Chapter 1643 God is not in favor
The senior generals here are actually already familiar with the map of the Manila area. Since the middle of last year, the Ministry of National Defense has distributed the map to them as a reference for formulating combat plans. As more and more intelligence information is obtained, the military defense markings on the map are becoming more and more detailed. On the map now posted, even the location and artillery deployment status of the Manila Port coastal defense forts are marked. Clear as day.
This information is indeed very precious to the Haihan generals who set foot in Manila for the first time. Otherwise, they would have to spend a lot of time investigating the enemy's deployment during the march into Manila, and they may have to pay some in the process. The cost of casualties. The military value of these critical intelligence provided by the Ministry of Security has been difficult to measure in terms of money.
"If the weather conditions are good in the next few days, then we will attack the port at the mouth of the Pasig River first according to the original plan. This area is also the area with the most intensive coastal defense batteries, and we will not launch an attack as soon as we come up. Instead of landing, the navy will first try to clear a landing area on the coast. If that doesn’t work, we will switch to another plan and find another landing site.”
Yan Chujie stood up and walked to the map to explain the next battle plan to the generals. In fact, the plan of the Haihan Army is not complicated. It is nothing more than clearing the coastline, carrying out landings, and then attacking the city of Manila. However, the Spaniards should also be very clear about this process. Although their weapons and equipment are slightly backward, they occupy the home field. There are many defensive fortifications that can be exploited, so during the implementation process, it is necessary to fight with them and eliminate their geographical advantages as much as possible.
Yan Chujie continued: "If the weather conditions become bad and are not conducive to our attack, then we will be stationed in Cavite first. Although the Spanish have emptied all the supplies here, we have seen the barracks near the port which are quite good. , it's all made of stone. It can be used as a bunker with a little modification. In addition, once we occupy Cavite, it will be easier to blockade Manila and we will have space to hoard supplies and assemble troops. I plan to inform Sanya immediately. Let the base camp prepare the follow-up supplies and prepare for a long-term battle here.”
The action plan formulated by the Haihan Ministry of National Defense aimed at conquering Manila in one go. Considering that the amount of supplies and ammunition carried during the expedition was limited, and whether it could find a suitable place to establish a frontline base near Manila was unknown, the Ministry of National Defense decided to control the combat cycle of the entire operation to about twenty days, even if there was no attack in the end. Lower Manila City can also retain enough spare power to retreat to Hainan Island.
Of course, the Ministry of National Defense has more than just this set of combat plans. This is just the most conservative plan among them. In fact, corresponding action plans have been prepared for seizing the Port of Cavite as a frontline base, or even directly landing at the Port of Manila to attack the city. Since the Port of Cavite was successfully captured on the first day of breaking into Manila Bay and the de facto occupation was completed, Haihan would have an extra buffer space in the subsequent battles, which may not necessarily be needed. The entire combat operation was compressed into twenty days.
The generals unanimously agreed with Yan Chujie's proposal, and they did not want to compress the operation time too tightly, which would probably result in more casualties in order to achieve the combat goal within the limited time. If there were too many casualties in the battle, the operation might not be worth the gain for Haihan.
Although the voyage between Sanya and Manila Bay requires almost crossing the entire South China Sea, as long as there is a stable port in Manila Bay, it is not impossible to establish a maritime supply line. Of course, for this reason, the Ministry of Shipping will definitely have to apply for a special fund from the Executive Committee to maintain the operation of this temporary supply line. However, these matters do not need to be worried by the generals present. There will naturally be relevant personnel to hand over to the Ministry of Shipping. Haihan's foreign wars for so many years have long formed a set of default operating procedures among various departments. There is no need to The processing flow in the middle will be discussed separately.
That night, the remaining Spanish armed personnel made no further attempts to launch a counterattack against the Haihan-occupied area on the Cavite Peninsula. After the first day of fighting in Manila Bay ended, an unexpectedly quiet night ushered in. Hai Hanjun was also able to relax a little mentally and physically after being tense all day long, and take the time to rest.
