Chapter 1666
Attacking Manila
Chapter 1666 Attacking Manila ([-])
When Aragones and Francis received the reply letter from Yan Chujie, they also received the report that the east city gate was lost.This is undoubtedly a bad news that makes things worse, and it leaves them with one less condition they can use to bargain.The two stared at each other, not knowing how to deal with the current situation.The situation they originally imagined was that if the East City Gate can last until dark, then there will be at least one night to rearrange the troops. Maybe the battle situation will change tomorrow. There is still room for maneuver.
However, the advance speed of the Haihan army exceeded their expectations, and the action of replying to the truce proposal was also quick. Obviously, the opponent made this decision after capturing the East City Gate. The purpose is to force the Manila authorities to make a decision within today. .
"My lord governor, it seems that we have to meet with the Haihan people immediately." Francis said with a wry smile, "Otherwise, they may launch a general attack before dark."
"Both of us will go? No, Mr. Francis, that would be too reckless." Aragones shook his head again and again: "How can military and political officials go together? If the Haihan people want to play tricks, they will put We're done. Let alone negotiations, we won't even have the qualifications to negotiate conditions."
Francis heard that there was a sense of evasion in his words, and thought that if this was the case, then I, the commander of the city defense, was the only one who got away with it.Instead of waiting for the other party to clarify and give the order, it is better to be more straightforward and take the errand on its own initiative.
"My lord, please sit in the back of the town, I will go." Francis volunteered and said, "I am more familiar with the situation of the city defense, and it is better to negotiate conditions with the Haihan people. If something happens that prevents me from coming back, at least I will return." You are in control."
Francis' tone was very sincere, but he didn't think so in his heart. In today's Manila city, the Spanish authorities may no longer be in control of the overall situation.If the Haihan people are determined to wipe out all the Spanish officials in the city, it doesn't make much difference whether Aragones goes to the negotiation site or not.He believed that if the Haihan people really wanted to besiege the city with peace of mind, then even the Bashi River Basin in the north would fall under their control, and the people in the city would have no safe way to escape.
Francis believes that the tactics of the Haihan people, in addition to being strong on the frontal battlefield, deliberately set aside a way to survive in the north, in order to disintegrate the fighting spirit of the army and the people in the city.And now agreeing to negotiate a truce with our own side, the purpose is also to exert greater pressure on the Manila authorities in this area, forcing the authorities to completely abandon the measure of armed resistance.
As for whether he can come back safely after this trip, Francis dare not be too optimistic. Although he knows that the Haihan people may not be able to wipe out his own side, he still cannot keep the Spanish representative who will be used for negotiations as an example.If the Haihan people want to choose an influential target among local officials to control, it must be the governor of the Philippines with a higher position, not him, the commander of the Manila City Defense.If Aragones could be made to bow his head, then the Haihan people might not care about treating Francis as a sacrifice.
Aragones pretended to be polite, but he didn't mean to take this job on his own.Francis sneered in his heart, and he was even more disappointed with his immediate boss.If he can pass this level, he probably won't partner with the other party again.
At present, the Haihan army has occupied nearly one-third of the urban area, and it is difficult for the Spanish authorities to organize an effective defense line in the city. Therefore, Francis did not spend too long explaining the next deployment situation to his subordinates.In fact, at this time Francis was already a bit of a broken can, and there was no lack of thoughts of simply throwing the mess to Aragones, but in the end, reason prevailed, and he did not completely hand over the command of the defenders to this timid and despicable man. In the hands of the boss.God knows if he is given the command, he will simply open the city gate and run away the next moment.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, according to Haihan's request, Francis took a carriage to the ruins of the city gate in the south of the city.In order to show the sincerity of the negotiation, he only brought a coachman and two entourages with him.
After the battle started in the early morning today, Francis finally had the opportunity to return to the south of the city and witness the situation here with his own eyes.When he saw the ruins of the South City Gate, he couldn't help but be shocked by the means of the Haihan Army.He can think that this is the result of a violent explosion, but he really can't think of how the opponent blew up the city gate and the city wall into ruins without anyone noticing. There is also some kind of mysterious weapon unknown to him, which can destroy the city defense in one fell swoop under certain circumstances.
But this possibility is scary just thinking about it. If Haihan has such a powerful weapon in his hands, wouldn't there be no city in the world that can defend against their attack?Francis didn't even dare to think about the consequences, because he knew that even with the strength of the Kingdom of Spain, there was no effective way to resist Haihan's almost incomprehensible military strength.The best and only solution is probably not to be an enemy of Hai Han.
