Chapter 2998
"I must remind you that the defeated have no right to bargain at the negotiating table."
Xiao Liang said unceremoniously: "Regardless of whether Spain recognizes the terms listed in the surrender document, our country will implement them accordingly. The reason why we ask you to sign this document is because we are kind-hearted and hope that through this form, Let Spain save some face and avoid unnecessary war losses.”
"Mercy? Did I hear you correctly?"
After hearing the translation, Vidal suddenly showed an angry look: "Your country invades our territory without declaring war, robs our wealth, and kills our people. Can this be called mercy?"
Xiao Liang sneered and said: "Don't act noble. To the indigenous people here, you Spaniards are also foreign invaders. In order to build Cebu City here, how many indigenous tribes did you destroy and how many did you kill?" Native, you must know that history better than I do.”
"And how do you record this process? Use civilization to educate the ignorant natives, right? Sorry, now it's our turn to use more advanced civilization to educate you natives!"
"If you don't agree with our country's benevolent way of taking over these areas, then well, I can also achieve the goal in the way that you Spaniards are most familiar with. I don't mind re-enacting the war in Cebu in Mindanao, and then leave the rest All the Spaniards were sent to hard labor camps.”
Vidal gasped when he heard this. Although Mindanao does not have a big city like Cebu, it does have many colonial settlements. In addition to the people who fled from various places during this war, there are still thousands of Spaniards living in Mindanao.
If the Haihan Army continued its offensive southward and wiped out the Spanish immigrants on Mindanao, it would not only destroy the long-term achievements of the colonial authorities, but also mean that the hope of launching a counterattack northward in the future would be almost completely lost.
Of course, what Vidal did not expect was that although the Haihan Army won a complete victory in this war, the Luzon Region currently did not have enough funds and materials to continue the fight, and had to stop the war and rest for a period of time.
Xiao Liang's request for Mindanao is somewhat bluffing. If there are dates or no dates, let's hit him with a few sticks first. Even if the Haihan Army continues to fight southward in the future, it will have to wait at least a year and a half.
Vidal could only deduce whether Xiao Liang's threat would become a reality based on the known information. Almost 80% of the armed forces under his jurisdiction were lost on Cebu Island. If the Haihan Army continued to attack Mindanao southward, The local area must be unable to resist, and defeat is almost an inevitable outcome.
Since it is impossible to stop the Haihan Army's offensive, it becomes a wise choice to try to preserve our own strength and reduce losses as much as possible.
Although Vidal did not understand the principle of "people lose land, people and land survive", he also knew that the safety of thousands of Spanish immigrants in Mindanao was far more important than local governance. As long as these people remain, Spain still has a chance to regain its power in the archipelago south of the Sulawesi Sea.
The so-called lesser of two evils, Vidal quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and then proposed a new condition to Xiao Liang: "I need a one-year buffer period to evacuate our people in Mindanao. Wait for our people After evacuating the area, you send people to the island to take over.”
Xiao Liangliang was secretly amused. He originally just wanted to try his best to deceive Vidal when he was in chaos, but he never thought that it would actually work.
However, although he was feeling proud, there was no expression on his face. After hearing Vidal's conditions, he just responded coldly: "Three months, I will give you three months to complete these things." Vidal shook his head. Said: "It's impossible to complete it in three months... Even if our ships keep going back and forth between the north and south ends of the Sulawesi Sea, such a short time is not enough to move all the people to the south! It will take at least nine months!"
Xiao Liangdao: "If it weren't for your willingness to sign the surrender letter, I wouldn't even leave you a day! Starting from tomorrow, it will be half a year, no more, and those who can't leave by then, Then don’t leave!”
Although the negotiation process was not very smooth, the two finally reached a preliminary agreement. Half a year later, Haihan will officially take over Mindanao from Spain. The key point is that there will be no more fighting between the two sides during this process, and Spain will hand over jurisdiction over Mindanao in an honorable manner.
This is undoubtedly a major diplomatic victory for Haihan. If it can seize control of Mindanao without any bloodshed, it means that the Luzon Region will at least save millions of dollars in military expenditures.
For Spain, it is not entirely a bad thing, at least it can minimize the losses of people and property. After all, after they move to the south of the Sulawesi Sea, they will have to face other competitors and try to preserve their strength so that they can fight.
The tentacles of the Dutch and Portuguese have long been extended to that area. When the Spaniards transfer their position from the Philippine Islands, they will definitely form a brutal competition with these two old rivals.
Although the military strength of these two families is not as good as that of Haihan, they are by no means easy to deal with. Especially now that Spain's national power is declining, everyone is eager to step on it. Of course, these two companies will not sit back and watch Spain enter the distance of being face to face, and they will definitely react to this.
Xiao Liang was afraid of long nights and dreams, so he held a signing ceremony the next day.
The ceremony was held in the municipal square in front of the Government House, which made it convenient for people from all walks of life to come and watch and witness the farewell scene of the Kingdom of Spain in the Philippine Islands.
Under Haihan's deliberate organization, thousands of people surrounded the municipal square, and even the surrounding rooftops and trees were filled with people.
It is said that Cebu Governor Vidal has reached an armistice agreement with Haihan, and both parties will sign a formal written peace treaty here on behalf of their respective countries.
Although there are still some people who are lucky and think that maybe after signing the contract, the Haihan Army will evacuate Cebu Island as before, and the two sides will return to the past mode of getting along with each other. But more people have vaguely felt that the situation has changed. In the future, this place will probably no longer be decided by the Spanish governor.
Under the watch of the people, Governor Vidal, whom they were familiar with, appeared in the square. It's just that this time, the high-spiritedness of the past was completely missing from his face, and instead he looked a little haggard.
The pale Vidal did not wave to the people, but sat silently at the table, picked up a pen and quickly signed the document.
After the signing ceremony was quickly completed, personnel arranged by Haihan read out the contents of the peace treaty on the spot in Spanish and Chinese.
(End of chapter)