Chapter 817 Motive
"What on earth do these arrogant bastards want to do!" Alcarazo put down the monocular in his hand and couldn't help cursing: "Aren't the damn Haihan people supposed to be causing trouble for the Dutch at this time? Why? Will they appear here?"
None of the officers he had accepted could answer Alcarazo's questions. Although they also knew that the Haihan people had set up a large-scale military base on Penghu Island not far away, they never thought that the other party would take such a direct provocation and send a fleet to block their door. .
Of course, Alcarazo did not foolishly let his ship stay in the port, but immediately ordered the only three local armed sailing ships to leave the port and go to sea. Of course, Alcarazo did not let them go out to sea to escape, but operated in the nearby waters. If the Haihan people tried to launch an attack on Salvador City on Sheliao Island, then these three armed sailing ships could at least provide some harassment. effect.
Seeing that it was getting late, the Haihan fleet showed no sign of preparing to leave. Instead, it continued to move slowly from west to east, and finally chose to dock at a small seaside harbor only a thousand meters west of Jilong Port. Waimushan Fish Port in later generations. This place is backed by mountains and faces the sea, so there is no need to worry about sneak attacks from land. The fleet only left two slightly larger warships to continue cruising outside the harbor, and it seemed that they did not pay attention to the Spanish stronghold that was so close.
"It's simply arrogant! Send a signal to bring our ship closer!" Alcarazo ordered angrily.
"Sir, do you want to start a war with the Haihan people?" the subordinate asked cautiously.
"What kind of war are you starting? Are you stupid? Didn't you see how many ships the Haihan people came?" Alcarazo scolded: "They didn't take action directly, maybe they were waiting for us to provide them with this excuse! Tell us. People, don't open fire. Send someone over to find out their purpose. Maybe they are just passing by..."
Alcarazo himself didn't believe such a reason. If he was just passing by, did he need to show force with all the windows open? Stopping overnight in such a sensitive area without saying hello was not so much a provocation, but Alcarazo thought it was more like adjustment and preparation before war.
Although the city of Salvador has both land and sea armies, Alcarazo knows very well that the strength of the garrison here is not as strong as it seems. It may be enough to deal with the primitive natives in the nearby mountains, but if it wants to fight an all-out war with an evenly matched opponent, it will be difficult for the city of El Salvador to sustain it for too long. Almost all the combat materials here come from irregular supplies from Manila, and there is not much inventory. Moreover, many of them were seized by Alcarazo and his officers in the name of training consumption, and were quietly sold to Ryukyu, Japan and other places for profit. Self-interest. If a fight breaks out, the defenders will run out of ammunition and food in at most two or three days.
In addition, the local blacksmith responsible for maintaining weapons and equipment also mysteriously disappeared before, which will also affect the army's continued combat capability to a certain extent. There were originally five armed sailing ships stationed locally, but two of them have recently returned to the shipyard in Manila for repair and maintenance, and their maritime combat capabilities have also been greatly reduced. Although it is difficult to connect these things with the foreign enemies appearing at the moment, Alcarazo still has a strange feeling in his heart, thinking that the timing of the Haihan fleet's appearance is just too coincidental. But before Alcarazo could figure out the twists and turns, he heard another news that was hard for him to accept.
Santo Domingo City Governor Gesman, together with hundreds of local garrison troops and immigrants, are heading towards Jilong Port by land and are expected to arrive before midnight tonight. Gesman hoped that Alcarazo could prepare boats and food in advance so that the team, which had been hiking in the wilderness for two days, could rest as soon as possible after arriving at their destination.
According to the messenger, the reason why the fleeing team was forced to abandon the city of Santo Domingo was that the Haihan people launched an "irresistible" offensive there. Captain Lopez, the top commander in Santo Domingo City, also died in the battle with the enemy. In order to save the lives of the Spaniards in the city, Tamsui Governor Gesman finally chose to hold peace talks with Haihan and let the Haihan people go free on the condition of evacuating the local area. Of course, under Gesman's instruction, the messenger would never take the initiative to mention the various strange events that occurred in the city in the past few days. Especially things related to Delgado have become indescribable taboo content.
