"Let's get through this first." Lin Ah Fa said with a bitter face, "I hope we can hold out until dawn. Then the red-haired master will definitely take care of it - they still rely on our skills and business to make a living. Isn't that right, President Chen?"

"Alas..." Chen Mei is even more powerful in the Luzon family, and she would choose to accept everything unless it was a matter of life and death.

But now, it has come to a life-and-death moment!

He sighed and said to the two men, "If you don't dare to go into battle, then quickly notify each family, take dry food and valuables, and be ready to escape at any time!"

"Ah? Is it that serious? The red-haired master will not just sit there and watch the chaos!" Lin Afa was shocked and said, "This is their territory. If we destroy it, they will suffer greater losses."

"It's better to be prepared." Even a blind man could see that this was the work of the red-haired devil, but this Lin kept calling him the red-haired master. Chen Mei felt annoyed. But as the president, he had to mediate and compromise, and couldn't just follow his temper. He said in a muffled voice, "I'll go take a look ahead!"

As he spoke, he walked quickly towards the direction of the firefight, with an exquisite Spanish pistol in his hand.

~~

Jiannei is located on the north bank of the Bashi River. It is a delta formed by the deposition of a large amount of silt in the river. It covers an area of ​​about 600 acres and has three bamboo and wooden bridges leading to the south bank, east bank and north bank respectively.

The exchange of fire took place at the East Bridge, which was also the only way for the enemy coming from the upper reaches of the river. After receiving Liu Xuesheng's report, Tang Baolu asked him to gather the leaders of the overseas Chinese to organize the young and strong, and asked Ximen Qing to lead his marines to guard the bridgehead to prevent the natives from attacking.

The Pampanga people arrived faster than anyone expected, and the heavy rain before did not stop them from rushing into the ravine, burning, killing and looting.

After the warning was ineffective, Ximen Qing decisively ordered the shooting.

He brought half a squadron, that is, five Marine squads, a total of 100 Marines. Adding the original security guards, employees, and sailors in the trading house, there were only 200 people who could be mobilized, and they had to guard the three bridgeheads separately.

At this time, a small group of 20 Marines were facing the enemy at the East Bridge. These veterans, who had experienced many battles and were well-trained, were not at all panicked when faced with the enemy soldiers rushing over the mountains and plains. They hid behind the bunkers made of sandbags and only used their rifles to shoot at the enemies on the upper bridge, then quickly reloaded and aimed again.

The calmness of the Marines greatly encouraged the security guards and employees of the trading house behind them, and they threw Cha-Cha grenades onto the bridge from behind the cover on the other side.

Maybe it was the humid weather in Southeast Asia that dampened the gunpowder, and the power of the grenades became much smaller. Dozens of them were thrown, but none of them broke the wooden bridge. However, the fragments splashed after the grenade exploded could still cause large-scale casualties to the ** natives.

Under the crossfire of rifles and grenades, the people of Pampanga fell down in large numbers, screaming, and then fell under the bridge like dumplings...

But there are too many people in Bangbanga, and there are always some who are lucky enough to rush down the bridge.

But without exception, they all fell to the ground at the bridgehead without even having time to throw out the bamboo spears in their hands.

That was Ximen Qing leading another sniper team, lying on the wooden fences on both sides of the bridge, specifically cleaning out any fish that had slipped through the net.

Ximen Qing used this small force to form a three-dimensional strike network and defended the bridgehead until a large number of young and strong overseas Chinese arrived, and he did not allow a single native to rush into the ravine.

When the large group of expatriates arrived, the scene suddenly became much more lively. They screamed and shot at the natives with all kinds of muskets, bows and arrows.

The people of Pampanga also howled and threw spears and javelins at the overseas Chinese.

The two sides fought fiercely and the battlefield was in chaos. In order to prevent precious troops from being accidentally injured by their own people, Ximen Qing ordered his men to retreat to the roof and provide fire support from high above.

Tang Baolu was even isolated in the rear by the two Marines who were protecting him, to prevent him from shooting anywhere and injuring his own people...

"Hit, hit! Hit hard!" He had no choice but to wave his fists and cheer for the people ahead. The fat on Tang Baolu's body was trembling, and he didn't know whether it was because of excitement or fear.

At this time, President Chen Meichen came to his side and first looked at the front. Although his own people were fighting chaotically, they were fortunate to have the advantage of terrain. The Pampanga people who failed in the sneak attack had no chance of rushing across the bridge.

"Tang, Mr. Tang." He was relieved and asked Tang Baolu in a hoarse voice, "What should we do?"

"Have a piece of candy." Tang Baolu handed him a piece of coconut-flavored candy, and then he ate one himself and said, "Fight the barbarians back and let the red-haired devils know that we are not easy to bully!"

"Oh, that's easier said than done." Chen Mei felt the sugar in her mouth turn bitter and said, "These Pampanga people are very fierce. After daybreak, they will definitely be more difficult to deal with."

After a pause, he lowered his voice and said, "Besides, they came here in a strange way. Maybe the red-haired devil is behind it. Even if we can stop them, there is no guarantee that the red-haired devil will come to the rescue himself."

"Then mobilize everyone, build fortifications as quickly as possible, and be prepared to hold out and wait for reinforcements!" Tang Baolu said slowly.

"Wait for help?" Chen Mei heard this, her anxious eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope, "Are you saying that Master Zhao will come to rescue us?"

"Although you have been hesitant and put off, our young master has always treated overseas Chinese as his own people." Tang Baolu said calmly: "I have released the carrier pigeon as soon as possible. But you know that the wind direction and ocean currents are both northerly in this season. Even if the young master sets out immediately after receiving the report and the weather is good, it will take ten days to reach the mouth of the Pasig River."

