Chapter 823 The price of freedom

Alcarazo's military ability is not outstanding, and he has no outstanding performance in governing civil affairs. He is also a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death. However, he has been able to climb to his current position and he does have his own way of dealing with interpersonal relationships.

In just two or three hours, he not only arranged the list of the first ten people to leave Jilong Port, but also made two of the businessmen willingly pay 60% of the ransom fee, and the other eight people only had to share

The remaining 40% is enough. In addition, he also informed the local people that a reconciliation agreement has been reached with the Haihan people, and they only need to wait patiently here for Manila to send a fleet to take them back. As for the ransom fee that Spain needs to pay for this,

But he didn't mention it at all - he knew very well that if this matter was told, the people would definitely think that they would be abandoned by the Manila authorities, and there would be a chaos, which might not even allow anyone to leave.

Alcarazo hurriedly hurriedly completed the preparations before the time limit set by Haihan Army. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the defenders opened the city gate that had been damaged by bombardment. Ross, the commander of the defenders, came forward to announce to Haihan

The army surrendered. In order to prevent things from changing, two hundred Haihan soldiers entered the city first, controlled the commanding heights of the city and the few remaining artillery pieces, and closely monitored the Spanish defenders who surrendered.

In Ciudad Domingo, there were only about 200 armed men there, but the number of armed men here was several times greater. God knows whether the Spanish surrendered sincerely.

This time Gao Qiaonan was no longer reserved and came forward to accept the surrender in person. Seeing the tall Alcarazo bowing his head and offering his sword in front of him, Gao Qiaonan felt extremely satisfied. At this moment, he remembered Qian Tiandun's past.

What he said to him: "The reason I chose to come to this world is to conquer it!"

The Spanish were once one of the "strong enemies" claimed by Qian Tiandun, a powerful presence in the Western world like the Ming Dynasty in the East. But at this moment, apart from honestly surrendering to Haihan, the Spanish have no other choice.

Two ways out can save his life. While Takahashi Minami breathed a sigh of relief for completing his mission, he was also deeply proud of the group he belonged to. Whether it is the East or the West, these so-called strong men in the Haihan Armed Forces

In front of them, there is no advantage at all.

"Your Excellency, General, although I hereby surrender to your army on behalf of the city of El Salvador, this does not represent the attitude of the Kingdom of Spain. Your undeclared war has harmed the interests of the Kingdom of Spain and will definitely lead to war retaliation in the future!"

Even though he was the surrendering party, Alcarazo still had to put on airs and put on a good show, at least not letting the Haihan people get too complacent in front of him.

"Thank you for the reminder. I'm also looking forward to the day when I fight against the main force of your army." Takahashi Minami didn't avoid Alcarazo's words at all, and just answered them blankly: "Also, remember to remind the generals of your army.

, prepare the ransom fee in advance, I won’t have the mood and time to bargain with the loser every time.”

"Hmph!" Alcarazo wanted to retort a few more words, but he was afraid of angering Minami Takahashi and would be in trouble if he didn't let them go, so he could only express his dissatisfaction with a loud snort and made a gesture.

With a gesture, he asked his men to carry the prepared boxes to Takahashi Nan: "This is the fee requested by you, gold and silver jewelry worth 40,000 silver coins."

"Check it out." Of course, Takahashi Nan's identity would not check the money himself. Naturally, there are military personnel who are responsible for counting property to do this.

The city of El Salvador is not a prosperous trading port. The number of coins kept in the city is relatively limited, and it is impossible to collect the 40,000 silver coins requested by Gao Qiaonan. Therefore, it also contains many other items, such as silver tableware and candlesticks.

, handicrafts, gold jewelry, small decorations and privately cast gold bars, various gemstones of different textures, pearls, etc., and even famous calligraphy and paintings from the Ming Dynasty, Japan and other countries privately collected by a wealthy businessman.

Valuation of these things is relatively troublesome, especially for some artworks that are not widely circulated in the market. You can say it is worth thousands of gold or worthless, but its actual value is quite controversial. Just counting and calculating the value of these things,

It took almost two hours, during which the two parties naturally had disputes about the value of the items. In the end, Haihan believed that the total price was still at least 10% short of the negotiated amount.

