Chapter 1668
Attacking Manila
Chapter 1668 Attacking Manila ([-])
"My lord, we have already left the city."
Hearing these words whispered by his attendants outside the car window, Aragones finally felt a little relaxed, temporarily out of the dangerous environment in the city, and no longer had to worry about being captured by the Haihans.However, this does not mean that he is safe. After leaving the city, he must at least cross the Bashi River before entering the safe area. Before Haihan completely controls the situation in the city, the area north of the Bashi River should be relatively safe. .
As the highest official of the Kingdom of Spain in Southeast Asia, Aragones certainly didn't need to compete with the fleeing civilians for the few small boats on the river. Before leaving the city, his subordinates had already arranged the route for him. A sailboat had long been moored waiting for his arrival.As for the people who wanted to squeeze in here, they were stopped far away by his private army.
When Aragones left the city, the Haihan army was only a few streets away from the castle area in the north of the city. He knew that the situation was over, and staying in the city would not help, so he simply chose to flee.As for the whereabouts of Francis, the commander of the city defense, even he is not very clear.Before asking Francis to come forward to negotiate with the Haihan people, even if the relationship between the two has come to an end, Francis has not cared about him as the governor since then.
Aragones is well aware of this, but he will not try to improve the relationship between the two.Although the two sides did not make a clear statement, they both understand that after this battle, the two must go their separate ways and will not cooperate again.And Francis did not communicate with Aragones at all about how to command the final battle, so it was difficult for Aragones to make a clear judgment on how the war in the city would end.
After stepping on the deck of the ferry, Aragones looked back at the city of Manila again, and could faintly hear the sound of cannons coming from the city. It seemed that the battle in the city was still not over, and the defenders were still fighting the invaders tenaciously. resistance.But maybe they didn't know that the Governor, who was supposed to stand behind them to provide support, had sneaked out of the city at this time and became a deserter.
The battle in the city was actually far less intense than Aragones imagined. The Haihan army captured the last stronghold of the defenders in the city without too much trouble. The Han army bombarded the gate of the castle, and the defenders in the castle chose to surrender shortly afterwards.
Francis did not go out of the city, but the troops he could command were no longer enough to make a comeback, and there was not even a big chance of causing trouble for the Haihan Army.After conquering the last stronghold, the Haihan army began to clean up the city block by block in an orderly manner. Anyone who tried to resist by force would be killed.There are at least thousands of Spanish defenders scattered and hiding in the city. Although there are many people, they can no longer organize to continue fighting. Most of them can only accept their orders and surrender. In the temporary prison area outside the city.
If these military personnel captured by the Haihan army could not get enough ransom for themselves after the war, most of what awaited them would be transported to some remote mine to spend the rest of their lives as miners.Of course, if they can get the money, then life in captivity will not be too difficult, and as soon as the money is in place, Haihan, who has a good business reputation, will immediately fulfill the contract and release him.
However, at this time, Francis did not have so many plans. For him personally, his professional future had already been gambled on the city of Manila. Losing this city was equivalent to making him lose his future goals. There's no point in escaping.So he planned to fight to the death in the city, at least he could make a good reputation.In the future, when the city of Manila was recorded in history, the city of Manila fell, and he, Francis, died on the battlefield as a commander, which was considered a worthy death.
Although Francis was determined to die, he didn't want to die without doing anything. He planned to try to sneak attack General Haihan and try to drag him into the water, which was not a loss.However, he also knew that Haihan's security measures were extremely strict, and it was almost impossible for him to get a chance to assassinate him in close quarters. The only thing he could do was to hide in a hidden spot and wait for the opportunity to make a phone call.
Francis did not hide in the old castle in the north of the city. He knew that after the Haihan army captured it, they would search it inch by inch, and they would definitely be found hiding there.And the Haihan army would definitely think that the commander of him was either hiding in the castle or had escaped from the city, and would not have thought that he would voluntarily leave the main force and hide in the attic of a private house in the city.
Of course, this loft was not chosen randomly. It was just facing the main road leading to the north gate of Manila, with a very wide field of vision. With a rifle on it, you can control the street within a hundred meters from the height.Francis planned to shoot at the target when General Haihan passed through here to check the condition of the Bashi River outside the north gate.The closest part of the attic to the main road is less than 30 meters away, and the lethality of the rifle can be used to complete a lore.
