"If we didn't have a map and a guide, we would never have found this poor place. The Spaniards are really good at hiding such a good stronghold. Fortunately, they are too weak and didn't cause us too much trouble."
The Cebu Offensive begins.
Zuo Hua led the East China Sea Fleet all the way south, bypassing one island after another and crossing one strait after another. Almost losing his way, he finally arrived in Cebu.
What he said was not wrong.
Luzon, a country of islands, has the most complex terrain in the world.
Even the most experienced sailors need to be extra cautious here.
More than three hundred years later, even though the extremely powerful U.S. Pacific Fleet occupied absolute sea control, it still suffered heavy losses from the Japanese Combined Fleet in nearby Leyte Gulf.
The main Spanish forces in Luzon are concentrated in Manila. Although Cebu is the place where the Spanish first landed, its importance has weakened a lot.
There were only over a hundred Spanish troops here. Seeing the overwhelming Xia warships, these people were completely desperate.
The East China Sea Fleet fired only one round of artillery fire at Cebu City and then began the landing.
As soon as the leading troops of the Eighth Regiment of the Second Marine Division stepped onto the shore, a white flag was raised on the city wall of Cebu.
It can be said that the Xia army occupied the southern strategic point of Luzon without a single blow.
More than a hundred Spanish soldiers, their families, and local governors obediently walked outside the city and handed over their weapons to Zhao Xianbing.
Since the Spaniards gave up resistance readily and did not cause much evil, Zhao Xianbing treated them relatively gently.
They were just imprisoned, and food and drink were guaranteed.
Seeing that these Xia soldiers did not shout and kill, although they lost all their wealth, the Spaniards felt at ease while saving their lives.
Zuo Hua, accompanied by Zhao Xianbing, walked into Cebu City.
"It was here that Magellan, who was sailing around the world, landed here. He himself was involved in a local tribal feud and lost his life here. It is of great significance that we now occupy this place."
Before conquering Luzon, everyone in the Xia army had received systematic education.
We have a comprehensive understanding of Luzon from many aspects such as history, geography, humanities, nature, climate, etc.
Magellan's circumnavigation of the world was such a big event that it was deeply remembered by the generals of the Xia Army.
Now when I come to Cebu, I feel like I have some kind of connection with the brave explorer from more than a hundred years ago.
Especially Zuo Hua, who held his head high and his chest high, full of momentum.
After hearing the story of Magellan from Zuo Menggen, he had already made up his mind.
The enemy can go, so can I!
He not only wants to lead the Chinese Navy on a circumnavigation, but also travels to every place in the world, making the power of China resound around the world.
The two traveled around Cebu City and finally came to the Cathedral of the Holy Innocents.
In this church, there is a black-skinned wooden statue of the Holy Child.
In 1565, Cebu suffered a fire, and everything was burned to the ground. Only the statue of the Holy Child was preserved, and it was considered a miracle by the local people.
Zuo Hua and Zhao Xianbing stood in front of the Holy Infant Elephant and looked left and right, but they couldn't see anything strange.
However, they also knew that everything here represented the historical process and was of great significance, so they ordered everything in the city to be strictly protected.
Starting from the next day, the Xia army successively marched in all directions. Negros Island, Leyte Island, Bohol Island, etc., fell into the hands of the Xia Kingdom one after another.
Some of the indigenous tribes on these islands are ferocious, some are kind, some are savage, and some are civilized.
When they met Xia Jun, their attitudes were also different.
Brutal and barbaric, he launched an attack without saying a word, treating the Xia army as an intruder.
The kind and civilized people, although very scared, still adopted the method of communication and communication.
Xia Jun also treated them differently.
Those who dare to attack the Xia army will not be polite at all and will immediately fight back until they are completely wiped out.
Those who were kind and civilized, Xia Jun would trade with them. Various useful and novel commodities made these tribes put down their guard against Xia Jun, and the two sides lived in harmony.
These tribes had also come into contact with the Spanish and accepted the rule of the Spanish colonists.
Now it was Xia Guo, and they didn't feel any discomfort.
"Dear general, the natives on the big island in the south are the most ferocious. They are best at hiding in dense forests and using poisonous arrows. Please be extremely careful."
Isandora, the leader of the Adolan tribe, reported important information to Zuo Hua.
The big island in the south he mentioned was actually Mindanao, which was also the southernmost point of Xia Kingdom's strategy.
Mindanao is second only to Luzon in area.
There are dense rainforests and crisscrossing mountains above. Not only are the indigenous people brave and good at fighting, but there are also all kinds of ferocious and terrifying animals, which will definitely be a big test for Xia's army.
"I don't think we should rashly go deep into the island, lest the situation becomes unclear and the losses are too great. Let's occupy this place first and establish it. After stabilizing the advance base, we can slowly advance into the island."
Zhao Xianbing has a stable character. He does not worry about victory in everything, but thinks about defeat first.
The place he pointed to was the protrusion at the southwestern tip of Mindanao.
This place has a name that is more familiar to Han people, called Zamboanga.
Although the name comes from the local dialect, which means the city of flowers, it is easy to think of the Three Treasures eunuch who was once famous in foreign lands.
Even with this auspicious name, we must capture this place first.
After carefully studying the terrain, other generals agreed with this suggestion.
Zamboanga is a long and narrow peninsula deep into the ocean in Mindanao. It is surrounded by sea on three sides and has a narrow terrain. Only a small number of troops are needed to block attacks on land.
Moreover, if you advance into the island, there will be fewer paths, so there will be no shortage of things to consider.
Since everyone has no objections, the joint forces set off immediately.
Just as the army passed through the strait between Bohol and Leyte, they met a Spanish fleet head-on.
Although I don’t know where this fleet came from, since they are Spanish, they are the enemy.
Zuo Hua gave the order and the East China Sea Fleet immediately launched an attack.
This Spanish fleet has a total of seven sailing ships. The ships are of different sizes, but their firepower is very weak. It is obvious at a glance that they are better at long-distance transportation.
Facing the Galen ships of the Xia Navy, these Spaniards were not only powerless to resist, they even had no idea of escaping.
Finally, when they were surrounded, they quickly chose to surrender.
When the leading Spaniard was brought over for questioning, Zuo Hua and others realized that this fleet was actually transporting silver from the distant Americas.
They have been wandering at sea for more than half a year and are already exhausted. They just want to get to Cebu as soon as possible and have a good rest.
As a result, they encountered Xia's fleet and had no strength to run away.
Hearing that it was transporting silver, Zuo Hua immediately asked soldiers to board the ship for inspection.
The results reported made everyone crazy.
The amount of silver seized in this battle was over 700,000 taels.
This is truly a fortune that fell from the sky.
Still a huge sum of money.
This capture alone has wiped out all the Xia Kingdom's funds for sending troops to Luzon.
As for the rest, it's all for nothing.
Zuo Hua did not dare to neglect and quickly sent someone to send the silver to Taiwan.
He had already heard Zuo Mengeng nagging about the shortage of silver in the country, and with this silver, it could at least be alleviated.
