In fact, the war has ended, and the subsequent military operations were to persuade surrender or capture Spanish strongholds in the occupied area. There were many strongholds on Luzon Island, and the largest one was naturally Santiago Castle in Manila. However, there was not only one stronghold around Manila Bay, but also Abukai City on the Bataan Peninsula, Antonio Castle in Krabi Shipyard, Batangas and Legaspi.

Of course, most Spanish castles have very few defenders. Except for Santiago Castle, the strongest city of Abucai, there are only 600 defenders, of which less than 100 Spanish men, and the rest of the castles also include 200 to 400 defenders, including dozens of Spanish soldiers.

Outside Cebu Port, Pilong boarded the flagship of the Qinglong. His hands greedily stroked the gorgeous sculptures on the railings. He looked at the invincible giant carefully. His envious appearance was very similar to that of Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden. Pilong kept admiring. Perhaps he also imagined in his heart that he would have such a warship in the future.

"Your Excellency, please receive Pilong's sincere praise. You have won a great victory!" Although Pilong didn't know what happened in Manila Bay, if he could drive three cruise ships into Cebu Port, Pilong knew that the club would definitely win.

"Yes, except for these three cruise ships and a large sailing ship in Hele Port, the Spaniards no longer have any decent ships." Li Mingxun accepted Pilong's congratulations with a smile. He pointed to the fast fleet sailing from afar and said, "You will soon be verified from Li Beiji."

The news brought by Li Beiji made Li Mingxun quite excited. He originally thought that the Simmons fleet would be wiped out, but he did not expect that he would only lose two main battleships. Simmons not only remained unscathed, but also captured Raphael.

After hearing this, Pilong was very excited and waved his arms and said, "That's great. Since the main force of the Manila fleet has been gone and the main battleships involved are blocked by you in the port, wouldn't that mean that the entire Philippine Governor's district has become a woman who has stripped naked and let us clean up, haha!"

Li Mingxun's response disappointed Pilong: "No, Pilong, we will not unite to rob the villages, towns and cities of the Philippines Governor's District. On the contrary, the two warships affiliated with the Navy in your fleet will also be drawn back."

"Why?" Pilong couldn't believe it. He felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Lee Mingxun said: "Our actions on land need help. The army is not strong enough. I need armed sailors to go ashore, so I'm sorry."

Piron left disappointedly. He decided to find his closest ally, Galid, and cooperate to rob. However, Galid did not have a decent ship, and his movements could only be limited to the Sulu Sea area.

"Your Excellency, you seem to want to separate yourself from him?" Li Beiji said.

Li Mingxun nodded slightly: "It is true. We have won. The next step is to complete the occupation of the entire Luzon Island and then negotiate. We have insufficient troops and can only do this at present."

As Li Mingxun said, the Spanish have been operating in the Philippines for a full eighty years, and the efforts of four generations have established a relatively stable rule in the Philippines. In the entire Philippines, the Spanish have 700,000 to 800,000 Catholic believers. Even though most of them are serfs or compassionate tribes, they have formed a huge force, especially in Luzon, the core of Spanish rule, with at least 400,000 Catholics, and more uncivilized tribes. It is not easy to complete the occupation of Luzon and rule all the people on the island.

If the community only retains a small number of troops in Luzon and invests as little resources as possible, then the most priority is to reach a peace agreement with the Spanish to make it acquiesce the community's rule over Luzon. Otherwise, just those Catholic priests who instigate Catholics to rebel all day long would have to leave tens of thousands of troops in Luzon, and then Luzon would become a burden, rather than a new living space and profit point.

Li Mingxun patted Li Beiji on the shoulder and said, "I will strengthen the two main battleships of Orca and Humpback Whale to your fast fleet, and give you four frigates. Your mission is to block the Port of Cebu, and no ship can enter or exit. In addition, without my order, no attack is allowed!"

"Yes, yourselves, I understand." Li Beiji said immediately. He smiled and pointed to the brightly lit port of Cebu in the distance, saying: "Even if the Spaniards put the gold on the beach, I will not let the soldiers get it ashore. My mission is to blockade!"

Li Mingxun nodded with relief. This is exactly where he admires Li Beiji. He is young and vigorous, but he is young and mature on key issues.

