New Han Dynasty 1834

Chapter 26 Lion Hunts Rabbit

Shortly after the British mission's fleet left Manila, merchant ships heading north back to the Han homeland set sail.

The merchants here will continue to manage their business in the Han Dynasty's homeland.

Several spies from the Intelligence Division of the Great Han Navy Command also disguised themselves as ordinary small merchants and their assistants, and returned to the Great Han mainland on these merchant ships to send the latest information about Manila back to the Luzon military headquarters.

The Luzon military headquarters has been established for six months, and all preparations are complete. After confirming the final intelligence, the operation will officially begin.

On the 9th day of the eighth month of the second year of the Tai'an reign of the Great Han Dynasty, which corresponds to the morning of September 27, 1834 in the Gregorian calendar.

Off the coast of Taiwan County, Taiwan Prefecture, Fujian Province, the Eastern Fleet and armed transport ships, carrying a total of 20,000 troops from two main Fujian divisions, set sail south to participate in the southward campaign.

After more than five days of sailing, the fleet entered Manila Bay on the morning of September 1.

Neither the Qing Dynasty nor the Han Dynasty ever showed any ambition toward Southeast Asia.

Other European colonists in the surrounding area also focused their main efforts on conquering the indigenous peoples and had no ambitions for the peripheral Philippines.

In 1762, during the Seven Years' War, Britain, seeking to weaken its rivals, captured Manila and gained control of the Philippines.

However, due to the hot and humid climate and the lack of profitability in the area, it was returned to Spain after the war.

This resulted in the Philippines experiencing very low defense pressure between the 18th and 19th centuries.

After losing its American colonies, Spain's traditional sources of revenue almost dried up, and its military strength declined precipitously.

The Philippines lost its status as a hub for the galleon trade and its importance declined rapidly.

There are now fewer than three thousand Spanish troops in the entire Philippines.

The navy consisted of only three hundred people, two old-fashioned sailing ships with a displacement of less than one thousand tons, and a dozen smaller transport ships.

The Philippine troops, not expecting an enemy attack, were extremely lax in their patrols and security.

When the Eastern Fleet approached Luzon Island, it encountered no obstacles or patrol and inspection forces.

Upon entering Manila Bay, we encountered no obstacles whatsoever.

The lookout carefully observed the surroundings and reported to the fleet admiral to confirm that no enemy activity had been detected.

General Chen Huacheng of Luzon then ordered the fleet to split into two groups as planned.

Guan Tianpei commanded a small squadron to sail southeast and attack the Spanish naval base in Cavite.

The remaining main force continued to follow Chen Huacheng to Manila.

The Han Dynasty's naval fleet was large in scale, but its main warships were not particularly large in size or number. The fleet also included a large number of armed transport ships and even civilian vessels.

But at this point, the Spanish navy was almost crippled.

When more than a dozen warships entered the port of Cavite, several old Spanish ships were all moored at the dock.

When the Spanish soldiers on the dock noticed the fleet approaching, they didn't immediately suspect an enemy attack; they instinctively assumed it was a Han Chinese merchant ship that had wandered off to the wrong place.

Navy soldiers boarded a small patrol boat, ready to intercept the "lost" convoy.

Standing atop his flagship, Guan Tianpei observed the surrounding sea and docks through binoculars, feeling a sense of absurdity:

"How could these Spanish barbarians be so careless? Didn't they ever consider the possibility of an attack?"

One of Guan Tianpei's lieutenants couldn't help but ask:

"General, should we attack like this? Or should we first raise the banner and declare war? Make contact with them and state our reason for the anti-smuggling operation?"

Guan Tianpei glanced around, and the staff officers began to discuss briefly:

Wang Chuanshan, a Ming loyalist, once said: "To kill barbarians is not unkind, to plunder is not unjust, and to entice them is not untrustworthy. Why? Because trust and righteousness are the principles by which people treat each other, not to be applied to inhuman beings."

"Benevolence and righteousness should be extended to humans, not beasts. If all the armies of the former Ming Dynasty had believed this, there would have been no fear of the calamity that befell the Chongzhen and Yongli Emperors..."

"The Spanish barbarians who seized Luzon repeatedly massacred Chinese immigrants during the Ming Dynasty. They were no different from beasts in their cruelty."

Guan Tianpei humbly accepted the advice of his staff:

"Excellent! Generals, listen to my command! Attack according to the plan! Even a lion or tiger hunting a rabbit must exert its full strength. Do not hold back; annihilating the enemy is the best course of action!"

Now that Guan Tianpei had made up his mind, the surrounding generals no longer hesitated and immediately accepted the order in unison.

The messenger immediately went to use flag signals to notify all warships to proceed according to plan.

The warships opened their portholes and began loading ammunition into their cannons.

The outcome of the ensuing battle was hardly in doubt.

More than a dozen large warships stormed into the so-called naval base and destroyed the only two larger warships.

Other smaller warships approached the shore under artillery cover, allowing the accompanying army to disembark and seize the mudflats next to the dock.

When Guan Tianpei's army launched its attack, the Spanish soldiers on the dock finally realized something was wrong.

"This...this is an enemy attack! It's the Han navy attacking! Report it immediately! Set up a warning!"