After the results were reported to Gao Qiaonan, he calmly gave an idea to Alcalazo, who was anxious and worried: "Otherwise, one of you will have to leave, and I will receive 10% less, which is just right."

.”

The quota of ten people was arranged by Alcarazo with great difficulty. If any one was missing, there would be trouble. How could he admit this account? He quickly defended: "Your Excellency, the value of these properties is indeed worth 40,000 silver coins. Our side

We have sincerely surrendered, and now you are deliberately making things difficult for us on this issue, which would be a breach of trust."

Gao Qiaonan's face darkened and he said: "Since you said that, let's count the silver coins. If we count 40,000, you can leave. If you are short of 4,000, you will be deducted. You will be deducted as much as you want, so that you and I don't have to fight.

It’s a waste of time to fight!”

If Alcala could collect 40,000 silver coins, he wouldn't have to stuff so many weird things into it to make up the money. Moreover, it was the Haihan people who had the final say now, so he softened his tone immediately: "Your Excellency General, in fact, in this city

There are still many belongings that cannot be taken away. For example, the official residence I lived in before was renovated last year. Some of the furniture was shipped all the way from Spain. It is equipped with eight trained Nanyang servants inside and outside. You can move in immediately.

I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Gao Qiaonan became interested after hearing this condition. What he cared about was not Alcarazo's official residence, but the so-called Nanyang servants. Because Qian Tiandun had mentioned to him before that Luzon, where the Spaniards were entrenched in the Far East,

Island, the female indigenous people on the island are excellent servants after training. Of course, Gao Qiaonan did not know that the situation mentioned by Qian Tiandun did not happen in this time and space. The so-called "Filipino maid"

The industry only began to appear in the 1970s. But whatever Qian Tiandun said, he always believed it to be the truth. It was not that he wanted to keep this servant for himself, but that he wanted to send it back to Penghu and give it to Luo Wudan.

Train her and let her take care of her and Qian Tiandun's daily life.

So under Alcalazo's insistence, Takahashi Nan finally relented and agreed to let ten Spaniards, including Alcarazo, leave Jilong Port first under the existing conditions. Of course, as for the others,

Spanish immigrants, soldiers, and non-Hispanic personnel could only remain here temporarily as prisoners, waiting for the Spanish fleet that might never arrive.

During the negotiations out of the city, Alcarazo also had a clearer and more intuitive understanding of Haihan, the opponent who suddenly came to kill him. In Alcarazor's memory, he had never heard of any place where the militia had such a unified

The uniforms, weapons, and even artillery units are so powerful that they cannot resist. This armed force is obviously a highly professional army with strict organization and a complete command system, rather than the militia military organization they claim to be.

It is obvious that its leaders are very scheming, trying to paralyze competitors in the surrounding environment, and they have achieved this goal almost perfectly - all countries that have been their enemies have been defeated on the battlefield.

Haihan people, and before the fight, no one could have a correct understanding of the true strength of this mysterious force.

Alcarazo didn't know if the Dutch in the south of the island were as depressed as he was when they were defeated and regretted not stepping up the intelligence collection on Haihan in advance, but what he could conclude was that the Dutch were probably no better off than he was.

Where to go? The Haihan people didn't even spare the unproductive Jilong Port, and presumably the city of Geranje built by the Dutch in the south would not be spared either.

However, there was a slight mistake in Alcarazo's judgment. After Haihan surveyed the west coast of Taiwan, he finally chose the Kaohsiung Port south of Taiyuan Port instead of directly attacking Taiyuan Port.

Such a mistake in judgment occurred because he could not have imagined that the main reason why the Haihan people attacked Taipei was to monopolize the precious mineral deposits here.

The means of transportation that the Spaniards received was a fishing boat with a displacement of about 70 to 80 tons. For the pampered nobles, it was not a pleasant trip to take such a simple boat all the way south to Manila.

Journey. However, they have no conditions to be picky now. The Haihan people have given them such a boat. Whether they like it or not, they can only take this boat. Otherwise, they will have to stay in this uncertain place and wait for the Haihan people's mercy. So.

Although these ten passengers had no good looks when they boarded the ship, when the sailors unmoored and raised the sail, these lucky ones who spent a lot of money to buy their freedom quietly crossed themselves on their chests and thanked God.

bless.