Li Mingxun asked the Qinglong and the Pilot Whale to escort two sharp ships to Manila, and he returned on a faster frigate. By the time he arrived in Manila, the navy and army had already controlled the situation. The army surrounded Santiago Castle and controlled the Lower City, while the Navy and Marine Camp surrounded Abukai City, and the armed sailors siege the San Antonio Castle and all the surrounding indigenous villages to prevent important shipbuilders from escaping.

Gao Feng walked to Li Mingxun, and after saluting, he took him to a small church in the lower city of Manila. The Expeditionary Force Command and the Luzon Chief Executive Office were temporarily established here. The church is about one kilometer away from Santiago Castle, and there is a coconut groves in the middle, which is very safe.

"We have counted the results of the battle. We have captured more than 1,200 whites and Mestiso (mixed race). Most of the rich Spanish people and bureaucrats fled Manila early and went to Cebu or some other place. Bahai led the cavalry and 300 infantrymen to Batangas. We surrounded all the enemy's castles, but none of them surrendered." Gao Feng said, and several soldiers carried in two boxes. After opening it, they were all kinds of documents, and most of them had the seal of the governor or the church. Gao Feng said: "When the army entered the Lower City, a Chinese gave it to me, saying that this was left by your friend for you."

Li Mingxun opened it casually and looked at it. His Spanish was not good, and he could understand it but couldn't quite understand it. Lin Qian worked hard because he was appointed as the Chief Executive of Luzon. After reading it, he said: "This is a power of attorney or contract, the industry of plantations and important towns in various places. With these things, we will get twice the result with half the effort in taking over the Spanish industry on Luzon. At least we know what there is in each village, the area of ​​the plantation, and how many serfs there are. This is really a gift."

Li Mingxun smiled. He knew that it was left by Tula's orders. He patted Lin Qian's arm and said, "Okay, my Chief Lin, based on these things, take over the villages and towns around Manila first. I will send soldiers to cooperate with you."

Gao Feng frowned slightly: "Your Excellency, our troops are not sufficient!"

Lee Mingxun smiled and asked, "How long do you think it will take to capture San Diego Castle, three months or five months?"

Gao Feng was embarrassed: "There are at least eight thousand people in Santiago Castle, including 1,500 soldiers, many civilians are also armed and have a lot of artillery. Last year, the Manila earthquake knocked down the castle and just under maintenance. It is very strong. Even if my two infantry battalions attacked, it will be difficult to take it down in the short term."

Li Mingxun smiled and said, "I will not increase my troops anymore. Since I can't defeat you, don't fight anymore. Leave me two infantry brigades and an artillery team. I will organize armed sailors to form the Pangbanya battalion, and add my guards to besiege Santiago Castle. Lead other troops in the Spanish warehouse to retrieve some heavy artillery. First, kill Abukai and San Antonio Castle. Note that there are many important shipbuilders, ship engineers and designers in San Antonio Castle, and persuade them to surrender as much as possible."

"What about me?" Simmons asked with shame. After all, under his command, the navy was seriously injured. If Simmons had chosen a more stable strategy at that time, there might not have been any loss.

Lee Mingxun smiled and said, "Your mission is Legaspi and the entire Baco Peninsula, which is also a wealthy place. The Navy and Marines will be arranged as you wish."

Simmons took the order and Gao Feng went to prepare for the siege at random. Lin Qian asked: "Don't you have a noble informant in Santiago Castle? Can you persuade him to surrender? You know, Santiago Castle is also called the Royal City of Manila and cannot occupy it. Many local natives, especially those Catholic natives, have two hearts."

"My informant is also a half-hearted person. As for persuading surrender, many of our conditions are something that the Spaniards cannot agree to." Li Mingxun said with a little embarrassment.

Lin Qian chose to remain silent. The most unavoidable thing to fight against the Spanish was the blood feud between the elders and the Spanish. The bloody massacre in the twelve years of Chongzhen was a hurdle that the elders could not overcome. In fact, the club was quite kind to the Spanish captives and could redeem themselves by paying ransom. However, all the Spanish who might participate in the Holocaust would be sentenced. Of course, no one was willing to admit that they had massacred the Chinese after being captured, but the club would sentence all the Spaniards in Manila during the Holocaust. Most of the officers and bureaucrats would be sentenced to death. Even ordinary soldiers would undergo labor reforms for more than ten years, no different from slaves.

