Ming Zuo

Chapter 1246
"If there weren't maps and guides for this broken place, I'm afraid I'd never be able to find it in my life. The Spaniards are amazing and have hidden such a good stronghold. Fortunately, they are too weak to cause us too much trouble."

The Cebu offensive began.

Zuo Hua led the East China Sea Fleet all the way south, bypassing one island after another and passing through one strait after another.Almost at the premise of losing our way, we finally came to Cebu.

There is nothing wrong with his words.

Luzon, an archipelago country, has the most complex topography in the world.

Even the most seasoned navigator has to be careful here.

More than three hundred years later, even though the extremely powerful U.S. Pacific Fleet occupied absolute command of the sea, it was still beaten by the Japanese combined fleet in the nearby Wright Gulf and suffered heavy losses.

The main force of Spain in Luzon is concentrated in Manila. Although Cebu is the place where the Spaniards first landed, its importance has weakened a lot.

The Spanish army here only has more than a hundred people. Seeing the overwhelming Xia Guo warships, these people are completely desperate.

The East China Sea Fleet fired only one round of artillery fire at Cebu City, and then began to land.

As soon as the vanguard of the Eighth Regiment of the Second Marine Division set foot on the shore, the white flag was raised on the city of Cebu.

It can be said that the Xia army occupied the strategic points in the south of Luzon without bloodshed.

More than a hundred Spanish soldiers and their families, as well as local officials, walked out of the city obediently and handed over their weapons to Zhao Xianbing.

Since the Spaniards happily gave up their resistance and did not cause much crime, Zhao Xianbing treated them more gently.

It was just that they were locked up, and they were guaranteed food and drink.

Seeing that these Xia soldiers didn't shout to fight or kill, even though they lost all their wealth, the Spaniards still felt at ease while saving their lives.

Accompanied by Zhao Xianbing, Zuo Hua walked into Cebu City.

"Magellan, who sailed around the world, landed here. He himself was involved in a local tribal vendetta and lost his life here. It is of great significance that we occupy this place now."

Before attacking Luzon, the Xia army had undergone systematic education.

From the aspects of history, geography, humanities, nature, climate, etc., they have a comprehensive understanding of Luzon.

Such a big event as Magellan's voyage around the world is even more memorable to the generals of the Xia Army.

Now that I come to Cebu, I seem to have some kind of connection with the brave explorer more than a hundred years ago.

Especially Zuo Hua, with his head held high and his chest held high, was full of momentum.

After hearing Magellan's story from Zuo Menggeng, he had already made up his mind.

Kou can go, so can I!

Not only will he lead the Chinese navy to sail around the world, but he will also travel to every part of the world, so that the power of China will resound throughout the world.

The two traveled all the way in Cebu City and finally came to the Holy Child Cathedral.

In this church, there is a dark-skinned wooden statue of the Holy Child.

In 1565, Cebu was hit by a fire, and everything was burned to nothing.Only this statue of the Holy Child has been preserved, which is considered a miracle by the local people.

Zuo Hua and Zhao Xianbing stood in front of the holy baby elephant and looked left and right, but they couldn't see anything strange about it.

But they also know that the things here represent the progress of history and have great significance, so they ordered to strictly protect everything in the city.

From the second day onwards, Xia Jun marched in all directions one after another.Negros Island, Wright Island, Bohol Island, etc., have fallen into the hands of Xia Guo one after another.

Some of the indigenous tribes on these islands are cruel, some are kind, some are savage, and some are civilized.

When they met Xia Jun, their attitudes were different.

Ferocious and barbaric, he launched an attack without saying a word, treating Xia Jun as an intruder.

Kind and civilized, although frightened, took the approach of communicating and exchanging.

Xia Jun also treated them differently.

Those who dared to attack the Xia army would not be polite at all, and immediately fought back until they were completely wiped out.

Those who are kind and civilized, Xia Jun will make deals with them.All kinds of useful and novel commodities made these tribes put down their vigilance against Xia Jun, and the two sides got along harmoniously.

These tribes also had contact with the Spaniards and accepted the rule of the Spanish colonists.

Now it was Xia Guo, and they didn't feel any discomfort.

"Dear General, the natives on the big island to the south are the most brutal. They are best at hiding in dense forests and using poisonous arrows. Please be extremely careful."

Isandora, the leader of the Adoran tribe, reported the important situation to Zuo Hua.

The big island in the south that he mentioned is actually Mindanao Island, which is also the southernmost point of Xia Guo's attack.

Mindanao is second only to Luzon in size.

The above is densely covered with rainforest, and the mountains are vertical and horizontal.Not only are the natives brave and good at fighting, but there are also all kinds of ferocious and terrifying animals, which are definitely a big test for Xia Jun.

"I don't think we should go deep into the island rashly, lest the situation be unknown and the loss too great. Let's occupy this place first, and after stabilizing the advance base, we will slowly advance to the island."

Zhao Xianbing has a stable personality, and he does not think about victory before thinking about defeat in everything.

The place he pointed was the salient part of the southwestern tip of Mindanao.

This place has a name that the Han people feel is more friendly, called Zamboanga.

Although the name comes from the local dialect, it means the city of flowers.But it is easy to think of the Sanbao eunuch who once made a name for himself in a foreign land.

For this auspicious name, we must first capture this place.

After carefully studying the terrain, the other generals agreed with this suggestion very much.

Zamboanga is a long and narrow peninsula in Mindanao deep into the ocean, surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the terrain is narrow.Only a small amount of troops are needed to block the attack on land.

Moreover, if you advance to the island, there are relatively few paths, and there will be no situation where you can't take care of it.

Since everyone has no objections, the joint forces set off immediately.

Just as the army passed through the strait between Bohol Island and Wright Island, it encountered a Spanish fleet head-on.

Although I don't know where this fleet came from, since they are Spaniards, they are the enemy.

Zuo Hua gave an order, and the East China Sea Fleet immediately launched an attack.

There are seven sailing ships in this Spanish fleet. The ships are of different sizes, but their firepower is very weak. It is obvious at a glance that they are better at long-distance transportation.

Facing the Galen ship of the Xia State Navy, these Spaniards were not only powerless to resist, they didn't even have the idea of ​​fleeing.

In the end, when they were surrounded by groups, they quickly chose to surrender.

When the leading Spaniard was brought over for questioning, Zuo Hua and others knew that this fleet was actually transporting silver from the distant America.

They have been drifting at sea for more than half a year, and they are already exhausted. They just want to rush to Cebu to have a good rest.

As a result, they encountered Xia Guo's fleet and had no strength to run away.

Hearing that they were transporting silver, Zuo Hua immediately asked the soldiers to board the ship for inspection.

The reported results drove everyone crazy.

The silver captured in this battle was more than [-] taels.

This is really a fortune that fell from the sky.

Still a lot of money.

This capture alone wiped out all the funds for Xia Guo to send troops to Luzon.

As for the rest, it's all for nothing.

Zuo Hua didn't dare to neglect, and quickly sent someone to send the silver to Taiwan.

He had already heard Zuo Menggeng nagging about the domestic silver shortage, and with this amount of silver, at least it could be relieved.

(End of this chapter)