The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 621 Changes in the South China Sea
The Ming Dynasty's naval fleet has sailed to the South Seas.

This time, the scale is even larger than Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean.

The number of Fujian-style warships, flying shuttles, and centipede ships was simply countless. Along the nearly two-thousand-mile waterway from Dongfan to Manila Bay, the ships were almost strung together in a line.

Such a large-scale mobilization of naval ships to Southeast Asia was certainly not like Zheng He's expedition, which was merely a fleeting trip.

Clearly, their target was the Spanish colonial bandits on Luzon.

On the tenth day of the ninth lunar month, around the hour of Si (9-11 AM).

Less than ten miles off the coast of Manila, the massive Weiyuan warship had already landed, escorted by more than a thousand shuttle ships.

However, they did not rush over.

The fleet had stopped, and Wanli was scanning the situation on the shore with his binoculars.

Manila still has a unique character at this time.

The Spanish castle and the surrounding area seem like two different worlds.

The castle was roughly a mile in circumference, with walls over two zhang high, making it stand out from the crowd. It also seemed to have a fort extending to the port and docks.

The area surrounding the castle was densely packed with low houses and even shacks, all less than ten feet high, resembling a slum, and the area stretched for more than ten miles.

At this time, a fierce battle seemed to be taking place in an area near the port outside the city. A large group of people dressed in messy clothes seemed to have surrounded thousands of Spanish musketeers.

He scanned the area for a while, and Xiao Zhu Changxun, who was holding a telescope in Li Xuancheng's arms and scanning the area, suddenly couldn't help but exclaim excitedly: "Father, are those the elite naval forces and secret guards led by Pan Hewu?"

They don't seem to be able to deal with those Spaniards anytime soon. Shall we send someone to help them?

Don't you even consider the situation?
The cannons on those forts are aimed directly at the port. If we send a flying shuttle over, the Shenji Battalion soldiers will suffer heavy casualties as soon as they open fire.

It wouldn't be of much use for the Weiyuan warship to approach. Besides the three hundred or so naval officers and soldiers and the hundred or so Imperial Guards, there simply weren't enough people on board. Moreover, there was no suitable dock for the Weiyuan warship to land in that port.

There was nothing we could do; it was the little guy's first time on the battlefield, and he didn't understand anything.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then slowly shook his head and said, "We can't send anyone over yet. We have to deal with their fortifications first."

The row of cannons on their fortress is aimed directly at the port and docks. Their sights are definitely all set. If the shuttle boat goes over, it will probably be sunk.

The Spanish still have several ships docked at the pier; those ships also have cannons, and we need to take them out first.

Oh, we also need to deal with the cannons on the gun emplacements and the enemy ships.

Little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, how do we deal with the cannons on the fort and the enemy ships?"

I need to explain this to you properly.

Wanli explained in detail: "Their forts and ships have cannons, while our flying shuttle ships do not. If we charge in, we will definitely suffer losses."

To put it simply, it's a question of how to deal with artillery.

We have many ways to deal with artillery.

For example, sending men to launch a surprise attack, that is, taking advantage of the night to sneak up on the gun emplacements and ships and eliminate all the people on board.

Another example is a dispersed assault, which means sending out a large number of troops to disperse and charge towards the forts and ships.

However, both of these methods are options only when there is no artillery available, or when the artillery is inferior to that of the enemy.

We also have artillery, and the artillery on their gun emplacements and ships is clearly not as large as the artillery on our Weiyuan warships, and their manufacturing level is also not comparable to our artillery.

In other words, our artillery has a longer range than theirs; we can hit them, but they can't hit us.

This is the best way to deal with artillery: use artillery against artillery. As long as your artillery has a longer range and you have more artillery than your opponent, you can be sure of victory.

As for dealing with enemy ships, the same principle applies. As long as the range of our ship's cannons is greater than that of theirs, and we have a greater number of cannons, we can be assured of victory.

what?
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun asked in confusion, "Is it that simple, Father? Don't we need to discuss military strategy and tactics when we fight wars?"

How do you say this?

After thinking it over carefully, Wanli patiently explained, "It depends on the situation."

If the two sides are evenly matched or their strengths are not too different, then military strategy and tactics will naturally be relevant.

Your understanding of warfare is probably like this: the strength of the two sides is not much different, and either side has the potential to win.

In this situation, we need to be strategic and tactical from beginning to end, and we cannot relax until the very last moment.

If we were strong enough to overwhelm the enemy, that would be a different story.

In this situation, we can completely disregard military strategy and tactics, and simply crush them.

Oh, so in this situation you can just run over it.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun excitedly said, "Father, let's quickly open fire and bombard them!"

You little rascal, you've forgotten to be composed again.

Emperor Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Xun'er, be careful not to be hasty or impatient in everything, especially when fighting a war, because a single word from you can decide the life or death of thousands of soldiers."

Our strength is enough to overwhelm the Spanish in Luzon, but we still need to consider how to overwhelm them while minimizing casualties.

For example, your suggestion just now, to directly send people to support Pan and Wu.

Actually, that's not impossible. The Spanish cannons need time to reload, while our flying boats are very fast. In one volley, we would lose at most ten or so flying boats. The time they take to reload is enough for our tens of thousands of troops to rush in and besiege their ships or even land.

We can win if we fight like this, but the Shenji Battalion will suffer heavy casualties.

