novelhk Chapter 53 Shelling Cebu
Chapter 53 Shelling Cebu
In this atmosphere of despair, even Colonel Salcedo himself could not help but waver.
But he also knew that he was the backbone of the entire stronghold. If he showed any wavering, the morale of the entire army would plummet into the abyss, with no chance of recovery.
In fact, the Ming army would not give the garrison enough time to adjust their morale.
On the morning of November 23, the garrison of Fort San Pedro was the first to spot the shadows of ships on the distant horizon. Almost seeing things out of the blue, they immediately sounded the alarm.
dong dong dong-
The alarm bells rang shrilly, and chaos erupted in the city. Soldiers rushed out of their barracks, putting on their armor as they ran. Some even forgot their weapons in the barracks, throwing them a distance before running back to retrieve them.
Colonel Salcedo rushed out of his residence immediately, leading his guards to quickly climb the city wall. He looked through his binoculars at the fleet that was gradually appearing on the horizon, his face ashen and solemn.
The officers and guards around him also looked grim; some had shifty eyes, others were breathing rapidly, and they showed no will to fight.
"Prepare for battle! For the King, for the glory of God!" Salcedo shouted hoarsely, trying to boost morale, but few responded, and his voice was weak.
On the open sea, Chen Ang stood on the deck of the fifth-class ship "Tong An" and observed the defense situation of Cebu Port with a monocular telescope.
Despite the distance, he could still vaguely see the figures moving on the city walls and the Burgundy cross flag flying high.
"General, the Western barbarians have discovered us. If we launch a strong attack on the port, the firepower of Fort San Pedro will certainly come at a heavy price," Captain Yao Zheng of the Tong'an reminded him from the side.
"I understand that, of course," Chen Ang said, then looked at the messenger and ordered him, "Raise the flags to all ships, advance the warships, concentrate firepower on Fort San Pedro, try to destroy its fortifications, and send fast ships to search for beaches around Cebu for landing."
The messenger quickly responded, walked briskly to the ship's side, waved the command flags to each ship, and conveyed the order using flag signals. Upon seeing the command flags waving and understanding the flag signals, each ship raised its sails and pressed forward.
Before long, the ships of the Nanyang Fleet, which had joined forces with Chen Ang's main force, quickly formed a battle line and advanced to within the effective range of their cannons. The gun ports on the sides were opened, and the dark muzzles of the cannons were aimed at the stone fortress in the distance.
The defenders of Fort San Pedro also noticed the Ming warships' movements, and panic spread among them. The Western soldiers were all terrified and, disregarding their officers' orders to hold their positions, fled into the stone fortress to try to avoid the artillery fire.
"Fire!"
With a command from the captains, deafening cannon fire resounded across the sea and sky. Three fifth-class ships and three sixth-class ships, with a total of over a hundred cannons, simultaneously unleashed flames and thick smoke. Heavy solid shot whistled through the air and slammed into Fort San Pedro and the surrounding fortifications.
In an instant, rubble rained down and dust filled the air. Although the first round of shelling failed to destroy the main body of the sturdy stone fortress, the intense firepower still left the fortress roof platform and open-air gun emplacements in ruins. Several cannons were directly hit and overturned, and the gunners who did not have time to take cover were either killed or wounded.
More importantly, the morale of the defending troops collapsed completely under this thunderous attack. The soldiers who were lucky enough to survive huddled behind their bunkers, and no matter how much the officers scolded and whipped them, they dared not lean out to operate the cannons again.
Colonel Salcedo witnessed this scene and was almost deathly pale. The number of enemy cannons was beyond his imagination. Although he had learned from the fleeing soldiers in Manila that the Ming army had European-style warships with more cannons than they did, he still couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at this moment.
Who exactly provided them with these warships?!
Just as the colonel was on the verge of collapse, a lieutenant rushed over anxiously and said to him, "Colonel Salcedo! If we continue to let the rebels bombard our fortress, not only will the morale of the soldiers inside the fortress collapse, but the soldiers in the city will also be affected!"
"What can we do to retaliate?" the colonel roared impatiently at the lieutenant. "Are we sending our soldiers out to sea to risk shelling and engage in naval battle?! That's just suicide!"
The lieutenant was rendered speechless by the shout and didn't know how to respond for a moment. The colonel, panting heavily, calmed down after a while and said to the lieutenant:
"Get the soldiers into the bunkers. The Chinese are focused on destroying our gun emplacements right now, they're not in a rush to attack."
"yes!"
The lieutenant acknowledged and quickly left.
Meanwhile, the fast boat that Chen Ang sent out soon returned and reported a suitable landing spot to Chen Ang—a wide beach located on the west side of Cebu, about ten miles away from the city.
The terrain there was flat, and there were originally Spanish coastal defense outposts, but they were abandoned after Salcedo decided to withdraw his troops and defend the city.
After hearing the soldiers' report, Chen Ang made a decision without hesitation: "Order all warships to change course and head west, and land on the beach there. The Tong'an will accompany and escort them."
As the flag signal was given, Chen Ang's order was quickly relayed. The warships, composed of various merchant ships, turned westward under the escort of the fifth-class ships. The Spanish commander on the city wall saw this scene through his binoculars and his heart sank.
His worst fears had come true. The Ming army clearly did not intend to force its way in through the port, but instead chose to land and launch an attack from the land. Once the main force of the Ming army landed, Cebu City would be powerless to resist with its existing troops, morale, and city defenses.
The colonel had no time to spare. He quickly ordered that troops be drawn from the garrison to move westward to organize defenses, or at the very least, to set up ambushes according to the terrain.
But when the order was given, the soldiers moved slowly. Panic had spread like a plague throughout the army. Many soldiers were reluctant to leave the relatively safe city walls, and the officers were also suspicious, fearing that this was a conspiracy by the Ming army.
When Salcedo finally managed to assemble a force of about five hundred men, which he hastily led out of the city under the command of his trusted captain, the vanguard of the Ming army had already landed and established a fortified beachhead.
The first to land were two companies of line infantry. After wading ashore, they quickly secured the beachhead and sent out scouts to reconnoiter the interior.
The Spanish army had only gone halfway when their scouts clashed with Ming scouts. How could the demoralized Spanish scouts possibly be a match for the Ming scouts, who were experts in jungle warfare?
After a fierce battle, the Spanish scout was captured and taken prisoner by the Ming army.
The Ming army quickly extracted information about the scouts' marching movements and troop strength from their captured scouts. Chen Ang, whose feet were already on the soft sand, read the scouts' statements, a cold smile on his face, and said to the company commanders in front of him:
"These Western barbarians are truly arrogant and conceited. Do they think that five hundred demoralized rabble can stop us? How laughable!"
He then ordered five companies of line infantry to set off first as the vanguard to confront the Spanish army.