The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 22 Hunter and Prey

Office of the Governor General of Manila.

Alonso was holding a ruler in one hand and a pen in the other, carefully studying the nautical chart.

Lieutenant General Juan’s three ships have been at sea for six days.

The southwest monsoon has gradually stabilized recently, and the fleet has been sailing smoothly with the wind at high speed. It should have already completed most of the journey.

Just then, a servant rushed in from outside the office in a panic.

Before Alonso could even reprimand the servant, the servant exclaimed with delight, "Master, Miss Catherine is back!"

"What!" Alonso jumped up, spilling the wine on the table.

“Father!” Catherine’s voice came from outside the office.

Immediately afterwards, Catherine, wearing a cloak that covered her entire body, walked into the office.

“Catherine.” Alonso stepped forward and hugged his daughter. “Thank God you escaped.”

"Father, Manila is in danger."

"Tell me what happened slowly." Alonso was slightly taken aback, helped Catherine sit down in a chair, and then asked a servant to make hot cocoa.

“The pirates who captured me are connected to Lin Feng and the Dutch. They captured me to launch an attack on Manila,” Catherine said urgently before even sitting down.

Alonso then noticed that Catherine had many small cuts from bushes on the back of her hands, and that her cloak was made of linen, which was not in line with her noble status.

They must have just escaped back to Manila and hadn't even had time to change their clothes before arriving here.

Therefore, the message she brought back must be very important.

Alonso sat down and said seriously, "No rush, let's start from the beginning."

At this moment, a servant handed over the hot cocoa that had been prepared. Catherine took it and began her story from the day she was captured and brought aboard the ship.

When Alonso spoke of Lin Qian sailing a slow-moving Ming Dynasty merchant ship and outmaneuvering the Saint Philippian warship at a slight angle, his face was filled with disbelief.

This incident not only reflects the differences in ship structure and performance, but also the huge difference in the skills and courage of the two captains.

In his report to him, Juan emphasized the storm, only mentioning the ingenious side-to-wind navigation in a single sentence, seemingly because he also felt the failure was too humiliating.

"Lieutenant General Juan said that the pirate ship then plunged into the storm?" Alonso pressed.

"Yes."

Catherine then recounted her experiences during the typhoon and her subsequent adventures on Jellyfish Island.

Alonso's eyes widened as he asked, "Does this pirate captain have noble blood?"

In Spain, seafaring was a privilege of the nobility, and the more experienced a captain was, the more ancient and noble his lineage was believed to be.

Many people believe that there is a positive correlation between the level of navigation skills and lineage.

"He never mentioned his lineage, but in some ways he was far more gentlemanly than the average nobleman."

Alonso, stroking his chin, said, "Perhaps he is a descendant of a fallen noble family. The skill and courage he displayed while traversing the storm would certainly put many heirs of ancient bloodlines to shame."

Catherine continued, recounting what she had seen in Lin Qian's logbook and the conversations she had overheard.

"You mean, this Lin Qian has joined forces with pirates and the Dutch to form a fleet and is going to attack Manila?" Alonso frowned.

He walked to the table, staring intently at the chart. The spilled wine had been cleaned up by the servants, and a new glass had been poured.

Alonso took a ruler and pen and started writing and drawing on the nautical chart.

Spain's military presence in Manila is not particularly strong; at most, it only has seven warships.

Three ships are now sailing towards Jellyfish Island, one is patrolling the waters east of Luzon Island, and one is patrolling Manila Bay.

There were only two warships available for deployment, and both were Caravelle speedboats used for reconnaissance and communication.

Alonso immediately signed an order to dispatch a Caravel fast sailing ship to pursue the fleet heading to Jellyfish Island.

Now that Catherine has escaped, the ransom trap is pointless; they must immediately turn back and strengthen Manila's defenses. Halfway through writing, Alonso sensed something was wrong and stopped writing.

