On February 23, company commander Zhang Yu commanded his company to advance on Mindanao Island.
Mindanao is a large island south of Luzon. It is part of the Philippines and is the fourteenth largest island in the world. Unlike the weak indigenous people in northern Luzon, the residents of Mindanao believe in Islam. Compared with Luzon
The indigenous people of Mindanao are more tough.
In the original history, Spain colonized the Philippines for more than two hundred years and never went south to conquer the Muslim believers in the south. After the United States defeated Spain and occupied the Philippines, the Americans gradually occupied the plains of Mindanao.
In the 23rd year of Chongzhen, the productivity of these Muslims was still at an extremely low level.
In fact, the Muslims in Mindanao have never even formed a country. On the island of Mindanao, which is more than 90,000 square kilometers and is close to Zhejiang Province, Muslims are all entrenched in the form of tribes, and no tribe has the influence to control the entire island.
There are more than thirty languages spoken throughout Mindanao, and even basic communication between tribes is impossible.
Since Li Zhi had conquered Luzon and the small islands around Luzon, he naturally had to go south to attack Mindanao. Although the fighting power of the Muslim natives was stronger than that of the natives of Luzon, since the American colonists with a small population in the 19th century could occupy Mindanao
plain area, then Li Zhi was also prepared to deal with it according to law.
Li Zhi did not think that these Muslim natives could stop the Jinwang breech-loading rifle. Now Li Zhi's army has been equipped with more than 10,000 Jinwang breech-loading rifles. The eight thousand soldiers who invaded Mindanao all used this new weapon, and their firepower was amazing.
Zhang Yu looked at the surrounding coconut groves and felt that the view was okay.
All the islands in the Philippines are in the tropics, with abundant rainfall. There are coconut trees everywhere on the island. The gaps between the trunks of these coconut trees are large enough to provide space for rifle shooting. Zhang Yu made a little estimate and felt that the rifle can be fired in the coconut trees.
In the gap, enemies six or seventy meters away were killed.
After walking another two miles, they were already ten miles away from the camp. Zhang Yu heard footsteps in front of him and waved his hand to stop the company.
Two scouts ran out of the coconut grove.
"Company Commander, there seems to be a village ahead. It seems to be a hunting village."
Like the natives of Luzon, the Muslims on Mindanao are basically still in the fishing and hunting stage. Even if there is an occasional village that knows how to plant, it is just slash-and-burn farming, sowing seeds in the charred woods and waiting for harvest.
Such productivity cannot support a large population. The population of the Philippine Islands in this era is very sparse. Zhang Yu walked ten miles today and only found this one village.
Zhang Yu thought for a while and said: "Everyone loaded up their bullets and prepared to enter the village to declare sovereignty."
Li Zhi was not prepared to massacre the backward Filipino natives. His policy on Mindanao was the same as that on Luzon: using immigrants to gradually turn the island into an economy dominated by Han farmers. Then the Han people took advantage of their numerical advantages and used caste
The system gradually assimilated the local indigenous people.
Han men control the productivity that is thousands of years ahead and have privileges in policies and systems. There is no doubt that indigenous women will gradually marry Han men as wives and concubines. In this way, the Han bloodline will gradually assimilate to the local indigenous people, starting from the paternal line.
Replace local indigenous blood.
In this process, both indigenous men and women will have a much better life than in the past. However, indigenous men will lose the right to marry because their economic strength is not as good as that of the Han people, and their bloodline will gradually be cut off.
This is a peaceful replacement process and the most reasonable colonization. Li Zhi hopes to minimize the bloodshed and sacrifice in this process.
However, it is impossible to avoid death at all during this colonization process.
Zhang Yuzheng led his company towards the village, but saw the indigenous men in the village rushing over in the coconut grove.
Muslims of Malay descent wrapped their heads in linen, wore tattered linen clothes, and held scimitars in their hands, ready to come up and fight the Tiger Army.
It seems that there are hundreds of indigenous people.
Zhang Yu loudly asked the scouts: "Why did they rush up with knives?"
The scout looked confused and replied loudly: "I don't know, company commander, these answers cannot be measured by common sense."
Zhang Yu frowned and cursed coldly: "You don't know how to live or die!"
"Everyone ready to fight!"
The soldiers raised their rifles and pointed them at the Muslim natives who were getting closer and closer.
In fact, shooting can be done at a distance of sixty or seventy meters. But Zhang Yu squinted his eyes and waited until the natives rushed to a distance of thirty meters before giving the order to shoot.
"Fire!"
"Pap-pap-pap-pap!"
There was a flash of fire, and sparks were spit out from the muzzles of one hundred and twenty-six King Jin rifles, shooting bullets towards the Muslims in Mindanao. At such a close distance, the soldiers' hit rate was extremely high, and six or seventy people in the front row were immediately shot.
All Muslims were brought down.
The Muslim who was shot but not killed screamed in agony, making the originally quiet coconut grove look a little ferocious.
Where had the Muslims seen such firepower? Half of them were killed at once, and they all fell into extreme horror and were stunned.
Frightened by the power of metal and gunpowder, the natives soon began to flee.
However, since Zhang Yu put them within thirty meters before shooting, he was not prepared to let them escape. The Muslims only fled back twenty meters. The Tiger Soldiers who used breech-loading guns had loaded their bullets again and started
Shot the second time.
"Pap-pap-pap-pap!"
This time, almost all the surviving natives fell to the gunfire.
Only seven Malays escaped the bullets by relying on the trunks of coconut trees and were still running away.
Zhang Yu led the soldiers to chase after him. The soldiers charged forward while loading bullets into their rifles, and ran for more than thirty meters to complete the loading.
"Snapped!"
"Pop!"
"Snapped!"
There was a burst of gunfire, and the last seven natives fell under the gunfire, all of them killed.
Zhang Yu sneered, waved his hand and said, "Enter the village!"
After walking two miles forward, Zhang Yu's company entered an indigenous village.
The dilapidated thatched houses in a circle are the village buildings owned by the indigenous people. There is a small open space in the middle of the thatched houses, and there is a two-story wooden house in the open space, which seems to be the place where the indigenous people usually study scriptures and pray.
All the adult men in the village had been killed by Zhang Yu just now. At this time, there were only frightened women and children in each hut.
Zhang Yu ignored the women and children, but walked into the wooden house and walked to the platform on the second floor to take a look.
Looking from the platform, the nearby land is very flat.
"There is abundant rain here, so if the coconut trees are cut down, it will become rice fields for us Han people. This Mindanao Island has abundant sunshine and can accommodate at least four million Han people for farming."
Zhang Yu's bodyguard asked: "These natives all believe in Islam, what should we do?"
Zhang Yu smiled and said: "Your Majesty has already had a countermeasure. We will help them build a Taoist temple and let them all worship our Sanqing. As our tenant farmers, they can eat a lot and no longer have to starve. In five years, they will be
