The Spanish established the first empire in human history in the 16th century. Its colonies included the entire Central America, most of South America, and part of Africa and Asia. More than 60 years ago, the Spanish colonist Legesby landed from Manila, invaded and occupied the Philippines, and then established castles and forts on the south bank of the Pashi River in the center of Manila. Since then, it has become the capital of the Spanish colonial ruling authorities and the center of their rule in the South Ocean.

In addition, because the Spaniards focused their main attention on America, they also left some opportunities for other countries. The Dutch once occupied Malacca, Liuqiu and other places. However, now the Dutch have been driven away by Zheng Zhilong from Liuqiu. They have also thought of revenge, but Zheng Zhilong's strength is not something they can easily eliminate. In addition, they are worried that once the war begins, they will not be able to obtain commercial benefits from the Ming Dynasty, so they temporarily maintain peace with the Ming Dynasty.

However, now, because the Ming Dynasty monopolized the interests of Japan, the Dutch forces were driven out of Japan, which caused dissatisfaction among many people. In addition, the Sanya Military Port, the Construction and the Southern Navy formed the Dutch all became alert to the Ming Dynasty. They gradually began to strengthen contact with the Spaniards, trying to unite the forces of both sides to resist the Ming Dynasty's attack.

Britain, France and other countries were still relatively weak near Nanyang. At the same time, because the East India Company reached an agreement with the Ming Dynasty, they stood on the other side of the Netherlands and the Spaniards, providing various intelligence to the Ming Dynasty, trying to use the power of the Ming Dynasty to weaken the Dutch and the Spaniards, and find opportunities to seize benefits from them.

Many veterans who had fought with the Spaniards on the ocean were sent to the Ming Dynasty by the East India Company, and came to the military port of Sanya to tell the Ming naval generals about the Spanish's combat methods and cooperated with them to carry out some practical exercises. Through the exercises, these European veterans were surprised to find that the Ming naval warships had surpassed the most advanced warships in Europe today. They were both firepower and ship navigation speeds above them. Moreover, the fleet was huge, far from being able to withstand the old broken ships of the Spaniards and the Dutch. Unless they encountered natural disasters such as hurricanes, the outcome of the battle would be no suspense. They had begun to observe silence for the Dutch and the Spanish.

After a long preparation, the soldiers of the Southern Navy had been completely familiar with the Spanish's combat methods and obtained the latest trends of the Dutch and the Spanish coalition from the Jinyiwei and the East India Company. So, under the leadership of the Navy Admiral, they drove along the route of the former Sanbao eunuch to the West and headed towards the South China Sea.

In front of them were ships of the envoys of the Ming Dynasty. These people would send edicts to the colonists of the Netherlands and Spain. As for excuses, it was too easy. From a legal perspective, the Philippines, Malacca and other places they occupied were all vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. It was very reasonable for the sect leader to issue and expel the enemies in their territory at the request of the vassal states. In addition, the sins committed by the Spanish against the people of the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period were never forgiven, and they would use their lives to repay this sin.

When the ships of the Ming envoy arrived in Manila and sent a letter of declaration of war, the governors and generals of the Netherlands and Spain were shocked. After this period of investigation, they had a clear understanding of the newly formed Southern Navy of the Ming Dynasty. Judging from the number and scale of the ships, their warships would never be opponents of the Ming Navy. So these envoys lucky enough to save their lives and were only expelled, because they would also consider how the Ming Dynasty would treat them after the defeat.

"These warships just look powerful on paper. Naval battles rely not only on warships, but also on the captains, gunners and sailors who ultimately decide the outcome." They had to comfort themselves like this, "The Ming navy had not fought with powerful enemies before. The inland ships in Japan were vulnerable, and there was nothing to show off to defeat such opponents. However, we Spaniards have countless experienced captains and sailors. We will teach them a profound lesson."

At first glance, it seems that this is true. When the Dutch occupied Penghu many years ago, Yu Zigao gathered a large number of ships, which was just to drive the Dutch away; the battle of Zheng Zhilong expelling the Dutch from Liuqiu did not cause any serious losses to the Dutch, and he also relied on his superior forces to force them to leave; as for the later battles of the Ming Navy to Liaodong and the capture of Japan, they were not seen by the Spanish and Dutch; so although their own warships, number of artillery fire and number of ships were not as good as those of the opponent, the Spanish Governor still had hope of victory.

"After we annihilate this fleet, we will go north to attack the Ming army port and completely destroy it so that they will no longer be able to threaten us in a short period of time." They said this, and immediately summoned the navy generals to discuss countermeasures. The final result was to wait for the arrival of the Ming navy in Manila and defeat it with ease.

In this way, the Ming Navy did not receive much harassment along the way and arrived smoothly near Manila. The two armies set up formations outside Manila and launched a fierce artillery battle. The British and French did not miss this opportunity. They also brought their warships to come here, observing the changes in the situation from afar, in order to obtain the result of the war as soon as possible and prepare for their next plan.

What shocked the Spaniards, Dutch, British and French was that the combat effectiveness of the Ming Navy was completely beyond their expectations. At the beginning of the war, they still relied on their rich experience to gain the upper hand. However, as the war progressed, the soldiers of the Ming Navy gradually adapted to the changes on the battlefield. They played their advantages in the speed of warships and artillery fire, and gradually began to suppress their opponents.

Spanish and Dutch warships began to be shot and caught fire, gradually sinking to the bottom of the sea. The broken decks of warships and sailors holding the decks to survive were seen everywhere on the sea; while the losses of the Ming Navy warships were pitifully small. They gradually took the initiative on the battlefield, surrounded the fleets of the Spanish and Dutch, as if they wanted to sink them all to the bottom of the sea.
Chapter completed!