Just when the Spanish in Manila received the news of their defeat, they were panicking.
The Liberation Army and the Zheng Army, which had completed post-war repairs in St. Jones, began to march toward Manila with prisoners of war in tow.
In addition to the Ming army's land force marching towards Manila, the navy also received the mission.
We set sail from Lingayen and headed towards Manila Bay, preparing to cut off the Spanish's retreat and annihilate all the Spanish in Luzon in one battle.
Since the Wanli Year, the Spaniards have raised a butcher's knife against the Chinese twice.
There were two massacres, and hundreds of thousands of Chinese were killed!
This is a blood feud forged with blood and life, and must be avenged!
Although Zhu Hongyu is not a barbarian like the Spaniards, he cannot kill all the Spaniards in Luzon.
But Zhu Hongyu was prepared to turn all Spaniards into coolies, letting them contribute to the construction of a beautiful, rich, civilized and safe feudal New Ming Dynasty, and atone for the sins of their ancestors.
Well, mining, building roads, building cities...
There are so many places where the military government needs labor force!
Of course, those Spaniards who participated in the first two massacres of China but are still alive today are waiting for them in the Ming Dynasty and the eighteen kinds of torture in Dongchang and the hundred ways of death for death row prisoners.
In short, I won’t let them die too happily!
However, the Liberation Army's first target was not Manila City or important places such as ports.
Zhu Hongyu led his people straight to the Cavite Shipyard!
The Cavite Shipyard was built by the Spanish in the late 16th century. It is currently the largest shipyard in East Asia, if not one of them.
There are more than a thousand shipwrights, many of whom are skilled and experienced Chinese craftsmen, with the ability to build fourth-class sailing battleships and repair third-class sailing battleships.
With the ingenuity of the Chinese craftsmen of this era, as long as Zhu Hongyu can make up his mind to dismantle a few third-level sailing battleships for them to study.
The Cavite Shipyard is expected to soon have the ability to independently build third-class sailing battleships!
If Zhu Hongyu wants to develop the navy in the future, the Cavite Shipyard is the place he must win.
The priority is even higher than capturing Manila!
With the Ming army's great victories in the two battlefields of St. Jones and Lingayen, they almost completely annihilated the Spanish main force in Manila.
Even if he doesn't go to Manila in a short time, the Spaniards in Manila will not be able to change the world!
However, this is not necessarily the case at Zhu Hongyu's Cavite Shipyard.
If he had not captured the Cavite Shipyard in advance, Zhu Hongyu would have cried to death if the Spaniards had lost their minds and burned the Cavite Shipyard to the ground or killed all the Chinese craftsmen in the Cavite Shipyard.
The Liberation Army already lacked labor force, so it would take at least three to five years to rebuild a Cavite shipyard.
What's more important are the skilled craftsmen!
With the Liberation Army's decisive victory in the Battle of Luzon, although the problem of population shortage is still serious, it is not impossible to solve.
First, the tens of thousands of Chinese who have settled near Manila can greatly supplement the population gap of the military government.
Second, after the military government captured Manila, it had the capital to attract immigrants.
For example, Zhu Hongyu could use the fertile land in Luzon that had been cultivated by the Spaniards to attract the Chinese people who had been living in Southeast Asia after the fall of the Ming Dynasty to migrate to Luzon.
When people come, they divide the land, and they divide it into dozens or even hundreds of acres. I don’t believe it won’t attract Chinese people!
However, although there is no shortage of people now, craftsmen are still scarce.
Especially the skilled craftsmen who know how to build ships in the Cavite Shipyard.
If all these people die, Zhu Hongyu will really have no place to find so many skilled shipbuilders.
After thinking for a long time, Zhu Hongyu decided to capture the Cavite Shipyard first, and then prepare to attack Manila.
When the Ming army, flying the twelve-pointed sun and moon flag, appeared outside the Cavite Shipyard, there were endless cheers in the shipyard.
The Chinese, who had always been oppressed in the past, took the initiative and tied up the supervisors and red-haired shipwrights who had long dominated the shipyard and took them to Zhu Hongyu.
The Ming Dynasty's army easily captured the strategically important Cavite Shipyard without spending a single soldier.
Several old men with gray beards and hair, but very energetic, appeared in front of Zhu Hongyu.
"I never imagined that I would be able to see my Ming Dynasty King conquer the barbarians and restore our homeland in this lifetime!"
"Die without regrets, die without regrets!"
"Long live the Ming Dynasty, the king is mighty!"
"..."
These old people lived a very difficult life in the first half of their lives.
It’s just a matter of leaving one’s hometown and being far away from one’s homeland, but one also has to endure the intense heat of Nanyang and the oppression of red hair.
Fortunately, they are all shipwrights. They can be regarded as highly skilled talents no matter what era or country they are in!
Although Hongmao bullied and exploited them, the wages he received were enough for them to eat.
Even Tu Hua, the crazy Spaniard, knew not to kill the shipwright!
Therefore, many of these old men survived the two Spanish massacres of Chinese people.
Only after seeing Hong Mao's barbaric ferocity did they know the weight of the words "Wang Shi" and "Court"!
Without the royal division and the imperial court, the status of the Chinese in Manila would not be comparable to that of the natives!
Being able to see the King of the Ming Dynasty, see the twelve-pointed sun and moon flag, and see the King conquer the barbarians and regain their homeland in their lifetime, these old men were filled with excitement and excitement.
Zhu Hongyu appeared in person, held the calloused hands of the leading old man, and spoke in a sincere tone.
"Don't worry, old man, when the Liberation Army comes, no one will be able to bully us Chinese anymore!"
"From today on, this Luzon is our Chinese Luzon, and we Chinese must be the masters of it!"
"In the future, this governor will lead his troops to fight back to the Central Plains!"
"Recreate the great cause of Hongwu who drove out the Tartars and restored China!"
Zhu Hongyu made a solemn promise in front of everyone.
The whole shipyard cheered loudly!
The shipyard was recaptured without bloodshed, ending the war in Cavite.
Zhu Hongyu did not hesitate and directly ordered the army to advance towards Manila, preparing to conquer Manila and completely regain the entire Luzon.
…
On the other side, after learning that Cavite had been lost and the Ming army was less than thirty kilometers away from Manila.
Great panic in Manila!
A large number of Spaniards packed up their belongings and boarded ships fleeing Luzon.
Governor Sares stood on the deck, watching the ship under his feet as it methodically raised its sails, pulled out its anchor, and prepared to set sail. He kept praying to God.
I hope God can bless him to escape safely and return to Europe!
But Consul Rica was sitting in the cabin, looking through the porthole at the city of Manila not far away.
My heart is filled with sorrow!
Because he knew that Manila was going to be lost!
This is already an unchangeable fact!
When he thought that Manila, which he had worked and built for several years, would fall into the hands of a group of Han people, Consul Ricca was filled with anguish.
In his sight, the docks of Manila were now crowded with Spaniards bringing their families with them.
These Spaniards crowded on the docks, waving gold coins and banknotes, trying to get a ticket to escape from Manila...