Chapter 1666 Attacking Manila (16)

When Aragones and Francis received the reply from Yan Chujie, they also received the report that the East City Gate had been lost. This was undoubtedly bad news that made matters worse, and it reduced them to one less bargaining condition. The two stared with big eyes.

Xiaoyan, they are a little unsure of how to deal with the current situation. Their original assumption was that if the East City Gate could hold on until dark, they would have at least one night to reorganize their troops. Maybe the battle situation could be improved tomorrow.

There may be changes, and when the time comes to negotiate with the Haihan Army, there will at least be room for maneuver.

However, the Haihan Army advanced faster than they expected, and responded to the armistice proposal equally quickly. It was obvious that the opponent made this decision only after capturing the East City Gate, with the purpose of forcing the Manila authorities to make a decision within today.

.

"Mr. Governor, it seems that we must go and meet with the Haihan people immediately." Francis said with a wry smile: "Otherwise, I'm afraid they will launch a general attack before dark."

"Both of us go? No, Mr. Francis, that would be too reckless." Aragones shook his head repeatedly and said: "How can military and political officials go together? If the Haihan people want to play any tricks, they will do it at the negotiation table.

We will even take the blame. Let alone negotiation, we will no longer be qualified to negotiate terms."

Francis heard that there was a sense of shirk in his words, and thought that in this case, only I, the commander of the city defense, could go away. Instead of waiting for the other party to make it clear and then give the order, it would be better for him to be more cheerful and take the initiative to take the job.

"Sir, please sit in the rear and I'll go." Francis volunteered and said, "I'm more familiar with the city's defense situation, so I can negotiate terms with the Haihan people with a good sense of proportion. If something happens that prevents me from coming back, at least I can't come back.

You can take control of the situation."

Francis' tone was sincere, but that was not what he thought in his heart. In Manila today, it is probably not the Spanish authorities who are in control of the overall situation. If the Haihan people are determined to kill all the Spanish officials in the city, then what will happen in Aragon?

It actually doesn’t make much difference whether Si goes to the negotiation site or not. He believes that if the Haihan people really want to besiege the city, then even the Pasig River Basin in the north will fall under their control, and the people in the city will not care about it at all.

There is a safe escape route.

Francis believed that the Haihan people's tactics, in addition to being strong on the frontal battlefield, also deliberately left a way out to the north in order to undermine the fighting spirit of the army and people in the city. The purpose of agreeing to engage in armistice negotiations with our side is also to

This area exerted greater pressure on the Manila authorities to completely abandon armed resistance measures.

As for whether he can come back safely from this trip, Francis is not too optimistic. Although he knows that the Haihan people may not necessarily kill his side, he cannot guarantee that they will use the Spanish representatives who are negotiating to scare the monkeys. If the Haihan people want to choose one of the local officials,

If there is an influential person to control, it must be the higher-ranking Governor of the Philippines, not him, the commander of the Manila City Defense. If Aragones can be made to bow his head, the Haihan people may not care about treating him as a victim, Francis.

Aragones pretended to be polite, but had no intention of taking on this job by himself. Francis sneered in his heart, and was even more disappointed with his immediate boss. If he could pass this test, he would probably

I will never partner with him again.

At present, the Haihan Army has occupied nearly one-third of the city. It is difficult for the Spanish authorities to organize an effective defense line in the city, so Francis did not spend too long when explaining the next deployment status to his subordinates.

In fact, at this time, Francis was already a bit desperate and had many thoughts of simply dumping the mess on Aragones. However, in the end, reason prevailed and he did not completely hand over the command of the garrison to this timid and despicable man.

In the hands of his superiors. God knows if the command was given to him, he would simply open the city gate and run away the next moment.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, in accordance with Haihan's request, Francis took a carriage to the ruins of the city gate in the south of the city. In order to show his sincerity in the negotiations, he only brought a coachman and two attendants with him.