It is somewhat ironic that the rifle that Francis was going to use to carry out this task turned out to be a flintlock gun made in Haihan purchased from a certain place in Daming with a lot of effort and a lot of circles earlier. .Although this gun is an export version rather than the model equipped in the Haihan Army, for Francis, the accuracy of this gun is already very high, enough to meet the requirements of the assassination mission.
And Francis's few dozen followers of the dead soldiers sneaked into several other houses nearby.Their mission was to distract the enemy while in action, providing cover for Francis' crucial strike.Although the cover would expose them and their lives might be in danger, these dead men still planned to follow Francis to the last moment.
Francis waited in the attic all morning, but none of the senior generals he expected passed the main road.Long-term high mental tension can easily make people feel tired, and Francis is no exception. After observing the situation on the street with a telescope with red eyes, he finally couldn't stand the fatigue that came, and sat on the floor to start Close your eyes and rest.
Francis originally wanted to take a short rest and continue to monitor the movement outside, but since Haihan defeated the Manila fleet, it was difficult for him to have a restful sleep. On average, he only slept for three or four hours a day.In the past few days when Haihan attacked the south of the city, it was even more difficult for him to sleep, and he was stretched by a single breath. But after Haihan entered the city yesterday, the string that had been stretched for many days finally broke, and the accumulated fatigue was like a tide The attack was simply not something he could parry.As soon as the eyes were closed, Francis fell into a dream as if he had passed out.
Francis didn't know how long he had been asleep. What woke him up was the gunshots from the street outside. It took him at least half a minute in a daze to confirm that the gunshots he heard were real, not Conjectures in dreams.When he remembered his battle plan, the gunshots outside had become sparse, and soon completely disappeared.
Why did the Haihan people shoot outside? The answer is obvious. They must have found the defenders who were still resisting. At this time, the only ones fighting Haihan on this street were the group of dead soldiers commanded by Francis. up.Francis came back to his senses, and quickly opened the windows of the attic facing the street, and looked out.
He saw some Haihan soldiers cleaning the battlefield on the street, and they dragged several corpses along the street by their feet. Although they couldn't see the appearance of the corpses, from their clothes, it was not difficult for Francis to recognize them. It turned out that it was his subordinate.These people will take the initiative to show up and exchange fire with the Haihan army. Either the Haihan army discovered their hiding place, or a Haihan general passed by here, and they will launch an attack first according to the plan, creating chaos to attract Haihan The army's attention, thus creating a hands-on opportunity for Francis hiding in the attic.
However, Francis did not see the figure of General Haihan appearing on the street, and he had a terrible idea in his heart, that is, during the period when he was "comatose", he had already missed the best opportunity to make a move.
Francis expected it well. The reason why these dead men launched a suicide attack was because senior generals such as Yan Chujie, Qian Tiandun, and Harugong were going to go to the North City Gate to check the condition of the Bashi River via this road. Surrounded by men and horses, it is naturally easy for assassins to discover that high-value targets have appeared.Just being disturbed like this, out of safety considerations, Yan Chujie and others naturally wouldn't rush forward, but retreated to the safe zone, and the special warfare battalion would clean up the resisters here.
If Francis hadn't passed out just now, he might have seized this opportunity to carry out the assassination, and there was a high probability of hitting one or two targets while the scene was chaotic.It's a pity that fatigue crushed him, and the seemingly perfect battle plan was not fully implemented in the end.While remorseful, Francis couldn't help but start to worry about whether his hiding place would be noticed by the Haihan people. If the dead soldiers deployed outside were caught alive by the other party, they might expose his hiding place.
Francis' worry was not unreasonable. Before he decided whether to move his hiding place immediately, he saw a large group of Haihan soldiers running towards the house where he was hiding.Francis groaned inwardly, knowing that it was most likely aimed at him, he immediately picked up his weapon and prepared to make a final fight with the opponent in the attic.
If the Hai Han soldiers charged up the attic, Francis' rifle would only have one chance to fire, and it would take too long to reload to stop the opponent.However, he still has a short gun, one long and one short, and he has two chances to shoot. After shooting, he can only rely on the waist knife to complete the final confrontation.However, Francis himself is not optimistic about whether the waist knife will come in handy. He knows that he may be beaten into a hornet's nest by the enemy's guns before he takes out the knife.
Francis clutched the rifle tightly, thinking that even if General Haihan was not the target, it would be enough to kill two Haihan soldiers.However, although he heard that the Haihan army had arrived at the bottom of the attic, no one climbed up the attic along the ladder for a long time.When Francis was wondering, he saw faint smoke rising from the entrance of the attic, which soon became thicker, and smelled the smell of burning firewood.
