GBP Chapter 316 The Tactics of Upward Fire from Bombers
Chapter 316 The Tactics of Upward Fire from Bombers
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"What? The coastal guns on the fortress were destroyed by naval guns?" Salamanca asked the messenger in disbelief. "You mean, the 24-pound cannons we deployed on the walls, powerful enough to sink a 500-ton galleon, were destroyed by ships anchored in the harbor?"
The messenger bowed his head and answered in a low voice, "Yes, Your Excellency. However, the enemy only destroyed one fort; we have other forts that we can use..."
Salamanca paced back and forth excitedly, muttering to himself: "These soldiers and officers responsible for operating the coastal defense guns must have their dates with some lady on their minds. They've forgotten their mission and responsibilities. How can the coastal defense guns lose to the naval guns in a firefight?"
After a while, he ordered: "Tell the fortress commander José Santiago to take his men to the fortress. If he cannot drive out the enemy fleet, I will write to His Majesty the King and the Privy Council to have him retire early, and the defense of the fortress will be handed over to a more suitable person."
Jose Santiago was in charge of the entire military defense of Manila. Although he was not as old as he looked, he was forced to personally lead his guards to the fort to organize a counterattack after receiving an almost threatening order from the governor.
Despite carrying out orders, the commander inwardly grumbled: the governor lived in constant fear of a fictitious threat—the Dutch army colluding with pirates from across the East Indies to invade Manila. He had already spent 300,000 pesos on expanding fortifications and recruiting troops, and was prepared to spend even more. His reports to His Majesty and the Privy Council were always filled with desperate cries, as if he were suffering in a besieged fortress. The fear and tension surrounding the military invasion led the governor to make irrational judgments. He realized that he could sit down and negotiate with this Ming fleet, instead of communicating with cannons. And sure enough, he had already lost a battery, a 24-pounder cannon, and several experienced soldiers before even engaging in battle.
Onboard the "Guangdong," Putmans, who had been observing with a detached eye, stared wide-eyed at the billowing smoke from the gun emplacement. It was the first time he had witnessed the power of such explosive shells. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this the kind of cannon you use against Zheng Yiguan?"
Gao Jie replied smugly, "Of course not entirely. We defeated Zheng Yiguan because of the overall strength of our fleet, but this kind of cannon played an important role at the crucial moment. Zheng Yiguan, who was giving you a lot of trouble, only lasted for less than 24 hours before collapsing completely under our control."
Putmans was secretly alarmed. It seemed necessary to reassess the strength of this opponent and their seemingly unreasonable demands. With only a few hundred soldiers, how could Zeelandia possibly withstand a thunderous attack? It would be better to make a dignified retreat in exchange for a source of goods for maritime trade.
At this moment, the castle's fortifications seemed to have regained their ability to retaliate, and the bombardment resumed. "Boom boom boom," 24-pound solid shot rained down on the fleet. One shell was lucky enough to land on the "Chengmai," killing two sailors instantly.
Gao Jie's face darkened: "They're truly incorrigible. Keep firing and knock down these turrets. Let's see what other tricks they have up their sleeves."
Captain Van Bommel of the "Guangdong" shook his head: "These Spaniards are really stubborn. The port is blockaded, merchant ships can't enter, and we're losing so much commercial tax every day. Why can't they sit down and talk things over? Is it really that difficult to give up the outposts in Tainan?" The Spanish were in a worse situation than the Dutch in Tainan. They couldn't get enough goods, and because of their Catholic faith, they were squeezed out of the Japanese market by the Shogunate. Their entire Far East trade route was losing money, and the two outposts in Keelung and Tamsui were barely sustainable. In Van Bommel's view, agreeing to the Qiongzhou garrison's demands and withdrawing from the outposts would both avoid war and minimize losses—why not?
Gao Jie's heart skipped a beat. The mention of commercial losses immediately reminded him of the time he followed the general in besieging Guangzhou. Back then, the Qiongzhou Camp, with a meager force of a few thousand men and five Wuyi-class warships, accomplished the arduous task of besieging and winning Guangzhou. One of their trump cards was the continuous bombardment of the city with mortars, causing enormous losses and psychological pressure, which led the city's officials to abandon their defense and choose a final counterattack. After their failure, they signed a treaty of surrender.
He immediately changed his orders: "Abandon those forts, adjust the gun barrels to the maximum angle and fire upwards, fire all the explosive shells into the castle, let these stubborn Iberian idiots taste the flavor of explosions!" Since Manila was unwilling to negotiate and chose to confront them by force, abandoning targets like forts with a low hit rate and using the saved ammunition to fire into the city, temporarily using the bombardment guns as mortars, was a clever way to deal with the situation.
With the bombardment cannons approaching the range of long-barreled cannons, and the fleet's anchored position being close to the city walls, a maximum angle of elevation fire could essentially send cannonballs into the city.
Fortress Commander José Santiago then witnessed something he had never seen before: cannonballs fired from the naval guns did not aim at the fortifications, but instead flew over his head and leisurely into the city. The shells landed on soldiers' barracks, the port tax collector's office, and other places, and the violent explosions reduced these buildings almost to rubble.
It took him a while to react before he shouted, "Quickly report to the Governor! We cannot stop such an attack. If this continues, Manila will be reduced to ruins!"
This was clearly an exaggeration. The high-angle range of the artillery had reached its limit and posed no threat to the central area of Manila. Key institutions such as the Governor's Palace remained safe. But Santiago was unaware of this; he only knew that his resistance had become futile.
Salamanca was caught in a dilemma after receiving the report. Emotionally, he was absolutely unwilling to submit to these Ming people, but reason told him that continuing to resist would result in greater losses. Not only would blocking the port lead to the loss of tax revenue from merchant ships, but the bombs falling in the city would cause more and more houses to collapse, and it might cost tens or hundreds of thousands of pesos to repair or rebuild them afterward.
The governor hesitated, but the bombardment continued. Although the bombardment could not fire many shells at a time, the continuous explosions still tormented everyone in the city.
The mayor of Isabella came to see the governor. He earnestly pleaded with him, "Your Excellency, could you try negotiating with these Ming people? These bombs that could fall into the city have caused widespread panic, and the soldiers' morale has plummeted..."
Salamanca hesitated, offering no reply. His previous overly assertive stance made him feel somewhat powerless; a ceasefire and negotiations would be tantamount to a tacit surrender to the other side.