This principle will still be practiced during the attack on Luzon. I think there are many people in Santiago who cannot be removed from suspicion. They will never choose to surrender. What's more, the principles of society are also very strict in issues such as religion and personal property.

There is only one way to surrender Santiago Castle, that is, the people inside are desperate. The desperate people have very low requirements and only need to save their lives. All religions, property, and punishments are acceptable, and there are many ways to make them desperate, such as long-term siege or abandonment of the governor's district.

Lee Mingxun is more inclined toward the second kind of despair. In fact, he and the Spaniards in the city know very well that in April, the new Philippine Governor will arrive, which is an important opportunity for negotiations. The Spaniards are very clear that the new Governor cannot bring their troops to rescue them, but they are qualified to negotiate with Lee Mingxun. Perhaps the Santiago Castle cannot support the arrival of reinforcements from the Kingdom, but it is enough to support until the end of the negotiations.

After Lee Myung-hoon and Lin Qian took over the Manila area, the sound of cannons rang throughout Manila Bay, not only Abukai City and Krabi, but also Santiago Castle. The army seized a large number of Spanish heavy artillery, ranging from twenty-four to eighteen pounds, and there were a large amount of gunpowder and shells. These ammunition and firearms were not the same as those provided by the community arsenal and were not easy to use in conjunction, so they were simply used to bombard the city.

The Santiago Castle was spent every day in shelling, but the community never launched a real attack. In addition to building artillery barricades to transport ammunition, the most important thing for the army was to dig zigzag trenches near the castle and bombard the Spaniards who repaired the castle with mortars.

In mid-February, after receiving all pardons, Fort San Antonio surrendered, and there was no war in Krabi. The shipyard could provide repair services for the community warships. Five days later, Legaspi surrendered. On the last day of February, Batangas surrendered, and only the city of Abukai was tragic siege broke out. Gao Feng used twelve 24-pound cannons to collapse the walls of Abukai and attacked them. Most of the people in the city were killed, which became the most tragic battle of the community on Luzon. This battle lasted until mid-March.

In early February, most plantations and manors in Luzon were sent to the Chief Executive District. The Spanish slave owners had fled, and the slaves and other property of the manors were taken over by the officials sent by the community. The villages and towns where the Spanish gathered were directly attacked. The only exception was the remote area. The community only sent envoys to ask them to hand over the throne appointed by the Spanish, and did not act any other way. It neither recognized the relative independent autonomy of each of the various Paranguines, nor required them to be loyal or provided taxes. After all, in the community's planning, these Paranguines were the main sources of plantation slaves.

With the cooperation of the navy and army, the Luzon administrative region spent two months controlling all important cities, castles and villages on Luzon Island, arresting and expelling all Spaniards, while the Moroes (indigenous Catholics) and barbaric indigenous tribes adopted a laissez-faire policy, and waited until the war was completely over.

Only two kinds of people were treated well or even used. First, they were local Chinese in Manila. After seven years of the massacre, many Chinese settled in Manila, but the number of people grew too slowly. After all, Chinese who went abroad to make a living have the best place to make a living in Taiwan. There are less than two thousand Chinese in Manila. They quickly filled the important administrative positions in the Chief Executive District, while the other one was a mixed Chinese, such as the Yierodi people near the Fort Glory. They were the descendants of the Chinese led by Lin Feng. After Lin Feng failed, some people fled overseas, while many people fled into the mountains and forests, combined with local indigenous people, forming the Yierodi people. These mixed indigenous people quickly became the priority choice for local recruitment.

This laid the foundation for the later division of social classes in Luzon. Chinese, Chinese mixed race, indigenous, and religious indigenous people were the four top-down classes in Luzon, and they were responsible for different tax and power standards. This also built a model for the community and later federal colonization, which was always implemented in the colonial era and had far-reaching influence.

In mid-March of the first year of Longwu, a Manila sailboat was moored in Zamboanga. A young man in gorgeous military uniform came down on the boat. He was only in his thirties. His decent clothes and gorgeous wigs made him look quite noble, but the smile on his face was a little cynical.

"Well, like America, it is still the smell of a colony, blood, smoke, rottenness and the smell of slaves. It seems that our Philippine Governor's District is sinking. Well, in my hands, there is only the soft light of raw silk and the crisp sound of gold coins colliding!" The man said to the people around him with a smile.
Chapter completed!