Obviously, the Haihan people were sure that he was in the attic, and they were unwilling to pay too much for arresting him, so they simply built a few braziers downstairs and tried to pour smoke into the attic.If it continues like this, Francis will either be choked out, or he can only rush out of the attic on his own initiative, and then be subdued by his opponent.
Francis tore a piece of cloth from his clothes, poured the water from the jug on it to moisten it, and covered his mouth and nose to prevent the smoke from choking his lungs.Before he could decide whether to stay in the attic and hold on, or rush out to find some fun, there were already voices of persuasion in Spanish from downstairs.
The content of persuading him to surrender is very simple, it is to ask him to put down his weapon, raise his hands high, and immediately go out of the attic to surrender. Haihan will guarantee his personal safety.If he continues to resist, then I'm sorry, he can only be trapped in the attic and roasted.
"The war is over, and all soldiers should go home to recuperate, instead of being roasted to death in the attic." Qian Tiandun said to Simao: "Tell him, if you surrender now, I can make the decision." Give him some preferential treatment, such as occasionally having a drink or two with me, and talking about some interesting topics."
"This sounds like a very good condition." Simao flattered him without losing the opportunity: "General Qian is truly unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness!"
Simao translated what Qian Tiandun said into Spanish, and loudly conveyed it to Francis who was still hesitating in the corner of the attic.After waiting for a while, there was still no sound, so Simao asked Qian Tiandun: "General Qian, there is no movement at all in this attic. Could it be that there is something wrong with the intelligence? Maybe we should send someone up to have a look?"
"How about you go up and have a look?" Qian Tiandun asked with a half-smile.
Simao quickly shook his head and said, "That's not necessary. He hasn't come down for such a long time. Either he passed out, or he pointed his gun at the stairs, waiting for someone to go up and deliver his head."
Although Simao was scared, his judgment was very accurate. Francis was indeed waiting for a chance to do something.It's just that the Haihan army has seen a lot of various routines, and there are accurate sources of information pointing out that Francis is hiding in this attic, so naturally there will be no more opportunities for him to do it.No matter how determined Francis is to fight to the death, in this case, he can only give up his original idea.
After filling the attic with smoke for more than half an hour, Francis finally threw the weapon downstairs while coughing dryly, signaling that he would choose to surrender.
(End of this chapter)
"My lord, we have already left the city."
Hearing these words whispered by his attendants outside the car window, Aragones finally felt a little relaxed, temporarily out of the dangerous environment in the city, and no longer had to worry about being captured by the Haihans.However, this does not mean that he is safe. After leaving the city, he must at least cross the Bashi River before entering the safe area. Before Haihan completely controls the situation in the city, the area north of the Bashi River should be relatively safe. .
As the highest official of the Kingdom of Spain in Southeast Asia, Aragones certainly didn't need to compete with the fleeing civilians for the few small boats on the river. Before leaving the city, his subordinates had already arranged the route for him. A sailboat had long been moored waiting for his arrival.As for the people who wanted to squeeze in here, they were stopped far away by his private army.
When Aragones left the city, the Haihan army was only a few streets away from the castle area in the north of the city. He knew that the situation was over, and staying in the city would not help, so he simply chose to flee.As for the whereabouts of Francis, the commander of the city defense, even he is not very clear.Before asking Francis to come forward to negotiate with the Haihan people, even if the relationship between the two has come to an end, Francis has not cared about him as the governor since then.
Aragones is well aware of this, but he will not try to improve the relationship between the two.Although the two sides did not make a clear statement, they both understand that after this battle, the two must go their separate ways and will not cooperate again.And Francis did not communicate with Aragones at all about how to command the final battle, so it was difficult for Aragones to make a clear judgment on how the war in the city would end.
After stepping on the deck of the ferry, Aragones looked back at the city of Manila again, and could faintly hear the sound of cannons coming from the city. It seemed that the battle in the city was still not over, and the defenders were still fighting the invaders tenaciously. resistance.But maybe they didn't know that the Governor, who was supposed to stand behind them to provide support, had sneaked out of the city at this time and became a deserter.
The battle in the city was actually far less intense than Aragones imagined. The Haihan army captured the last stronghold of the defenders in the city without too much trouble. The Han army bombarded the gate of the castle, and the defenders in the castle chose to surrender shortly afterwards.
