1635 Han style rises again

Evening, April 1683, 4, in the port of Acapulco.

In June 1565, two months after Spain invaded the Philippines, Spanish adventurous merchant Friar Andrés de Urdaneta led two Manila galleons loaded with silk, porcelain and other goods from Ming Dynasty Borrowing the southwest monsoon, it set sail from the Philippines to the north, and arrived in Acapulco after three months of turbulent trek. It made a huge profit and opened up the trans-Pacific trade that lasted for 6 years.And because the goods on the ship mainly originated from China, the local Spaniards simply called it the "ship of China".

At that time, Acapulco was just a small remote fishing village with more than a hundred families.However, with the vigorous prosperity of the "ship of China" trade, the population size has grown rapidly to more than [-] in decades, and the local economy has become increasingly prosperous, and a large-scale bazaar trade has been derived when the "ship of China" arrived.

That day seems to have become a major local festival. People sang and danced, held up statues of gods protecting merchant ships, sang the hymn "De Deuen", and came to the pier to welcome the safe arrival of the "ship of China" and wish the market a prosperous business .Merchants from all over the world came to trade in groups, some bought Chinese goods, some sold supplies, and even attracted ships from places as far away as Lima, Guayaquil and Caracas to trade and transshipment of goods and materials.

In 1645, the Philippine territory occupied by Spain was divided up by Zheng, Yizhou (predecessor of Wei), and Qi, and the Spanish forces were completely expelled from the Luzon Islands. As a result, the trans-Pacific trade interruption.

However, after the Luzon Kingdom, which the Zheng family ruled, gradually got on the right track, in 1667, they used a large number of Spaniards who had been captured to restart the trans-Pacific trade that had been suspended for more than ten years.Based on the extreme demand for oriental commodities and the huge trade profits, although they knew that the Zheng family was one of the main enemies who took their Philippine territory, this did not prevent many local businessmen from happily doing business with them.

The distant eastern territory is lost, and the only person who cares more about it may be His Majesty the King in Madrid, but this is just a matter of face.Because for the Viceroyalty of New Spain, it seems that the Philippine territory under its jurisdiction cannot create more economic value, and it is inconvenient to bring it under direct jurisdiction. physical resources.

Of course, for those devout bishops and priests, they may have lost hundreds of thousands of potential Catholic believers, and they may feel a little regret and loss in their hearts.

The Zheng family works closely with the merchants in the Governorate of New Spain. Every year, each organizes one or two merchant ships to travel to each other's territory to exchange the goods they need. The business is booming, and the bilateral trade volume reaches more than 100 million pesos. (1 tael of silver is approximately equal to 1.3-1.4 pesos).

To tell the truth, the state of Qi wants to attack the governorship of New Spain, and the state of Luzon is 1 reluctant. This is going to meet with Spain. How will they do business in the future?
But Qi State is the suzerain state, how dare the Zheng family refuse.The military conscription orders issued by Qi’s cabinet and the military command department are not up to you to bargain. As a vassal state, you must have the obligation to send troops, how can you refuse.

Fortunately, Qi State considered that after this war, the trans-Pacific trade led by Zheng will be greatly affected (not only will it be affected, it will definitely be yellow), so out of compensation, Qi State promised to expand the Siamese trade it developed. Romania, Cambodia, the Malay Peninsula, Bangladesh, India and other trade markets are fully open to Luzon to integrate into the "free trade" system dominated by Qi.

Because of long-term contacts with local businessmen in Mexico, Luzon is not too familiar with the port of Acapulco.The location of the main fort at the pier, the distribution of the troops stationed there, the depth of the channel in the port, the hydrology and geography, and the sea tide and other intelligence data were submitted to the staff of the Qi State Naval Task Force on the desk long before the war.

The shelling of the port of Acapulco lasted only two hours, and three forts, more than 20 artillery pieces, and an armed merchant ship were successively destroyed.God is sorry to see that the port defense facilities built by the Spaniards on the Pacific coast were completely set up to prevent pirates from attacking.They never thought that there would be a large-scale professional naval fleet attacking on a large scale, and the artillery fire was so fierce.

