1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 762 Demonstration
Regarding the negative consequences that doing so may bring to themselves, the Dutch are not unexpected, but even though they clearly know that this is helping competitors in disguise, there is currently no better way to change the power balance between the two sides in the Fujian Strait.It is unstoppable for Haihan to set foot on Taiwan Island. The only thing the Dutch can do now is to find a way to protect their own Dayuan Port from being attacked by their opponents.

When Li Dou returned to the living room, his confidence was much stronger than before.Now that Qian Tiandun has expressed his support for such negotiations, Li Dou no longer needs to worry about what responsibility he will bear for this.

"We can consider continuing to retain the East India Company's right to govern the Dayuan Port area, but there is a prerequisite for this." After Li Dou came back, he immediately proposed the conditions that he had just discussed with Qian Tiandun: "At least pay us a monthly fee." Send one thousand immigrants of the type designated by us, if you can do this, then we can talk about the details of the next transaction."

Philip shook his head repeatedly and said, "Dayuan Port originally belonged to the East India Company. I can't agree with the 'reserved' statement. In addition, regarding the designation of immigration types, the conditions should not be too detailed, otherwise I will search the Far East. It may not be possible to find the person you want."

"The immigration conditions require that we can negotiate slowly. There is no need to rush this." After talking with Qian Tiandun, Li Dou has already made the priority of this matter very clear: "Since you have objections to the arrangement of Dayuan Port , then let’s talk about the Dayuan Port first.”

Negotiations like this that are related to the vital interests of both parties do not allow two negotiators to sit down and reach a final agreement in a few words. Both parties must exchange for a consensus at the cost of a certain amount of compromise.Compared with the Netherlands, Haihan does have a relatively obvious advantage in force in this area, but if it is really necessary to use force, it does not mean that it can easily crush the Dutch who have been operating in Dayuan Port for several years.Coupled with the irresistible condition of population trade, Haihan was no longer willing to easily use force to settle the Dutch stronghold.

Li Dou has become relatively proficient in this kind of lip-sharp work over the past few years.Since he was transferred to Wanshan Port to engage in port management, he has been dealing with people from all walks of life. He has contacted a lot of people from all walks of life, and he is no stranger to negotiation matters.Among the current staffing at the Penghu Base, Li Dou should be considered the most suitable person for the job of negotiating.

While Lidou was negotiating with the Dutch envoy Philip, Qian Tiandun was also arranging for the navy to be stationed in the local area, preparing for an armed parade near Dayuan Port in the near future.Qian Tiandun knew that the reason why the Dutch came to negotiate was that they felt the pressure from the nearby Penghu base, but the pressure was obviously not strong enough, so that the Dutch thought they still had room to bargain.And what Qian Tiandun had to do was to put the muzzle directly on the Dutchman's throat, so that they could recognize the fact that they were strong and weak as soon as possible.

Due to financial problems, the establishment of the Navy's Fourth Fleet, which was supposed to be deployed at the Penghu base, has been short of the addition of the flagship. At present, four "Exploration-class" and four "Expedition-class" warships form the local garrison navy. The main combat force, in addition to three supply ships and two two troop carriers, two fast reconnaissance boats.Although there is still a lack of flagships in the lineup, the actual combat effectiveness should have far exceeded the Dutch armed fleet in Dayuan Port.

If it is a large-scale combat operation, the preparation period will definitely be relatively long, but Dayuan Port is only a few dozen nautical miles away from Magong Port in Penghu. With the speed of the Haihan Fleet, one day is enough to run back and forth.In addition, it is just a demonstration instead of going to fight, and the corresponding preparations are much simplified.Of course, in the military's internal records, the real purpose of this operation will definitely not be mentioned, and it will only be an ordinary daily sea training for the Fourth Fleet.

On November 11, the negotiations came to an end, and Philip, who had not made much progress on Haihan's side, returned to Dayuan Port by boat.Except for Haihan's agreement to use the population trade as an exchange condition and retain the East India Company's governance rights in Dayuan Port, almost all other conditions were firmly steadfast.And this was a bit worse than the bottom line that the Dutch expected to accept. Philip didn't dare to make a decision, so he could only go back and inform the chief officer Hans, and he would make the corresponding decision.

