Don’t be fooled by the miserable looks of these three brothers in distress. They are all made of century-old oak wood, and even if the wood is dismantled and sold as scrap metal, they can be worth a lot of money.
If it can be repaired, it will be even more profitable. The Coast Guard Fleet started too late, the foundation is too thin, and there are too many places that need giant ships to keep the place in check. If it is not possible to build in a short period of time, it would be an excellent supplement to capture some large ships.
For example, the captured Portuguese galleon Galeras has now been incorporated into the Tamra Garrison's direct fleet, cruising in Japanese waters to deter the Japanese and Joseon pirates who are ready to make a move.
Another caravel captured at the same time, the Pena, was incorporated into the Taiwan Garrison District and generously transferred by Jinke to the Champa Water Police Bureau to deter the ambitious Annamites.
As for the Duke of Goa, which was stuck with the Zhenwo, the hull was severely damaged and almost half of the keel needed to be replaced. The only ship capable of repairing it, the Jiangnan Shipyard, did not schedule a construction period for it. After much delay, it could only be towed to Anbuna Island for repairs by galley. It has been two years, and it is still lying in dry dock...
If these three rotten giant ships can be repaired and put into service, it will be of great help to the group in consolidating its position in the South China Sea.
No matter how bad their control is, a thousand-ton ship is a deterrent. If there is such a ship in a sea area, the attitudes of all countries in the area will be particularly docile. It also cures various amnesias, allowing countries to quickly recall the good old days when they were sons to their fathers...
~~
After dinner, the ships received the prisoners. The fleet was almost unscathed in this battle, and basically annihilated the Spanish Philippine fleet, capturing more than a thousand navy and sailors, including two colonels and captains... Of course, most of the sailors were natives of Southeast Asia, and the navy soldiers were mainly Mexicans, with only more than a hundred sergeants and officers being red-haired devils.
But it doesn't matter. Now the coast guard no longer needs to learn skills from foreigners. No matter whether they are red-haired or Mexican, they will all be sent to mine.
The only regret was that among the captives, there was no Major General Bamende, the commander of the Philippine Fleet, which made Wang Rulong and his friends feel very sad. Because they already knew that the high-ranking officials of the Red Haired Devil were very valuable. Moreover, the Spanish were much richer than the Portuguese. That was a major general, so they had to spend 100,000 to redeem him.
So their mood at the moment was like a brothel madam letting a top girl go for nothing...
Wang Rulong, feeling that he had lost 100,000 taels of silver, left two frigates to guard the captured ships. He then led the naval fleet to the Sangley Cape overnight, hoping to take advantage of the enemy's defeat and capture the enemy's naval base.
He really let it sneak...
At dawn the next day, when a scouting frigate cautiously sailed into the narrow harbor entrance of the Sangley Naval Base, it saw that the artillery fortresses on both sides of the river seemed to be silent and did not respond at all.
The frigate went deeper and found that the place was in chaos. Naked or topless natives were everywhere, happily moving things out of the Spanish barracks and warehouses. All kinds of military supplies were scattered all over the ground. It was obvious that all the Spanish in the base had fled.
It turned out that Major General Bamende was so frightened that he decided to return to Cebu overnight. He was afraid that he would be intercepted by the Ming fleet or pirates on the way. Anyway, there were not many people left in the base, so he simply gave up this strategically located, easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack military port, took all his men on the remaining sailboats, and fled Manila Bay in a hurry.
In order to strengthen his own strength, he also took the company stationed on Corregidor Island with him when he passed by, which greatly reduced the workload of the Coast Guard Fleet.
Of course, his greatest contribution to the Coast Guard Fleet was yet to come, and it was of the greatest magnitude.
~~
Compared with Wang Rulong's massive killing spree at sea, the offensive on land progressed much more slowly.
Because this side is facing the solid Manila Royal City and a tall stone fortress, and both are beyond the range of the ship's guns. The big Portuguese guns of the inland support boats hitting the city wall are like scratching an itch, so we can only take a long-term view...
After Wu Da landed, he discussed with Tang Baolu and other overseas Chinese leaders whether to relocate the overseas Chinese out of Jiannei and set up a temporary camp on the northern beach.
This not only avoids the Spanish artillery attacks in the royal city, but also puts the expatriates under the protection of naval guns, and makes material supplies more convenient in all aspects.
The overseas Chinese leaders regarded the marine officers and soldiers as their lifeline, so they naturally followed their orders. So the 2,000 marines of the 1st and 2nd Marine Battalions began to set up beachhead positions and barracks with the assistance of the overseas Chinese.
The lower class people were strong and had professional equipment, so they were very good at this kind of work. Before dark, they worked together with the expatriates to dig trenches and stretch barbed wire around the camp.
The coast guards who were not on duty were also busy. They rowed small boats to transfer bundles of neatly packed supplies from the large sailboat to the beach.
The Marines found a package with the word "tent" written on it. After opening it, they took out a numbered tarpaulin tent and set it up in the camp.
The number on the tent tarpaulin starts with the word "Jing" and is followed by eight digits, such as "Jing05103711". In addition to facilitating material statistics and reducing corruption and waste, it can also clearly trace the manufacturers and workers who produced it.