After several careful investigations by the Haihan army, Francis finally met his real opponent in a nearby private house, General Qian Tiandun who commanded the Haihan siege force.
Regarding Qian Tiandun's life, in fact, Spain's intelligence network in the Far East has conducted targeted research in recent years, especially the intelligence personnel lurking in Haihan's country, who have spent a lot of energy collecting relevant information about Haihan's generals. Qian Tiandun, who ranks high on the Haihan Famous General List, is naturally one of the targets.
Qian Tiandun was the first general to lead troops in Haihan, and his military exploits since crossing can be described as brilliant.Since the Annan Civil War, Qian Tiandun has been fighting overseas, from the South China Sea all the way to Liaodong, and then back to the South China Sea from Liaodong.The special warfare battalion formed by him has also been supported by warfare in these years, and the more he fought, the stronger he became, and his strength has dominated the Haihan ace unit for many years.
Although the special warfare battalion has been kept secret because of its combat methods and equipment, it has been shrouded in mystery all year round, but Qian Tiandun, who created this unit, has already become a famous general in Haihan. Most of the battles have been turned into stories by storytellers, which are widely praised in Haihan.Therefore, it is not too difficult for Spanish spies to collect various information about Qian Tiandun, but the authenticity and accuracy need to be verified.
Francis has of course read the information collected by the intelligence agencies, but he will certainly not believe the descriptions of Haihan folks who describe Qian Tiandun as superhuman and a god descending from the earth. However, after seeing Qian Tiandun himself, he is still a little surprised that Haihan General Han No.1 turned out to be so calm, completely different from the image of a fierce martial artist he expected.
Francis' entourage was left outside, but Qian Tiandun brought an entourage—Simano, a translator from Portugal.If there is no translator to communicate in the middle, then the negotiations between the two parties may only be chicken and duck talks.
Both sides are soldiers, so there is no need to waste saliva arguing about who is the righteous side of this war, which is such a boring question, and they go straight to the point.
Qian Tiandun made a clear request that the Manila authorities give up all armed resistance measures before sunrise tomorrow, hand over weapons to the Haihan army, and hand over control of all aspects of the city, and Haihan will take over the city.The Haihan Army will provide asylum to all Spaniards, and their personal belongings will be protected to the maximum extent, and they will be allowed to choose whether to leave Manila.
Naturally, Francis would not agree to such harsh conditions, even if more than half of the conditions of the Haihan people were within his expectations, but such a truce would be too much of a disadvantage for Spain, so he had to fight for it anyway.
The request made by Francis on behalf of Spain was exactly the opposite. The Haihan Army immediately stopped its aggression and withdrew from the city, and then the two sides conducted further negotiations.Of course, as the price for Haihan's withdrawal, the Manila authorities can consider giving Haihan a certain amount of "compensation" financially, and the amount can be negotiated.
This is the condition that Francis and Aragones negotiated. In fact, this means admitting defeat and willing to pay war reparations. But if Haihan can agree to this condition, at least the city of Manila can still be kept under Spanish control. It will be easier to explain to the domestic report in the future.In their view, half of Haihan started this war for revenge, and the other half was to plunder the wealth of Manila City.If they take the initiative to give the opponent a considerable amount of benefits, perhaps the Haihan people will consider retreating after they achieve their goals.
Until this time, Francis did not feel that Haihan's real purpose of launching this war was to snatch the city of Manila from Spain and implement long-term rule.Even Qian Tiandun proposed that Haihan take over the city, he thought it was some kind of coercion from the other party, and the purpose was to reduce his room for bargaining.
The reason is that Francis believes that Haihan has no reason to occupy an immigrant city ruled by Spain for more than half a century. More than half of the people here speak Spanish, and Spanish immigrants account for a quarter of the total population. about.For the city to change hands from top to bottom, it is much more complicated and troublesome than a simple military occupation.The Haihan people paid a high price for occupying this place, but the benefits they can get from it seem to be extremely limited. At least from Francis' eyes, they can't see Haihan's purpose.
Of course, it is impossible for Qian Tiandun to give him the long-term development plan of Cop Haihan, but one thing is very clear, that is, the city of Manila, including the entire Manila Bay nearby, is determined to be occupied by Haihan. for your own target area.Even if the Manila authorities are willing to pay more war reparations, it is impossible for Haihan to give up his original plan.
Haihan has been preparing for this war for nearly two years, but now that the army has invaded the city of Manila, when the victory is imminent, how can he give up the victory that is about to be obtained.Qian Tiandun directly refused Francis' request with a smile.