As soon as Philip left, the Fourth Fleet set off from Magong Harbor early the next morning.All ships were involved in the operation except for two troop carriers and a supply ship which were in port.Qian Tiandun personally led the command, and led the fleet to Dayuan Port in the southeast direction.

Compared with the central area of ​​Taiwan where Qian Tiandun led special forces to set foot last time, the natural conditions of Dayuan Harbor are obviously much superior.The width of the channel at the entrance of the harbor is only over [-] meters. The land on the left and right sides of the channel is like a pair of tongs of crabs tightly protecting the key point of entering the harbor. The wharf built by the Dutch is located at the northeast end of the harbor. Before arriving at the wharf, you need to pass through two sections that are equally narrow as the entrance channel, which shows how dangerous the location is.As long as enough coastal defense forts are built in these two places, it is enough to resist intruders from the sea.

The Spaniards also tried to challenge the Dutch stronghold in the early years, but when they realized the difficulty of attacking here at the cost of two sailboats, they wisely chose to retreat and went to the north of Taiwan Island to find another foothold.If you really want to fight hard, if you don't sink ten or eight ships in Dayuan Harbor, it is estimated that they will not even have the chance to touch the shore, and the Spaniards are absolutely unwilling to pay such a price.

The Haihan Fleet set off early in the morning and arrived in the outer waters of Dayuan Port in the afternoon.And this large-scale and clearly marked fleet has already attracted the attention of Dutch ships patrolling the sea a few nautical miles away from the coast.

"Look how nervous these Dutch people are!" Gao Qiaonan couldn't help complaining when he saw the firework warning signal rising from the Dutch sailboat.

"These guys are quite vigilant. Record this situation and think about it later to see if there is any way to get rid of their patrol boat in advance." Qian Tiandun's focus is obviously different.

If the Dutch warned the land in advance, it would obviously make it more difficult to launch an offensive from the sea, and this is exactly what Qian Tiandun wanted to avoid as a commander.But in this era, there is no long-range weapon with a high hit rate and enough lethality to sink a small or medium-sized sailing ship within visual distance in a very short time.Unless the opponent's patrol boat is far enough away from the coast, it will be difficult to subdue or sink it before it sends out the warning.

The few small boats on the sea immediately turned around and sailed towards the entrance of the harbor like frightened animals.The purpose of Haihan's trip was to deter them, and they had no intention of chasing these ships, and just watched them flee back into the harbor from a distance.

About half an hour later, apart from Haihan's fleet, there were only seagulls skimming at low altitude on the sea outside Dayuan Harbor.However, the Haihan fleet did not get too close to the entrance of the harbor, and kept a relatively safe distance—from the binoculars, it could be seen that there were several coastal defense forts built on the coasts on both sides of the entrance channel.Qian Tiandun didn't want his subordinates to take the risk of testing the opponent's range, because this kind of information could be bought from Dayuan Port for only money, and there was no need to risk themselves.Moreover, Qian Tiandun did not intend to give the Dutch an excuse to break the armistice agreement first. After all, this action was to coerce the Dutch to agree to the terms of the transaction, not to really attack Dayuan Port.

"Notify all ships to keep a distance of 2000 meters from the coastline, and not to get too close." Qian Tiandun ordered: "Let the two scout boats go to the north and south respectively to scout the nearby coastline. The limit is ten nautical miles. If there is any situation, withdraw immediately."

The signal flag on the flagship quickly transmitted Qian Tiandun's order to the other warships, and the two brisk scout boats immediately turned around and headed north and south respectively.