The word "Jing" indicates that the oilcloth used in these tents was produced in Jing County, Ningguo Prefecture, Huizhou.
Jiangnan Group has a huge demand for tents. Both the coast guard and the construction team are in urgent need of a tent that can shelter from wind and rain.
The General Equipment Department of the Coast Guard collected rainproof materials on the market. After comparison and research, it was found that the oilcloth used to make oilcloth umbrellas in Jingxian County is waterproof, strong, wind-resistant, durable, and insulated and lightning-proof, which can fully meet the current needs for outdoor camping.
Therefore, the group and Jingkaisi jointly established Jiangnan Rainproof Materials Company and allocated special funds to encourage traditional workshops to transform into handmade workshops. Stimulated by massive orders, the scale of the oilcloth industry in Jing County has expanded a hundred times in just a few years, becoming the pillar industry of the county. Jing County is about to transform from an inconspicuous poor county in the mountainous area to a famous wealthy county in Jiangnan.
The example of Jing County has given a vivid lesson to the counties in Jiangnan, allowing them to understand what "Jiangnan Integration" really means. It turns out that it means that each county, under the unified deployment of Jiangnan Group, can find its own position, develop professionally, cultivate intensively, and achieve common prosperity!
The thinking of the development companies in each county was suddenly opened up...
~~
While the coast guard officers and overseas Chinese were setting up camp, Master Zhao also arrived at the beach.
Without waiting for the wooden pier to be built, he jumped directly from the landing boat into the knee-deep sea water.
A group of senior police officers accompanying the commander-in-chief quickly followed suit, jumped off the boat, and waded towards the beach with him.
'Luzon, here I come!'
Zhao Hao wore a soft-brimmed police hat with a pair of sunglasses on his nose. He felt the land of Luzon with his footsteps. He looked around proudly, feeling as if he was possessed by Caesar.
It is a bit regrettable though, as photography technology had not yet been developed, so it is impossible for us to leave behind a photo that will be passed down through the ages like MacArthur did.
He could still smell the strong smell of blood and the lingering stench of decay, which was the smell from the ravine brought by the east wind.
"We will organize people to disinfect the entire stream with slaked lime tomorrow." Jin Ke observed Zhao Hao's expression and immediately whispered in his ear.
"Be careful." Master Zhao nodded and took off his sunglasses, because he saw Tang Baolu and Ximen Qing, two guys with their arms in slings, leading a group of overseas Chinese leaders including Liu Xuesheng, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Young Master!" As soon as they saw Zhao Hao, the two of them hurriedly saluted. Tang Baolu then introduced him to the overseas Chinese leaders, saying, "This is our Young Master."
Zhao Hao is now a father and looks much more mature. Although people who meet him for the first time are still surprised by his youth, they no longer worry about whether he is reliable like before.
"We, the overseas criminals, kowtow to you, sir!" The overseas Chinese leaders knelt on the ground, weeping and saying, "You, sir, have risked your life to come to our aid from thousands of miles away. Your kindness to us is as great as the sky, and we have no way to repay you!"
"When you're out there, the most important thing is loyalty!" Even a domineering man like Mr. Gao said with red eyes, "Young Master, you are so loyal, we Fuqing guys will follow your lead from now on! If we do anything to let you down, let the thunder strike us to pieces!"
"Hey, everyone, please stand up quickly." Zhao Hao supported Liu Xuesheng with one hand and Gao Erye with the other, and helped them up. He said emotionally: "I'm ashamed that we are still late. I heard that in the past ten days, more than 3,000 overseas Chinese have died. Even President Chen was seriously injured?"
"Alas, what a sin..." The overseas Chinese leaders were reminded of such a sad story, and they couldn't help but burst into tears. Who among them didn't have children, nephews, and relatives who died in this massacre? Some even lost all their brothers and nephews, leaving them all alone. How could they not be sad?
"If it weren't for Director Tang and Mr. Ximen who stepped forward and led us in self-defense, I'm afraid all 30,000 people would have died on this island..." Liu Xuesheng said, wiping his tears.
"It's mainly the red-haired devils! If their artillery wasn't so powerful, we would have repelled the foreigners many times and not so many people would have died!" The overseas Chinese leaders gnashed their teeth and said:
"The red-haired devils are so vicious. They were the ones behind all this. Not only did they fire their weapons, they also used dirty tricks. When they saw that we were not fooled, they just attacked us directly, which is why so many of us were killed!"
"In fact, the javelin throwing was fine before, but it was in the final hand-to-hand combat that the overseas Chinese suffered a great loss." Ximen Qing sighed, "The Ming Dynasty has been peaceful for too long, and the common people no longer know how to fight. They held knives and axes in their hands, hacking away with their eyes closed, how could they be the opponents of those foreigners who are used to killing people? The casualties came immediately after the hand-to-hand combat lasted for a while.
"Yes, fortunately the reinforcements arrived and the foreigners were defeated, otherwise the whole army would have been wiped out..." The overseas Chinese leaders were filled with fear, they were lucky to have saved their lives this time.
p.s. Write another chapter.