Aragones is not blind, nor is he a fool. How could he not know that the reason why Haihan has been putting pressure on local settlements recently but not actually attacking them is to seek greater results.
But what if you know? When San Diego Bay was developed, the Aragones family invested all their property in this place, trying to establish a new colony here as a long-term property for the family.
So even if he guessed Haihan's purpose, he couldn't give up San Diego Bay, because doing so would be tantamount to giving up the family's future.
The armed forces in the local settlements were unable to defend themselves, and he could only pin all his hopes on reinforcements from the south. But DeSantis's attitude greatly disappointed him. The reinforcements were so reluctant to move forward that it would be difficult to even preserve the settlement, let alone drive the Haihan people out of San Diego Bay.
However, DeSantis did not say anything too specific. After all, his mission is to maintain Spain's control of San Diego Bay. If he really loses this place, it will be difficult for him to explain it after he returns.
"I can provide you with a hundred muskets and a cannon to strengthen the defense capabilities of the settlement."
The help DeSantis offered made Aragones just want to roll his eyes. This kind of assistance can only be said to be better than nothing, and the other party did not mention sending people and ships into the bay. It was obvious that they planned to continue to observe the situation outside the bay and avoid close combat with Haihan.
"I hope you will not forget your mission here. You are a soldier, not a passerby who has nothing to do with you!"
In desperation, Aragones could only say a few words to express his attitude. After all, he was not the commander of the fleet and had no right to replace DeSantis and dictate the actions of the fleet.
Of course, before leaving, he did not forget to take away the weapons DeSantis provided for assistance. Although these equipment may not necessarily be useful, they are still military aid from the south. It would be good to take them back to appease the people.
At this time, on the beach a few miles away, Wang Anguo was standing in the bunker tunnel, observing the Spanish fleet outside the bay with a telescope.
In the southeastern part of San Diego Bay, the inside and outside of the bay are only separated by a few hundred meters of sandy coast. Therefore, although the Haihan Fleet is anchored in the bay and has not dispatched, it is not difficult to detect the movement outside the bay.
The Haihan Army quietly crossed the strait at night, dug a tunnel nearly one person deep on the beach here, built a bunker roof on it, piled a layer of sand on it, leaving only a few inches wide gap for lookout, and watched from a distance There is no difference at all.
Of course, the Spanish fleet arriving outside San Diego Bay could not escape such reconnaissance methods, and the relevant intelligence information was quickly sent back to the base on the other side of the bay by Wang Anguo himself.
"The Spaniards who came to reinforce this time were very cautious and did not enter the bay..."
As Morgan muttered, he marked the current location of the Spanish fleet on the map with a pen.
Wang Anguo analyzed: "They may be worried that they will be attacked by us after coming in, and there is not enough space to open the fighting formation."
Morgan put down his pen and said: "More than that, they want to set up a position in the entrance and exit channel of the bay, wait for us to go out, and then launch a pincer attack from both sides of the channel."
Wang Anguo asked: "Are we going to bring them in, or should we take the initiative to rush out?" Morgan said: "Our goal is to destroy the other party's armed forces as much as possible. Of course, we must try to bring them in. It is easier to block them in the bay. Achieve total annihilation. If the opponent still has time to wait and see outside the bay, it seems that the fire is not strong enough, so we will add more firewood so that they have to save it!"
Aragones heard the alarm bell ringing in his sleep. He suddenly opened his eyes, got up from the bed, opened the door and walked to the balcony. It was not yet light up, but there were fires in the distance, mixed with the sound of musketry.
"What happened outside!" Aragones shouted.
Someone in the courtyard downstairs responded: "Master, they are Haihan people, and the Haihan people are coming!"
Aragones' heart sank, and he quickly returned to the house, asking his family to take shelter in the cellar first. He led a few guards out of the yard and hurried towards the direction of the accident.
He knew that Haihan would launch an attack on the settlement sooner or later, but the timing in the early hours of the morning was too uncomfortable. Although he deployed night patrol personnel in advance, it would be difficult for these local militia forces to last long in the face of the raids organized by the Haihan Army.
Aragones organized dozens of armed men as quickly as possible, but when they arrived at the scene of the incident, it turned out that the defense line here had collapsed. The wounded who retreated told Aragones that about sixty-seven out of ten of his companions had died in the first wave of fighting.
A captain whom Aragones had appointed just three days earlier was also killed in the attack. When being carried off on a stretcher, Aragones saw at least four or five gunshot wounds on his body. He had obviously been shot by his opponent. This shows that Haihan must have a lot of troops in the battle.
But what puzzled Aragones was that although the Haihan Army broke through the defense fortifications deployed outside the settlement, it had no intention of continuing the attack. It just set a fire to burn the stronghold fortifications, and then took the initiative. Withdrew.
Just when he was confused, news came that another settlement had been attacked. But the settlement was across the bay, and Aragones could only wait for dawn before confirming further news.
The battle damage statistics were sent to Aragones soon after dawn. A total of thirty-eight people were killed in the two attacked places and more than fifty were injured. However, the Haihan Army did not continue to advance after their victory, but chose to retreat on their own initiative.
Aragones also came to his senses at this time. The purpose of Haihan's move was not to conquer the settlement, but to beat himself up and force his own main force to come forward to fight with him.
He had to visit DeSantis again to ask for help to prevent Hayhan from continuing to target settlements in the bay.
DeSantis still ruthlessly rejected Aragones, saying that before the Haihan fleet took the initiative to attack, his fleet must not be easily involved in danger.
One day later, the Haihan Army once again attacked Spanish settlements. This time not only the army was dispatched, but four warships were also deployed to join the battle.
The ships launched artillery attacks on settlements from the sea and destroyed some residential buildings. Although the casualties caused were not huge, the panic among the people was ignited.
Some bold people began to question Aragones. Since the reinforcements finally invited have arrived in San Diego Bay, why didn't they go out to stop Haihan?