Chapter 1659 Attacking Manila (9)
There is a farm that originally belonged to the Spaniards about three miles south of the battle zone. However, when the Haihan army attacked this place, the owner's family had already fled into the city, and the farm's servants and long-term workers also fled separately. An empty estate was left. The owner's house was spacious enough, so the Haihan Army requisitioned it as the location of the frontline headquarters.
These two days have probably been the busiest time since this manor was built. There is an endless stream of soldiers coming in and out, and many people are riding horses to and from the place, coming and going in a hurry. News from various front lines was continuously transmitted back and collected here, and then countless military orders were quickly sent from here to various participating troops. Yan Chujie, Qian Tiandun, Wang Tom and other generals were all here to discuss the next tactical arrangements.
"This is unfair!" Wang Tom spread his hands and said: "Does the attack on Manila only require the army, and our navy can't participate?"
"No one wants the navy to participate. The Marine Corps maintains military pressure on the west route, which also plays a role in containing the Spanish. Besides, the navy's blockade of the sea channel of Manila Port is also part of the attack on Manila. Lao Wang, you just Stop making excuses and command your troops well to complete the orders issued by the headquarters." Yan Chujie didn't buy Wang Tom's complaints and immediately exposed his "trick."
Wang Tom smiled bitterly and said: "It seems that my troops can only act as spectators in the next battle."
"Tom, don't do too many scenes. The first half of this attack on Manila is all performed by your navy. You have to leave some scenes for our army." Roger and Tom Wang have been friends for many years, and they talk very well. Even more merciless.
Tom Wang wanted to gain some opportunities for his navy and marines in the attack on Manila, but only the attack on Cavite Port allowed him to grab the jackpot. Later, when he attacked the fishing port of Pasay Town, he won the first prize. Roger's troops took the lead, but the Spaniards did not set up defenses at the fishing port, so Roger did not win any military glory. After advancing towards Manila City from the land route, Wang Tom's Marine Corps had no advantage at all. Because this force was under the Navy's establishment, the command headquarters divided the three-pronged offensive into the west route along the coastline. It was given to the Marine Corps to facilitate response to the fleet at sea.
However, Spain has already deployed coastal defenses centered on heavy artillery at the Port of Manila. If the Marines want to attack the city from this route, they must first capture the Port of Manila. However, this is what the Haihan military intends to take the initiative to bypass. passed an obstacle. So the Marine Corps could only stop outside the Port of Manila and watch the other two Army brothers advance all the way. Naturally, Wang Tom was not very satisfied with this. But in fact, he also understands that the Ministry of National Defense must seek a balance and cannot give the Marine Corps too many opportunities to perform. After all, the Navy has already dominated the limelight in previous battles. If it steals the meat from the Army's bowl, it will inevitably fail. This aroused the dissatisfaction of the army generals.
If the Port of Manila does not have such strong defense means, then Tom Wang will have something to do. He can let the fleet approach the coast and use ship-based artillery to cover the advancement of the Marines. By then, the army units from the other two groups may not be the first to attack Manila.
Unfortunately, this was just Tom Wang's imagination. The actual situation did not leave any opportunity for the navy to perform, and he was indeed reluctant to let his elite troops try to attack the fortifications of Manila Port. The Marines are all carefully selected by Wang Tom from the Navy over the years, and then ask for military expenditures from the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee. The energy and financial resources spent in establishing this force are huge, how can they be easily compromised? In this unnecessary battle. Wang Tom couldn't bear to think about it, so it was inevitable to complain to the headquarters. However, the army generals didn't give him any face, and they were so angry that Wang Tom couldn't continue.
In the current war surrounding Manila City, the Haihan Army has taken the obvious initiative. Large areas to the south and east of the city have been controlled by Haihan. In order to avoid greater losses, the Spanish defenders have taken the initiative to shrink the defense line to the city wall. On the first line, they hope to rely on the strong city to resist the offensive of the Haihan Army. The only place where the Spaniards can see a glimmer of hope is at sea. Currently, the Haihan Fleet is only monitoring the periphery a few nautical miles away from Manila Port, and has no plans to launch an offensive against the port. However, there are very few sailing ships left that are truly intact in Manila Port. It is certainly impossible to break through the encirclement of the outer waters of the port during the day.
