army did not raise idlers, and directly disarmed these prisoners, issued some flat burdens and sandbags, and let them fight in the vanguard to destroy the city defense facilities in the follow-up battles.

Then the Ming army repeated the old trick and took less than half a month to take Corregidor Island. There were about 800 Spanish soldiers and more than 2,000 indigenous soldiers on the island, who were also annihilated by the Ming army, and the remnants collapsed and surrendered.

After a month of clearing all the peripheral obstacles, from the southern shore of Lingayen Bay to the Bataan Peninsula, all the land west of this line was occupied by the Ming Dynasty and became one. It can also be said that the land of Luzon west of Manila basically fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

In early December, Zheng Chenggong took a short rest, and from the middle of the month, he finally advanced outside Manila to begin the final preparations.

The total number of Spanish troops in Luzon was only 6,500, two important areas were occupied, and some other outlying cities were lost, and only 3,700 white Spanish soldiers remained in Manila.

Manuel. Governor Aguirre had no choice but to make a desperate bet, concentrating all the dhows and gunboats, ready to defend the city of Manila.

At the same time, a liaison ship was also sent to let Rammond, who had been hiding in the open sea and cruising in an attempt to cut off the supply fleet of the Ming army. Vice Admiral Prado, who returned with the Philippine fleet to support the decisive battle. Now, it is impossible to expect the security fortress to consume Zheng Chenggong's fleet, and if the Spanish fleet continues to take it, even the nest will be gone.

Dead or alive, there is only one left, or surrender.

(End of chapter)