Chapter 22: The Hunter and the Hunted

Manila Governor-General's office.

Alonso, holding a ruler in one hand and a pen in the other, was carefully studying a sea chart.

Vice Admiral Juan's three ships had departed six days ago.

Lately the southwest monsoon had been growing steady, and the fleet, running with the wind all the way, was making excellent speed—they should already be most of the way there.

Just then, a servant suddenly burst into the office in a fluster.

Before Alonso could even scold him, the servant said with delight, "My lord, Lady Catherine has returned!"

"What!" Alonso shot to his feet, knocking over the wine on his desk.

"Father!" Catherine's voice came from outside the office.

The next moment, Catherine walked into the office, draped in a cloak that covered her entire body.

"Catherine." Alonso stepped forward and pulled his daughter into his arms. "Thank God, you escaped."

"Father, Manila is in danger."

"What happened? Tell me slowly." Alonso was briefly taken aback, then helped Catherine into a chair and sent the servant to brew hot cocoa.

"The pirates who captured me are connected with Lin Feng and the Dutch—they took me in order to attack Manila." Catherine spoke urgently before she had even sat down.

Only now did Alonso notice that Catherine's hands were covered in fine scratches from brush, and the cloak she wore was plain linen, unbefitting a noble's station.

She must have just fled back to Manila and come straight here without even changing clothes.

If so, the news she brought must be of great importance.

Alonso sat down and said gravely, "No rush. Start from the beginning."

Just then, the servant brought the brewed hot cocoa. Catherine took it and began her account from the day she had been captured and taken aboard the ship.

When she described how Lin Qian, in a slow-moving Ming merchant junk, had shaken off the galleon San Felipe by sailing close-hauled at a sharp angle, Alonso's face was full of disbelief.

This spoke not only of differences in hull design and performance, but of an enormous gap between the two captains in skill and courage.

In Juan's report to him, the storm had been emphasized, while this clever close-hauled maneuver was glossed over in a single line—clearly he too felt the failure was too shameful to dwell on.

"Vice Admiral Juan said the pirate ship then plunged straight into the storm?" Alonso pressed.

"Yes."

Catherine went on to describe what she had witnessed in the typhoon, and afterward on Jellyfish Island.

Alonso's eyes widened as he confirmed, "Does this pirate captain have noble blood?"

In Spain, seafaring was the privilege of the nobility—the more experienced the captain, the more ancient and noble his lineage.

Many believed that skill at navigation was positively correlated with bloodline.

"He never mentioned his bloodline, but in some ways he is far more gentlemanly than most nobles."

Alonso stroked his chin. "Perhaps he is a descendant of fallen nobility. The skill and courage he displayed in crossing that storm would indeed put many heirs of ancient bloodlines to shame."

Catherine continued, telling him what she had read in Lin Qian's navigation log and what she had overheard of his conversations.

"You're saying this Lin Qian has joined forces with pirates and the Dutch to form a fleet, and they're coming to attack Manila?" Alonso's brows knit tightly.

He paced to the table, staring at the sea chart. The spilled wine had already been cleaned up by the servant, who had poured a fresh glass.

Alonso picked up the ruler and pen, sketching and marking on the chart.

Spain's military strength in Manila was not particularly strong—at full count, they had only seven warships.

Three were now sailing toward Jellyfish Island, one was patrolling the waters east of Luzon, and one was patrolling Manila Bay.

That left only two warships available, and both were caravels—fast vessels meant for scouting and dispatch duty.

Alonso immediately signed an order to dispatch one caravel to chase down the fleet heading for Jellyfish Island.

Since Catherine had escaped, the ransom trap was now meaningless—the fleet had to turn around at once and reinforce Manila's defenses.

Halfway through writing, Alonso felt something was wrong and stopped his pen.

Alonso looked up and asked his daughter, "This fleet the pirate formed with the Dutch—did you see it with your own eyes?"