A large number of flowering bombs, shrapnel, and rockets hit the sky and covered the sky, almost blowing up the port of Acapulco into a sea of ​​​​flames, causing many casualties.The Spaniards who escaped by chance abandoned everything and hid in the city in embarrassment. Then they watched a large number of armed men rush to the shore in small boats, established a beachhead, and wiped out the remaining defenders.

Oh, God, following the warning from the north a few days ago that Banderas Valley (now Vallarta, Mexico's Pacific port) was attacked by an unidentified fleet, the prosperous and prosperous Acapulco was also attacked. Enemy attack.

No, this is not an attack. With such heavy artillery fire, well-trained landing troops, and all kinds of flying flags, it is clearly invaded by a regular army.

God, a war came so suddenly in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, breaking the peace of more than 160 years here.

So, where did the enemy come from?
"...Since our Great Qi Empire is at war with the Kingdom of Spain, our Joint Task Force was ordered to launch a full-scale attack on your country's American territories."

"...In order to prevent the life and safety of the residents in the city from being threatened, the commander of my Joint Task Force, in a spirit of compassion, advises all citizens of Acapulco to give up unnecessary resistance, open the city gates, and wait for our landing troops Received peacefully."

"...If you have no intention of surrendering, but choose to insist on resisting, causing casualties to our army, then, after the city is broken, our army will not be able to guarantee the safety of the lives and property of the residents of the city."

Luzon Naval Liaison Officer Rudy Fernandez read out loud the ultimatum issued by the task force, and then calmly looked at the Spanish officials and business representatives in the city hall.

Eddie Tavares, the mayor of Acapulco, didn't react for a while after listening. He stared straight at the enemy representative with a European face. The other party spoke Spanish very fluently. , and with a Basque accent.

"Excuse me, are you from the Peninsula?" A local Creole businessman suddenly asked.

"No, I'm not Spanish." Rudy Fernandez showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, and then said with a straight face: "I am a naval officer of the Kingdom of Luzon, and I am now under the order of the commander of the task force. You issued an ultimatum. Gentlemen, you only have one night to consider. If you have not responded by six o'clock tomorrow morning, we will regard it as a refusal. At that time, our task force will launch to the city of Acapulco The fiercest attack ever."

"No, we will not surrender." A Spanish captain officer said loudly: "We will not succumb to the threat of any external evil forces. The brave and fearless Spanish Royal Army will defeat all your siege actions. Yes Yes, you will spend all your lives, all your blood, and pay an unimaginably heavy price under the city of Acapulco!"

"Can I think this is your answer?" Rudy Fernandez pouted, ignoring the clamorous Spanish officer, but looking at Mayor Eddie Tavares standing in the front row, " You must know that the decisions you make will represent the fate of tens of thousands of people in the city of Acapulco....Survival or destruction? Please make a prudent choice."

"If we give up our resistance, can the lives and property of everyone in Acapulco be preserved?" Mayor Eddie Tavares asked softly, taking a deep breath.

For the convenience of governance, the Spaniards not only set up the Governor-General of New Spain and the Governor-General of Peru in the American territories, but also divided them into some smaller administrative units within the Governor-General's jurisdiction.Areas with a majority of Indians set up sheriffs, areas with more European immigrants were governed by mayors, and frontier areas set up provincial capitals and were guarded by supervisors.

All three are appointed by the governor, and a few important local officials are directly appointed by the royal family.The positions, powers and salaries of the three are basically the same.Their tenure is shorter, usually only one, three or five years.Although the royal family has many restrictions and regulations on them, such as handing over personal property lists before taking office, not being able to marry during their tenure, and not being able to make friends with local businessmen, etc., in fact their power is unlimited, and they can levy taxes and expropriate them arbitrarily. Tributes, forced Indian labor, etc., within a short term of office, they can collect a lot of money and enrich their own pockets.

Acapulco used to be the starting point of the trans-Pacific trade route. The business was prosperous, and a large number of European immigrants gathered. In addition, it was an important port connecting the eastern territories. Naturally, a municipal council was established, and the mayor was directly appointed by the royal family. of.

