Had it not been for this, without any doubt they would have attained their evil purpose quite easily, and the city and its inhabitants would have been destroyed; for Limahon's plan and desire, as was manifest in the order given to his captains, was to raze and destroy the city.
Limahon sends four hundred soldiers as a vanguard to burn the city of Manila, who are resisted by our men.

Chapter V.
Notwithstanding all the trouble caused them by the wind, the four hundred Chinese succeeded in reaching land a league away from the city at eight o'clock on the morning of St.Andrew's day.

Leaving their boats at this point, they disembarked and immediately began their march in battle-array with the utmost rapidity, placing in the fore part two hundred arquebusiers, and immediately behind these the other two hundred, who were pikemen.

But being espied by some of the inhabitants--as could not be otherwise, because of the level and open nature of the ground, and the great number of soldiers--these hastened to give immediate notice of the invasion.

Coming into the city, they cried: "To arms! to arms! the enemy is upon us!" But their warning availed little, for no one believed it.