After Alcalazo inquired carefully, he learned that the Haihan people had quietly surrounded the city of Santo Domingo a few days ago, and then launched continuous bombardments. In just three days, the defenders in the city were unable to parry, and they could only Discuss peace and abandon the city. Obviously, the Haihan people were not satisfied after capturing the city of Santo Domingo, but immediately turned their guns to the city of Salvador in Jilong Port. Judging from the time mentioned by the messenger, the Haihan people even had enough energy to rest and recuperate locally for a day before setting off for Jilong Port, arriving just in tandem with the team retreating from Tamsui River.
"The time calculation is so accurate!" Alcarazo couldn't help but sigh. In his view, this was undoubtedly a manifestation of the Haihan people's careful planning and meticulous planning.
In fact, when Takahashi Minami let Gesman and others go, he had no intention of seizing the opportunity to attack Jilong Port. Even if Gesman could send the news back to Jiro Port first so that the side could take precautions in advance, it would still be possible. It won't have much of an impact on Heihan's offensive plan. There is indeed some element of coincidence in the arrival times one after another. Of course, this explanation is certainly not something Alcarazo can believe.
Fortunately, the coast of Jilong Port is very close to Sheliao Island, not even one mile away. Even if they use a small boat to ferry, it won't take too long for the hundreds of people in Santo Domingo City to return to the island. For Arrangements were not difficult for Alcarázo.
However, Gesman's team had not arrived yet, and the representative sent to negotiate with the Haihan people came back first. The person who performed this task was Alcarazo's distant cousin Fernandez, who also served as the local maritime armed commander.
The news brought back by Fernandez was very discouraging. The Haihan people made it very clear their attitude - they were here to regain the territory belonging to Haihan, and the Spaniards who occupied this area must surrender and evacuate as soon as possible, otherwise they would There will be war.
"How can this be the land that belongs to Haihan! It was us, the navigators from the Kingdom of Spain who discovered this place first! These shameless people actually want to use such a poor excuse to drive us away!" Alcarazo's reaction was different from the original one. Gesman's reaction when he heard Takahashi Minami's theory was almost the same: he couldn't accept it. "They have about eight to ten armed sailing ships, equipped with much more artillery than our ships. If a war breaks out, we are likely to suffer a loss." Although Fernandez said it more tactfully, Alcarazo could still clearly say I could hear the powerlessness in his words.
Alcarazo thought for a while and decided not to draw any conclusions yet. He patted Fernandez on the shoulder and said, "Then let's wait a little longer. Gesman fought against the Haihan people in Tamsui. We should listen to his opinion."
Sure enough, Gesman arrived at the coastline at midnight, then changed to a fishing boat and returned to the city of Salvador on Sheliao Island. After two days and nights of marching through the jungle, Gesman's appearance at this time could only be described as embarrassed. Alcarazo was secretly amused by his disgraced look. However, he still took good care of Gesman's emotions. He first had someone give him water to wash his face, and he changed into clean clothes before starting the formal meeting.
"What happened in the city of Santo Domingo?" Alcalazo asked straight to the point: "I heard that there was a fierce exchange of fire in the city of Santo Domingo. What is the combat effectiveness of the Haihan people?"
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"Well... they are really terrible enemies!" Gesman had already thought about the words on the way, and now he began to tell according to his script: "Although we discovered it when they just arrived at the mouth of Tamsui River. situation, but because we have no surface armed ships, there is no way to prevent them from sailing into the Tamsui River to complete the landing. I ordered Captain Lopez to set up several lines of defense on land, but the Haihan people's weapons and equipment are very good, and the number of artillery is also higher. There are more of us, so we can only fight and retreat, and return to the castle to defend. During this period, I also tried to send a messenger to ask for help, but the Haihan people set up a very tight encirclement on the outside, and our messenger was completely unable to break through. Get out. In two days, we exhausted all our ammunition reserves and could no longer fight with them.”