Unless absolutely necessary, or unless Pan and Wu's situation is extremely critical, it's best not to fight like this.

And now we're firing at their gun emplacements.

If we open fire now, we can definitely destroy the enemy's artillery on their fortifications, and our troops can land quickly to provide support.

However, if Pan and Wu saw this situation, the Spanish musketeers they were besieging would immediately break out and rush back to the castle to defend it to the death.

Pan and Wu only had three thousand men in total. It was unrealistic to surround more than a thousand Spanish musketeers. Once these musketeers broke through and entered the castle, the subsequent battle would be quite troublesome.

The reason their ships haven't fired at Pan and Wu is because they have their own musketeers on board.

If their musketeers desperately try to break through and reach the ranks, those ships will probably turn around immediately and bombard Pan and Wu's men, resulting in heavy casualties.

Oh, so that means we can't fire the cannons yet.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Zhu Changxun simply asked, "Father, what should we do then?"

This problem is actually not difficult to solve.

Wanli explained in detail: "We only have one Weiyuan warship now, and its shells are enough to cover the enemy's gun emplacements outside the city."

If the Fujian warships come up later, things will be different; once they get close, they will be able to cover the enemy's ships and castles.

"We just need to wait until Li Yuansheng arrives with his Fujian-style warships, then we can open fire."

The nearly one thousand Fujian-style warships led by Li Yuansheng actually entered Manila Bay together with them.

However, the wind was not strong and there were no ocean currents in the bay, so the Fujian warships moved rather slowly.

However, even at a slower pace, it was only a few dozen miles away, and before long, the Fujian warships arrived.

Wanli immediately ordered, "Weizhi, go and relay the order to have the Fujian warships form an attack formation and prepare to bombard the Spanish castle and the ships docked at the pier."

Remember, let them bombard the enemy with their main guns at the bow, with the 2,000-ton Fujian warships aimed at the enemy castle and the 1,000-ton Fujian warships aimed at the enemy ships.

When the Weiyuan warship bombarded the Spanish fortresses, they went in, firing ten rounds first before assessing the situation.

Upon hearing this, Xu Weizhi, the heir of the Duke of Wei, hurriedly descended the ship, ran to the first floor, ordered his men to open the hatch, jumped onto a flying shuttle, and quickly ran off to relay the order.

Seeing this, Wanli Emperor said directly to Yu Zigao, "Kemai, it's up to you. Order the Weiyuan warship to move forward, aim at the enemy's gun emplacements, and prepare to fire."

Upon hearing this, Yu Zigao immediately gave the order, commanding the Weiyuan warship to slowly accelerate forward and maneuver horizontally to target the enemy's gun emplacements.

Emperor Wanli raised his binoculars and scanned the area. He saw that the Fujian warships had already formed two staggered formations and were heading towards the port. He immediately ordered, "Fire! Bombard them once to check the accuracy, then adjust the aim and continue firing."

With a deafening roar, forty shells suddenly rained down on the enemy's artillery position.

At this point, the enemy artillerymen on the emplacements hadn't even reacted yet.

They didn't have binoculars, so ships five or six miles away were just black dots to them.

At such a distance, they never expected the other side to open fire.

As a result, a volley of shells rained down, and although only a few landed on the gun emplacement, it still turned the emplacement into a complete mess.

Upon seeing this, Yu Zigao immediately ordered the artillerymen to push the cannon forward about an inch, and then decisively ordered them to fire.

This time, more than twenty of the forty shells landed on the gun emplacement.

The gun emplacement was instantly smashed, with people and horses falling to the ground, and rubble flying everywhere. The round cannonballs were scattered all over the ground.

As soon as they opened fire, Manila and its port were thrown into chaos.

The gunners on the fort were so frightened that they abandoned their cannons and fled into the castle. The besieged musketeers also began to break out frantically towards the castle, and the ships docked at the port began to move.

Unfortunately, it's too late.

More than four hundred Fujian warships, each with a capacity of over 1,000 tons, rushed forward and bombarded the Spanish ships, turning their pitiful few vessels into a pile of rubble.

More than 500 Fujian warships, each with a capacity of 2,000 tons, rushed forward and bombarded the Spanish castle, leaving the musketeers who were frantically trying to break back dumbfounded.

If we run back, we'll get hit by artillery shells; if we don't run back, we'll get hit by bullets. What should we do?
Seeing that the enemy's artillery positions were all destroyed and no one was left, Wanli immediately ordered, "Dingchen, go and relay the order to have the flying shuttle ships dock and send the military candidates and Shenji Battalion soldiers who are participating in the imperial examinations up there."

He ordered the martial arts graduate and the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion to deal with the enemies outside the castle, and then surround the castle.

The Weiyuan warship seems to have a problem: it doesn't have the tall masts of sailing warships, so it can't send a flag bearer to climb the mast to relay orders.

He could only send someone by flying shuttle to deliver the order.

That's not a big problem. If you can put up a smokestack on the top of the ship's cabin, then building a signaling platform similar to a lookout tower is naturally not a big issue.

He was pondering how to build a watchtower to send orders via command flags when Xiao Zhu Changxun suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, a white flag has been raised in the castle. Does that mean surrender?"

Raising a white flag is a universally accepted flag signal, and it does indeed mean surrender.

The surrender of Luzon Governor Luís of Spain changed the landscape of Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia was no longer the domain of European colonial powers, but the domain of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)