Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 176 Two Hard Nails

St. Mary Cathedral
This is the largest Catholic church in Cebu City. The entrance is divided into the main chapel and the small chapel. The top of the towering church spire with a cross is 71.6 meters above the ground, making it the tallest and most magnificent building in the city.

The church's backyard is very large, covering an area of ​​22 acres, including a high-standard cemetery where only descendants of Dutch whites can be buried, all protected by solid stone walls.

Construction begins

Considering that the church also serves a defensive purpose, its nature is similar to that of the Royal City of Manila, which corresponds exactly to the Morata Fortress in the city. The large and small ones protect the vast residential area of ​​​​the descendants of Spanish whites.

The larger one is the Church of Santa Maria and the smaller one is the Morata Fortress.

Morata Fortress is a small riverside fortress with an area of ​​only about three acres. It is built extremely solidly and is equipped with a gun turret equipped with an old 24-pound smoothbore cannon with a range of 1300 kilometers.

The range of these old bronze smoothbore cannons was generally not high, only about half that of newer cannons of the same caliber.

Inside the spire watchtower of the Morata Fortress

Mayor Oyarzabal stood on a high place and looked towards the Church of Santa Maria. His fat face twitched from time to time, his face was ashen, and his eyes were full of despair.

Standing beside him were the city defense commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lenormand, the fortress garrison commander, Lieutenant Carvajal, Captain Joselu and other officers. The atmosphere was so depressing that it was suffocating.

The rabbit dies and the fox mourns, which is exactly how these Spanish white colonists feel now.

It was now bright
You can see a huge gap of nearly 20 meters long in the wall on one side of St. Mary's Cathedral. There are more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages parked nearby, and the carriages are piled with bloody corpses.

After it was full, it headed towards the port.

there

These bodies would be loaded onto ships and sent far out to sea for disposal, which is the easiest and most convenient method.

Cebu Island is a place with stunning scenery. Its blue sea, white beaches, coconut trees, white walls, waterfalls and steep and rugged headlands are as beautiful as heaven.

Unexpectedly, more than 300 years of colonial history ended in one day. Looking at the corpses being transported out in horse-drawn carts, everyone here felt heartbroken and felt so painful that they could hardly breathe.

St. Mary's Cathedral shelters most of the descendants of Spanish white immigrants, about 3,000 people.

Whether it is 3,200 to 3,000 people, or 3,500 to 3,600 people, it can only be roughly estimated, and it is difficult to come up with an exact number.

After the fort was breached
There is no need to say more about the fate of the people inside.

Since the Chu army launched its attack at dawn, these local military and political officials who were deployed to the Morata Fortress have hurriedly climbed up the watchtower, and it has been three or four hours.

Mayor Oyarzabal did not see a single living white person come out, and the wagon train carrying corpses had already made three trips back and forth, each time carrying away a pile of dead bodies.

"These Orientals are a demonic army from hell, bringing endless slaughter and destruction." Mayor Oyarzabal's eyes were bloodshot, the fat on his face trembled, and his words were squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with endless resentment.

"Pray to God for strength. I curse them, curse these cruel pagans. May their souls suffer the pain and burning in purgatory, sinking into endless darkness."

The city's defense commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lenormand, did not lose his composure like the mayor, nor did he draw circles and curse the Orientals.

His expression was terrifyingly calm as he asked the company commander, Lieutenant Carvajal, "Lieutenant, how many combat-ready men do we have?"

"Sir, including the soldiers and refugees we've taken in, we have a total of 766 people, including 53 women and 29 children. Except for the children, everyone else can join the battle."

"Are there enough weapons and ammunition?"

"Artillery ammunition is very sufficient. There are only 307 muskets, but we have enough swords and cold weapons for defensive operations."

"Where's the food and water?"

"For so many people, if we plan our use, it should last for more than two months."

The Morata Fortress had a garrison of 132 people, and the food stored there was originally enough to last for a year and a half.

So many people poured in at once, filling up the small fortress. The little open space in the middle was filled with people, and of course there was not enough food to go around.

Those fierce Orientals outside kill people without blinking an eye. Who dares to go out?
If I stay here, it seems that the only way out is to be trapped and die.

"Oh, my God, someone comes out, a white man..." Captain Joselu suddenly screamed, pointing in the direction of Santa Maria Cathedral with an excited look on his face.

Lieutenant Colonel Lenormand did not say a word, but immediately took out his monocular telescope, raised it with both hands and leaned forward to observe carefully.

No one else dared to say anything, but instead looked into the distance with tense breathing. They could vaguely see many people coming out of the church door.

Escorted by soldiers with swords and guns, they lined up in a long line and walked away into the distance.

A moment later
Lieutenant Colonel Lenormand said with suppressed anger in his voice, "They are all women. I roughly counted more than 700 white women and not a single man. Damn it!"

He didn't know that white men's heads could be exchanged for silver, but women's heads were worthless. But he could easily imagine that the fate of these white women who lost their protection would be dire.

"Oh God! Please bless my dear Sarah and little Tolia. They are so cute and only in their teens." Mayor Oyarzabal howled and looked very sad.

Several officers on the watchtower looked at each other. The entire city suffered an unprecedented catastrophe, and every white family faced separation and death.

When you are busy taking care of yourself, who has the mood to care about others?

They really have no sympathy for this incompetent, stupid and greedy mayor, let alone words of comfort.

Silence for a few minutes

Lieutenant Colonel Lenormand sighed. Few people had left the Cathedral of Santa Maria, only the carriages carrying the bodies continued unmolested. The road from the cathedral to the seaside pier was stained red by the cloying stench of blood dripping down its sides.