Of course, there will be some wealthy Spanish businessmen in the city who are not willing to sit back and wait for death, and each of them is looking for a way to escape. Those with few options can only flee to inland towns such as Caloocan and Ballywag on the northern plains. Those who are bold and have enough money can try to buy a sailing ship in the port that can still go to sea. Sneak out of the harbor at nightfall, then head north in a wide circle along the coastline of Manila Bay to escape Haihan's naval blockade.
As long as you can leave Manila Bay, it means you are temporarily safe. You can take refuge in Batangas Port at the southern tip of Luzon Island. There are also Spanish colonial towns there. Of course, the scale of operations cannot be compared with the areas around Manila.
In response to the panic flight of the local people, Governor Aragones could not come up with any better ideas for the time being, other than ordering to tighten the city defense and prohibiting non-military personnel from entering and exiting the city at will. Although he looked down on these cowardly juniors in his heart, he had no choice but to say that many of them were the spokespersons of the domestic nobles in the Far East. They were probably related to this lord and that prince, and these behind-the-scenes Regardless of whether the big shot can bear it or not, he is unwilling to offend. Even if these so-called backers do not necessarily have much power in the country, Aragones is not willing to make enemies in the country for nothing.
So even if he knew that the city defenders would accept bribes and let some people escape from the city, he could only pretend not to know, and at the same time secretly prayed in his heart that these damn cowards had better run into the Shanghai and Han troops when they went out, and let them pay for their shameful behavior of escaping from the battle. Pay the price.
"My Lord Governor, Colonel Francis is here."
The attendant's report brought Aragones back to his senses from his angry mood, and he quickly asked the attendant to bring him in. Aragones urgently needs to know how the battle is going on the front line. He hopes that Francis can bring back some good news, even if it is just spiritual comfort.
But when Aragones saw Francis walking into the room with a depressed and tired face, he knew that his expectations might be dashed. Sure enough, Francis' report made him feel a dull pain in his head: the defenders had lost more than 500 people in the fierce battle in the morning, and the results were not ideal. They failed to stop the Haihan Army's advance in both the east and south directions. To advance, we can only retreat to the city to defend. At present, the main force of the Haihan Army has advanced to a place less than two miles away from the city wall. Maybe in the afternoon, maybe tomorrow, they will launch the next wave of offensive.
"Colonel, isn't there any good news?" Aragones asked feebly: "Isn't there any news that is good for us?"
Francis was silent for a moment before responding: "Mr. Governor, if I brag to you about how many Haihan people I killed on the battlefield, it won't actually have any impact on the war situation. At most, it will make you feel better. Do you think Is this necessary? ”
"Okay, let's be practical." Aragones could only settle for the next best thing: "If you have any other ways to defeat the enemy, you might as well propose it quickly while we still have some room to struggle. Do something useful!" Francis responded with a gloomy face: "Mr. Governor, I think you should realize that it is almost impossible to defeat the Haihan army outside the city with our current strength. Possible goal. Our only chance is to drag out the war until they can no longer continue the war. It is a pity that Mr. Juan's fleet was not able to cut off their sea supply lines, otherwise it would be difficult to achieve this goal. It will be smaller.”
Aragones responded: "We should have other options, right? This is our place, there is no reason to let the Haihan people take the initiative on the battlefield!"
"Sir, they are really strong. You have to know that before us, they have defeated the Portuguese, Dutch and British. What we are facing is probably the most powerful armed force in the entire Far East, and its strength is also the same as ours. Quite, it can be said that except for the city wall outside that can temporarily provide us with shelter, we have no other conditions that can be used as advantages." Francis' tone became more and more depressed, and there was no sense of victory over Haihan from his words. The military's confidence increased.
