Chapter 2977
In November 1656, the large-scale Haihan armed fleet arrived at Cebu Port.
Cebu Port is located in the middle of the east coast of Cebu Island, in the narrow strait between the neighboring Mactan Island. The width of the sea at the narrowest point of this strait is less than a hundred feet, and the widest point is less than five miles. Most of the area is within the range of shore defense firepower. It can be said that the terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
However, this problem is certainly not a problem for the Haihan Army, which is not attacking here for the first time. Luzon Navy Commander Jiao Fei is personally on the front line to command. He has never been absent from previous battles to attack Cebu Port, and this time is certainly no exception.
He first divided the fleet into two, approaching Cebu Port from the north and south respectively. At the same time, he cleared the enemy ships in the nearby waters, and finally blocked the entry and exit channels of the strait.
Spain was once the world's maritime overlord, but that was before it met Haihan, and now it no longer dares to claim such a status.
Whether it is shipbuilding, military industry, or naval tactics, Spain has nothing to rival Haihan. This directly led to the fact that Spanish warships had almost no victories in the past head-to-head confrontations at sea, and each time was a one-sided defeat.
Having learned a lesson, the Spaniards today have obviously become much more pragmatic. Instead of making unnecessary attempts, they have arranged a limited number of armed warships in advance outside the strike range of the Haihan naval fleet. Under the premise of ensuring their own safety, they will then look for opportunities to harass Haihan's troop transports and supply ships.
Therefore, in the process of blocking the strait, the Haihan Army encountered almost no decent resistance, and it was even smoother than the previous attacks here.
However, Jiao Fei was still very cautious and did not let the warship rush into the strait to verify whether the Spanish shore defense firepower was strong. Instead, he ordered the cover troop ship to dock at Mactan Island on the other side of the strait and let some of the army land first. .
This was done to prevent the Spanish from setting up an ambush on Mactan. It would not be good if the fleet sailed into the strait to attack Cebu Port and was attacked by coastal defense artillery fire from both sides.
And after clearing Mactan Island, the Army Artillery Force can set up artillery positions on the island shore, with a range sufficient to cover the nearshore targets on the other side of the strait, and cover the fleet's landing operations in Cebu Port.
The Bangui Battalion where Zheng Agui was located was arranged to land on the north shore of Mactan Island. Prior to this, the Bangui Battalion had completed several landing operations on Masbate Island and other places. Now it is familiar with the landing process and is no longer as panicked as when it attacked Masbate Town.
After Zheng Agui's group landed, they marched southward with the company. Their target was Mactan Port, ten miles away, to clear a safe area in the port area for the subsequent artillery units stationed there.
"I'll say it again, if we encounter any resistance here, we can fire, but make sure your gun is aimed at the enemy, not friendly forces!"
In previous battles, there have been more than one situation where soldiers opened fire hastily in chaotic situations, resulting in accidental injuries to friendly forces. The command headquarters specially notified each unit and asked the officers to emphasize this point before starting operations. Especially for recruits with little combat experience, this must be carried out as part of the military order.
Although there has been no such chaos in Bangui Camp for the time being, Zheng Agui still carried out the order very seriously. His men have not suffered any combat casualties yet. If they remain cautious at all times, this luck may last until the end of the war.
As a colony operated by the Spanish for nearly a century, the people here have long regarded themselves as members of the Kingdom of Spain, and their hostility towards the Haihan Army has become even more intense. Almost all villages and towns passed by during the march encountered organized resistance. Of course, the Haihan Army would not show mercy to the resisters just because they were civilians. After experiencing several previous battles, the soldiers already knew how to deal with these spontaneously armed resisters.
These resisters often do not possess professional military skills and can only carry out sneak attacks from a relatively long distance. However, such sneak attacks often have extremely low operational efficiency. They can only risk exposure and attack at close range. However, once they enter a head-on battle, the strength gap between the resisters will inevitably be exposed immediately.
Zheng Agui knelt on one leg, raised his gun and aimed at a resister running towards him in the distance. This guy had a musket in his hand, but the effective range of this flintlock gun was only twenty feet, and he had to stop and stabilize his body before firing, so Zheng Agui was not worried that the other party could hurt him.
Zheng Agui pulled the trigger, and the opponent fell down. Although he was not sure whether the shot hit the vital point, Zheng Agui silently added to his record.
They encountered a wave of resistance outside this fishing village, but the opponents were just some armed fishermen. Zheng Agui's company not only had superior weapons, but also had more troops than the opponent, so they quickly eliminated this group of resisters.
The resistance encountered after landing was almost all civilians like this. There seemed to be no regular army here, but the civilians were not afraid of death and seemed to lack an objective understanding of the force of the Haihan Army.
"Squad leader, these civilians are not Spanish, why are they working so hard?" Qiu Yong asked Zheng Agui while he was cleaning the battlefield.
Zheng Agui actually didn't quite understand the thoughts of these natives, so he could only respond vaguely: "It is said that these natives have always been very resistant to outsiders. The Spanish captain who first arrived here seemed to have been killed by them. But after a few They must have regarded the Spaniards as their own, so they helped the Spaniards fight against us! ”
The rumors Zheng Agui heard were partly true. In 1521, the Spanish navigator Magellan arrived in Cebu during his voyage around the world, and this was also his last stop. Just twenty days later, Magellan was killed by Chief Pula on Mactan Island. General killing.
The real reason why Magellan was killed has not been verified, but there is no doubt that the indigenous people on Mactan Island were ferocious and warlike. They obviously did not welcome the arrival of the Haihan people, and decided to use all means to expel the outsiders.
However, the combat power of Haihan's army was far superior to that of the Spaniards who originally colonized Cebu. The resistance of these indigenous people could not stop Haihan and would only cause unnecessary casualties.
Zheng Agui's company took only half a day to clear out the resisters along the way and arrived at the predetermined target location.
Standing on the coast, you can see the situation on the other side of the strait with your naked eyes without using a telescope. As the largest trading port in the region, Cebu Port was completely silent at this time, with not a single big ship in the port.
News of Haihan's attacks on various Spanish colonies had obviously reached here, and all the ships that could escape had left before the arrival of Haihan's fleet.
(End of chapter)