1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 386
The largest Dutch colonial institution in the Far East during this period was the East India Company, and the headquarters of the East India Company was located in Batavia, at the west end of Java Island, about 1400 nautical miles from Hue, south of the Indochina Peninsula.Objectively speaking, the strength of the East India Company is indeed stronger than that of the declining Portuguese. Not only does it have a stronger maritime armed force, but the actual control area in the Far East and Southeast Asian waters is also much larger than that of the Portuguese.

Batavia's position not only guarded the Sunda Strait, an important waterway from the Indian Ocean to the Java Sea in the Pacific Ocean, but also posed a sufficient threat to Managa, which was still under the control of the Portuguese in the north.Although the Portuguese were the first to discover the Spice Islands in Southeast Asia, the Dutch came from behind. After establishing a colonial base in Batavia, they quickly controlled the Savu Sea, Banda Sea, and Maluku Sea to the west of Java Island. The Maluku Islands of spices were brought under the rule, but the Portuguese who entered this sea area before the Dutch were squeezed out quite badly, and finally only a small island of Timor was left in their hands.

In addition, the Dutch established a stronghold in Taiwan before the Portuguese and Spaniards, and controlled the waterways leading to the north of Daming, North Korea, and Japan through the Taiwan Strait.And the benefits brought by this area to the East India Company are even far above the Spice Islands, enough to make other European competitors jealous.

Judging from the current distribution of the Dutch East India Company’s strongholds in the Far East, there is no reliable transfer station on the nearly [-] nautical mile route from Batavia to Taiwan Island. It is undoubtedly an excellent choice for establishing a stronghold.Previously, the South Vietnamese court chose to cooperate with the Portuguese. At the request of the Portuguese side, this cooperative relationship was strongly exclusive. Therefore, the Dutch did not have the opportunity to establish an exclusive stronghold here. However, if there is a chance to change this situation , the Dutch will definitely not let it go easily.

At present, the global competitiveness of the Portuguese is declining, while the Kingdom of Spain is focusing its main attention on the European battlefield, and has no time to take into account the changes in the situation in the Far East. Given time, the Dutch will definitely be able to gain a strong enough force in the South China Sea. Dominance of the sea - of course, the premise is that there is no such unplanned force as Hai Han in this time and space.

The South Vietnamese imperial court chose to ask for assistance from the Dutch. Whether it was in exchange for money or ports in the Indochina Peninsula, the Dutch would definitely be happy to see it.As for whether the Dutch would make other demands or even threaten them after they came in, the South Vietnamese court, eager to reverse the unfavorable situation, could no longer care so much—there was only such a life-saving straw in front of them, and there was no other choice. Used to hesitate.

The Haihan Fleet has blocked the coastal waters of Hue Prefecture since the beginning of January. This made the South Vietnamese court, which had enjoyed a brief truce for more than two months, suddenly tense up. All the ships sent to Ming Dynasty to buy arms were gone forever. It goes without saying. These ships have been in bad luck.Knowing that it would be useless to send envoys to Haihan to negotiate a peace, the South Vietnamese court could only resort to the last resort and send people to Batavia to bring in reinforcements.From the perspective of the South Vietnamese court, only the strong intervention of the Dutch can probably make these crazy Haihan people suspend their military operations.

However, this last struggle was useless. Not only the Dutch armed merchant ships who came from Batavia to check the wind were forced away by the Haihan fleet, but even the special envoy sent by South Vietnam was also arrested by the Haihan warships blocking the sea. It's right.

After Qiao Zhiya completed the simple interrogation on the boat, he knew that he had committed meritorious deeds by mistake this time.If the ship really managed to slip out of the blockade and go to Batavia, and then the Dutch accepted the exchange terms offered by the South Vietnamese court to intervene in the Annan Civil War, it would definitely change the situation dramatically.Although the Haihan militia will not retreat because of this, all the previous combat plans must be overthrown and restarted.After all, the Dutch's maritime strength is several orders of magnitude higher than that of Nangou. If the militia navy wants to confront it, it will not be careless at all, and the timetable for ending the Annan Civil War will definitely be greatly delayed due to this.But this time the South Vietnamese envoy was captured at sea, which basically eliminated this possibility.

The warship carrying the South Vietnamese special envoy Ruan Zhu returned to the temporary camp on Champa Island the next morning. The first thing Qiao Zhiya did after landing was to find Wang Tom and report the harvest of the previous day.He didn't do this in a hurry to show his merits, but he wanted Tom Wang to refer to the details, the credibility of this matter and possible changes in the situation.

Wang Tom first carefully checked the personal letters of the puppet emperor of South Vietnam and the seal of the special envoy Ruan Zhu that the militia found on the ship, and then compared the statement obtained by Qiao Zhiya, basically ruling out the possibility that this was a hypothetical situation by South Vietnam.

"However, according to the prisoner's account, the Hue government had already sent envoys to Batavia a month ago, but the rank was not as high as Ruan Zhu's. The two Dutch armed merchant ships we expelled a few days ago were very It is possible that they came to Hue to negotiate conditions. Do you think the Dutch will insist on getting involved?" Qiao Zhiya is not very confident about the current trend of the situation.