"I saw it from a distance on the mountains of Samar Island. It was night, so I could only see the ships' lanterns in the harbor—at least a hundred of them."

Alonso, in truth, did not care much about the number of ships in the fleet; what concerned him more was their tonnage.

Unlike land warfare, naval battles were not won by sheer numbers of vessels.

A large-tonnage warship like the San Felipe could single-handedly handle several hundred pirate sampans—their small-caliber cannons could not even penetrate its thick oak planking.

This was also why the navies of Europe were so keen on building great ships.

The Ming sea bandits, by contrast, were characterized by small ships, few cannons, and many men—at heart just a band of land robbers who happened to ride on boats, no match for the Spanish navy in a sea battle.

It was their sheer numbers once they came ashore that gave the Spanish more trouble.

When Lin Feng attacked Manila in 1574, he had not engaged the Spanish navy head-on, but instead landed at Lingayen Gulf on the northwest coast of Luzon and advanced overland.

Perhaps Lin Qian had kidnapped Catherine precisely as a ruse to lure the tiger from the mountain—to weaken the Spanish navy and ensure a smooth landing.

Then the Dutch would blockade the harbor while Lin Qian's pirates landed at Lingayen Gulf, striking Manila from both sea and land.

Against the Dutch heavy cannons and the pirates' numerical advantage on land, Manila could not possibly hold.

The only way to break the deadlock was to defeat them piecemeal—while the Dutch and pirates were divided, first crush the pirates at sea, then turn to deal with the Dutch.

Of course, it was also possible that the Dutch were merely Lin Qian's feint.

After all, the only evidence of the combined fleet's existence was the ship lanterns Catherine had seen in the dark.

Alonso's eyes suddenly lit up as another possible explanation occurred to him.

Perhaps Lin Qian had been after the ransom all along—he had guessed there would be a naval ambush near Jellyfish Island.

So he timed it perfectly: after the fleet lowered the silver, he sent Catherine back to spread false news, tricking Alonso into recalling the fleet.

With military intelligence urgent, the three warships could not all stay at Jellyfish Island waiting for the silver to be loaded—two would surely sail back, leaving only one to load at a leisurely pace.

Lin Qian's men would then strike in that window of time and seize the silver.

The plan seemed full of holes on the surface, but on closer thought, it was the most plausible.

After all, Lin Qian was an unknown pirate, and it would be hard to convince the Dutch to join forces with him.

Borrowing the prestige of the shared surname "Lin," there was some chance of recruiting Lin Feng's old followers.

With Lin Feng's fate as a warning, this rabble dared not harbor ambitions of swallowing Manila, but they still had the nerve to kidnap Catalina and demand a ransom.

At this thought, Governor-General Alonso revealed a confident smile, amended his orders, and decided to leave the San Felipe at Jellyfish Island while sending the other two ships back, creating the illusion of having fallen for the trap.

Since Catalina had already escaped, the San Felipe no longer needed to hold back and could freely open fire.

With the firepower of the San Felipe alone, it would be enough to wipe out this band of pirates.

After signing the orders, Alonso summoned a guard and had the orders delivered to the naval port.

He thought for a moment, then issued another order, sending men to establish a watchtower at Lingayen Gulf, using beacon fires to relay signals and keep constant watch over the movements at sea.

At the same time, he stationed the warships patrolling the eastern part of Luzon Island, along with the other two warships, near Lingayen Gulf.

Although the possibility of Lin Qian landing and attacking was extremely slim, Alonso still had to be prepared.

Once the watchtower lit its beacon fire, the three ambushed warships could rush over immediately and send Lin Qian's entire pirate crew to feed the sharks.

After issuing this order, Alonso relaxed. He ran the matter through his mind many more times, confirming there was not a single oversight.

Alonso held a glass of wine, paced to the window, and stared out at the open waters of Manila Bay, like a sharp-eyed hunter watching prey about to step into a trap.

Pink Round

Pen