But in the second half of the night, the wind on the sea suddenly became much stronger, and some of the marching tents set up in the open air on the coast began to sway in the strong wind. When the headquarters discovered that the weather conditions had suddenly changed, they immediately ordered all personnel to enter the nearest building to take shelter temporarily.
Towards the early morning, strong winds and rain began to rage over Manila Bay. Even though the Haihan Army was prepared for such weather conditions, there were still leaks or even waterlogging in many temporary residences, causing some troops to be forced to leave. Do not move in the rain.
Fortunately, the Haihan Army had prepared enough oilcloth raincoats before the start of this operation, and the participating troops had basically been or had been stationed in the South China Sea area. They were no strangers to such windy and rainy weather conditions, so there was no Chaos occurred due to this sudden change in weather.
After dawn, the windy and rainy weather did not improve, but got worse. Many of the marching tents set up at the port the day before yesterday had been blown away by last night's strong wind. Fortunately, after each department counted the number of people, there were no casualties for the time being. Yan Chujie summoned the military doctor and asked him to prepare cold-repellent products such as ginger soup to prevent widespread colds among the troops.
During the meeting the day before yesterday, some people believed that bad weather not only brought trouble, but was also a good opportunity to launch an attack, because the Spaniards also used muskets and artillery, but their combat effectiveness in harsh environments was not comparable to that of the Haihan Army. Compared with standard weapons, such weather can greatly limit the performance of its coastal defense artillery. But in this weather, let alone attacking Manila City, it has become very difficult to assemble troops outdoors, let alone cross the sea to carry out a landing battle. Although this kind of weather can inhibit the performance of the Spanish defenders, it is also extremely unfriendly to the Haihan Army and cannot take advantage of them at all.
"Stop the action temporarily and wait until the weather gets better." Yan Chujie looked at the pouring rain outside and could only make such a helpless decision.
It is difficult for everyone to raise any objections to this. If they forcefully go to sea to attack Manila Port in such weather, it would be good to be able to exert 20% of their combat effectiveness. However, the risk is too great. Of course, there is no need to worry that the Spaniards will launch a counterattack at this time. What the Haihan Army cannot do, they also cannot accomplish.
However, the cessation of the attack on Manila does not mean that the Haihan Army's operations in Cavite have ceased. At the insistence of the generals, Haihan Army Departments still mobilized troops to carefully clear the remaining parts of the Cavite Peninsula. After advancing to the town of Noveleta at the root of the peninsula, the command ordered the troops to withdraw and regarded this as the dividing point between Haihan and Spanish-controlled areas. In the process of advancing, there were inevitably some remaining defeated generals struggling to their death, but they were unable to cause any more trouble to the Haihan Army, because the command headquarters had already issued an order to the frontline troops to kill without mercy, so those who were killed by the Haihan Army The armed men who did not surrender directly after being discovered almost all took bullets immediately. In the Cavite Peninsula, including the town of Noveleta, all Spanish nationals, regardless of whether they participated in the resistance, are under arrest and detention. Following yesterday, the military arrested more than 80 Spanish immigrants. . However, only a few of them were militants, and the others were just ordinary civilians. According to their confessions, some armed men still fled to Baqueol, Las Piñas, Parañaque and other towns east of the Cavite Peninsula, trying to reorganize their troops and then wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack .
For such stragglers, the Haihan Army does not have to worry too much. When they attacked Cavite yesterday, even the Spaniards and natives only had a few hundred people to participate in the resistance. Most of these people had been killed, and the Manila fleet had also retreated. The remaining people had no support and nothing to do. How much more momentum could it create?
In this process, the arrangements Haihan made before the war came into play again. There is an office of the Ming Dynasty company "Dacheng Bank" in Cavite. After showing the employees a souvenir from their boss Wang Lin, , the guys from "Dachengxing" temporarily acted as guides for the Haihan Army. Not only did they search every Spanish immigrant on the Cavite Peninsula, they also dug out the secret granary where the Spaniards were hiding in a certain house. ——The grain stored here was previously sold to the Spanish by "Dacheng Bank".
