1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 586
The Dutch language originated from the ancient Low German, and belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family in terms of language classification, between German and English.However, as sea coachmen, most of the Dutch sailing around the world have mastered at least two or more languages ​​in order to conduct trade smoothly.Seeing that Mu Xiabo and Wang Tom didn't respond, the man said a few more words in English.Mu Xiabo understood half of it now, but he still followed Tom Wang's instructions and pretended not to understand.

Seeing that he couldn't communicate in English, the man switched to Spanish and French one after another, and then managed to say "thunder monkey" and even spoke Cantonese.This guy can speak five or six languages ​​in one breath, which is considered a talent.

Mu Xiabo made a gesture, and immediately the Annan militiamen who had been arranged stepped forward and spoke Cantonese with an Annan accent to talk to the Dutchman.The Dutchman was really good, and he could understand everything, and he immediately communicated with the militiamen.

As the Haihan Vigilante saw, the Dutch who were huddled in the stronghold chose to surrender to save their lives after seeing the strength of their opponents.However, the negotiator asked the victor to save the lives of all Dutch people and let them leave the island. As a price, the Dutch in the stronghold were willing to give up their personal property in exchange for freedom.

After hearing this, Mu Xiabo shook his head and rejected his proposal: "We don't accept any form of conditional exchange, we believe in the winner takes all. Immediately order the people inside to disarm and surrender, we can save all your lives, but No other conditions shall be discussed."

The Dutchman was about to say more, and Mu Xiabo impatiently gave him an ultimatum: "I will order someone to light a stick of incense now, and make your decision before the incense burns out, otherwise we will replace it with shells. You make a decision!"

Haihan has no intention at all to let the people on the island leave freely, and of course they will not agree to the other party's terms of exchange.As for the ransom with personal property, in Mu Xiabo's view, this is even more a joke—you can't even keep people alive, and you still want to keep your property?
The Dutch made a choice without wasting too much time. In fact, surrender was their only choice. Almost all the young Dutch on the island died in the gunfire at the port. Now the Dutch in the stronghold are women and children. Most of them are old and young, and there is no way to resist the invaders outside with live ammunition. If they don't surrender, they can only die.

Soon the Dutch lined up and walked out of the gate of the stronghold. They will be sent to the newly vacated warehouses on the pier for detention.After the militia has completely controlled the situation here, these Dutch people will be loaded on a ship and sent to the north.According to the count of the militia, a total of 160 seven Dutch people were captured, and there were also 170 four native residents attached to the Dutch, most of whom were Malays.However, people of true Han descent do not seem to be trusted by the Dutch, and basically live in areas outside the stronghold.

However, even if they are of Han descent, it is difficult to gain the trust of the Haihan militia. In the next few days, the militia needs to screen these local people, and then move them to different places in the north for resettlement in batches.As for this island, in addition to stationing the infantry battalion transferred from Annan, some immigrants from Annan and Daming will be slowly sent to settle here after the situation stabilizes.

Although there is no natural good harbor here, the climate is very suitable for growing tropical cash crops. The Ministry of Agriculture has already made a planting list and is waiting to organize the construction of collective farms on the island.As for the funds that need to be invested, there is no need to worry. The Ministry of Agriculture held a project promotion meeting at the end of last year, and specifically described this place suitable for growing spice crops to the shareholders of "Joan Development". Ming investors have already tasted the sweetness of Haihan-style agricultural development in the collective farm investment in Yazhou. Although very few of them have been to the Natuna Islands, this does not hinder the investors in the slightest. enthusiasm.

As early as January this year, the Natuna Island agricultural project investment fund registered by "Qiong Development" had exceeded 1 Haihan Yuan.According to the consistent operation mode of "Qiong Lianfa", the Haihan Ministry of Commerce will also use the same amount to obtain the absolute control of the project according to the investment amount of the shareholders.That is to say, before the militias took action on Natuna Island, Sanya had already prepared more than [-] yuan of funds to develop it.Although the military value of this place is relatively limited, it does not prevent it from becoming a sweet momo in the eyes of investors.

However, before developing this place, the Haihan Vigilante still had to ensure that this place would not be easily taken back by the Dutch colonists.The defensive measures of the Dutch are obviously not advisable. After Haihan occupies this place, the same mistakes cannot be repeated. Therefore, it is imperative to build some more defensive coastal defense facilities.

The Haihan military and the Ministry of Construction also made corresponding preparations for this in advance, and removed a batch of the first coastal defense guns equipped in Shengli Port in 1628, and transported them here for deployment.And Shengli Port also just vacated the place to install the new coastal defense artillery that began trial production at the end of last year.In addition to the coastal defense turrets, the more than a dozen artillery pieces brought by the army this time will all stay here as heavy weapons for the local garrison.

According to the military's point of view, if the Dutch want to launch an attack from the sea to regain this place, they will definitely suffer a lot from the attack of coastal defense artillery.Coupled with the assistance of these dozens of mobile artillery, if the Dutch don't send 5000 people, it may be difficult to defeat the garrison here.And this is still in the absence of local naval assistance. After the basic military facilities are built in Cam Ranh Port in the second half of the year, an armed fleet will be stationed there. If the situation is necessary, it can go south in time to attack Natuna Island. Run to the rescue.In contrast, the voyage of the Dutch from the base camp in Batavia in the south to this place is at least 100 nautical miles farther than Cam Ranh Bay. If the Dutch want to spend their money to fight the Haihan people here, they will suffer in the end. It will definitely not be Haihan's side.

After dealing with the Dutch stronghold, Li Dagui, who had been waiting nearby, and Du Rong, another colleague who disguised his identity as a barefoot doctor, were finally interviewed.