"Whoever takes the initiative on the battlefield can have the right to speak at the negotiating table. Don't expect to get what you can't get on the battlefield by talking about it here." After Qian Tiandun finished speaking, he motioned for the translator Simao conveyed these words to Francis.
Simao's admiration for Qian Tiandun has reached an incomparable level. As a fanatical supporter of the Portuguese independence movement, he very much hopes that his compatriots can also have the same confidence when facing the Spaniards, and use a condescending attitude to ruthlessly Beat each other.
Francis had already expected the other party's attitude from Qian Tiandun's expression, but after listening to Simao's translation, he couldn't help but feel that he had been humiliated. mention conditions.
But how could such harsh conditions be accepted calmly?Francis also shook his head, and once again refused to accept the conditions proposed by Qian Tiandun.Both sides refused to make concessions, and the scene fell into a stalemate for a while.
"Simang, tell him, if you don't want to talk, then stop here. But this negotiation is the last chance for peace. If you give up this opportunity, it will be useless to surrender to our army later." Qian Tiandun's Patience was almost worn out soon, and at the current stage of the war, he actually didn't have much thought to negotiate a peace.He believed that taking the city by force would minimize future troubles, but Yan Chujie still had illusions about persuading the city to surrender, which in his opinion was not a perfect solution.
After Francis heard this, he couldn't help taking a deep breath. He knew that when he rejected the opponent, it was time for the war to resume, and the current situation of the defenders probably made it difficult to block the opponent's offensive.How long can the city of Manila last?In two or three days, or at most four or five days, it will inevitably fall to the ground. At that time, as the other party warned, there may be no chance of surrender.But even though he clearly knew this direction, he still refused to give up.
Francis glanced out the window, it was already dusk, at least he bought himself another night by taking this trip.
"Leave everything to God to make the decision!"
Francis secretly made up his mind, then stood up and said, "Unfortunately, it is impossible for the city of Manila to surrender to your country. I think we have to resolve our differences through war."
Qian Tiandun also got up slowly, and said in his mouth: "As a soldier, it should be so. See you on the battlefield!"
Qian Tiandun watched Francis and his party leave, and then said to Simao: "This Spanish officer is a bit interesting. If there is a chance after the war, I would be happy to sit down and have a drink with him."
Simao smiled and replied, "At that time, he may not be in the mood to drink and chat with you."
(End of this chapter)
When Aragones and Francis received the reply letter from Yan Chujie, they also received the report that the east city gate was lost.This is undoubtedly a bad news that makes things worse, and it leaves them with one less condition they can use to bargain.The two stared at each other, not knowing how to deal with the current situation.The situation they originally imagined was that if the East City Gate can last until dark, then there will be at least one night to rearrange the troops. Maybe the battle situation will change tomorrow. There is still room for maneuver.
However, the advance speed of the Haihan army exceeded their expectations, and the action of replying to the truce proposal was also quick. Obviously, the opponent made this decision after capturing the East City Gate. The purpose is to force the Manila authorities to make a decision within today. .
"My lord governor, it seems that we have to meet with the Haihan people immediately." Francis said with a wry smile, "Otherwise, they may launch a general attack before dark."
"Both of us will go? No, Mr. Francis, that would be too reckless." Aragones shook his head again and again: "How can military and political officials go together? If the Haihan people want to play tricks, they will put We're done. Let alone negotiations, we won't even have the qualifications to negotiate conditions."
Francis heard that there was a sense of evasion in his words, and thought that if this was the case, then I, the commander of the city defense, was the only one who got away with it.Instead of waiting for the other party to clarify and give the order, it is better to be more straightforward and take the errand on its own initiative.
"My lord, please sit in the back of the town, I will go." Francis volunteered and said, "I am more familiar with the situation of the city defense, and it is better to negotiate conditions with the Haihan people. If something happens that prevents me from coming back, at least I will return." You are in control."
Francis' tone was very sincere, but he didn't think so in his heart. In today's Manila city, the Spanish authorities may no longer be in control of the overall situation.If the Haihan people are determined to wipe out all the Spanish officials in the city, it doesn't make much difference whether Aragones goes to the negotiation site or not.He believed that if the Haihan people really wanted to besiege the city with peace of mind, then even the Bashi River Basin in the north would fall under their control, and the people in the city would have no safe way to escape.
Francis believes that the tactics of the Haihan people, in addition to being strong on the frontal battlefield, deliberately set aside a way to survive in the north, in order to disintegrate the fighting spirit of the army and the people in the city.And now agreeing to negotiate a truce with our own side, the purpose is also to exert greater pressure on the Manila authorities in this area, forcing the authorities to completely abandon the measure of armed resistance.
