Total War: Restoration of the Ming Dynasty in Luzon

Chapter 38 Siege of Manila

"Pass on my military orders."

He turned to his adjutant Chen and ordered him, "The entire army shall retreat a hundred paces and set up camp outside the range of the defenders' artillery. Cut down trees, dig trenches, and build siege weapons. Send out more scouts to monitor the movements of the other city gates to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack."

"Yes, sir!" the adjutant replied immediately and turned to leave.

Zhu Jiheng then ordered his men to appease the righteous people who came to join him, register them, and incorporate them into the auxiliary troops to assist in logging, transporting stones, and digging trenches.

Once the order was given, the Ming army changed its formation and retreated to a safe area. They organized craftsmen, auxiliary soldiers, and laborers to cut down trees or demolish nearby abandoned houses to build fortifications.

On the city wall, Governor Juan rushed to the Parian Gate as soon as he learned that the Ming army was at the city gates. He was somewhat saddened to see that the Ming army did not launch a fierce attack immediately, but instead adopted a cautious and step-by-step approach.

If the enemy commander were the kind of reckless man who would launch an attack on a city on impulse, he wouldn't be worried. But as it turns out, the enemy outside is not easy to deal with.

He could only order the city defenses around the Parian Gate to be strengthened, more ammunition to be stockpiled, and soldiers to be conscripted from other city gates to increase the number of troops guarding the Parian Gate.

Time flew by, and night soon fell. The Ming army camp outside the city was still brightly lit, with a bustling atmosphere. An officer suggested that the governor should take advantage of the fact that the Ming army camp was not yet completed and organize a small group of elite troops to launch a night raid outside the city.

After careful consideration, the governor rejected the officer's suggestion, saying in a deep voice, "The rebel leader is not so easy to deal with. He will definitely take precautions. If we choose to launch a night attack, we will only fall into his trap and increase our casualties."

Then, the governor ordered the city gates to be closed, and no one was allowed to open the gates and leave the city without his order. The officer had no choice but to agree.

The next morning, the Ming army's camp was finally completed. Zhu Jiheng then ordered the artillery to move forward, select a suitable location to build artillery fortifications, and launch an artillery barrage against the city wall.

While the auxiliary soldiers and laborers were busy working, Zhu Jiheng summoned several Chinese leaders and native chieftains who had surrendered the day before, and ordered them to lead their men to move to the gates of Real, Saint Lucia and Postigo, to create a show of force and make the defenders mistakenly believe that they were preparing to launch an attack on the other three gates at the same time.

This move prevented the garrison from easily transferring troops from each gate to reinforce the Palian Gate. Even if the garrison realized their intentions, they would still have to leave a certain number of soldiers at each gate. This was an open strategy.

After the fortifications were completed, the Ming army did not rush to attack the city for the next three days. Instead, they bombarded the city walls with cannons every day, especially the gate of the Parian Gate and the protruding parts of the bastions on both sides, to damage the structure and kill the defenders.

Meanwhile, various siege weapons gradually took shape behind the camp, with ladders, battering rams, and even shield wagons being placed in an orderly manner.

Seeing the strength and discipline of the Spanish army, the Chinese outside the city increasingly surrendered. Although the Chinese inside the city were under strict control by the Spanish, their morale was low and secret communications were rampant.

However, all channels out of the city were blocked, so even though Zhang San had initially established an intelligence network, he was unable to send out messages from the city. He could only try his best to appease the restless Chinese through Manager Chen.

At the same time, even bigger news came from the north: after learning that the Ming army was marching south to attack Manila, the Pasig tribe finally decided to join forces with the Ming army.

Led by the Pasig tribe, several Pampanga tribes mobilized their forces, gathering nearly a thousand warriors, who, under the leadership of Magbanu, headed towards Manila.

This news made Zhu Jiheng very happy; the addition of nearly a thousand Bangbanya warriors was enough to change the course of the battle.

If these thousand Bangbanya warriors are added, the total strength of the Ming army will exceed four thousand. As long as they can blow open the city gates or walls, the defending army will be unable to stop their advance.

……

On November 20, the Pampanga allied forces finally arrived outside Manila and joined forces with the Ming army.

Zhu Jiheng personally received Magbanu and several other chieftains, praising their wise choice and promising that after the capture of Manila, the spoils of war would be distributed fairly according to their contributions, and the exorbitant taxes imposed on them by the Spanish would be abolished.

Magbanu and others firmly believed this, patting their chests and guaranteeing that the Bangbanya warriors would never desert in the face of battle and would fight alongside the Ming army to the very last moment.

Then, Zhu Jiheng asked them to divide their troops and station them outside the Real Gate, Saint Lucia Gate and Postigo Gate to increase the pressure on the defenders of the three gates. He also agreed with them to launch a joint attack on the city gates on the day the general offensive began.

On the 21st, after days of shelling, the bastion wall on the right side of the Parian Gate had cracked and bricks had fallen off, and the defending troops had suffered casualties.

If it were just casualties, it would be a minor problem. But the problem was that the defenders also saw more and more enemy reinforcements arriving. This seemingly endless illusion made them feel like they were surrounded by enemies, and their morale plummeted.

Even more fatally, the atmosphere inside the city became increasingly tense and volatile during the siege, with incidents of Chinese people being beaten to death by the defending soldiers without provocation beginning to occur.

This undoubtedly fueled the anger of the Chinese community. Even though Zhang San repeatedly tried to persuade the Chinese to calm down through Manager Chen, he could not control his rising desire to revolt.

The Chinese community is like a giant powder keg, just one spark away from exploding.

Outside the city, seeing the bastion walls cracking and bricks falling off, Zhu Jiheng realized that the time for a formal attack on the city had arrived.

That very day, he summoned all his generals and Han and barbarian chieftains to the central military tent, spread out the rough map of Manila's defenses that he had drawn over the past few days, and addressed them:

"The walls of the Parian Gate are about to crumble, and the time has come. However, the Western barbarians will surely gather a large force on the city walls to prevent our breakthrough. I intend to use gunpowder to force open the city gate, and then divide my forces into two groups: one group will break into the streets and alleys through the city gate, while the other group will use siege ladders and other siege equipment to swarm up the city walls and fight a bloody battle with the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's morale soared, and they were eager to try. Zhu Jiheng continued:

"The troops deployed at the Real Gate, Saint Lucia Gate, and Postigo Gate will tomorrow make a show of force, feigning a fierce attack to tie down the Western defenders and prevent them from fully supporting the Palian Gate. Upon hearing the explosions, they will attack the city together. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy. Once inside the city, all units must maintain strict discipline and are forbidden from indiscriminately attacking the civilians. Anyone who disobeys this order, regardless of nationality, will be punished according to military law!"

Several Chinese militia leaders immediately agreed, and then looked at the Bangbanya people who were deployed with them outside the three gates.

After Zhu Jiheng's words were translated and relayed, the local chieftains were somewhat dissatisfied with the prohibition against looting and killing after the city fell, but due to Zhu Jiheng's power, they had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

However, the natives have always been lax in discipline. Even if they promised to maintain military discipline before the battle, they would probably ignore it once they were in a bloodthirsty frenzy after the city was breached.