In the streets and alleys of the city, this team was not the only one cleaning up the corpses. The strong smell of blood blew over with the sea breeze, as if the god of death was hovering over the city, grinning grimly.

In the streets of the city

From time to time, crisp gunshots, shouts and screams were heard. The local Chinese residents had been recruited to form a Chinese militia.

Each of them had a knife in his hand and followed the swordsmen and musketeers to clear the city and escort out a large number of indigenous captives.

Cebu, a beautiful Southeast Asian city, is experiencing the most difficult labor pains in its history.

After the pain, there will be a completely different new look...

on the sea

The sun is shining brightly, the vast blue sea and blue sky are dotted with white clouds, it is a sunny and beautiful day.

On the sea and sky in the distance, white sails appeared one after another, and soon connected into a piece, like a white cloud floating on the sea.

This was a large expedition fleet from Davao Province. The sailors and soldiers on the ship couldn't help but cheer loudly, and everyone's face showed excitement.

The four large sailing ships, Fenwei, Fenwu, Fenqian and Fenjin, hoisted full flags and formed a straight line with head and tail connected, heading towards the large fleet. Soldiers and sailors all lined up on the side of the ships.

The arrival of the Northern Expedition fleet was welcomed with the highest etiquette of "standing on the side".

More than half an hour later
The first to approach were the sail vanguard fleet. The main sails of these two-masted clipper ships were at an angle that deviated from the sea breeze. They only used the jibs and gussets to catch the sea breeze, which meant they were sailing at a slow speed.

Following them arrived the four ships of the main sailing fleet, namely "Jianghe Huhai" with the prefix "Zhen". The huge hulls carried a great sense of oppression, and the double rows of gun ports on the upper and lower floors demonstrated their strong firepower strike capability.

Next up was the Marshal's flagship, the three-masted sailing ship "Guangming". Zheng Guohui, dressed in a handsome white uniform, stood on the stern deck and waved to the oncoming sailing cruiser fleet.

The flag bearer gave the flag signal order;
Leading the way ahead, entering the port for rest.

Around 3 p.m.

The vanguard fleet, the main fleet of sailing battleships and the cruiser squadron entered the harbor one after another and anchored at the dock.

Major General Huangshan, commander of the Huangshan Expeditionary Task Force, and Major General Robert of the Cruiser Squadron, fully dressed in military uniform, boarded the Guangming ship to meet the Marshal and report on the battle situation.

Offshore

The ironclad strike formation continued to sail northward. The slow speed of these four ironclad ships slowed down the entire expedition fleet.

According to the order of the Marshal's Office

The ironclad fleet did not stop in the Visayas Islands, but headed north all the way to Manila Bay and then deployed for battle.

The other sailing fleets that stopped at Cebu Port on the way allowed the armored strike formation to sail for half a day so that they could catch up when they arrived at Manila Port without any delay.

The last troop transport fleet and transport fleet entered Cebu Bay one after another, and most of them stopped at the anchorage and dropped anchor.

Looking from the pier, the sailboats lined up in rows, covering most of the bay, and the lineup was extremely spectacular.

"Hahahaha... Qiao Nong is not only a lucky general, but also a brave one! He took Cebu in one fell swoop, which should be the first-class military achievement of my Northern Expedition. Good... good... good..."

After listening to the battle report, Marshal Zheng Guohui laughed and gave high praise.

Major General Huangshan's pen name was "Qiao Nong". The Marshal affectionately called him by this pen name in front of many senior generals.

It was obvious that he was favored by the emperor, which made Major General Huangshan feel relieved.

He said respectfully, "My humble contribution is entirely due to the extraordinary favor of the Marshal, who entrusted me with this important task. Every officer and soldier of the task force fought bravely, and this was just luck."

"Hey, woodcutter, don't be so modest. What belongs to you is yours. You can't escape the credit of being the first to take the lead." The Marshal waved his hand domineeringly and settled the matter.

Otherwise, how can we say that the Marshal is clear about rewards and punishments, which makes people feel convinced?
As long as you have the ability and can make outstanding achievements, no one in the Great Chu can erase this contribution. You will be able to sit in a high position and ride a fine horse. That is an extraordinary honor.

Major General Huangshan happily bowed and expressed his gratitude, feeling as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

Sure enough, Marshal Zheng Guohui looked around, thought about it for a moment, and decided to say;

"Davao Governor Zheng Shouzhong is also the commander of the Third Division. I think he is already busy enough with administrative matters, so it is better for him not to take on the position of commander of the Third Division.

It just so happens that Qiao Nong has made great contributions. I have always been a man of rewards. From now on, the position of commander of the third division will be transferred to Qiao Nong.

The Marshal's Office has recently issued a new appointment. From now on, Qiao Nong will be the new commander of the Third Division. Do you have any objections?"

The Marshal has always been autocratic, who dares to object?
The senior army and navy officers around him expressed their agreement and congratulated Major General Huang Shan on his promotion. There was no lack of envy in their tone, and the scene was lively.

Major General Huangshan bowed and expressed his gratitude repeatedly, his heart beaming with joy.

"Okay, it is said that there are still two hard nails. While there is still time, let's go to the scene to see how strong these Spanish fortresses are." Zheng Guohui interrupted everyone's congratulations and walked straight to the dock.

A group of senior military officers followed and soon gathered at the dock.

The subordinate officers brought horses, and Zheng Guohui was the first to mount the horse, leading the officers and personal guards to the Visayas Fortress on the other side of the dock.

(End of this chapter)