"Ah, ten days..." Chen Mei's heart, which had just warmed up, turned cold again. "Then the daylily will be cold, right?"

"Why are you panicking?" Tang Baolu said with a crunchy mouthful, biting the candy in his mouth and saying, "There are 30,000 overseas Chinese in the stream, and most of them are young and strong. Can't we defend this tiny island for ten days?"

As he said this, he spat fiercely and said, "If you can't even hold on for ten days, you deserve to be slaughtered like an animal!"

"I see, ten days, right?!" Chen Mei gritted her teeth and said, "We just need to hold on!"

~~

Soon, the overseas Chinese leaders were called together again to hold a meeting next to the war-torn East Bridge.

Chen Mei changed his previous attitude of keeping silent, briefly introduced the situation, and said straight out: "I decided to hold on for ten days and wait for our fleet to rescue!" As he said that, he glanced at everyone and said: "What do you think?!"

"Great!" Liu Xuesheng and Gao Erye were naturally overjoyed and said, "As long as there is hope, we can hold on for a month, not to mention ten days!"

"..." Huang Sanlaozhang and Lin Afa didn't know what to say. After all, the number of young and strong people in the ravine was much greater than the attacking Bangbanga people, and they also had the advantage of terrain...

"Okay, since everyone agrees, then it's settled!" Chen Mei finally showed off his leadership and issued the first order: "Lao Liu and Lao Gao, you guys split up and burn the three bridges!"

"Ah! That can't be done!" Huang San Laozhang tried to dissuade him: "Burn the bridge, and once the barbarians get on the island, none of them will be able to escape!"

"Everyone has packed up their belongings..." Lin Afa also said in a low voice.

"Where else do you want to run to?!" Master Gao said in a cold and disdainful voice, "Can you still escape from those native barbarians?"

"Yes, even if we manage to escape into the forest, the miasma and poisonous insects will kill us, so we will die if we escape." Liu Xuesheng echoed, "At least we are surrounded by water here, and everyone's home is here, and we are familiar with the terrain. Most importantly, we don't have to worry about food and drink!"

"That's right, this is called risking one's life!" Chen Mei said decisively: "Otherwise, if the enemy surrounds us on two sides and leaves one behind, we will be in great trouble!"

"Burn the bridge!" Liu Xuesheng and Gao Erye took the order and left.

~~

On the watchtower of Fort Santiago in the old city of Manila.

Seeing the bamboo and wooden bridges on three sides of the delta in Jiannei catching fire one after another, Governor Sander showed a regretful expression and shook his head to Colonel Salsito beside him:

"Mr. Colonel, it seems that your little black friend will not be able to eat delicious prey tonight."

"What a bunch of uncivilized idiots! I clearly told them not to act rashly and wait until dawn to sneak into the stream!" Sarsita said angrily, "But it's normal. They have no brains to begin with. They are like flies to cow dung when they see benefits."

"It's not a big deal, mainly because the Ming people are too vigilant." Lieutenant Colonel Juan said something fair: "And the Ming people actually violated the ban and secretly hid so many weapons. It shows that the Governor's distrust of them is completely correct."

Colonel Goyte was the commander of the Manila garrison. Hearing this, he became angry and said, "These Ming liars and fags should all go to hell!"

"The best is yet to come. Gentlemen, it's getting late. If you don't go back to bed, our lovely Mexican maid will start nagging you." Although Governor Sand was very dissatisfied with Colonel Goyt, a noble would not accuse another noble to his face. He would only teach him a lesson afterwards when the time is right.

"Good night, sir. Have a sweet dream." The officers bowed in unison.

"Good night everyone. Don't sleep too late tonight, or you will miss the show tomorrow morning." Governor Sander waved to everyone and walked down the tower in a dashing manner.

~~

The instigator was able to sleep, but both warring parties stayed awake all night.

After the bridge was burned, the Pampanga people on the other side of the river stopped attacking, and their leader Kenwan sent people to look for bamboo forests to cut bamboo to make rafts to cross the river.

They are just less civilized, but not stupid. They will not be at a loss as to what to do if the bridge breaks.

The overseas Chinese in Jian were mobilized, young and old, men and women, to race against time to prepare for the upcoming ten days of hard fighting.

The reason why they finally decided not to withdraw was because the advantage of agricultural civilization was in defending the city. Especially the Han people who had already maxed out their skills in this stage could come up with a hundred tricks to help them defend the city.

Moreover, only when the rear is stable, the carpenters, blacksmiths, bamboo workers, and masons among the overseas Chinese will have room to display their talents. Women, the elderly, and children will not just be a burden...

Having been in Jian for so long, Ximen Qing had already considered comprehensively how to fight a good defensive battle. As he issued orders one by one, the highly organized overseas Chinese, who were organized by clan bloodline, took their positions and took action separately.

The young and strong men dug trenches inside the original wooden fence and set up shelters with sandbags.

They also demolished the houses along the river overnight, cut down bamboos and sent them to the carpenters, who made javelins overnight.

The blacksmiths lit a fire and worked all night long to forge the javelin tips.

For laymen, throwing a javelin is much easier than aiming and shooting with a musket. Even if there is no iron spear head, a sharpened bamboo can still kill people.

In addition, all food was concentrated and rationed uniformly.

All the iron pots and sheets were collected, and the women tore the sheets and boiled water to prepare for caring for the wounded...

Everyone temporarily put aside their selfish thoughts and fought for survival!

ps.Write one more chapter...