The remaining prisoners did not fare so well. They were driven together by Haihan soldiers, and then randomly selected into teams of ten. The soldiers used special ten-man chain cuffs to cuff their left feet in a string. Because the Haihan soldiers

There has not yet been time to build a special prisoner of war camp here, and the prisons in the city are obviously unable to accommodate such a large number of prisoners, so the prisoners of war can only be controlled in this way temporarily. Preliminary inspections of these personnel will be carried out later.

Screen and release the less dangerous civilians among them, allowing them to assist the Haihan Army in taking over the city and cleaning the battlefield. Of course, all Hispanic personnel, whether soldiers or civilians, can only be treated as prisoners for the time being.

Takahashi Minami did not personally direct the handling of prisoners of war. This kind of thing is already familiar to the veterans of the special operations battalion, and there is no need for him to step in to handle it. Currently, Takahashi Minami is concerned about two other things. One is

Inventory counting and registration of the property in the city, and secondly, starting to arrange the development of local mineral deposits - this is also a task that the Executive Committee attaches most importance to. In comparison, how long did it take for the special operations battalion to

The capture of Jilong Port, how many battle losses there were, how many prisoners were killed, and how many trophies were seized after the war, these are all secondary matters. Qian Tiandun reminded him before the troops set off that the Executive Committee only cares about when the mines in Taipei can be mined.

, how quickly you can see the benefits, as for other details, you can handle it yourself as appropriate.

"When will Chief Tian from the Ministry of Industry arrive?" Takahashi Minami asked his adjutant.

The Chief Tian he mentioned is Tian Yeyou, who is responsible for mining planning and mining in the Ministry of Industry. After the Shilu Iron Mine was put into operation, Tian Yeyou had returned to the Black Tu Port in the Beibu Gulf to rest for a while. It is said that he was at a certain place near Halong Bay.

He built a villa on an island and moved his family to the island. He swam, fished and entertained his children every day, and lived a very comfortable life. In view of Tian Yeyou's great contribution to Haihan in industry, the executive committee also allowed him to enjoy this

This kind of treatment will only send a boat to the local area to pick him up when he is needed to work.

The excavation and mining of gold mines in the Jinguashi area of ​​Jilonggang was a key project supervised by the Executive Committee in 1633. This is an extremely important project for Haihan, who is currently making bigger and bigger stalls and moving faster and faster.

Supplementing financial resources. Therefore, after Qian Tiandun's petition report reached the Executive Committee, the Ministry of Industry immediately issued a transfer order, asking Tian Yeyou to report to the Penghu base immediately.

From the Beibu Gulf to Penghu, the mobilization distance almost spans the east and west ends of the Haihan controlled area. The entire voyage is nearly a thousand nautical miles. It is really not an easy trip. When Tian Yeyou set off from the island villa on the Beibu Gulf of Annan,

Gao Qiaonan also happened to leave Penghu for Tamsui with his troops.

However, Tian Yeyou's voyage was not as two-point and one-line as the march route of the special operations battalion. The ship he was on rested for one night at Fushuizhou Island, and docked in Danzhou the next day. He met with people from the Ministry of Industry and received part of the special allowance.

The prospecting tools and equipment sent from Sanya then passed through the Qiongzhou Strait and sailed eastward to Hong Kong. They stayed there for another day and gave a one-day training class to the staff responsible for prospecting in Guangdong, and then left for Penghu. Gao

When Qiaonan's troops began to attack Salvador City, Tian Yeyou had just completed his work on Hong Kong Island, but according to the schedule, Tian Yeyou should have arrived in Penghu by this time if nothing unexpected happened.

"I just received a message from the Penghu base. Chief Tian has arrived in Penghu this morning and will come to Jilong Port after a day's rest." the adjutant responded immediately.

"Tomorrow morning, let the Second Company go to the target area to conduct a survey to ensure that when Chief Tian arrives there, there will be no safety risks. Do you understand?" Gao Qiaonan has stayed in Kuitu Port for several years and knows very well what Chief Tian is doing.

His high status did not allow for any surprise, and he was fully prepared to welcome his arrival.
Chapter completed!