"The possibility is very small." Tom Wang shook his head and said, "The reason why the Hue government sent a special envoy of Ruan Zhu's level is probably to sign an agreement with the Dutch in the past, but if no heavyweight from South Vietnam is present, the Dutch People probably wouldn’t take risks and choose to send troops rashly. The South Vietnamese region has never been the traditional territory of the Dutch, and without the presence of high-level figures in South Vietnam, they may find it difficult to trust the South Vietnamese court that has been cooperating with the Portuguese.”

Wang Tom's analysis undoubtedly hit a key point in the relationship between the two parties - the Dutch and the Portuguese have always been competitors, and the coastal ports of South Vietnam have been controlled by the Portuguese for a long time, and the Portuguese have always been They are all guests of the South Vietnamese imperial court. Now that South Vietnam has suddenly turned around and actively sought cooperation from the Dutch, from the perspective of the Dutch, they will definitely have great doubts about this. Who knows whether this matter will be between South Vietnam and the Portuguese. What about a trap they made together?

In addition, it is no secret that the Portuguese and the Haihan people have opened bilateral trade at this time, but the Haihan people intend to overthrow the regime supported by the Portuguese. The situation is confusing, and before they really understand the relationship between the three parties, they probably will not easily take sending troops as the last option.

"The envoys sent by South Vietnam should have informed the Dutch about the Portuguese withdrawal from Annan, but if you were Dutch, would you believe it?" Tom Wang smiled and said, "The savior South Vietnam chose was right. people, but the point is that this savior will not trust them at all, if there is no envoy with a special identity like Ruan Zhu to go to Batavia to prove the sincerity of the South Vietnamese court, the Dutch should not take the risk of sending troops."

After listening to Wang Tom's analysis, Qiao Zhiya also felt that it made sense, so he changed the subject and asked: "Then do you think this Ruan Zhu's special identity can be useful to us? For example, taking his life To threaten Ruan Tong?"

"It probably won't have any practical effect." Wang Tom shook his head lightly and said, "Ruan Tong sent him to Batavia, in addition to acting as an envoy, he probably also meant to send hostages to the door, otherwise the South Vietnamese court would still What can be exchanged for the trust of the Dutch? This Ruan Zhu is in our hands, and in the hands of the Dutch, it will not make any substantial difference to Ruan Thong."

"That's it..." Qiao Zhiya was inevitably a little disappointed. Although it is a credit to be able to capture the South Vietnamese envoy, if he can use this prisoner to do something more, maybe there will be more gains, and Tom Wang's opinion This possibility was clearly denied.

"Lock up everyone first, maybe it will be useful in the future." Seeing Qiao Zhiya's disappointment beyond words, Wang Tom couldn't beat him anymore.

So Ruan Zhu, the second generation of South Vietnamese officials, and his crew were imprisoned in a temporary prison on Champa Island. Before the two sides officially started the war, Haihan had already captured as many as a hundred prisoners of various identities.Of course, adhering to Haihan's consistent concept of making the best use of everything, these prisoners can't just sit back and enjoy the blessings, but have to personally build prison cells to imprison themselves.

During the period when the Haihan warship blocked the coast of South Vietnam, the shipping line from Victory Port to Champa Island also became busy. Many cargo ships kept going between the two places, transporting a large amount of war supplies from Victory Port to Champa Island. Forward base on Ba Island.

Since the number of combat personnel in this combat plan has far exceeded that of last year, and the planned combat time will be relatively longer, the required combat materials have also increased a lot.The Military Commission decided to transport part of the combat supplies to the forward base before the start of the war, so as to avoid the shortage of ammunition by the end of the battle like last year.Moreover, North Vietnam's sea transportation capacity is insufficient, and it is difficult to expect North Vietnam to perform well in the transportation of materials and personnel. It may even be possible for Haihan to spare some ships to help North Vietnam transport troops.

Beginning in early February, the North Vietnamese army gradually concentrated on the Donghai line, confronting nearly [-] South Vietnamese defenders across the Donghai River.The North Vietnamese army was not in a hurry to launch an attack on this natural moat line of defense, because according to the battle plan formulated by Hai Han, the first place to attack was not Dong Hoi, but Hue Province in the south.At that time, the militia will take the lead in launching a landing offensive on the coast of Hue Province, and the only thing the South Vietnamese court, which has become a frightened bird, can do is to transfer troops back from the northern defense line to strengthen defense.At that time, it will be much easier for the North Vietnamese army to push south across the natural moat than it is now.It may even be possible to march all the way south along the pace of the retreat of the South Vietnamese army without a large-scale battle at all.

On February 5th, the main force of the North Vietnamese Army took the lead to complete the assembly on the north bank of the Donghai River. The nearly 20 troops were divided into five battalions and deployed along the 10-mile-long Donghai River. More than [-]% of the North Vietnamese regular army can achieve the effect.Most of the garrison troops in the northern city were conscripted and sent south, and even half of the garrison of the imperial city in Shenglong Mansion was transferred to the south to participate in this attack.In addition, it is said that there are about [-] civilians who were conscripted to the front for this battle.Almost [-] people are stationed here. Even if there is no war, the supplies consumed by people eating horse chews every day is a huge number.It is no exaggeration to say that North Vietnam has already regarded this battle as a gamble on the country's fortune, and bet almost all the chips in their hands.

