Chapter 2929

"Currently, there are still at least ten or so Spanish colonial settlements in the Visayas. The largest one is still the Cebu Port where we have carried out many clearing operations."

Fang Peng raised his hand and pointed to the location of Cebu Island on the map: "Between 1638 and 1643, we organized at least three rounds of offensives against Cebu Port. Although we achieved victory in every operation, due to

The long distance and supply difficulties make it difficult for us to station troops and occupy the area for a long time. Therefore, after each operation, we voluntarily evacuate the area. The Spanish are also very resilient. They will withdraw inland as soon as we go.

As soon as the front foot left, they came back with the rear foot, using a guerrilla approach to consume our limited time."

"In the past ten years, considering that the effects of military strikes have not been ideal, we have gradually reduced the frequency of military operations against the Visayas, so the Spanish colonial operations there have been restored to a certain extent. According to us

According to the data we have, there may be tens of thousands of Spanish immigrants settled in Cebu alone."

"In addition, in the Mindanao region further south, the Spaniards also operated at least four or five large-scale colonial ports. We judge that in the central and southern regions of the Philippine Islands, Spanish immigrants may have reached a population of about 30,000, which has already been

Close to pre-war levels.”

Before the Spanish colonists built the city of Manila, Cebu was their main base in the Philippine Islands. It was in business half a century earlier than Manila, more than a hundred years ago. The Spanish colonial authorities were defeated in the war.

After Manila, the administrative center was moved southward back to Cebu.

The sea voyage from the local area to Manila is about 1,500 miles. It is not that far. The armed fleet is sailing at full speed. It will take about seven or eight days to arrive. But it is not close. This distance is far beyond the actual control of the Manila authorities.

Large-scale military operations rely heavily on logistical supplies. With such a long maritime supply line, it would be difficult for even someone as powerful as Haihan to sustain military operations for a long time.

To defeat the Spanish colonial armed forces from a military perspective, Haihan could do it twenty years ago, and there is not much suspense now. But defeating and clearing out are two different things. As long as Haihan does not have a long-term garrison in the area, it will be impossible.

It is unlikely that the Spaniards will be completely driven out of the area. To change this situation, we must first completely change the previous response strategy.

The three senior officials present did not show the slightest surprise at this situation, because this situation had gradually formed with their tacit approval.

Whether it is to save military expenditures or to cultivate the self-respect of the invaders, the Manila authorities need the long-term existence of such an external opponent as a reason to maintain a certain scale of military strength.

Until the Executive Committee is willing to invest more resources to support the southward expansion of the Luzon Region, it will be a matter of course to eliminate this opponent. The Manila authorities have waited for nearly two decades and finally waited for such an opportunity.

Qiu Yuan interrupted at this time: "Fang Peng, please tell me about the current level of armed force of the Spaniards."

Fang Peng nodded in agreement, and then said: "Compared to twenty years ago, the Spanish's armament level has not changed much. They still use traditional sail warships as the main force of their maritime armaments. They maintain about two of them in the southern part of the Philippine Islands.

The establishment of an armed fleet, with a total of about thirty large and small warships, is stationed in Cebu Port and Cagayan de Oro Port in northern Mindanao Island."

This number may sound large, but there is still a relatively large gap between the combat effectiveness of Spanish warships and the Haihan warships. Moreover, when they were defeated, the Spanish colonial authorities lost the vast majority of their warships. Now,

More than half of the ships were gradually saved in the post-war years.

Therefore, in recent years, the Spaniards have rarely taken the initiative to provoke trouble, and will not allow warships to sail into the waters controlled by Haihan to avoid the losses of these hard-won armed forces. The two sides have old grudges that are difficult to resolve, but recently

The frequency of armed conflicts has been significantly reduced in 2016, which is a miracle.

Fang Peng continued: "As for the armed forces on land, because the Spanish do not have a clear regulation on the local garrison establishment, the specific troop strength is relatively vague. We can only estimate that it is roughly between three and five thousand people.

The weapons of the soldiers are still mainly flintlock guns, and the artillery is basically the old cast iron cannon. The coastal defense fort in Cebu Port has been repeatedly destroyed by us several times before, and the Spaniards have not repaired it since.

The above is to give up long-range shore fire defense capabilities."

The armed forces under the Spanish colonial authorities were not regular troops, and their organization was relatively chaotic. They often appointed an officer as the local garrison commander in a certain colony, allocated a certain amount of weapons and military expenses, and then allowed him to organize and train the army on his own.

, responsible for maintaining local security and external defense.

The professional levels of these commanders are different, and the local environmental conditions are different. The local security forces formed are naturally strong and weak. Some places may maintain a security force of more than a hundred people, while some places have more than 100 people.

A quasi-regular army with a strength of a thousand men, complete arms, well-trained, and combat-oriented objectives.

The Military Intelligence Bureau's assessment of this is that the local armed strength of the colonial authorities is uneven, coupled with the fact that they are stationed in various places, the information transmission is not smooth, and the lack of a unified combat command system makes it difficult to mobilize troops for coordinated action. As for proactively launching cross-regional operations,

That is an even more difficult task for them to accomplish.

With the combat level and maneuverability of the Haihan Army, it is completely possible to defeat the Spaniards one by one before they can react. However, because the Spanish colonial points are relatively scattered, the relevant combat tasks require the full cooperation of the Navy.

And judging from the past response strategies of the Spaniards, they are likely to choose to avoid fighting when they are attacked by the Haihan Army. This will greatly slow down the actions of the Haihan Army, and they need to be prepared for such a situation.

Harugong also interjected after hearing this: "We can beat but cannot destroy. This is a problem that we have not been able to solve for a long time. But this time since we are determined to occupy these areas, we must take some measures."

More violent measures were used to cut off the possibility of the Spaniards fighting guerrillas in the local area."

Xiao Liangdao: "The General Staff should have formulated a corresponding plan for this. Fang Peng will stop for a moment... Du Xingbang, please explain it to everyone!"

Du Xingbang stood up after hearing this, walked to the map, and took over the position vacated by Fang Peng.
Chapter completed!