For more than 300 years, the Philippines was under the Spanish rule. And when asked what people think when battles were mentioned in this time period, revolts will enter their minds. The Battle of Mactan will surely be mentioned, as well as the uprisings of Diego Silang and his Itneg mestiza wife Gabriela. And among the many stories of nationalism, no one will forget the heroism of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan movement. Then, there were the battles instigated by Emilio Aguinaldo. People may not like him, but he did prove that the Spanish Colonizer was not invincible.

But in the early years of Spanish Colonization of the Philippines, a different form of conflict emerged. It was not an uprising, but a reaction to a form of lawlessness coming from the sea. Wokou pirates raided the coastlines of China and Korea up to the 16th century. And once they set their sights on Luzon and managed to terrorize the natives of Cagayan. But in 1582, the Spanish responded by commissioning a captain of a Spanish navy to counter the marauding pirates. With only forty soldiers, and several boats and support vessels, they effectively repulsed the raiders and emerged victorious.

And interestingly, it’s worth mentioning that it’s one of those rare moments where western soldiers clashed with Samurai ronins.