New Ming Empire mixed in America

Although some did not believe Li Mingqi's statement, envoy Lanfang could not find a reason to refute it for a while.

"But...you are an Oriental after all...but a foreigner..."

Although envoy Lanfang did not refute, the other members of the envoy who came with him hesitated.

However, the young man had just hesitated a few words when he was interrupted by the scolding of Lan Fang envoy: "Do you have the right to speak here? Why don't you apologize to His Majesty quickly?"

Then he turned around again, lifted up his robe and lowered himself, and at the same time said:

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. This person does not understand dignity and inferiority, and his words are rude..."

In fact, Li Mingqi was not angry at what the young man said just now.

Because not only these Lanfang people, who are very far away from America, but also Lin, a good neighbor of the Xinming Empire, do not believe that those technologies were developed by the Xinming Empire itself.

Seeing Messenger Lan Fang kneeling on the deck in fear, Li Mingqi felt no trace of expansion or complacency in his heart.

Some are just sad that thousands of years of Chinese integrity have disappeared since the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, especially this unsightly kneeling ceremony and the self-proclaimed slave.

Liu Erhe, who was next to him, was very discerning. When he saw his long live master frowning, he immediately stretched out his hand to lift Lan Fang envoy up.

"Old descendants of China, why should you kneel down? Long Live Lord usually has the most trouble kneeling back and forth."

After he finished speaking, he stared at the young man who had just spoken. His face was pale and his calves were trembling a little.

This is not to say that Li Mingqi has any kingly aura or anything, but that the Xinming Empire is too important to the current Lanfang Republic.

A powerful navy can make Lanfang Republic more powerful in the Far East, and at least it can raise its voice twice when facing foreigners.

Not to mention that if the weapons procurement plan that had just been negotiated was in vain because of his words, he would not be able to undo his sins even if he committed suicide.

Now there are Dutch people on land who are eyeing Lanfang, and foreigners on the sea are also starting to set their sights on Lanfang.

In addition, the name of the Pseudo-Qing Dynasty has become increasingly difficult to use. In the past, it could still be used to scare these foreigners who came all the way to the Far East.

But after the Second Opium War, in the eyes of others, the Puppet Qing Dynasty has changed from the hegemon of the Far East to the bread of the Far East, and everyone wants to come and take a bite.

Moreover, the pseudo-Qing Dynasty did not disappoint those people. Land cession and compensation became commonplace.

Even a small country like the Netherlands, which has declined, can make a splash in the Far East.

"Get up, your doubts are completely normal. If it were me, I wouldn't believe that any compatriot could invent such technology..."

Li Mingqi looked at the submissive members of the Lanfang Envoy, sighed, and said:

"The foreigners only had a temporary lead. I think when Zheng He went to the West, those foreigners were still fighting in bigger places in Europe."

"If the Pseudo-Qing Dynasty hadn't entered the border..."

Having said this, Li Mingqi waved his hand, he was too lazy to continue talking.

Because it is useless to say anything now, the general environment is like this.

When everyone thinks they are inferior to foreigners, nothing you say can change these people's ideas. You can only speak with your strength.

After all, the status of foreign masters has been getting higher and higher in the Far East in recent years. Even hanging a cross on a criminal's chest can deter officials from taking action.

Fortunately, by this time the Pacific Fleet had completed the bombing of the fort.

Now there is no longer a shore defense gun in the fort that can continue to fire.

The destruction of the outer forts of Manila Port meant that the ownership of Manila Bay passed from the hands of the Spanish to Li Mingqi.

Even if Li Mingqi only blocked the port of Manila, the Spanish colonial rule here would be in crisis.

Nowadays, there are many calls to resist Spanish colonization. This is the main reason why Governor Birmingham pushed his son to come to power.

Only with troops in hand can he be a stable governor. Without the support of the army, what is the difference between him and the previous governors? The Europeans can make the governor step down in despair with just one word.

After the forts outside the bay were lost, the Spanish Army in the Manila port area has begun to reinforce the fortresses near the port.

If the tonnage of the steam gunboats were not too small, the Governor of Birmingham would have thought of letting the gunboats sit in the harbor and block the route.

The sun was gradually setting, but the Pacific Fleet had no intention of entering Manila Bay immediately. It only sent many gunboats to block the entrance of the bay.

Night battles are all about a strange word. Now that the Pacific Fleet has the upper hand, Li Mingqi does not need to risk the fleet. It is not too late to wait until dawn before attacking.

If we don’t build a few Jingguan Li Mingqi here in Manila, it won’t be a good meal.

Although it was decided not to attack at night, the gunboats still began to harass the defenders in the Manila port area from time to time.

Either they suddenly approach and fire a few shots quickly, or they use a rotating machine gun to shoot at the merchant ships outside the pier. The purpose is to make the sailors on the merchant ships escape to the pier.

In this way, the Spanish defenders of Manila did not sleep a wink all night.

Early the next morning, Li Mingqi ordered the attack to begin.

It was still the same routine as yesterday afternoon. The armored warship was outside the extreme range of the coastal defense artillery, and the other warships hid nearby and started pouring cannonballs.

Coast defense guns placed in forts have a great advantage over battleships in terms of range.

Due to the terrain and the defenses around the fort, if the Pacific Fleet warships want to successfully remove the coastal defense guns, they must shorten the distance between the two sides.

In this era without radar or satellites, no matter how far the range of a naval gun is, it must conscientiously close the distance, otherwise it will not hit.

This is also the reason why the Pacific Fleet still shoots within the extreme range of other forts even though it clearly has a range advantage.

If there weren't observation balloons in the fleet, the battleship might have to get closer before firing.

After all, the distance is so far that it is impossible to see whether it hits the target.

"Where did that Balmain piece of shit go?"

The dock in the port area was in chaos, and the fort next to the port area was covered in smoke from the explosion.

The sergeant responsible for maintaining order loudly called the names of his absentees.

But the answers from the other port police officers made his heart sink.

"That guy disappeared yesterday, and also disappeared with him, Sheriff Soth, your sweetheart."

After a policeman finished answering, he secretly looked at his police sergeant. After all, the stolen horse named 'Sweetheart' cost a lot of money to get back.

At this time, those merchants who had sworn not to separate from their merchant ships yesterday were now rushing onto the dock one by one, howling like ghosts, and running towards Manila City.

The merchants who escaped were the innermost merchant ships parked at the dock. These merchant groups thought that even if the Spaniards and the Orientals were at war, they, neutral maritime merchants, would not be affected.

But those Spanish steam gunboats were very badass. These Spanish gunboats sailed directly between the docked merchant ships, and then started shooting at the gunboats of the Pacific Fleet that were trying to dock.

The navies of other countries will still hesitate for a while regarding this strategy of using merchant ships as human shields.

But the Xinming Empire would not. After being attacked, they immediately counterattacked in the direction of fire.

And this also caused the merchant ships docked here to suffer, and there was a scene of the captain leading the sailors desperately trying to escape to the dock.

Behind them were merchant ships that were hit by cannonballs from time to time.

PS: I will probably have to stretch my hips for a day tomorrow, and it will break out the day after tomorrow.

It’s the end of the year and I’m really busy (┯_┯)