When Don Paul came down after he finished speaking, he clearly saw many people quietly move the bags on their shoulders to their backs.

"It's a good thing that you still know how to save face." He muttered in his heart, wanting to reward himself with a piece of candy. But using his hands and mouth in public would greatly damage the glorious image he had just established.

Ximen Qing peeled a piece of orange candy and handed it to him. Tang Baolu smiled awkwardly, took it and put it in his mouth.

"I'm so embarrassed." He said vaguely.

"That's right." Ximen Qing ignored him and clapped his hands, saying, "I hope they can listen to me."

"The young master once said that one has to decide one's own destiny. We have done everything we can, but they still have to get through this hurdle themselves." Tang Baolu narrowed his eyes slightly. Eating candy made him really happy.

As the two were talking, they saw Chen Mei, the president of the Luzon Chamber of Commerce, standing on the collapsed gate of her house.

Chen Mei looked around at the densely packed overseas Chinese, and the overseas Chinese were also looking at their president.

"Everyone..." Chen Mei saw that everyone was disheveled and many of them were injured. She almost choked with sobs and couldn't speak.

But he still adjusted his mood, made up his mind, and said slowly: "It is indeed the red-haired devil who caused us to fall into this situation. They are doing this again now, what good intentions can they have? Although I don't know what tricks they have, but since I can remember, my father has always taught me, 'Trust people only once, and trust a fool again'!"

After a pause, Chen Mei pointed at Tang Baolu and Ximen Qing and said, "Director Tang, Mr. Ximen, and so many brothers from the Nanhai Group have fought hard for us these days. Without their leadership, we would have been burned, killed, and looted by the foreigners many times. They are the real brothers who live and die with us! Everyone, please think carefully about what Director Tang said. Don't be like 'If you are led by others, you will not walk, but if you are led by ghosts, you will walk'!"

"Well, President, we listen to you..." Many people who had already decided to leave were shaken by Tang Baolu's words, and then completely changed their minds by Chen Mei's words. "We will stay and live and die with you all!"

“I’m not leaving…”

"Yes, I won't leave..."

Seeing more and more people changing their minds, Lin A became anxious. The law does not punish the majority, but it will punish the minority, and even more so the one who started it.

If too few people leave, it won't just be too embarrassing. Wouldn't he be condemned by thousands of people and feel ashamed?

He had no choice but to say loudly: "What the president said is all right, but what if the reinforcements don't arrive in two days?"

"That's right." One of his men immediately echoed, "At this time of year, with typhoons and rainy season, how could any ship go south from China? Even if reinforcements really came, we don't know when they would arrive."

"Anyone who shakes the morale of the army shall be beheaded!" The hot-tempered Master Gao shouted and was about to pick up his knife to chop someone.

The people on Lin Afa's side were well prepared this time and quickly raised their spears to block.

Seeing that the Fuqing guy was about to fight with the Putian guy, Chen Meiduan shouted to stop both sides: "Stop it!"

Then he said loudly to everyone, "I still say the same thing. I believe in Director Tang and Mr. Ximen who will live and die with us! As for those who don't believe, I won't force them to stay! Okay, the boat is here, those who want to leave can go ahead!"

"Let's go!" Lin Afa had already seen the boat coming, and immediately turned around and left with his relatives. But many Putian people hesitated and did not follow.

"Young Master Zhao told me personally that as long as we are in danger, he will rush to us as quickly as possible, even if we are at the ends of the earth! Young Master Zhao is our great benefactor in Chaozhou Prefecture! Others may not believe him, but we absolutely cannot not believe him!" Liu Xuesheng shouted at the top of his lungs, making his last effort: "You can't just become deserters like this! Otherwise, it will bring shame to our ancestors, and our urns won't be able to be buried in our ancestral tombs!"

His efforts were not in vain. In the end, only a dozen Chaoshan merchants, with more than 100 family members, paid the money and boarded the ship.

On the Zhangzhou side, everyone saw that Huang San Laozhang was reluctant to move, so they hurriedly asked in a low voice: "Laozhang, why don't you leave?"

Huang San Laozhang shook his head dejectedly and said, "Forget it, you guys go. I'm already this old. I don't want to be criticized anymore..."

Everyone thought, so just because we are young we can be criticized?

"You are not afraid anymore, so why should we be afraid?" The people from the Zhangzhou Gang were too embarrassed to leave.

"In fact, I am a very timid old man, always afraid of this and that. But I listened to what Director Tang and Chairman Chen said just now." Huang San Laozhang saw that everyone was also shaken, and he sighed and said, "Zhangzhou is a place where heroes are born. We can't let small people like us tarnish the good reputation that Chen Biniang and Chen Diaowang have built for Zhangzhou..."

After this statement was made, most of the Zhangzhou people did not leave. Even the Chaoshan and Putian people who had already boarded the ship got off the ship after hearing this statement...

"So this is their point..." Tang Baolu suddenly realized, "I thought it was only the loose Nanzhili that was competing with each other."