After the battle started in the early morning today, Francis finally had the opportunity to return to the south of the city and witness the conditions here with his own eyes. When he saw the ruins of the south city gate, he couldn't help but be shocked by the methods of the Haihan Army. He could think of

This is the result of a violent explosion, but I really can’t imagine how the opponent managed to blow up the city gate and the city wall into ruins without anyone noticing. It can only be explained that maybe there are still soldiers in the Haihan army.

Some kind of mysterious weapon unknown to you can destroy the city defense in one fell swoop under certain circumstances.

But this possibility is scary just thinking about it. If Haihan has such a powerful weapon in his hands, wouldn't it mean that no city in the world can defend against their offensive? Francis didn't even dare to think about it.

The consequences this will bring, because he knows that even with the power of the Kingdom of Spain, there is no effective resistance plan for Haihan's almost invincible military strength. The best and only solution is that

Probably just stop being an enemy of Haihan.

After several careful investigations by the Haihan Army, Francis finally met his real opponent, General Qian Tiandun, who commanded the Haihan siege troops, in a nearby private house.

Regarding the life of Qian Tiandun, in fact, the Spanish intelligence network in the Far East has also conducted targeted research in recent years. In particular, the intelligence personnel lurking in Haihan have spent a lot of energy collecting relevant information about General Haihan.

Qian Tiandun, who ranks high on the list of famous generals in Haihan, is naturally one of the targets.

Qian Tiandun was the first general to lead troops in Haihan, and his military exploits since crossing over can be described as brilliant. Since the beginning of the Annan Civil War, Qian Tiandun has been fighting overseas, fighting all the way from the South China Sea to Liaodong, and then from Liaodong

Fight back to the South China Sea. The special operations battalion formed by him has also been supported by war in these years. The more war he has, the stronger he is. Its strength has always held the first place in Haihan's ace unit.

Although the special operations battalion has been kept secret due to its combat methods and equipment, and has been shrouded in mystery all year round, Qian Tiandun, who single-handedly created this unit, has already become a famous general in Haihan. He has participated in many battles over the years.

Most of the war events have been turned into stories by storytellers, which are widely circulated in Haihan. Therefore, it is not too difficult for Spanish spies to collect various information about Qian Tiandun, but the authenticity and accuracy need to be verified.

.

Of course, Francis had already seen the information collected by the intelligence agency, but he would definitely not believe the descriptions of Haihan folk who described Qian Tiandun as a three-headed and six-armed god descending to earth. However, after seeing Qian Tiandun himself, he was still a little surprised by Haihan's description.

The number one general of the Han Dynasty turned out to be so calm, completely different from the image of a ferocious warrior he expected.

Francis’s entourage was left outside, but Qian Tiandun brought an entourage—Simão, a translator from Portugal. If there was no translator to convey the message, the negotiations between the two parties would probably be nothing more than chicken and duck talk.

Both sides are soldiers, so there is no need to waste any more time arguing about who represents the just side of this war. This boring issue goes straight to the topic.

Qian Tiandun made a clear request that the Manila authorities abandon all armed resistance measures before sunrise tomorrow, hand over weapons to Haihan's army, and hand over control of all aspects of the city, and Haihan will take over the city. And Haihan

The military will provide asylum to all Spaniards, their personal belongings will be protected to the greatest extent, and they will be allowed to choose whether to leave Manila.

Naturally, Francis would not agree to such harsh conditions outright. Even if most of the Haihan people's conditions were within his expectations, such an armistice would be a huge disadvantage to Spain, and he had to fight for it no matter what.

Francis' request on behalf of Spain was exactly the opposite. Haihan's army should immediately stop its aggression and withdraw from the city, and then the two sides would conduct further negotiations. Of course, as a price for Haihan's withdrawal, the Manila authorities could consider giving Haihan an economic boost.

There is a certain "compensation" for Han, and the amount can be further negotiated.

This is the condition that Francis and Aragones have negotiated. In fact, this means admitting defeat and being willing to pay war compensation. But if Haihan can agree to this condition, then at least the city of Manila can still be kept in Spanish hands.