Francis did not go out of the city, but the troops he could command were no longer enough to make a comeback, and there was not even a big chance of causing trouble for the Haihan Army.After conquering the last stronghold, the Haihan army began to clean up the city block by block in an orderly manner. Anyone who tried to resist by force would be killed.There are at least thousands of Spanish defenders scattered and hiding in the city. Although there are many people, they can no longer organize to continue fighting. Most of them can only accept their orders and surrender. In the temporary prison area outside the city.
If these military personnel captured by the Haihan army could not get enough ransom for themselves after the war, most of what awaited them would be transported to some remote mine to spend the rest of their lives as miners.Of course, if they can get the money, then life in captivity will not be too difficult, and as soon as the money is in place, Haihan, who has a good business reputation, will immediately fulfill the contract and release him.
However, at this time, Francis did not have so many plans. For him personally, his professional future had already been gambled on the city of Manila. Losing this city was equivalent to making him lose his future goals. There's no point in escaping.So he planned to fight to the death in the city, at least he could make a good reputation.In the future, when the city of Manila was recorded in history, the city of Manila fell, and he, Francis, died on the battlefield as a commander, which was considered a worthy death.
Although Francis was determined to die, he didn't want to die without doing anything. He planned to try to sneak attack General Haihan and try to drag him into the water, which was not a loss.However, he also knew that Haihan's security measures were extremely strict, and it was almost impossible for him to get a chance to assassinate him in close quarters. The only thing he could do was to hide in a hidden spot and wait for the opportunity to make a phone call.
Francis did not hide in the old castle in the north of the city. He knew that after the Haihan army captured it, they would search it inch by inch, and they would definitely be found hiding there.And the Haihan army would definitely think that the commander of him was either hiding in the castle or had escaped from the city, and would not have thought that he would voluntarily leave the main force and hide in the attic of a private house in the city.
Of course, this loft was not chosen randomly. It was just facing the main road leading to the north gate of Manila, with a very wide field of vision. With a rifle on it, you can control the street within a hundred meters from the height.Francis planned to shoot at the target when General Haihan passed through here to check the condition of the Bashi River outside the north gate.The closest part of the attic to the main road is less than 30 meters away, and the lethality of the rifle can be used to complete a lore.
It is somewhat ironic that the rifle that Francis was going to use to carry out this task turned out to be a flintlock gun made in Haihan purchased from a certain place in Daming with a lot of effort and a lot of circles earlier. .Although this gun is an export version rather than the model equipped in the Haihan Army, for Francis, the accuracy of this gun is already very high, enough to meet the requirements of the assassination mission.
And Francis's few dozen followers of the dead soldiers sneaked into several other houses nearby.Their mission was to distract the enemy while in action, providing cover for Francis' crucial strike.Although the cover would expose them and their lives might be in danger, these dead men still planned to follow Francis to the last moment.
Francis waited in the attic all morning, but none of the senior generals he expected passed the main road.Long-term high mental tension can easily make people feel tired, and Francis is no exception. After observing the situation on the street with a telescope with red eyes, he finally couldn't stand the fatigue that came, and sat on the floor to start Close your eyes and rest.
Francis originally wanted to take a short rest and continue to monitor the movement outside, but since Haihan defeated the Manila fleet, it was difficult for him to have a restful sleep. On average, he only slept for three or four hours a day.In the past few days when Haihan attacked the south of the city, it was even more difficult for him to sleep, and he was stretched by a single breath. But after Haihan entered the city yesterday, the string that had been stretched for many days finally broke, and the accumulated fatigue was like a tide The attack was simply not something he could parry.As soon as the eyes were closed, Francis fell into a dream as if he had passed out.
Francis didn't know how long he had been asleep. What woke him up was the gunshots from the street outside. It took him at least half a minute in a daze to confirm that the gunshots he heard were real, not Conjectures in dreams.When he remembered his battle plan, the gunshots outside had become sparse, and soon completely disappeared.
Why did the Haihan people shoot outside? The answer is obvious. They must have found the defenders who were still resisting. At this time, the only ones fighting Haihan on this street were the group of dead soldiers commanded by Francis. up.Francis came back to his senses, and quickly opened the windows of the attic facing the street, and looked out.
He saw some Haihan soldiers cleaning the battlefield on the street, and they dragged several corpses along the street by their feet. Although they couldn't see the appearance of the corpses, from their clothes, it was not difficult for Francis to recognize them. It turned out that it was his subordinate.These people will take the initiative to show up and exchange fire with the Haihan army. Either the Haihan army discovered their hiding place, or a Haihan general passed by here, and they will launch an attack first according to the plan, creating chaos to attract Haihan The army's attention, thus creating a hands-on opportunity for Francis hiding in the attic.