"As long as they are human, they are all the same." Ximen Qing said with a smile: "We, several prefectures in Shandong, all look down on each other..."

In the end, less than a thousand people boarded the red-haired ghost's ship...

The vast majority of people chose to stay.

As soon as the large and small ships left the shore, the people of Pampanga, who had long been unable to contain themselves, launched another attack.

However, they did not expect that only a few Ming people left. Those who stayed behind completely abandoned their selfish thoughts and had only one idea left - to unite against the common enemy and stand firm to the end!

As a result, the little black guys hit a wall again.

If it weren't for the Spanish supervision team behind them, they would have completely collapsed...

~~

The tower of Fort Santiago.

Governor Sander was completely ungraceful when he saw that the various ships he had worked so hard to gather had completed their mission before even completing a full trip.

He kicked a chair away fiercely and roared, "Can anyone tell me what's going on? Are the people of Ming collectively possessed? Aren't they the most afraid of death?!"

The two colonels were so silent that they dared not say a word. Only Lieutenant Colonel Juan, who was ignorant of the danger, said, "Sir, people are complicated. Obviously we misjudged them before."

"Shut up! You're the only one who talks too much!" Governor Sander glared at Lieutenant Colonel Juan and said, "Take all your field artillery and go to Jiannei tomorrow to blow those ungrateful Ming people into pieces!"

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Colonel Juan had no choice but to accept the order.

Colonel Salcido couldn't help but smile secretly. He had disliked this guy for a long time, especially after losing 200 pesos.

"Don't gloat over other's misfortune. Bring your troops and go to the battlefield tomorrow!" Governor Sander was also unpleasant to him and said, "After Lieutenant Colonel Juan clears the passage with artillery fire, we will form a square formation and charge into the ravine!"

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his voice and gnashed his teeth, "By this time tomorrow, I don't want there to be a single Ming citizen left alive in the ravine!"

"As you wish, sir!" Colonel Salsido bowed and took off his hat.

~~

On the ninth day, there was no rain.

But the sky was overcast and there was no wind. The sky and earth turned into a huge steamer, making people feel irritable and uneasy.

Through his commemorative telescope, Ximen Qing saw the source of his uneasiness - a team of horse-drawn artillery carriages slowly came out of the gate of Santiago Castle.

In front of the artillery was a company of Spanish lancers with overly long spears, and behind the artillery was a company of Spanish musketeers with muskets.

Obviously, seeing that their provocation failed, the angry and humiliated Spaniards finally couldn't help but take action themselves.

"Why are those guys with swords and shields and full armor gone from yesterday?" Tang Baolu asked with interest.

"Those sword and shield soldiers are the governor's direct guards. They just look well-equipped, but they are actually useless and are just decorations." Ximen Qing said indifferently.

The Coast Guard Academy conducted a comprehensive and detailed study of the Spaniards, whom Mr. Zhao identified as his number one enemy.

The person in charge of this project is Professor Pinto Pin, a former Portuguese naval captain who is very happy to tell his new country everything he knows about the Spaniards.

Yes, Professor Ping has sworn allegiance to the Ming Dynasty.

Ximen Qing had attended Professor Ping's class, so he was naturally familiar with the situation of the Spanish army. It was for this reason that he had a feeling that something was wrong, and he ordered his men in a deep voice: "Pass the order, everyone hide in the trenches, and do not show your heads unless the whistle is blown!"

Because in this era, the Spanish army is more powerful than the navy...

They completed the standardization reform of artillery several decades ago, setting standards for the caliber, barrel length, wall thickness and weight of artillery. Both the quality of artillery and the quality of gunners were far superior to the Portuguese, who were not very good at artillery.

Not to mention the legendary Spanish phalanx...

Ximen Qing couldn't help but doubt whether he could survive the day.

He wanted to smoke a cigarette to calm himself, but when he took the crumpled cigarette out of his pocket, he saw that it was empty.

"Damn it, what am I afraid of..." Ximen Qing cursed, crumpled the cigarette box into a ball and threw it out!

~~

Lieutenant Colonel Juan's field artillery had two main types of guns, one of which was the so-called Portuguese gun in the Ming Dynasty. The official name in Spain was the rear-loading swivel gun!

In order to facilitate transportation, the wealthy Spanish used bronze to cast field guns, and the whirling cannon was no exception. The barrel was 1.5 meters long and weighed 300 pounds. Each gun was equipped with several beer cup-shaped sub-guns loaded with different ammunition to meet different needs.

The other type of cannon is what the Ming Dynasty called "copper-fired cannon", which the Spanish called eagle cannon. It is a type of cannon specifically designed for infantry. It has a smaller muzzle diameter of about 55 mm, and its power and range are superior to those of a whirling cannon.

Both types of guns were very light and could be moved with the army, making them very convenient and flexible. They made great contributions to the Spanish colonial development.

The disadvantage is that it has less power and is not suitable for use in a major war, but it is definitely an overkill when used against the overseas Chinese in the stream!