As for whether he can come back safely after this trip, Francis dare not be too optimistic. Although he knows that the Haihan people may not be able to wipe out his own side, he still cannot keep the Spanish representative who will be used for negotiations as an example.If the Haihan people want to choose an influential target among local officials to control, it must be the governor of the Philippines with a higher position, not him, the commander of the Manila City Defense.If Aragones could be made to bow his head, then the Haihan people might not care about treating Francis as a sacrifice.
Aragones pretended to be polite, but he didn't mean to take this job on his own.Francis sneered in his heart, and he was even more disappointed with his immediate boss.If he can pass this level, he probably won't partner with the other party again.
At present, the Haihan army has occupied nearly one-third of the urban area, and it is difficult for the Spanish authorities to organize an effective defense line in the city. Therefore, Francis did not spend too long explaining the next deployment situation to his subordinates.In fact, at this time Francis was already a bit of a broken can, and there was no lack of thoughts of simply throwing the mess to Aragones, but in the end, reason prevailed, and he did not completely hand over the command of the defenders to this timid and despicable man. In the hands of the boss.God knows if he is given the command, he will simply open the city gate and run away the next moment.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, according to Haihan's request, Francis took a carriage to the ruins of the city gate in the south of the city.In order to show the sincerity of the negotiation, he only brought a coachman and two entourages with him.
After the battle started in the early morning today, Francis finally had the opportunity to return to the south of the city and witness the situation here with his own eyes.When he saw the ruins of the South City Gate, he couldn't help but be shocked by the means of the Haihan Army.He can think that this is the result of a violent explosion, but he really can't think of how the opponent blew up the city gate and the city wall into ruins without anyone noticing. There is also some kind of mysterious weapon unknown to him, which can destroy the city defense in one fell swoop under certain circumstances.
But this possibility is scary just thinking about it. If Haihan has such a powerful weapon in his hands, wouldn't there be no city in the world that can defend against their attack?Francis didn't even dare to think about the consequences, because he knew that even with the strength of the Kingdom of Spain, there was no effective way to resist Haihan's almost incomprehensible military strength.The best and only solution is probably not to be an enemy of Hai Han.
After several careful investigations by the Haihan army, Francis finally met his real opponent in a nearby private house, General Qian Tiandun who commanded the Haihan siege force.
Regarding Qian Tiandun's life, in fact, Spain's intelligence network in the Far East has conducted targeted research in recent years, especially the intelligence personnel lurking in Haihan's country, who have spent a lot of energy collecting relevant information about Haihan's generals. Qian Tiandun, who ranks high on the Haihan Famous General List, is naturally one of the targets.
Qian Tiandun was the first general to lead troops in Haihan, and his military exploits since crossing can be described as brilliant.Since the Annan Civil War, Qian Tiandun has been fighting overseas, from the South China Sea all the way to Liaodong, and then back to the South China Sea from Liaodong.The special warfare battalion formed by him has also been supported by warfare in these years, and the more he fought, the stronger he became, and his strength has dominated the Haihan ace unit for many years.
Although the special warfare battalion has been kept secret because of its combat methods and equipment, it has been shrouded in mystery all year round, but Qian Tiandun, who created this unit, has already become a famous general in Haihan. Most of the battles have been turned into stories by storytellers, which are widely praised in Haihan.Therefore, it is not too difficult for Spanish spies to collect various information about Qian Tiandun, but the authenticity and accuracy need to be verified.
Francis has of course read the information collected by the intelligence agencies, but he will certainly not believe the descriptions of Haihan folks who describe Qian Tiandun as superhuman and a god descending from the earth. However, after seeing Qian Tiandun himself, he is still a little surprised that Haihan General Han No.1 turned out to be so calm, completely different from the image of a fierce martial artist he expected.
Francis' entourage was left outside, but Qian Tiandun brought an entourage—Simano, a translator from Portugal.If there is no translator to communicate in the middle, then the negotiations between the two parties may only be chicken and duck talks.
Both sides are soldiers, so there is no need to waste saliva arguing about who is the righteous side of this war, which is such a boring question, and they go straight to the point.
Qian Tiandun made a clear request that the Manila authorities give up all armed resistance measures before sunrise tomorrow, hand over weapons to the Haihan army, and hand over control of all aspects of the city, and Haihan will take over the city.The Haihan Army will provide asylum to all Spaniards, and their personal belongings will be protected to the maximum extent, and they will be allowed to choose whether to leave Manila.
