northernbook Chapter 408
Chapter 408
Chapter 408 Strait of Malacca
"Everyone, stand up and talk." Seeing the Lusong merchants kneeling on the ground, Yang Jikang raised his hand and said.
"I already know your situation. This time I came to Luzon to avenge my Han family son Lang." Yang Jikuang said to everyone.
"Thank you, General, for making decisions for us, thank you." Hearing Yang Jikang's words, one of the old men stood up again to express his gratitude and said, "General, we still have some ability in Luzon. I wonder if we can do something for you, General?"
"What can you do?" Yang Jikang asked without answering.
"General, if you are short of people, we can recruit some people. If you are short of food, we can also raise some food." The old man said to Yang Jikang.
"There is no shortage of food and grass for the time being, but we are here this time mainly to control the entire Luzon Island, and we need some people who are familiar with Luzon Island. I wonder if you can help?" Yang Jikuang asked the old man.
"No problem, we are very familiar with Luzon, and we have properties in many places. If the general is willing to wait for a chance for me, we are willing to do our bit." The old man assured Yang Jikang.
They had already seen the strength of the Ming army, and the Spaniards fighting in Manila could only hide in the bastion and dare not come out.
With such a strong strength, they believe that with their help, they will soon be able to win the entire Luzon Island.
Moreover, currently on the entire Luzon Island, the only place with a bastion and a large number of Spanish troops stationed is Manila.
There are only a few Spaniards in other places, mainly as administrators ruling the entire Luzon Island.
With most of the Spanish troops blocked in Manila, it is very easy to completely eliminate the remnants of the Spaniards.
"Do you have anyone in Manila? Can you help them?" Yang Jikuang asked several representatives of Luzon businessmen.
"General, the Spaniards have very strict control over Manila. There is no way for Han Chinese to stay permanently in the city, and even if there are, they are only a minority."
The old man said to Yang Jikang: "And you, general, are attacking Manila now. Spain's control over the Han people is very strict. It is impossible to support the general in the city."
"Is that the case? Forget it." Yang Jikuang said to the others: "You go back and recruit people as soon as possible. We need to take the entire Luzon Island within three months."
"Yes, when I get back, I'll gather people. Generals, just tell us what you need. We can raise some food, grass, and money." The old man said to Yang Jikang.
…………
For the next time, Wu Jun and the Spaniard were wasted.
The Wu army did not attack the city, and the Spaniards did not go out of the city to break through.
However, outside the city, Wu Jun did not stop.
Five thousand soldiers and horses were divided into many teams. Under the leadership of the Han people on Luzon Island, it only took more than two months to take over the entire Luzon Island.
On Luzon Island, there are two most fertile plains, the central plain of Luzon, and the Metropolitan Manila area.
These two plains will become the Philippines' largest granary in a few hundred years, able to feed tens of millions of people.
Yang Jikang's occupation of Luzon was mainly to occupy these plain areas, and only these areas have the most abundant resources.
The process of Yang Jikang sending troops to take over the entire Luzon Island went very smoothly, mainly because a large number of Han Chinese settled on the island.
I heard that Master Da Ming came here to attack the Spaniards, and the enthusiasm of all Han people became very high.
After taking the entire Luzon Island, at least the logistics supply will not need to be shipped from the country in the future.
After sweeping up the Spanish forces on the entire Luzon Island, Yang Jikang concentrated his forces near Manila again.
A few months have passed, and it stands to reason that if the Spaniards send reinforcements, they should be here soon.
However, what Yang Jikuan didn't know was that it was impossible for Spain to send reinforcements at this time.
Because at this time, there is a huge fleet to occupy the Strait of Malacca.
This fleet has more than 30 Galen warships, more than 100 large armed merchant ships, and an army of more than 2 people.
This fleet is naturally the Daming Royal Fleet sent by Zhang Qingfeng.
Zhang Qingfeng had already started preparations before the Minister of Wu encouraged Zhu Changxun, king of Wu, to attack Luzon Island.
The importance of the Strait of Malacca is self-evident. Whoever can control it can enjoy the huge benefits of trade between the East and the West.
Zhang Qingfeng calculated that if he could completely control the Straits of Malacca, he would be able to earn at least tens of millions of taels of silver in maritime trade profits every year.
Hearing that controlling this place could earn tens of thousands of taels of silver every year, under Zhang Qingfeng's instigation, Emperor Wanli agreed to Zhang Qingfeng's plan without saying a word.
This dispatch of troops is expected to cost millions of taels of silver, but it is all worth it.
At this time, European power in Southeast Asia was not as strong as it was in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Whether it is Spain, Portugal or the Netherlands, there are not many troops in this area.
Spain has thousands of people in Southeast Asia, but most of these people are people from the gold rush, not all professional soldiers.
The same is true for Portugal and the Netherlands. The combined number of people in Southeast Asia is less than [-].
As for the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom is currently focusing mainly on North America, and has no influence at all in Southeast Asia.
In fact, Zhang Qingfeng only needs to send a few thousand people to control the entire Strait of Malacca.
However, considering that after he takes control of Malacca, he will definitely be attacked by Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands during the Chinese New Year, so it is better to send 2 people at one time to be sure.
The countries in Southeast Asia are basically vassal states of Ming Dynasty, whether it is Malacca, Sumatra, or Malay, they are all vassal states of Ming Dynasty.
With the arrival of the Royal Fleet, it is legitimate to station troops in these vassal states, which is the right enjoyed by the suzerain state.
If the vassal state disagrees, there is a strong military force, and if you disagree, you can agree.
However, Zhang Qingfeng still does not want to go to war with these vassal states. His main purpose is to control the Strait of Malacca, so he only needs to occupy a few strongholds in the Strait of Malacca to garrison troops.
As for the future, it can be eaten away slowly.
The arrival of the Ming Fleet really caused great commotion on both sides of the Malacca Strait.
After the Ming Fleet came to the Strait of Malacca, it directly attacked the ports of European countries.
Although the geographical location of Malacca is important, there are ports from various European countries here, which means that it belongs to the pig family, so there is no bastion built like Manila City.
After the arrival of the Royal Fleet, the strength in the area of Malacca can be said to be crushing.
That's the benefit of being close.
It takes at least half a year for Europeans to come to Malacca, but it only takes more than a month for the Deming fleet to come from Guangzhou Port.
(End of this chapter)