This type of reconnaissance boat named "Dragonfly" can be simply regarded as a miniature version of the "Explorer". The shape of the hull and sails are all copied from the design of the big ship, but the tonnage is less than [-] tons, only one size larger. About a quarter of the "Explorer Class" warship.Each "Dragonfly" reconnaissance boat has a capacity of only ten people. The wooden hull does not have any extra equipment and supplies, nor is it equipped with artillery. Almost all the hull components that can reduce weight and drag have been cancelled.The steel keels and mast cores used on large warships have all been abandoned for installation on this kind of reconnaissance boat.Due to its lighter hull and shallow draft, it can also go upstream from the mouth of the sea and go deep into inland rivers to perform tasks.Although the speed is not as high as the exaggerated dozens of knots of the two catamarans "Speed" and "Lightning", the average speed of more than eight knots is enough for this light and light sailboat to compete with the contemporaries at sea. Competitors are far behind.

Of course, superior performance must also be sacrificed accordingly. The price paid by the "Dragonfly" reconnaissance boat for this is that the crew's living space on board hardly has any comfort at all. There are only a few hammocks for the rotating crew to rest, and there is not even a stove to provide hot food.If it takes more than five days to go to sea, this kind of reconnaissance boat must get supplies on the way to maintain its operation.

However, for the current Haihan Navy, these disadvantages are relatively easy to overcome. After all, when the Haihan Navy actually performs combat missions, it will ensure a relatively stable supply operation, and the operating area is often not too far away from the mainland.

The "Dragonfly" reconnaissance boat was designed and finalized by the Ministry of Shipping last year. In the first half of this year, four boats were built at the same time by Shengli Port Shipyard. The Third Fleet stationed in Fujian and the Fourth Fleet stationed in Fujian replaced the previous practice of using "Explorer-class" warships as reconnaissance ships.This kind of reconnaissance boat has been in Penghu for less than two months, and it was not dispatched even when it landed on Zhuoshuixi last time. This time, the Fourth Fleet went south to demonstrate outside Dayuan Harbor. The first mission of the scout boat.

This time Qian Tiandun brought the fleet out for training, and he himself had the intention of beating the hare and killing the rabbit. On the one hand, he used force to deter the vacillating Dutch, and on the other hand, he also tested the daily training status of the various naval forces.There is also an undisclosed purpose, which is to scout the offshore area near Dayuan Port. Even if you don’t land, you must at least find out the condition of the nearby coastline. I'm cramming for the time being.

The Haihan Fleet calmly and slowly conducted training on various navigation subjects off the coast of Dayuan Port, but the Dutch in Fort Zeelandia couldn't keep calm at this time.When the news that the Haihan Fleet with the red and blue flags appeared outside Dayuan Port was sent back to Fort Zeelandia, Hans immediately ordered all local personnel and institutions to enter a state of war.The first reaction of the chief officer of the East India Company in Dayuan was that the Haihan people had lost all patience and planned to storm Dayuan Port.Although Hans had envisioned how to deal with this situation more than once, and made corresponding emergency plans, when this moment really came, Hans sadly found that the area under his jurisdiction was still in immediate danger. Made a mess of porridge.

Except for a very small number of soldiers who rushed to combat positions immediately after receiving the order, the first thing most people did was to go home and pack up their belongings and prepare to flee.Although it is said that the Haihan people have blocked the only access channel to the port, these people still do not have the consciousness to resist the enemy's invasion.Although very few of them have seen the Haihan militia, they generally believe that the local armed forces are not enough to block the attack of the Haihan people—after all, Shibazhi, which has tens of thousands of troops, has been defeated by the Haihan people's guns. Now, what can Dayuangang, which has less than a thousand troops, do to stop the Haihan people?

There are a lot of coastal defense forts built near Dayuan Port, but these artillery have not been fired for several years. Whether they can continue to be used safely is another matter. It's hard to say whether it can stop the Haihan fleet's assault.

Once the port is breached, the only defensive facility the Dutch can rely on is Zeelandia Fort, which has only completed the first phase of the project.The castle was first built in 1624 in history, and it took nearly 30 years of construction time to announce that it was completely completed. Although the appearance of the Haihan people made it complete the first phase of the project nearly two years earlier than the original history, but it depends on the current The vast majority of people are pessimistic about this.

(End of this chapter)