It will be easier to explain the reports to the country in the future. In their view, Haihan launched this war partly for revenge, and the other half was to plunder the wealth of Manila City. If Haihan took the initiative to give the other party a considerable amount of benefits, perhaps Haihan would

When the Han people achieve their goals, they will consider retreating.

Until this time, Francis did not feel that Haihan's real purpose of launching this war was to seize the city of Manila from Spain and implement long-term rule. Even Qian Tiandun proposed that Haihan take over the city, he also believed that this

It is some kind of coercion method used by the other party to reduce the space for counter-offering.

The reason is that Francis believes that there is no reason for Haihan to occupy an immigrant city that has been ruled by Spain for more than half a century. More than half of the people here speak Spanish, and Spanish immigrants account for a quarter of the total population.

Left and right. For this city to change ownership from top to bottom, it is much more complicated and troublesome than a simple military occupation. The cost for the Haihan people to occupy this place is not small, but what they can gain from it is

The benefits seemed to be extremely limited, at least from Francis' perspective, he couldn't see what Haihan's purpose was.

Of course, it is impossible for Qian Tiandun to give him the long-term development plan of Haihan, but one thing is very clear, that is, the city of Manila, including the entire Manila Bay nearby, is determined to be occupied by Haihan.

It is its own target area. Even if the Manila authorities are willing to pay more war reparations, they cannot make Haihan give up his original plan.

Haihan has been preparing for this war for nearly two years, and now that the army has entered the city of Manila, how can he give up the victory when victory is imminent. In response to Francis's request, Qian Tiandun took

Smile refused directly.

"Whoever takes the initiative on the battlefield will have the right to speak at the negotiation table. If you can't get something on the battlefield, don't expect to get it here just by talking." After Qian Tiandun finished speaking, he motioned for the interpreter.

Simon conveyed these words to Francis.

Simang's admiration for Qian Tiandun has reached an unparalleled level. As a fanatical supporter of the Portuguese independence movement, he very much hopes that his compatriots can also have such confidence when facing the Spaniards, and use a condescending attitude to deal with them harshly.

Knock each other down.

Francis had already predicted the other party's attitude from Qian Tiandun's expression, but after listening to Ximeng's translation, he couldn't help but feel that he had been humiliated. The other party obviously did not intend to negotiate terms with him, but wanted to fully accept what they had to offer.

conditions mentioned.

But how could such harsh conditions be accepted calmly? Francis also shook his head and once again refused to accept the conditions proposed by Qian Tiandun. Both parties refused to make concessions, and the situation fell into a deadlock.

"Ximang, tell him that if he doesn't want to talk, then just stop here. But this negotiation is the last chance for peace. If you give up this opportunity, it will be useless even if you surrender to our army later." Qian Tiandun's

His patience was quickly worn out. At the current situation of the war, he actually didn't have much thought for peace. He believed that only by conquering the city by force could there be no further trouble to the greatest extent, but Yan Chujie still had illusions about persuading surrender.

, which in his opinion is not a perfect solution.

After hearing this, Francis couldn't help but take a deep breath. He knew that when he rejected the opponent, the war would resume again, and the current situation of the defenders was estimated to be difficult to block the opponent's offensive. How long can the city of Manila sustain? Two people

Days, three days, no more than four or five days, there will inevitably be a complete fall. At that time, as the other party warned, there may not even be a chance to surrender. But even if he clearly knew this direction, he still still

Reluctant to give up.

Francis glanced out the window. Dusk was approaching. At least he had bought himself another night by taking this trip.

"Leave everything to God to decide!"

Francis secretly made up his mind, then stood up and said: "Unfortunately, it is impossible for the city of Manila to surrender to your country. I think we have to resolve our differences through war."

Qian Tiandun also stood up slowly and responded: "As a soldier, this is what you should do. See you on the battlefield then!"

Qian Tiandun watched Francis and his party leave, and then said to Simang: "This Spanish officer is quite interesting. If there is a chance after the war, I would be happy to sit down and have a drink with him."

Simang smiled and replied: "By then, he may not be in the mood to drink and chat with you."
Chapter completed!