Aragones was very disappointed with the statement of his general. He shook his head and said: "Colonel, if you plan to give up resistance and beg for surrender to the Haihan people, then I advise you to give up this idea. If the news of our surrender spreads back to the country, it will not be possible at all. Without a trial, you and I will be treated by the royal family as guilty of losing the Manila colony. Perhaps the king will send a special envoy to the Far East for this purpose, so that he can be sentenced to death in front of us. Fight, if we die in Manila, at least we will have a chance to fight for a stable life for our family.”
Francis shook his head and said: "Sir, I have no intention of surrendering. I just hope you can be mentally prepared for the possible defeat. Maybe we will die here, or maybe we will become prisoners of the Haihan people, but this It’s all God’s arrangement, isn’t it?”
"The Lord will bless us." Aragones raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on his chest, agreeing with Francis' statement. Since manpower is likely to be beyond our capabilities, we can only rely on fate.
On the afternoon of January 25, the Haihan Army began to demolish houses in the south of the city. This kind of demolition is not just aimless demolition, but a targeted demolition of an open space near the south gate to provide a good shooting view for the artillery troops that will be deployed here later.
Of course, Haihan did not forget to seize this opportunity to persuade the Spanish authorities in the city to surrender again. The headquarters asked the Portuguese to write a letter, and selected a lucky Spanish prisoner and asked him to return to the city with the letter. It was handed over to Governor Aragones for his inspection.
However, this move did not have much effect. Aragones had people shoot the reply letter out of the city with bows and arrows. His reply was very clear. He would not surrender to Haihan. See you all on the battlefield.
In response to this statement, the Haihan Army later responded with a round of artillery fire. The target of the artillery position's concentrated fire was the South Gate of Manila City. Although this city gate, which was about five meters high and three meters wide, was made of very thick materials, it was still quickly destroyed under the artillery attack. However, the Spaniards obviously anticipated Haihan's tactics in advance, so after they withdrew into the city, they quickly blocked the city gate with stones from the inside. Although the cannonballs destroyed the city gate, they were unable to destroy the thick stone wall behind the city gate that was almost integrated with the city wall.
"I remember somewhere I encountered this kind of trick before?" Yan Chujie, who was watching the battle from a distance, put down the telescope in his hand and said to himself.
"This is not a new tactic. When we were fighting in Annan, we had encountered this kind of thing before." Qian Tiandun added with a smile: "If you can't penetrate the city gate, then blow up the city tower and wall together." ”
Over the years, the Haihan Army has used blasting methods more than once or twice when attacking city fortifications. Although it is simple and crude, it is indeed very effective. Haihan's opponents often only realize that Haihan's artillery fire is powerful and need to strengthen the defense line in this way, but they don't know that Haihan's army also has a unique skill in blasting, and their precautions against this are not so strict.
Almost every ace army has an engineer unit specifically responsible for blasting operations, just like every army has several snipers. Naturally, this expedition to Manila brought enough tools for blasting. At that moment, special personnel began to calculate how much explosives would be needed to completely blast the city gate to create a passage.
Of course, this special operation cannot be carried out during the day, and one can only wait until nightfall before trying to sneak in and plant explosives nearby. During this period, we will inevitably have to fight with the Spanish soldiers on the city wall, which may take several days.
Takahashi Nan originally wanted to volunteer to take charge of this task, but Qian Tiandun was unwilling to put his subordinate Ai Jiang in danger, so he handed over the task to the engineering unit specializing in demolition.
In order to avoid suspicion by the Spanish, the shelling of the south gate and nearby city walls continued intermittently throughout the afternoon. Although the Spaniards on the top of the city also launched a symbolic counterattack, when the cannons on the top of the city were exposed, they immediately attracted intensive attacks, forcing the Spaniards to give up and rely on these cannons on the top of the city to reverse the situation. thoughts.
(End of chapter)