16th February 1657
"Finally, freedom!"
"Beat these bloody dogs!"
"Victory, victory, victory!"
Sounds of joy spread throughout a large town in the Luzon province of Spanish-occupied Philippines. The town, called Tarlac, was attacked by the rebel group headed by Tamblot.
Tamblot chose an opportunity when the Spanish nobles were attending a banquet in Manila for the wedding of one of their important families, which left some of the strongholds in the interior region of Luzon empty. Not willing to waste this opportunity and having already trained the soldiers in firearms, Tamblot decisively struck Tarlac town.
Tarlac town, one of the major strongholds of the Spanish, was primarily used to deepen the influence of Spanish rule in the hinterlands of Luzon. Tarlac town is situated on the northern side of Manila, acting as a doorway to the hinterland of the northern part of the Philippines.
"Chief, the Spanish should react any time soon. We should act quickly and give them no chance to regain lost ground. Please give the order; what should we do?" a resistant soldier dressed in a green uniform eagerly asked.
Just by looking at the uniform, it was clear that these outfits were heavily inspired by Bharatiya camouflage uniforms. It seems Tamblot did indeed succeed in mimicking some of the features, such as striped patterns for better camouflage in natural environments and multiple tactical pockets for holding various items a soldier might need.
The old man, Tamblot, stroked his chin in contemplation as he fell into deep thought. ’Should I completely cut off the northern part of Luzon from the Spanish by launching an attack on Cabanatuan town, or should I do something else?’
Cabanatuan Town is another town that is a very central node in Spanish power projection into the internal region of Northern Luzon.
If Tamblot succeeded in this step, he would establish a strong foothold for himself within the region of Luzon by momentarily cutting off the Spanish logistic channels into the hinterland of northern Luzon.
By the time the Spanish resumed these logistic channels, Tamblot could have already overthrown most of the strongholds in northern Luzon and almost become the local ruler permanently, saying goodbye to Spanish rule and no longer having to hide within forests like refugees and criminals. Instead, they could openly and above board act like an independent nation fighting for their independence.
This made even more sense since the local population supported their cause.
However, unfortunately, Tamblot ended up not taking this decision because, after much thought, he figured that the Spanish were not stupid enough to forget and ignore such a possibility, so they would strengthen their defences and power in Cabanatuan Town. So, Tamblot suppressed his eagerness and decisively held back his troops.
"It’s not the time yet," he said while looking at all the soldiers who had downtrodden expressions on their faces.
As a leader, he would not budge; every decision he took should always be for the overall victory of the cause, not for temporary gains. "Find out if any additional military forces have entered Cabanatuan Town. At the same time, find out where these extra forces came from."
Hearing the order, the silent troops immediately regained their spirit as they acted decisively. Their loyalty to Tamblot had proven to be a wise choice, based on their long experience working with him.
The intelligence network of Tamblot, which had spread like spider webs throughout Luzon, immediately found out all the necessary information.
"Chief, an army of 10,000 Spanish troops is heading in our direction, and another army of 5,000 is heading to Cabanatuan Town to reinforce it."
"As for where these troops came from, most of the Spanish officers are from the southern provinces of Luzon, temporarily recruited to deal with us."
Looking at the map in front of him, a gleam of light flashed in Tamblot’s eyes. He saw an opportunity: the Spanish had overswung, and he would fully take advantage of this. He decisively ordered, "Our next target is Santa Cruz and San Pablo City."
"Gather our forces and immediately dispatch the troops."
Within 30 minutes of the order, the resistance forces in northern Luzon acted and quickly set out for the southern part of Luzon, especially to the cities of Santa Cruz and San Pablo City, the same cities where the Spanish were recruited from, leaving these important southern cities unguarded against any attack.
17th February 1657
The flames of resistance spread in Santa Cruz and San Pablo City. The citizens of the cities immediately cooperated with the resistance leader, Tamblot, to put up a fierce struggle against the defensive forces.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Frequent gunshots rang out throughout the cities as the guns that Tamblot had bought were put to use. The morale of the Spanish forces was at an all-time low, as just 48 hours ago, some of the leaders in the higher ranks had left for the northern part of the island to quell a rebellion. But now, the same rebellion had shifted targets and come to the south, catching most of the Spanish off guard.
Unexpectedly, the Spanish, who had overreacted due to the fear of losing the northern part of Luzon, paid the price for their overreaction and lost the important cities of Santa Cruz and San Pablo City, the gateways to the southern part of Luzon and the southern province of Camarines.
"God fucking damn it!" A sound of rage was heard from the palace in Manila.
----
The news of the rebellion quickly spread throughout the Philippines, shaking everyone to the core.