However, Francis did not see the figure of General Haihan appearing on the street, and he had a terrible idea in his heart, that is, during the period when he was "comatose", he had already missed the best opportunity to make a move.
Francis expected it well. The reason why these dead men launched a suicide attack was because senior generals such as Yan Chujie, Qian Tiandun, and Harugong were going to go to the North City Gate to check the condition of the Bashi River via this road. Surrounded by men and horses, it is naturally easy for assassins to discover that high-value targets have appeared.Just being disturbed like this, out of safety considerations, Yan Chujie and others naturally wouldn't rush forward, but retreated to the safe zone, and the special warfare battalion would clean up the resisters here.
If Francis hadn't passed out just now, he might have seized this opportunity to carry out the assassination, and there was a high probability of hitting one or two targets while the scene was chaotic.It's a pity that fatigue crushed him, and the seemingly perfect battle plan was not fully implemented in the end.While remorseful, Francis couldn't help but start to worry about whether his hiding place would be noticed by the Haihan people. If the dead soldiers deployed outside were caught alive by the other party, they might expose his hiding place.
Francis' worry was not unreasonable. Before he decided whether to move his hiding place immediately, he saw a large group of Haihan soldiers running towards the house where he was hiding.Francis groaned inwardly, knowing that it was most likely aimed at him, he immediately picked up his weapon and prepared to make a final fight with the opponent in the attic.
If the Hai Han soldiers charged up the attic, Francis' rifle would only have one chance to fire, and it would take too long to reload to stop the opponent.However, he still has a short gun, one long and one short, and he has two chances to shoot. After shooting, he can only rely on the waist knife to complete the final confrontation.However, Francis himself is not optimistic about whether the waist knife will come in handy. He knows that he may be beaten into a hornet's nest by the enemy's guns before he takes out the knife.
Francis clutched the rifle tightly, thinking that even if General Haihan was not the target, it would be enough to kill two Haihan soldiers.However, although he heard that the Haihan army had arrived at the bottom of the attic, no one climbed up the attic along the ladder for a long time.When Francis was wondering, he saw faint smoke rising from the entrance of the attic, which soon became thicker, and smelled the smell of burning firewood.
Obviously, the Haihan people were sure that he was in the attic, and they were unwilling to pay too much for arresting him, so they simply built a few braziers downstairs and tried to pour smoke into the attic.If it continues like this, Francis will either be choked out, or he can only rush out of the attic on his own initiative, and then be subdued by his opponent.
Francis tore a piece of cloth from his clothes, poured the water from the jug on it to moisten it, and covered his mouth and nose to prevent the smoke from choking his lungs.Before he could decide whether to stay in the attic and hold on, or rush out to find some fun, there were already voices of persuasion in Spanish from downstairs.
The content of persuading him to surrender is very simple, it is to ask him to put down his weapon, raise his hands high, and immediately go out of the attic to surrender. Haihan will guarantee his personal safety.If he continues to resist, then I'm sorry, he can only be trapped in the attic and roasted.
"The war is over, and all soldiers should go home to recuperate, instead of being roasted to death in the attic." Qian Tiandun said to Simao: "Tell him, if you surrender now, I can make the decision." Give him some preferential treatment, such as occasionally having a drink or two with me, and talking about some interesting topics."
"This sounds like a very good condition." Simao flattered him without losing the opportunity: "General Qian is truly unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness!"
Simao translated what Qian Tiandun said into Spanish, and loudly conveyed it to Francis who was still hesitating in the corner of the attic.After waiting for a while, there was still no sound, so Simao asked Qian Tiandun: "General Qian, there is no movement at all in this attic. Could it be that there is something wrong with the intelligence? Maybe we should send someone up to have a look?"
"How about you go up and have a look?" Qian Tiandun asked with a half-smile.
Simao quickly shook his head and said, "That's not necessary. He hasn't come down for such a long time. Either he passed out, or he pointed his gun at the stairs, waiting for someone to go up and deliver his head."
Although Simao was scared, his judgment was very accurate. Francis was indeed waiting for a chance to do something.It's just that the Haihan army has seen a lot of various routines, and there are accurate sources of information pointing out that Francis is hiding in this attic, so naturally there will be no more opportunities for him to do it.No matter how determined Francis is to fight to the death, in this case, he can only give up his original idea.
After filling the attic with smoke for more than half an hour, Francis finally threw the weapon downstairs while coughing dryly, signaling that he would choose to surrender.
(End of this chapter)