On February 15, the Heitu Port Special Operations Battalion led by Qian Tiandun took seven troop carriers and five supply ships and arrived in the southeast of Donghai. An uninhabited island [-] nautical miles away—it is also one of the closest islands to Hue Prefecture in the South Vietnam-controlled area. Huafu is in the middle.

This time, the Heitu Port Military Area Command had more than [-] combat personnel. Qian Tiandun almost pulled out all the elite troops under him. Yongan Port and Tushan Port only had one platoon of recruits each, while Heitu Port had only one platoon of recruits. It is simply to hand over the full power of defense to the reserve militia and the police force.

On February [-], the first batch of militia army troops departing from Sanya arrived at the temporary base on Champa Island after nearly three days of wandering at sea. A day and a half later, the second batch of main troops also arrived here smoothly.The small harbor in the west of Champa Island was full of large and small sea ships. The arrival of more than [-] fighters made the originally small residential area on this small island seem overcrowded.The multiple troops who arrived here at the same time could not even complete the assembly on the shore at the same time, and could only land ashore in batches.

On February [-], Yan Chujie, the commander-in-chief of the Haihan militia who personally supervised the battle, also boarded the "Lightning" and escorted the last batch of combat supplies before the war to Cham Island. A military operation against the South Vietnamese court is about to kick off.

On the night of Yan Chujie's arrival at Cham Island, he held a pre-war preparation meeting to learn about the rest and preparations of various troops.However, the Heitu Port Special Operations Battalion in the north is located too far away from Champa Island, so no one was sent to participate in the war preparation meeting, and only a brief report on the situation was made via the radio.

"...All the troops participating in this battle from Sanya have arrived at Champa Island. During the march, a small number of soldiers had a relatively strong seasickness reaction because they were not used to the sea conditions. However, the field hospital has been set up this morning and has begun to receive treatment. Those patients who are not acclimatized. Combat materials are still being counted, and it is estimated that this work will be completed tomorrow morning." As the person in charge of the preliminary combat preparations, Tom Wang briefly reported the current situation to Yan Chujie.

Yan Chujie nodded and said, "We don't have much time to rest. Today we received a telegram from the Donghai Daying Liaison Office. The North Vietnamese generals are urging us again."

"They're not afraid that we won't do anything, but they're afraid they won't be able to afford the consumption of the 10 people in Donghai." Tom Wang replied with a smile.

Haihan dispatched less than 5000 people, but the required supplies were already an astonishing amount.The North Vietnamese combat troops on the front line of Dong Hoi and civilian laborers amounted to nearly 10 people. It took a long time to supply the supplies they consumed, which was enough to bring the North Vietnamese logistics department to the brink of collapse.

"It's good that you understand." Yan Chujie stretched out two fingers and said, "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will rest for two more days. The operation will officially start at 22 am on the [-]nd."

However, the space for activities on Champa Island is too limited. All the troops can only use the same open space in turn if they want to assemble as a whole. See the difference between recruits and veterans.

All soldiers who have been in the army for more than one year and have participated in the operations to aid Vietnam in January last year, the battles of Lijiazhuang and Dangan Island in May, and the attack on Hoi An in August are basically calm.They have faced enemies several times their own on the battlefield, and have personally experienced the process of winning more with less, and they know that the army they are in has a very terrifying combat effectiveness.Setting foot on the South Vietnam battlefield again, at best, is just another battle to slap the opponent. There is really nothing to be nervous about.Instead of worrying about what will happen after stepping on the battlefield, it is better to first calculate how much reward-like military salary you can get after completing this combat mission.

The soldiers who graduated from the new barracks and entered the militia after August last year obviously did not have such an easy time. Although the officers and veterans told them repeatedly before that, all the enemies who dared to fight against the Haihan militia were local chickens and dogs. They would all kneel before the invincible firepower output of the Haihan militia, but before witnessing the legendary "crushing battle" of the militia, the recruits still couldn't avoid feeling nervous and anxious.And if this kind of nervousness is not handled well, it is very likely to evolve into fear of war.

The solution for the high-level military is to let grassroots officers do as much psychological counseling work as possible, and on the other hand, it also increases the promotion of post-war military merit calculations and military salaries, so as to divert the recruits’ attention from the unknown battle situation as much as possible. Move up and move away.As long as the battle starts, these recruits will naturally grow up quickly after experiencing the baptism of war.Then they will be as lucky and proud to have served in an army that has never been defeated, as these calm veterans are now.

After two days of rest, on the morning of February 22, militia soldiers began to board the ship in batches and embark on the journey.At the same time, the generals in the North Vietnam camp who received the news of the departure of the Haihan militia finally breathed a sigh of relief. The attack of the Haihan militia means that the defenders on the south bank of the Donghai River will soon be sent to the rear. order.As long as the North Vietnamese army crosses the Donghai River in front of them, there will be nothing in front of them that can stop them.

(End of this chapter)