"Your contributions this time, after I return to Sanya, I will truthfully report to the executive committee and your superiors, and there will definitely be rewards at that time." Tom Wang praised the two men's military exploits as soon as they came up. And offered to ask for credit for them.

The intelligence information obtained by the militia before attacking Natuna Island basically came from the hands of these two people.It was because of their long-term lurking here, collecting information, and providing very detailed information to the military as a reference for formulating a combat plan, that the militia successfully captured this port town in less than three hours.In terms of meritorious service after the war, the two detectives from the Ministry of Security will definitely make a note of it.

The two hurriedly bowed to each other to express their gratitude. After all, they themselves wrote the report to ask for credit afterwards, which is definitely not as good as a high-ranking official like Tom Wang who asked for credit on his behalf.

Wang Tom said again: "You two divide the work, take one person to the dock, identify the Dutchmen we caught, and see if there are any big fish or dangerous elements that slipped through the net. The other person will follow the militia to check The local people classify and register skilled craftsmen, literati who can read and write, and veterans who have served in the army. When the immigrants are transported back, they can also arrange for them to go. "

The two agreed, and each took orders and went to work.

There are still more than 3000 unidentified people on the island. It is not a task that can be completed in a short time to complete the registration of these people by category.Although Wang Tom is the commander of the navy, due to the long voyage of Natuna Island, the fleet is not enough to carry troops and supplies, so there are no civil affairs officials, and now it can only be temporarily managed by the military. Civil affairs on the island.

Mu Xiabai led people to turn the Dutch stronghold upside down first, collected all the valuable things in the stronghold first, and ordered people to pack the ship—these things were spoils that had to be transported back to the base camp.As for the rewards for the troops participating in the war, the military will issue them separately in the form of circulation coupons.

This stronghold of the Dutch has a faint taste of a bastion, surrounded by a stone wall with a thickness of about four feet, but a height of only a little over two meters.This stone wall has four protrusions on the front. It was originally erected with four small-caliber Francois cannons. In addition to striking the enemy, it can also use the included angle to shoot at the enemy attacking the gate of the stronghold.There are also relatively simple musket shooting holes and lookout holes on the top of the wall, but there are no protective facilities such as moats or trenches outside the wall. The second door came out, and there was no cover.Therefore, the Dutch in the stronghold resolutely gave up resistance and chose to surrender to Haihan.

Although this stronghold of the Dutch is relatively crude, and it is not even qualified to be called a castle, but considering that the local population is only over 3000, and there is no special production, the Dutch built such a stronghold is considered very large invested.But starting today, the ownership of this stronghold will be controlled by Hai Han.After looking at the buildings in the port, Mu Xiabai has decided to transform it into a local official residence and barracks.

Of course, it is difficult to have the conditions to carry out relatively large reconstruction projects at this stage, that is, let the soldiers tidy up this messy place first, and move things such as livestock sheds out of the stronghold, so as to avoid the whole stronghold. It's a foul smell.The residences vacated after the Dutch were driven out were used to accommodate militia soldiers.

Mu Xiabai first moved the battalion headquarters here from the port, laid the solar cells on the highest roof of the stronghold, and then connected the radio station with a wire to send the news of occupying Natuna Island to the base camp.It was already around [-]:[-] p.m., and the militia set off in the morning, and it took only one day to capture the only port and town on the island.

Although it was very easy to take down here, Haihan had to do all the preparatory work for this beforehand and the work needed to rebuild here afterward, and it would take at least a whole year.The military spent more than 4 yuan for this operation, and this money has to be made up by creating economic benefits after the development of Natuna Island.

Five days later, the registration of local people finally came to an end.Except for the Dutch who have been imprisoned by all members, the current count is 470 people, and there are less than 300 people scattered around the island. It will take time to slowly count.

Among the existing population, Han Chinese or descendants of Han Chinese blood stand for the vast majority, and Southeast Asian natives account for less than [-]%.Tom Wang is pleased that Chinese and Chinese characters are still relatively popular means of communication in the local people, so the temporary headquarters can placate the local residents by posting Anmin notices.

Of course, the Anmin Announcement did not use the banner of Haihan, but claimed to be of overseas Chinese descent, and came here to rescue the Han people who were ruled by the red-haired ghost.In order to appease people's hearts, the Haihan militia also distributed a small amount of salt and rice to the local people on a family basis.And this has also achieved relatively good results, and the hostility of the people has been significantly reduced.In the eyes of these people, it is certainly better to be ruled by the Han people than to be ruled by the red-haired ghosts.

At the same time, the reconstruction project of the port was also carried out. The militia temporarily recruited more than 300 civilians from the local area to build coastal defense artillery batteries near the port.When the Haihan militia went out this time, they specially shipped more than ten tons of cement for the purpose of building the fort here.The sooner the fort is built, the sooner the safety of Natuna Island will be guaranteed.

On April 4, the command issued the second Announcement, announcing the change of Natuna Island to the name it had before the Dutch occupation, that is, Abuna Island.This resolution was unanimously supported by the locals. After the Dutch occupied this place in the early 24th century, they renamed the island Ambona Island, and later changed it to Natuna Island, which gradually severed the relationship between this place and Ming Dynasty. .But now that the sky has changed, it is only natural to change the name of the island.

Of course, this change will not bring Abunna Island back under the rule of Ming Dynasty, it is only based on the personal opinions of the Executive Committee and several senior military officials.

On April 4, a Dutch cargo ship from Batavia sailed into the port in a daze.The cargo ship destined for Taiwan Island originally just wanted to replenish food and fresh water at this port, but it did not expect that the owner had changed here.

The Haihan Militia took control of the ship without any effort. In order to keep the island a secret for the time being, all the personnel on board were temporarily detained, and this ship became another spoil of war for the Haihan Militia on this trip. .

(End of this chapter)