Naturally, Francis would not agree to such harsh conditions, even if more than half of the conditions of the Haihan people were within his expectations, but such a truce would be too much of a disadvantage for Spain, so he had to fight for it anyway.
The request made by Francis on behalf of Spain was exactly the opposite. The Haihan Army immediately stopped its aggression and withdrew from the city, and then the two sides conducted further negotiations.Of course, as the price for Haihan's withdrawal, the Manila authorities can consider giving Haihan a certain amount of "compensation" financially, and the amount can be negotiated.
This is the condition that Francis and Aragones negotiated. In fact, this means admitting defeat and willing to pay war reparations. But if Haihan can agree to this condition, at least the city of Manila can still be kept under Spanish control. It will be easier to explain to the domestic report in the future.In their view, half of Haihan started this war for revenge, and the other half was to plunder the wealth of Manila City.If they take the initiative to give the opponent a considerable amount of benefits, perhaps the Haihan people will consider retreating after they achieve their goals.
Until this time, Francis did not feel that Haihan's real purpose of launching this war was to snatch the city of Manila from Spain and implement long-term rule.Even Qian Tiandun proposed that Haihan take over the city, he thought it was some kind of coercion from the other party, and the purpose was to reduce his room for bargaining.
The reason is that Francis believes that Haihan has no reason to occupy an immigrant city ruled by Spain for more than half a century. More than half of the people here speak Spanish, and Spanish immigrants account for a quarter of the total population. about.For the city to change hands from top to bottom, it is much more complicated and troublesome than a simple military occupation.The Haihan people paid a high price for occupying this place, but the benefits they can get from it seem to be extremely limited. At least from Francis' eyes, they can't see Haihan's purpose.
Of course, it is impossible for Qian Tiandun to give him the long-term development plan of Cop Haihan, but one thing is very clear, that is, the city of Manila, including the entire Manila Bay nearby, is determined to be occupied by Haihan. for your own target area.Even if the Manila authorities are willing to pay more war reparations, it is impossible for Haihan to give up his original plan.
Haihan has been preparing for this war for nearly two years, but now that the army has invaded the city of Manila, when the victory is imminent, how can he give up the victory that is about to be obtained.Qian Tiandun directly refused Francis' request with a smile.
"Whoever takes the initiative on the battlefield can have the right to speak at the negotiating table. Don't expect to get what you can't get on the battlefield by talking about it here." After Qian Tiandun finished speaking, he motioned for the translator Simao conveyed these words to Francis.
Simao's admiration for Qian Tiandun has reached an incomparable level. As a fanatical supporter of the Portuguese independence movement, he very much hopes that his compatriots can also have the same confidence when facing the Spaniards, and use a condescending attitude to ruthlessly Beat each other.
Francis had already expected the other party's attitude from Qian Tiandun's expression, but after listening to Simao's translation, he couldn't help but feel that he had been humiliated. mention conditions.
But how could such harsh conditions be accepted calmly?Francis also shook his head, and once again refused to accept the conditions proposed by Qian Tiandun.Both sides refused to make concessions, and the scene fell into a stalemate for a while.
"Simang, tell him, if you don't want to talk, then stop here. But this negotiation is the last chance for peace. If you give up this opportunity, it will be useless to surrender to our army later." Qian Tiandun's Patience was almost worn out soon, and at the current stage of the war, he actually didn't have much thought to negotiate a peace.He believed that taking the city by force would minimize future troubles, but Yan Chujie still had illusions about persuading the city to surrender, which in his opinion was not a perfect solution.
After Francis heard this, he couldn't help taking a deep breath. He knew that when he rejected the opponent, it was time for the war to resume, and the current situation of the defenders probably made it difficult to block the opponent's offensive.How long can the city of Manila last?In two or three days, or at most four or five days, it will inevitably fall to the ground. At that time, as the other party warned, there may be no chance of surrender.But even though he clearly knew this direction, he still refused to give up.
Francis glanced out the window, it was already dusk, at least he bought himself another night by taking this trip.
"Leave everything to God to make the decision!"
Francis secretly made up his mind, then stood up and said, "Unfortunately, it is impossible for the city of Manila to surrender to your country. I think we have to resolve our differences through war."
Qian Tiandun also got up slowly, and said in his mouth: "As a soldier, it should be so. See you on the battlefield!"
Qian Tiandun watched Francis and his party leave, and then said to Simao: "This Spanish officer is a bit interesting. If there is a chance after the war, I would be happy to sit down and have a drink with him."
Simao smiled and replied, "At that time, he may not be in the mood to drink and chat with you."
(End of this chapter)