Daming pirates

Therefore, the northern part of Taiwan Island is a good choice. While the Dutch still have a weak foothold on Taiwan Island, they can land in northern Taiwan, occupy northern Taiwan, and build their castles and docks. They can also imitate the Dutch.

There, they could attract merchants from the Ming Dynasty to trade with them. In this way, they would still have a chance to compete with the Dutch. Otherwise, if things continue like this, sooner or later, the Dutch will cut off their trade with the Ming Dynasty.

, cutting off a huge source of income for them.

So after the two reconnaissance ships came back last year, the Governor's Palace in Manila, members of the Congress, and businessmen in Manila all began to gear up and encourage Governor Silva to quickly make up his mind to send ships and troops to Taiwan Island to occupy Taiwan.

North.

This time, it was unknown how many times members of the Manila Assembly and businessmen gathered at the Governor's Palace in Manila to put pressure on Schierva, hoping to get Schierva to send troops as soon as possible.

Shirwa looked at the troop dispatch plan in front of him and couldn't help but laugh or cry. These people were too idealistic. The plan they submitted to him this time took it for granted that he would send more than ten gunboats and armed merchant ships.

, carrying various construction tools and building materials, as well as 1,500 marine soldiers, and various fortification craftsmen, headed for Taiwan Island.

He now knows better than anyone else the current situation of their military strength in Luzon. After the destruction of the Armada, Spain's current strength is far less than before, and Asia itself is not the focus of their operations, although it can benefit from trade.

They can make huge profits, but the number of warships that Spain can send here is very limited.

At present, there are only a dozen or so armed ships available in Manila, and most of them are armed merchant ships with light firepower. The transportation is okay, but when used in combat, the firepower is really a bit weak.

These people immediately asked him to mobilize more than ten ships to go to Taiwan Island and occupy the northern part of Taiwan Island. He had enough ships, but could he stop the activities of all ships and leave such an important place like Manila alone?

Is everyone going to Taiwan Island?

In addition, although the Spaniards have occupied the Luzon Islands for a long time, their army strength here is not very large now, even if they include the indigenous soldiers recruited locally and various people who come here to take risks.

The total strength of the European scum is less than 5,000 men.

Moreover, these troops are scattered throughout the Philippines to monitor the local indigenous people and immigrants to prevent them from rioting.

And these congressmen immediately asked him to mobilize 1,500 soldiers to go to Taiwan Island. This is simply impossible. Unless he completely ignores the castle of Manila, otherwise he can only mobilize 800 soldiers at most to accompany the ship.

The team went to Taiwan Island to implement the landing and occupation plan.

As for the ships, he can only divide them in half, dispatching at most six to seven large ships, and ten small boats, or it doesn't matter if he can have a few more. This is already the most ships and troops he can dispatch, no matter how many more.

If so, he really couldn't do anything about it.

So he looked at the plan submitted to him in front of him, gently stroked his beard, and then put the plan back on the table.

"Gentlemen, I have read your plan. Regarding sending troops to Formosa (the Portuguese were the first to discover Taiwan Island and called it Formosa, the Spanish were latecomers, and now they are working with the Portuguese

They are considered brothers, so they are also called Formosa). I have no objections to this matter, but I want to remind you that I cannot meet the requirements you have made!

Because no one knows our current strength here better than me. The number of available ships we have here is only about seventeen, which is not even as large as the Dutch fleet!

You ask me to send at least ten ships to Formosa, but please forgive me that it is difficult for me to do this! Unless I can give up Manila, I believe that if I do this, you will not agree!

In addition, regarding the issue of sending troops, I think the number you requested is also very difficult to achieve. We currently have a very small number of troops here. At most, I can only send 400 troops to carry out this mission.

But in terms of ships, I can only send five large ships and some small boats to carry out this mission. If there are more, I will be powerless!

But I want to remind you that there is one thing you have overlooked. It is not that the northern part of Formosa was not occupied by anyone. What you know is that the Dutch did not occupy it. But in the northern part of Formosa, it was not occupied by anyone.

There are still people occupying it.

As far as I know, a bay called [***] Lung, which is most suitable as a port, is now occupied by a group of Chinese pirates, and these pirates have stationed a lot of troops there and have also built forts.

