Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 467: Stalemate

Under the bombardment of the fleet's artillery, which had an absolute numerical advantage, the Spaniards in Manila fell into chaos, and the message sent by Ed failed to reach Governor Manrique.

At this time, Manlik was furious: "Where are the people of Ed? Why doesn't the fleet fight back!"

The servants were at a loss as to what to do, for the streets outside Manila were in chaos.

Zheng's infantry had already rushed into the harbor in small boats and landed on the shore. The Spaniards in Manila began to shoot with muskets, but under such heavy bombardment, the remaining Spaniards in the city were unable to form a strict organization and were unable to resist the landing Zheng's army.

Moreover, Zheng Chenggong deployed 3,000 people in the first landing. After the small boat returned, Zheng's army continued to land. With the huge numerical advantage, Zheng's army quickly rushed into the streets and engaged in street fighting with the Spaniards.

The battle lasted from day to dusk. Zheng's army had occupied the streets outside Manila and the surrounding villages. The remaining Spaniards all retreated into the bastions and held their ground. Manrique had actually lost control of Manila.

Zheng's infantry attacked the port protected by six artillery batteries from land and captured six galleons that were still under repair in the port.

The Zheng family's warship sailed into the Manila Harbor. Zheng Chenggong stood on the bow and looked at the corpses floating everywhere in the harbor. There was not a trace of pity in Zheng Chenggong's heart.

Afterwards, Zheng Chenggong followed the infantry brigade and arrived at the bastion of Manila. He frowned as soon as he saw it.

Zheng Chenggong felt a headache when he saw this bastion which was exactly the same as the one he had in Taiwan. At that time, there were only more than 900 Dutch people in Fort Zeelandia. Zheng Chenggong lost more than a thousand people after attacking for several days but still could not conquer it. Therefore, he adopted the siege method. Finally, the situation in the Central Plains changed drastically. Meng Jun captured Nanjing. Zheng Chenggong could not wait any longer and took down Fort Zeelandia with his numerical advantage.

In the battle to capture Fort Zeelandia, more than 2,700 Zheng family members were killed and more than 2,400 were injured, while the defending army had only more than 900 people.

Zheng's army captured more than dozens of soldiers. After severe torture and the detailed records of the interpreter, Zheng Chenggong learned that the defending army had 3,000 people.

After the final sweep of the streets, the bodies of 1,406 Spanish soldiers were found, and the defenders still had nearly 1,600 men. Zheng Chenggong was now really having a headache. At that time, there were more than 900 people in Fort Zeelandia, and he had suffered five times as many casualties. Now the number of defenders was almost doubled. Would he also have to suffer twice as many casualties?

Zheng Chenggong then ordered the siege of the bastion and made advance preparations for the siege.

On the third day, Zheng Chenggong ordered his men to deliver a letter of persuasion to surrender into the fort, saying that those who surrendered would be spared, while those who refused would be executed.

However, there was no response from the fort, as if the letter had not been received. In a rage, Zheng Chenggong took all the Spanish prisoners to the foot of the fort and chopped off the heads of all the prisoners one by one under the watchful eyes of the garrison on the fort.

However, a strong attack was obviously not an option for Zheng Chenggong. He then ordered the siege of the bastion and cut off its water and food supplies. The two sides came to a stalemate under the Manila bastion.

………………

Just as the Battle of Manila reached a stalemate, the Huguang region was already shrouded in war clouds. Merchants were extremely sensitive to the movement of supplies, and many people began to evacuate Xiangyang and Nanyang. These people could easily tell from the Zhou army's constant deployment of troops and stockpiling of supplies that war was coming.

After Wu Sangui's surprise attack on Shaanxi, he left his trusted general Gao Qilong to garrison Xiangyang to prepare for Zhou's army. Gao Qilong immediately knew about the unusual movements of the merchants. There was no doubt that the strategic target of Zhou's army must be Xiangyang.

Gao Qilong immediately sent a fast horse to deliver this important information to Wu Sangui. If Wu Sangui's main force could not return to support, then Gao Qilong would have no chance of defending Xiangyang.

In the Jingzhou area, Lin Shiqi led the three towns of Ningwu, Wuxing and Wuping to station troops in Jingzhou, Pingguo, Huxiao and Wusheng were stationed in Wuchang, Zhongyong and Yingji were stationed in Yuezhou. The entire Huguang camp military town formed a triangular formation to firmly control the Huguang area.

It was not until Meng Jun wanted to attack Wu Sangui that he sent a letter to the Huguang camp, ordering Lin Shiqi to prepare for mobilization. Lin Shiqi then ordered the troops from various towns to gather in Jingzhou and be ready to attack Xiangyang at any time.

In the fourth year of the Yongli reign, in mid-October, in Jingzhou City.

Before the troops from various towns arrived in Jingzhou, the general stationed in the town led the light cavalry guards and rushed to the city of Jingzhou first.

In the government office of Jingzhou, a group of Zhou army generals gathered together. In the main seat were Lin Shiqi, Wang Fugui, Wu Tiao, Zhang Yingwei, Liang Sanhu, Yuan Zongde, He Zhen, Tan Wen and other senior generals, who sat on both sides, facing each other.

Lin Shiqi was the first to break the silence, saying in a deep voice: "Your Majesty's Northern Expedition has shocked all directions, but we are only left in Huguang and have no chance to participate. It is a pity."

After Lin Shiqi finished speaking, he looked around at the generals and continued, "However, this time when we attack Wu Sangui, my heart is definitely not just Xiangyang and Nanyang. I want to attack Shaanxi in one fell swoop!"

Wang Fugui agreed, "Marshal Lin is right. We must show our talents this time. After the world is unified, we won't have this chance again!" At this point, Wang Fugui paused and said a little aggrievedly, "Qian Biao has been with the king and participated in all the battles of the Northern Expedition. He is so proud of himself that he even wrote a letter to show off. He can't even read a few words, but he wants to imitate the cultured people to write letters!"

Liang Sanhu was stunned, then said, "Did Qian Hanzi write to you? I thought he wrote to me. It was full of boasting, as if the Northern Expedition would not be victorious without him."

Wang Fugui said with a pah, "With his mediocre knife skills, did he write that calligraphy? I guarantee it with my head, he definitely found a scholar to write it for him." Then he sighed and said, "I don't know why, why does the king like to bring Qian Biao, a fool, with him?"

Seeing that the topic was being diverted, Lin Shiqi coughed immediately, then laughed and said, "The king has been worrying about the south while fighting in the north, so he left you to guard the south. All of us have fought in the Battle of Huguang, which was a battle that determined the fate of the world!"

Everyone chatted for a while and then turned the topic to the Battle of Xiangyang which was about to begin.

Lin Shiqi said: "The king has issued an order, ordering me to reorganize the three armies and capture Xiangyang, and General Zhao has also led an army of more than 70,000 people to attack Nanyang from Henan. In short, the advantage in this battle is on my side!"

Wu Tiao took over the topic: "In fact, if you ask me, our Huguang camp is more than enough to fight Wu Sangui. Why does the king need to transfer General Zhao to the south?"

Zhang Yingwei laughed and said, "Even if a lion tries to catch a rabbit, it has to use all its strength. Wu Sangui is much more cunning than a rabbit. Besides, how can a bunch of warriors like us guess what the king is thinking?"

"Everyone," Lin Shiqi stood up, looked around, and said, "Although we didn't follow the king to the north, we must fight a good battle against Wu this time. As the saying goes, the time to achieve success is now!"

All the generals responded in unison, with great enthusiasm.