Early the next morning, Governor Sander and his senior officers returned to the tower where they had been last night, enjoying breakfast in the gentle morning breeze while overlooking the two armies facing each other on the Pasig River.
In fact, Spaniards usually sleep until noon before getting up and eat breakfast and lunch together. But the hot weather in Luzon has changed their daily routine.
Because only early morning is comfortable. After a while, the sun will rise, illuminating the sea with dazzling white light. Heat will rise from the moist ground, and the entire Manila will turn into a steamer. By that time, not only will everything you eat no longer taste good, your head will be so hot that you will feel dizzy until dusk.
So they had to develop the habit of getting up early.
Governor Sander sat in the seat with the best view, drinking kefir with tamarind. He looked at the two sides who had already set up their battle formations with interest, and smiled at everyone: "This reminds me of the bullfighting performance in my motherland."
"It's like the Running of the Bulls." The officers ate bacon and chewed buttered toast. They all had a great appetite while watching the grand performance.
"It's time, gentlemen!" The crisp sound of gunshots sounded, and Governor Sander smiled: "Why don't we take a gamble and see who will win today?"
Naturally, all the officers suppressed the Pampanga people. Only Lieutenant Colonel Najuan said: "I guess it will be difficult to tell the winner today."
"Can't those cowardly Ming people still be able to withstand our ferocious little black friends?" Colonel Sal Sita said a little unhappy.
"Yes, it is true that the people of the Ming Dynasty are the best craftsmen and businessmen, but they lack courage and cannot be soldiers." Colonel Goit also got into trouble with Lieutenant Colonel Juan and said: "So I bet a hundred pesos, the little black friend can Enter the stream before sunset!"
"One hundred pesos and I." Of course Sal Sita wanted to support his subordinates even more.
"Okay, I'll bet!" Lieutenant Colonel Juan said calmly.
??~~
It¡¯s still on the east bank of the stream.
Groups of naked Pampanga people, carrying bamboo rafts built overnight, rushed to the river screaming.
They threw the raft into the river and rowed toward the opposite stream with bamboo poles.
The east bank is not the main river, and the narrowest part is less than twenty meters wide. Kenwan still chose to attack here.
There is a row of uneven fences three or four meters high along the river on the island. It was built by overseas Chinese for safety. Last night, under the command of Ximen Qing, it was temporarily reinforced. Wood was used to support the fence from the inside, and a shooting platform was added with door panels, bamboo ladders and hemp rope.
The young men who were selected and reorganized, under the leadership of the Marines, stood on the shooting platform inside the fence with javelins in hand.
Although many people had exchanged fire with the Pampanga people last night, it was dark at that time and the enemy could not be seen at all. Now it was clear that dozens of rafts were densely packed with naked black men. I saw that some of them were holding rattan shields, some were holding javelins, and some were rowing bamboo poles. The division of labor was very clear. They were obviously a tribe accustomed to fighting.
Looking at the sharp eyes and ferocious expressions of the foreigners, many overseas Chinese young people turned pale and had cramps in their calves. I started sweating before the sun came up.
¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, we are condescending and have the fence as cover, so we have the advantage!¡± The Marines relieved the young people while aiming at the machete-wielding soldiers.
These people don¡¯t even have clothes to wear, and those who have machetes are definitely not ordinary people. And it's so far away, so what's the point of wielding a machete? I can only give orders to my subordinates.
The river was very narrow, and the enemy quickly came into range, and the Marines pulled the triggers one after another. With one round of shooting, half of the leaders on the raft were killed.
Seeing this, the young men's morale was greatly boosted, and they threw the javelins in their hands with all their strength.
All muskets and ammunition were gathered for use by the Marines. So they can only rely on this thing to fend off the enemy.
This decision is absolutely correct. Because training musketeers is much simpler than training archers. But in the era of muzzleloaders, there were still too many steps to operate a musket. In a cruel battlefield environment, even trained recruits will make mistakes in a hurry.
The javelin is better. You can throw it if you have the strength to do it. It is simple and easy to use. Don't underestimate the javelin, humans rely on it to defeat mammoths!
Being at such a close distance and being so high up, the overseas Chinese young people actually succeeded in firing javelins like rain!
The number of vine shields is limited, and the range they can protect is also limited. Many people were javelined and fell into the water screaming.
Under the joint attack of javelins and muskets, half of the bamboo rafts were wiped out before they could reach the shore
Although the other half of the bamboo raft?Keeping it graceful, he said: "Everyone, why don't you guess what the result will be tomorrow?"
"Then I still bet that the Ming people will win." Lieutenant Colonel Huan, who was in high spirits, gushed: "They have good teamwork, their courage is impressive, and they have an absolute advantage in numbers"
But he didn¡¯t see Governor Sander wink at the two colonels. So the two gritted their teeth and defeated the Pampanga people to win, each betting one hundred pesos.
After both parties agreed to leave, Governor Sander said slowly: "Lieutenant Colonel, order your gunners to prepare and join the battle tomorrow!"
"Ah" Lieutenant Colonel Juan's jaw almost dropped to the ground.
The two colonels held back their laughter.
"What, do you have any doubts about the order from the Governor?" Governor Sander said displeased.
"Your Excellency, if we join the war, it may trigger an all-out war with the Nanhai Group!" Lieutenant Colonel Huan indeed had a different opinion.
"That's something the Governor should consider." Governor Sand said seriously: "And what you, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, have to do is execute the order and destroy that damn fence for me!"
"Yes." Lieutenant Colonel Huan hurriedly pressed his chest with one hand and bowed. I lamented in my heart that I have to pay back the money that I haven¡¯t covered the heat with yet (remember the website address of this website: www.hlnovel.com