I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 371 Luzon is really not a treatable person
"Boom boom boom!"

The artillery of the Chinese and Dutch coalition forces is continuing to shell the city walls of Manila.

The warships of the two countries on the sea were not idle either, and their naval guns also poured bullets at the Manila city wall wantonly.

Those indigenous coalition forces have turned into civilians, and under the cover of coalition firepower, they went forward to fill in Manila's moat.

The Ming army and the Dutch army also cut down trees around the city of Manila, and the craftsmen accompanying the Ming army made the carts and cloud carts used for siege.

"Boom boom boom!"

Spanish artillery also tried to return fire.

However, Manila's artillery did not have the numerical advantage of the coalition forces, nor could it compare with the excellent range of the Ming army's artillery.

This resulted in the Spanish artillery being completely unable to fight against the Sino-Dutch coalition forces outside the city, and could not even slow down the pace of filling in the moat by the natives outside the city.

As for the Pampanga people on the city wall, these natives don't even have muskets in their hands, they are just an army of cold weapons.

When they saw the artillery of the Chinese and Dutch coalition forces, they didn't just disperse in a hurry, but they didn't dare to show their presence at all.

No matter how much their Spanish master beat and scolded them, the Spanish commander, who was almost crazy, could only do this and watch the coalition natives outside the city fill in the moat bit by bit.

"Boom boom boom!"

The artillery fire from both sides continued for ten days, and the Spanish gunners were beaten to the point of being helpless.

The moat was filled in by the natives before they could see it, and Ming army craftsmen also built cloud chariots and marquee chariots for siege.

The fleet of the Chinese and Dutch coalition forces had already withdrawn from the port of Manila, leaving only part of the fleet as a standby, while the rest ran back to escort the coalition's grain transport ships.

During the bombardment of Manila by the Sino-Dutch coalition forces, the remaining Spanish fleet in the central Philippine Islands also rushed into Manila waters.

However, after seeing the huge fleet of the coalition forces and the captured Manila battleships.Especially after the two Spanish galleons, they immediately withdrew from Manila waters.

The Spanish in Manila have cut off their retreat, and the Spanish troops scattered in the Philippine Islands do not even dare to raid the coalition food routes.

On the first day of the coalition's attack on the city, all those present were indigenous coalition forces.

When these natives filled in the moat, they relied on the artillery cover of the coalition forces, and there were no casualties.At this moment, everyone was screaming and their morale was high.

The first batch of siege natives advanced slowly pushing the carriages and cloud carriages built by Ming army craftsmen.

When the Spaniards saw this, they fired without hesitation.

"Boom boom boom!"

After several rounds of shelling, three carts were damaged, and the natives pushing the carts suffered heavy casualties.The remaining natives fled in panic, and were then urged by the Ming army and the Dutch to reorganize their attack.

This cycle continued, and at the end of the day, more than 500 indigenous people were directly killed or injured.

The Chinese and Dutch coalition forces remained stationary throughout the whole process, using indigenous soldiers to compete with the Spaniards.

After five days of repeated fighting under the walls of Manila, the Spanish cannonballs and other defensive materials were consumed very quickly.

The indigenous coalition forces also suffered heavy casualties. How could they fight against the cannon with their flesh and blood without losing lives?
"General, the casualties among the natives have been too great. Those natives are unwilling to continue attacking the city." An Ming soldier came to report.

Liu Sheng frowned and thought for a moment, and then quickly made a decision: "Send the order and let the soldiers prepare to launch an attack on the city. Then tell the natives that we will attack the city with them this time."

On the side, De Wit, who was also supervising the battle in the rear, also ordered: "You also go and inform the soldiers that we will launch a general attack on Manila. Let those Brunei and Sulu people stop thinking about playing tricks, otherwise don't blame us Dutch. polite."

The orders of the two people were quickly conveyed, and the Ming army quickly assembled an army of 4000 people, and the Dutch also assembled an army of more than 800 people.

This force was obviously much smaller than when they first landed in Manila.

Luzon is really not a place for humans. There are still more than two months until the rainy season, and the high temperature and humidity here have already made the Chinese and Dutch coalition forces miserable.