Gesman stopped here and wiped his eyes with some emotion: "Captain Lopez always insisted on commanding the battle on the city wall, but unfortunately on the third day of the war, he was hit by a stray bullet outside the city and died. For In order to save the lives of the Spanish people in the city as much as possible, I ordered peace talks with the Haihan people. Gentlemen, I think my actions should be regarded as a sinner of the Kingdom of Spain."
"No, no, no, Mr. Gesman, you didn't do anything wrong. If I were in your situation at that time, I would probably make the same choice." Alcarazo was very knowledgeable and did not say anything about it. He accused Gesman of surrendering, but instead took the initiative to smooth things over for him: "I think our soldiers must have killed many enemies and avenged Captain Lopez."
"Of course, our soldiers are very brave, and I am proud of their performance!" Gesman answered very naturally, without any hint of guilt: "During the battle, we killed at least dozens of people. Although the enemy did not achieve the final victory, we have told them through our performance on the battlefield that the Kingdom of Spain is not an opponent that can be easily defeated!”
Gesman was not worried that his exaggeration would soon be exposed, because he also knew that Alcarazo would not ask the soldiers one by one for details about the combat process. As for the few officers who knew the ins and outs, he had already formed an offensive and defensive alliance with them in the past two days. Anyway, if everyone works together to complete this big lie, not only will they not have to bear the responsibility for the defeat, but they will also have the opportunity to ask for credit from above. No one involved will take the initiative to expose this illusion.
Of course, if Jilong Port can't withstand the pressure and can't beat the Haihan people who are chasing after them, then maybe Gesman will have to take Alcarazo to perform the same trick again.
"Mr. Gesman, do you know the real reason why the Haihan people took the initiative to attack us?" Fernandez asked.
When he mentioned this, Gesman was also very angry: "These guys actually claimed that Formosa is their inherent territory of Haihan. It's really crazy! But I can't figure out why they want to go to war with us. There are few resources here and the mouth of Tamsui River, and they cannot be said to be strategic locations. Why would they not hesitate to launch a war to seize control of this place? ”
"There must be some reason that we don't know yet." Alcalazo was also puzzled by this: "Apart from being used as a transit supply point for us to trade with Ryukyu and Japan, there is actually nothing special about this place. It's of great significance. The Haihan people have already built a base in Penghu, so it doesn't make much sense to seize this place. Besides, there isn't much land for reclamation here, but the coastal area near Penghu is more suitable for development. Farmland and plantations are the right ones.”
Even if Alcarazo wanted to break his head, he could not imagine that Haihan could not wait to start this war because he knew that there was gold mine underground. Of course, if they knew the truth, the Manila authorities might have sent ten times as many troops to garrison here. But in any case, the theory of inherent territory promoted by Haihan is nonsense in the eyes of these Spaniards. It was obvious that the Haihan people did not want to reveal their true motives, but just found an excuse. In the end, they planned to use force to take over the Spanish stronghold.
If you can't defeat your opponent in Santo Domingo City, you can still retreat to Jilong Port. This will only reduce the radius of your activity area by dozens of miles. But if they can no longer defeat the opponent here, the Spaniards will really have no choice but to abandon Taiwan Island and return to where they came from. This retreat means that the Spaniards' sphere of influence will shrink thousands of kilometers southward, which is probably difficult for the Manila authorities to accept. So even if Alcarazo can clearly feel the power of the Haihan people, he cannot be a coward like Gesman did in Santo Domingo City.
"Gentlemen, it seems that we must prepare for war overnight." Alcalazo announced with a solemn face: "For the glory of the Kingdom of Spain, we must fight these Eastern barbarians to the end!"
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(End of chapter)