, and there are many ships.

So we don't just find a place to land and complete the occupation of northern Formosa, because this group of Chinese pirates may become our biggest obstacle!

I wonder if you have thought of this! Where we should land and where we should occupy are not mentioned in your plan, nor are the specific action plans after the landing.

There is no way I can approve such a plan! Gentlemen, please consider it more carefully!"

After listening to Shirwa's words, the congressmen began to whisper among themselves, expressing their opinions on what Shirwa said. For a time, the conference room of the Governor's Mansion was filled with buzzing sounds.

After everyone deliberated for a while, a councilman asked Shirwa a question: "Excuse me, Lord Governor, when we sent a ship to Formosa for reconnaissance last time, did we find out the identity of the pirates who occupied the chicken coop?

Have you identified their identity? Are there any detailed descriptions of their specific strength, population, and defense facilities there?"

Shi Erwa nodded and said: "Captain Madu who came back made detailed records of these things. According to Captain Madu, when they arrived at Jilong Bay, they met the group of Chinese pirates who occupied Jilong Bay.

, the group of Chinese pirates tried to intercept them approaching Jilong Bay, but the two sides did not conflict in the end!

According to Captain Madu, a flag embroidered with a wolf head logo was hung on the mast of the Kron ship of the group of Chinese pirates. After investigation, we now know the identity of the Chinese pirates flying this flag.

They are a group of pirates who used to be entrenched on the coast of Fujian in the Ming Dynasty. They call themselves Sea Wolf. In the past two years, they have often sent ships to us to do business with us. They have brought a certain amount of porcelain, raw silk and other items. At the same time, they have

We purchased saltpeter, canvas, and some Indian cotton cloth here!

But they did not buy the matchlock guns and the cannons cast here that we recommended to them. This is very different from other Chinese pirates, and they did not ask to buy our gunpowder directly! It is a bit strange.

According to some people on the Chinese merchant ships who came to our place, this group of Chinese pirates who call themselves Sea Wolves have become very powerful on the coast of China in the past two years. They have controlled a large area of ​​​​the sea area along the coast of Fujian and once defeated the army of the Ming Dynasty.

, and even defeated a group of very powerful Chinese pirates.

Their headquarters, which the Chinese often call Laoying, should be on an island off the coast of Xinghuafu, but I don’t know when they went to Formosa and occupied the pretty good port of Jilong Bay.

According to Captain Madu's observation, they have many boats in Jilong Bay, most of which are fishing boats, and they mainly make a living by fishing on the sea!

In addition, this group of pirates also built a fort on the island at the mouth of Jilong Bay. It is said to be very strong. They also built a fort on the other side of the mouth of the harbor. In Jilong Bay, they also built a fort.

To build a castle, the specific number of troops garrisoned and the local population are currently unclear.”

After listening to Shirwa's explanation, these congressmen whispered to each other for a while, but soon someone stood up and said to Shirwa: "Mr. Governor, if you put it like that, we don't think this is a problem. The force of Chinese pirates

No, we all know very well that their Kron ships are simply vulnerable to our cannons.

In addition, the artillery they use are also very old and outdated Chinese-style artillery. They have a very short range and very little power. They do not pose any threat to our warships at all!

If there are no local residents, this may not be a good thing for us, but if there are residents somewhere now, it will be very beneficial to us.

Because after we go there, we also need to build a castle. We cannot complete such a workload with our own manpower alone.

We also happen to need a lot of slaves to work for us. Now someone has built a castle for us in Jilong Bay, which saves us a lot of trouble! We can completely drive them away, occupy their castle, and directly

To use it as our castle, it only needs to be slightly modified, which will reduce a lot of our workload!"

After listening to the congressman's words, there was a sound of agreement in the conference room. These Spaniards have been dealing with the Chinese for a long time, and they often trade with Chinese pirates. The Chinese pirates often rob them of the goods they obtained.

Transported to Manila for sale.

And these Spaniards now knew that these pirates were eager to cash out, and deliberately kept the acquisition price very low in order to obtain more benefits.

(I came back to get some things, and I have to rush back to the hospital immediately. The little guy’s condition is not optimistic, and he is heartbroken! I don’t know if I can come back to update tonight, but I will try my best to keep it updated!)