The small Spanish strongholds in the southern provinces of Camarines were greatly shaken as they knew it was time for their liquidation. The slaves, noticing the unusual actions of their captors, decisively acted and led a rebellion, successfully breaking apart the Spanish strongholds from within.
In the coming days, Tamblot, along with the slaves who had escaped from the strongholds, went on to destroy one stronghold after another in southern Luzon, eventually clearing it of any Spanish influence.
Unfortunately, due to this, the logistic channels from Bharat to Luzon were affected, making it harder for Bharat to transport guns and equipment to Luzon, as the coastline of southern Luzon was fully controlled by the Spanish.
Fortunately, small ships were still able to travel to and from different islands of the Philippines, as there were too many islands for the Spanish to guard against.
The Bharatiya Empire, with the help of the Sulawesi Confederation, successfully re-established the logistic channels through individual smuggling, successfully sending another batch of weapons and ammunition.
The effect of this rebellion was far-reaching. Hope and delight filled the eyes of the lower-class people who had been heavily abused by Spanish rule.
The middle and upper-class merchants were wary of the changes, instinctively understanding that they would have to pick a side in the coming days. Being businessmen, they most feared putting all their eggs in one basket, so the larger merchants began to support both sides, showing their neutral position.
Unfortunately, the smaller merchants did not have this luxury, and they had to choose sides between the Spanish and the rebel forces.
For this reason, Tamblot momentarily gained a lot of benefits from the small merchants who took his side. Tamblot, with the same excitement, ordered more weaponry and even a few cannons from the Bharatiya Empire after managing to secure a coastal region and establishing a coastal town called Caramoan.
This small town was established solely for the purpose of trade with the Bharatiya Empire, as it was in a very remote location and adjacent to the Catanduanes Islands, increasing the safety factor.
The effects of the rebellion led by Tamblot did not end there. Through the intelligence network of the Bharatiya Empire, the news successfully reached various resistance forces all over Southeast Asia, prompting these leaders to start preparing to lead a rebellion of their own.
Obviously, their actions were not on the scale at which Tamblot took action but were much smaller. Some were only starting resistance operations in remote villages and accumulating strength from there, While others took over some important towns and Immediately went on the defensive.
Although they were called resistance forces, they were often just groups of refugees who had managed to survive persecution from the Europeans and had strengthened their resolve to fight against them.
It was with these small groups that the Bharatiya Empire successfully communicated and established connections, providing weapons and support to help them fight their cause.
In the coming months, the resistance in various Southeast Asian countries increased drastically, with hundreds of resistance groups, some big and some small, acting for the sole purpose of freedom.
The actions grew so significant that even the hidden royal families in many of these countries decided to show up openly and began to fight for the right to self-rule.
Initially, the Europeans did not pay much attention to these small rebellions, as this was nothing unexpected, they dealt with such uprisings every year. The events in Luzon were seen as an exception, attributed only to the stupidity of the Spanish.
But in the coming days, the Europeans came to realize that these rebellions, big and small, were not as insignificant and harmless as they had previously imagined. It was almost as if all the actions taken by the rebels, not only in their own colonies but throughout Southeast Asia, were coordinated, operating toward a centralized goal.
It seemed as if these small rebel groups and the larger resistance movements were all connected in a vast network with the sole purpose of driving the Europeans out of Southeast Asia.
Unknown to them, their speculation was indeed true.
Roshan, after leading operations against the Mughals, was momentarily jobless as he did not have any immediate goals. But that changed when he observed the hundreds of resistance camps that the Empire was cooperating with within Southeast Asia.
The more Roshan looked at these camps, the more he felt that he could lead the operations more efficiently for a common goal, rather than letting all these individual resistance forces act independently.
For this reason, when Roshan put forward the plan to Vijay, Vijay immediately agreed. Even though Vijay knew that this would undoubtedly lead all the Europeans to put pressure on the Bharatiya Empire, he was ready. Since, even if the operations were conducted more covertly, as the only regional superpower, the Europeans would naturally attribute their losses In the Southeast to the Bharatiya Empire.
Since the blame from the Europeans was unavoidable, there was no need to hide too deeply.
If time were turned back to the last century, he might have used another strategy where he would push all the blame onto the Chinese. Unfortunately, that was no longer possible, and in the current situation, the Chinese were in no condition to lead an intelligence operation of this scale. Thus, conflict with the Spanish, Dutch, English, and possibly even the Portuguese was unavoidable.
With the permission being granted, Roshan, in excitement, shifted his base of operations from the southern part of the subcontinent to a new location in the Nicobar Islands, making it his stronghold to lead the operations in Southeast Asia.
P.S. Happy Varamahalakshmi festival everyone
P.S. Today had the DS exam, thankfully it was easy.
P.S. Check out my friend’s work <<Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince>> By Indian_Painter
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