Those soldiers who were downsized simply couldn't stand the environment here, and they were also bitten by mosquitoes.

"General, 23 people have headaches and fever today."

"The old rule is to take them all to quarantine and then notify Dr. Song and the others."

Liu Sheng also had a headache, not from illness, but from the malaria raging here.It was obvious that the indigenous soldiers were dying throughout the whole process, and the Ming army's army division had not fought much, but nearly one-fifth of its personnel had been reduced by malaria here.

Although the Ming army deployed troops from Qiongzhou and Taiwan, they still couldn't stand it when they came to Luzon.

The summers here are hot and humid. Even if you don't do anything, you will be dehydrated and desalinated for a long time, which will lead to illness, especially in the rainy season.

DeWitt said helplessly: "Liu, the medicine I have is almost running out. Can you ask your doctor to prescribe some more for us? We can pay for it."

"Okay." Liu Sheng did not refuse.

The Privy Council and armament logistics were not just for free. They had investigated the climate conditions in Luzon before coming here, and even specifically consulted the businessmen who were dealing with them.

The drugs currently used by the Ming army to treat malaria are mainly Luzon fruit, combined with other antipyretics.

Luzon fruit, as the name suggests, originates from Luzon, where it is called Jiachunong. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" calls it precious bean and bitter fruit.

In China, it is mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangdong, Qiongzhou, and Yunnan. It can be used to treat early-stage malaria, as well as various poisonous insect bites and other similar symptoms.

But when it comes to the stage of fever and sweating, it has no effect.

The military doctors of the Ming Dynasty had already warned Liu Sheng in advance that anyone who showed any symptoms of discomfort, fatigue, etc. should be isolated and take antipyretic decoction immediately.

In fact, there are already specific drugs that can treat malaria in this time and space.That is, the cinchona tree (quinine), commonly known as the "fever-reducing tree".

As early as 20 years ago, the French paid tribute to Kangxi, who was suffering from malaria.

However, the Spanish who first discovered it had a monopoly on cinchona trees, and there should be some in the Spanish castle in Manila.

Probably another 100 years would pass before a few Englishmen would steal cinchona seeds from the Spaniards before they began to be widely cultivated.

The Chinese and Dutch coalition forces quickly assembled and immediately launched an offensive!
There are only more than 800 people in the Dutch army left, and the rest are all sick, and they are separated and quarantined like the Ming soldiers.

They all hid behind the carriages and followed the Ming army infantry as they slowly advanced towards the Manila city wall.

"Boom boom boom!"

In the rear, coalition artillery fired continuously.

The Spaniards also saw the Ming army and the Dutch appearing among the siege troops, and hurriedly pushed out all the artillery.Regardless of the danger, while exchanging artillery fire with the coalition forces, they also continued to fire at those carriages.

"Oh!"

Condescendingly, and guarding the city, soon a carriage was hit by a cannonball.

The wheels of the carriage were deformed on the spot, making it difficult to move. The flying shells killed two Ming soldiers at once.Then he rolled away, breaking the legs of several Dutch and native soldiers.

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

Two more shells were fired, one hit the soldier pushing the cart next to the cart, and the other directly broke the support frame of the cart.

The cart was smashed, and the Ming army pushing the cart was unable to dodge. More than ten people were killed and injured in an instant.The Dutch who were following behind were obviously fine, but they were frightened and immediately collapsed.

Liu Sheng put down his telescope and cursed angrily at DeWitt: "This is your Dutch army. The indigenous soldiers are better than you!"

De Wit said: "Liu, I only have 800 soldiers, and the rest are sick. How can I use them to let them die under the city wall like the natives?"

The morale of the Dutch, or in other words, the morale of the Dutch army was too low, and they almost collapsed before being touched.

This directly affected the coalition's offensive on the battlefield.

Even if the Ming army was still brave enough to die, those indigenous soldiers were often routed by the Dutch.

This wave of siege battles failed in a confused way.

Liu Sheng was so angry that he did not reorganize the offensive because the Dutch would definitely not do it.

(End of this chapter)