Alonso looked up and asked his daughter, "Did you see this fleet formed by the pirates and the Dutch with your own eyes?"

“I saw it from afar on the mountain in Samar. It was nighttime, and I could only see the ship lights in the harbor. There were at least a hundred of them.”

Alonso doesn't really care about the number of ships in his fleet; he cares more about the tonnage.

Unlike land warfare, naval warfare is not won by the number of ships.

Large warships, such as the St. Philip, were enough to deal with hundreds of pirate sampans; even small-caliber cannons could not penetrate their thick oak planks.

This is also why European navies are keen on building giant ships.

The Ming Dynasty pirates were characterized by small ships, few cannons, and a large number of men. They were essentially just a group of land-based bandits who traveled by boat, and they were no match for the Spanish navy in naval battles.

Their sheer numbers after landing were what truly gave the Spanish a headache.

In 1574, when Lin Feng attacked Manila, he did not engage the Spanish navy in a direct confrontation, but instead landed at Lingayen Bay in northwest Luzon and advanced by land.

Perhaps Lin Qian kidnapped Catherine as a diversionary tactic to weaken the Spanish navy and ensure a successful landing.

Then the Dutch blockaded the port, and Lin Qian's pirates landed in Lingayen Bay, launching a pincer attack on Manila by land and sea.

Faced with the Dutch's large-caliber artillery and the pirates' numerical superiority, Manila could not possibly hold out.

The only way to break the deadlock is to defeat them one by one. While the Dutch and the pirates are divided, we should first defeat the pirates at sea, and then turn around to deal with the Dutch.

Of course, it's also possible that the Dutch were a diversionary tactic used by Lin Qian.

After all, the only evidence of the existence of the Combined Fleet was the ship's lights that Catherine saw in the dark.

Alonso suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of another possible explanation.

Perhaps Lin Qian's goal from the beginning was the ransom; he guessed that there would be a naval ambush near Jellyfish Island.

So, after timing it perfectly, they released Catherine after the fleet had unloaded the silver coins, spreading false information to trick Alonso into recalling the fleet.

Given the urgent military situation, it was impossible for all three warships to remain on Jellyfish Island to wait for the silver coins to be loaded onto the ships. Two of them would have to return, leaving only one to slowly load the silver coins.

Lin Qian's men took advantage of this time difference to steal the silver coins.

This plan seems full of flaws, but upon closer examination, it is the most reasonable.

After all, Lin Qian was an unknown pirate, and it would be difficult for him to persuade the Dutch to join forces with him.

Using the same surname "Lin," it's possible to recruit Lin Feng's former subordinates.

Having learned from Lin Feng's example, this mob dared not harbor any ambition to annex Manila, but they still had the guts to kidnap Catherine and demand ransom.

With this in mind, Governor Alonso smiled confidently, revised his orders, and decided to leave the Saint Philippe on Jellyfish Island while the other two ships returned to port, creating the illusion that they had been tricked.

Now that Catherine has escaped, the St. Philip no longer needs to hold back and can fire its cannons at will.

The firepower of the St. Philip alone was enough to wipe out this group of pirates.

After signing the order, Alonso summoned his guards and handed it over to the naval base.

After thinking for a moment, he issued another order to set up a watchtower in Lingayen Bay and use beacon fires to transmit messages and monitor the sea at all times.

At the same time, the warships patrolling the eastern part of Luzon Island, along with two other warships, were stationed near Lingayen Bay.

Although the possibility of Lin Qian landing on the island and launching an attack is extremely small, Alonso still needs to be prepared.

Once the watchtower is lit, the three warships lying in ambush can immediately rush to the scene and send Lin Qian's entire pirate gang to feed the sharks.

After issuing the order, Alonso relaxed and went over the matter in his mind many times to make sure nothing was missed.

Alonso, holding a glass of wine, strolled to the window and stared at the vast expanse of Manila Bay, like a sharp-eyed hunter eyeing his prey about to step into his trap.

(End of this chapter)