"Manila Bay should now enter a state of military preparedness, especially the exit of Manila Bay, where mines and other obstacles should be placed to prevent the enemy from advancing directly."

As one of the few large bays in the world, although it's easier to defend, Manila's exit is also quite large. If the Spanish Navy were formidable, there would naturally be no problem, but now the situation is that the enemy is strong while we are weak. Therefore, the Spanish Navy must rely on external forces to gain an advantage over the United States Navy.

"At the same time, the coastal artillery on both sides of the exit of Manila Bay must be timely maintained. This time, East Africa has provided many large-caliber coastal artillery, allowing for some antiquated ones to be replaced. Of course, these outdated cannons should also be utilized to expand the artillery coverage of Manila Bay as much as possible and to effectively coordinate with the local navy."

"Especially Corregidor Island, which lies at the center of the exit of Manila Bay; modern renovations should be carried out here immediately. After all, the military facilities on Corregidor Island are too outdated, and now cannons and warships cannot be compared to the era of sailing ships. The existing military facilities are inadequate for current weapons."

Corregidor Island, due to its strategic location, is destined to be fiercely contested. In the ninth century, Spanish colonialists occupied this small island, equipped with 250mm cannons with a range of 2000 meters, and established a checkpoint where all entering and exiting ships must be verified by them.

Later, after the United States occupied this island, they placed even greater importance, spending a fortune to establish Mills Fortress on the island, along with camps, hospitals, cold drink factories, cinemas, churches, and other basic facilities.

In order to hold Corregidor Island, the United States built solid steel-reinforced concrete artillery emplacements on the island, with 23 artillery positions.

The coastal artillery was enormous, with a caliber of 300mm and a range of 28,000 meters. Two mortars had a range of 130 meters and could fire in any direction. Later, many tunnels were constructed on the island, effectively making local defenses as solid as a rock.

Of course, Japan later breached the United States' defenses, relying on relentless bombing, dropping tens of thousands of bombs in just nine days, and finally capturing the island under the cover of aircraft and tanks.

Therefore, to firmly hold Manila Bay, a large-scale upgrade to Corregidor Island is essential. This is evidently a daunting task for the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines.

Anthony said, "General Bruce, is the problem urgent?"

Bruce: "Even if war were to break out, it should prioritize starting from Cuba, so Spain still has time before being attacked in Cuba. Moreover, the current negotiations between the two countries aim to buy time for preparations. As we know from East Africa, the United States has long been ready for war. Therefore, prematurely declaring war on the United States by your government is unwise. It's best to complete renovations around Manila Bay within three months prior to this, and as for manpower, that's something you need to resolve yourselves."

Is there a lack of people in the Philippines? The answer is certainly yes; otherwise, historically, the Philippines would not have directly abandoned the north, fighting the U.S. forces in Manila.

However, lacking people in the Philippines does not mean there is a lack near Manila Bay. This should be the most densely populated and economically concentrated area in the Philippines. Coincidentally, the Philippine government is scheduled to launch an eradication campaign against local resistance forces in the coming days, thus solving the manpower issue.

Of course, there is East African influence behind this. While Bruce leads the East African military advisory group, pointing fingers at Manila Bay defense operations, East African instructors have already brought Philippine forces equipped with new jungle combat rifles into the jungles surrounding Manila Bay to conduct a crackdown on resistance groups.

"Bang..." The gunshots echoed through the Filipino rainforest, and under the guidance of local spies, this Spanish crackdown was quite successful.

"Lieutenant Karen, East Africa's victory over the United Kingdom is certainly no coincidence. Previously, organizing combat in the rainforest was extremely challenging. Without your professionalism this time, we would likely return empty-handed again as before."

Karen politely said, "Hehe, each profession has its specialization. In East Africa, we also have a lot of rainforest areas, so tropical jungle warfare has always been a focus of the East African Defense Army's efforts."

Lieutenant Karen, a long-time veteran of the Congo rainforest in East Africa, carries out crackdowns on residual indigenous forces deep within the rainforest, thereby accumulating a vast amount of jungle combat experience.

This time, led by him and with the cooperation of local Filipino spies, nine locked-in jungle hideouts were directly swept clean.

After all, jungle guerrillas indeed pose a headache, but jungle warfare is not something that just anyone can handle. The Filipino natives across from Karen lack tactical acumen, so facing him, a seasoned expert at dealing with jungle guerrillas, they stand no chance.

The prominence of jungle warfare during the Vietnam War—and why it became a classic—is primarily due to the local people being influenced by the military mindset of the Eastern Power.

Otherwise, Vietnam wouldn't have been suppressed so thoroughly by France previously, with no notable achievements visible. The turning point came with the Eastern Power's military support for Vietnam. Contrast this with Filipino natives, and they can't even compare to some African natives.

That's Karen's straightforward feeling. After all, while one step of progress might be gained in East Africa's crackdowns, facing the relentless flow of immigrant armies in East Africa, their efforts are destined to be futile.

However, the Filipino natives are different. The Spaniards are undoubtedly a minority locally, but the technical advancements brought by Spain have resulted in a population surge among Filipino natives, supplying endlessly the rebellious forces with fresh blood. On the other hand, the Spaniards, whose strengths don't lie in jungle warfare, merely rely on their firepower advantage to suppress the local natives.

But with the local forces obtaining weapons support from the Americans, they quickly catch up in armaments, leaving the previous Spanish colonial government without a good solution, resulting in an untenable situation, which Karen addressed today.

Of course, Karen also learns from these fragmented battles, as almost no native equipped with firearms is encountered in East African territories; Filipino natives are different in this regard. The geographical location of the Philippines ensures strong external ties, making it impossible for Spain to prevent the natives from acquiring weapons externally.

"In this operation, the effectiveness of the weapon was also good. The m1895c jungle combat rifle has greater power, is less affected by terrain constraints, and has high structural stability. This type of rifle is even more advantageous for the Philippines."

Through combat practice, the Spanish armed forces stationed in the Philippines have shifted from doubting East African firearms to recognizing their quality, given these are the results of ten-plus years of East African research.

Karen also has great interest in his country's firearms. Currently, only a few troops in East Africa are equipped with the m1895c jungle combat rifle, as East Africa mainly features tropical savanna terrain where regular rifles have greater advantages. However, the climate in East Africa's Nanyang colony is the same as the Philippines, so he believes this new rifle should also be widely distributed within East Africa's own colonies.

Undoubtedly, this Spanish "bandit suppression" operation has partially supplemented manpower for building Manila's defense system; however, more manpower shortages will still need to be sourced from ordinary native residents, while the possibility of triggering more severe resistance sentiments is something the Spanish colonial government won't concern itself with.

Facing the formidable adversary, the United States Navy, should the war be lost, the Philippines will have no remaining ties with Spain. Especially since the majority of personnel within the colonial government risk unemployment; thus, under the promotion of the East African military advisory group, the American threat sentiment has deeply resonated with the local population, prompting the entire Spanish Philippine colonial government to actively cooperate with East African military personnel in preparation activities.

Despite many projects and training not being able to reach the psychological expectations of the East African military advisory group due to resource constraints, improvements are several times better than the Spanish preparations in the Philippines from previous instances.

To say nothing else, just the numerous mines placed in Manila Bay would make it impossible for the U.S. forces to recklessly enter Manila Bay like before.