Eddie Tavares managed to get the mayor of Acapulco from the Council of Indian Affairs in April last year through a lot of bribes for a three-year term.This ass hasn't sat hot, and the money hasn't been made much, why did this damn Qi people come to his door?Did they cross the vast Pacific Ocean directly and travel for several months to reach Mexico, or did they cross the Strait of Magellan from the south, go all the way north, and kill them before their eyes?

For more than 100 years, the city of Acapulco has never been attacked by any foreign enemies.Those wretched and despicable pirates have coastal defense forts in Wenzhi Port, and there are hundreds of royal troops stationed in the city, so they dare not attack easily.

In recent years, the war between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Qi over the scramble for La Plata and Patagonia not only plunged the Viceroyalty of Peru into a quagmire, but also cost a lot of military power and countless supplies. Under the order of the Indian Affairs Committee, the Spanish Viceroyalty had to send the royal troops stationed in various places to the southern region one after another, making the defensive forces in the entire Mexican region very weak.

Of course, if the remaining military forces deal with those ignorant and backward Indians, and then temporarily mobilize and recruit local armed militias, they can easily deal with it, but there is no risk of instability in the local area.

As early as a few years ago, more than 300 elite royal troops were stationed in Acapulco to defend the safety of this prosperous and prosperous Pacific port city.But as the war in the south gradually became stalemate, these officers and soldiers were transferred to La Plata and the more important Mexico City one after another, leaving less than a hundred soldiers there.

Although the city of Acapulco has more than [-] residents, if it is urgently mobilized, two to three thousand armed militias can also be recruited to defend the safety of the city.

However, during a battle that took place in the morning, Eddie Tavares, officials and people in the whole city witnessed the fierce artillery bombardment of the Qi State Task Force, the dense rain of bullets, violent explosions, and constant The rising fireworks enveloped the entire pier including the fort in flames and thick smoke.

During the two-hour bombardment, the forts that had been relied on were destroyed one by one, and a large number of buildings in the port were severely damaged. More than 200 soldiers and armed militia stationed at the fort suffered heavy casualties. In the end, less than 60 people escaped. Go back to the city.

The strength of the enemy has exceeded everyone's expectations.

As a "little official" from the native land, Eddie Tavares came to Acapulco to gain wealth, not for the so-called noble dignity and kingdom honor, to fight with the incoming enemies .He didn't believe at all that with the dozens of officers and soldiers who fled back to the city, they could lead thousands of citizens without any combat experience to defend the city.

Although Qi State is a hostile country located in a distant New World, it is still a country in the civilized world after all. It should abide by the laws of the civilized world, and will not rashly do brutal things when the entire city residents give up resistance.

However, under the resistance of many city councilors and local officials in the city, Eddie Tavares' proposal to surrender was rejected, and he planned to recruit a large number of armed volunteers to defend the city.

The municipal council is a local self-government with a certain degree in the Spanish American territories.As early as more than 100 years ago, the Spanish colonists established a city every time they conquered a place in order to consolidate their rule.When these cities were founded, municipal councils were formed at the same time.There are generally 6-12 members of the municipal council, and sometimes up to 24 in large cities.They were either appointed by the governor, selected from the wealthiest local residents, or bought by themselves with huge sums of money (after 1559, the positions of municipal councilors in the American territories were publicly sold by the Spanish royal family).

Although, due to the intervention of the colonial government, the power of the municipal council is still limited, but it can still serve as a symbol of native white power.

The local businessmen and large plantation owners of Acapulco, whose wealth is tied to the city, are all in this city. If they voluntarily surrender and sacrifice the city of Acapulco, their lives will certainly be preserved.But the wealth they have accumulated over the years will be wiped out and will be ruthlessly plundered by the invaders.

The [-] residents in the city are enough to mobilize thousands of people to defend the city with all their strength. As long as the invading Qi people are massacred, they will not be able to bear too much loss, and then they will be forced to evacuate.

Even if the Qi people's attack cannot be forced back, as long as we persist for half a month, reinforcements will definitely be sent from Mexico City, hundreds of kilometers away. At that time, all of us will be saved, not only our lives, but also our accumulated Centennial wealth.