After hearing that nearly seven tons of grain had been seized, Yan Chujie's complexion finally improved a little. Compared with gold and silver treasures, it is more practical to seize food at present. After all, treasures cannot be directly used as military rations, but food is a good thing that can extend one's life. Divided out, these tons of grain can almost satisfy the Haihan Army's military ration consumption for several days.
Of course, not all was found in the dozens of Spanish immigrant homes in Cavite. A lot of money was confiscated from the homes of several merchants, including more than ten boxes of Spanish silver coins shipped from the Americas.
"Finally something has been gained!" Looking at the boxes of silver coins brought back, the generals' expressions became much more relaxed. Since so much oil and water can be scraped out here in Cavite, the city of Manila, where the Spaniards live, must be no different. Even the stormy weather seems to be getting less bad.
The clearing campaign on the Cavite Peninsula lasted for two full days in the continuous heavy rain. If it were not for the limited troop strength and poor weather conditions, the headquarters would probably have to divide its troops to raid all the towns within a radius of dozens of miles. It’s impossible. During this period, there was no movement in the direction of Manila Port. The command believed that this was due to the weather on the one hand, and the Spaniards completely losing contact with the Cavite Peninsula on the other. They would wait for the exact news to be sent back to Manila City, and then send the Spanish to the Cavite Peninsula. It does take several days for the authorities to make judgments and take response measures.
"What the hell are you doing! Is this the fight to the death you promised me? One day! No! In less than one day, you lost the Port of Cavite!" Philippine Governor Aragones in his official residence He loudly reprimanded Juan who looked tired. He really couldn't accept that such a one-sided war situation appeared at the door of his home.
"Are the Haihan people all devils? I heard that they only dispatched five ships! Mr. Juan, it is not a whole Haihan fleet, but five ships! I defeated your Manila fleet in this way, please tell me "How on earth did you direct this battle?" Aragones said in excitement, and almost slapped Juan in the face with his waving hands.
"My Lord Governor, I have no intention of shirking my responsibilities, but I still want to point out to you that the Haihan people have installed a new type of warship, which is faster and more accurate than their existing warships. The hull is also covered with With a layer of iron armor, our cannonballs are basically scratching the surface. The Manila fleet's sailboats have almost no chance of winning against this kind of warship." Although Juan was sprayed with saliva, he still responded calmly: " But fortunately, the number of this new type of warship seems to be very small, and only one was dispatched during the battle. When the news from Cavite comes back, perhaps we can confirm its number more accurately. "
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"What do you want to say? So the reason for your failure is because the Haihan people equipped a new warship?" Aragones did not fully understand Juan's intentions, and his anger was not appeased.
"Because the new battleship's combat method is different from other Haihan battleships, it adopts a separate combat method." Juan continued: "Your Majesty Governor, although we have temporarily lost the Cavite Port, the Manila Fleet is still there. We can rely on Manila Port to continue to deal with the Haihan people. If that warship is dispatched again, I will definitely try to kill it at sea! Maybe we can force the Haihan people to retreat."
"Is it that simple?" Aragones didn't quite believe Juan's statement. It's not that he doesn't believe that Huan can't destroy the Haihan battleship, but he doesn't believe that this can force Haihan to retreat.
Juan responded: "With Haihan's shipbuilding level and financial resources, he has not been able to build a few more ships. This shows that this kind of warship is very advanced. Once it is damaged in a battle, it will definitely have to be brought back to Sanya to repair it. Then destroy them. The most powerful new weapon may also destroy their confidence in attacking Manila. ”
Before Aragones could refute, Juan had already continued: "Sir, we currently have no better way to retreat from the enemy. Any possibility is worth a try!"
(End of chapter)