They yelled and ran back, but it was no use.

The navy stationed here originally numbered only two hundred people, and none of them were prepared for war.

The Han navy quickly sent more than 500 men ashore, and they soon took control of the docks and stormed into the military camp.

All the Spaniards who showed signs of resistance, as well as the natives who served them, were killed.

After transporting most of the army ashore and destroying the ships at the dock, the main fleet left the dock again.

The waterway in Manila Bay has been blocked, prohibiting other unrelated vessels from entering or leaving.

All the merchant ships they encountered were driven to Cavite for temporary anchorage.

Meanwhile, Chen Huacheng commanded the main fleet to continue sailing eastward toward the Pasig River estuary in the center of Manila.

Unlike the narrow Cavite, Manila is surrounded by a large population, with an estimated population of over 120,000 both inside and outside the city.

The heart of Manila is Intramuros, a small city with an area of ​​0.67 square kilometers.

The Spanish capital was well-defended, with walls nearly three meters thick and almost seven meters high, and diamond-shaped forts built at each corner of the walls, and a fairly wide moat outside.

On the side of the Spanish capital city near the Pasig River, there is a European-style stone castle named after Santiago, one of the most common names in Spain.

Spain adopted explicit discriminatory laws in its colonies, allowing only white people to live in the Spanish capitals.

The concept of white people in Spain is also internally layered.

The first level, of course, consists of pure-blooded white men and women from Spain.

The second level consists of white men marrying women of other ethnicities, and their mixed-race children.

White women's non-white husbands and their children are not considered white and cannot live in the city.

At this time, there were more than 6,000 pure-blooded white people in the city, as well as more than 20,000 women and mixed-race children who were considered white.

Nearly 20,000 Chinese and more than 80,000 local indigenous people live outside the city.

The area around Manila has a large population and many merchant ships, and more importantly, it is also a potential target for pirate attacks, so the residents and military here are generally more vigilant.

In addition, due to the sheer size of the Han fleet, it attracted the attention of passing civilian ships as it approached the river mouth, and the civilian ships instinctively avoided this massive fleet.

As the fleet prepared to enter the river, patrol boats came up to block it and shouted warnings, and patrolmen went into the castle to report.

However, no one directly fired upon the Han fleet.

Residents from the surrounding cities also approached the river or climbed onto the rooftops to watch the spectacle.

Chen Huacheng and his staff officers did not know what had happened to Guan Tianpei, but after listening to the lookout's report, they went through a similar mental journey as Guan Tianpei.

They were all shocked by the laxity of the troops and the residents.

However, Chen Huacheng did not hesitate or discuss it, and directly instructed his subordinates to prepare for the attack according to the plan.

Chen Huacheng's ultimate goal was, of course, to capture the royal city and Gothia, but he did not intend to directly attack well-defended cities.

Although naval scouts learned that there were only a little over two thousand soldiers in the entire city.

However, the losses from a direct naval assault would be too great.

Chen Huacheng arranged for part of the main fleet to blockade the river mouth and suppress the coastal defense artillery on both sides of the river.

Part of the bombardment was directed at Fort Santiago to tie down any potential defensive forces within the city.

Other armed transport ships used naval guns to cover the landing of the army on board.

First, conquer the Chinese settlements outside the city, then destroy the indigenous settlements outside the city, and finally besiege the city and fortress.

The naval fleet ignored the patrol boats that came out to block them and rammed and capsized them.

After each fleet took its position, they opened the gun ports on the sides, revealing the dark muzzles of the cannons.

With command flags waved on the flagship, the ships began firing at targets of value.

The deafening roar of artillery fire rang out in succession, and a large number of shells flew out of the muzzle quickly, landing on the shore and exploding again.

At Liu Yulong's request, the vast majority of the shells carried by the navy were wooden-tipped exploding shells.

However, the production of picric acid is still very low, and the majority of ordinary artillery shells are still loaded with black powder.

When the explosion rang out, people nearby realized it was an attack, and the crowd on the shore immediately descended into chaos.

Philippine Governor Alcedo heard the rumbling outside, but did not immediately realize that it was the sound of artillery fire.

Alcedo, startled and somewhat annoyed, gave the following instructions to his servants:

"Go out and see what happened!"

Not long after the servant ran out, a patrolman stumbled in, shouting at Alcedo:

"Enemy attack! Your Excellency, enemy attack! The Han navy is attacking!"

Alcedo found it unbelievable:

"The Han Chinese navy? Attacking Manila? Why would they do this? This is impossible!"

Alcedo's attendant reminded him:

"Your Excellency, the attack has already begun. We must prepare for defense immediately. Please give the order as soon as possible!"

Alcedo then realized what was happening and, while walking towards the castle, gave the following orders:

"Yes, yes, right! Go and wake up all the troops immediately and get them onto the city walls to prepare for the defensive battle!"

"Wake up all the natives too, and immediately send men with native soldiers to the Chinese area. Anyone involved in the riots should be killed on sight!"

The Spanish in Manila have a habit of massacring Chinese people first, whether in the event of internal turmoil or external attack.

The logic is similar to that of the Qing Dynasty when it encountered an attack by the British, and the decision to massacre the city before defending it.