1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 971 Thomas the Dilemma
Schneider does not expect to be able to persuade the Portuguese to hand over control of the Strait of Malacca obediently by relying on his own words. One sentence can fool him into letting go and handing over power.The main purpose of raising Thomas is to give the Portuguese a heads-up first, so that they can be psychologically prepared.

The base deployed by Haihan on Xingdao at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca is to control the sea dominance in the waters of Malacca and to open up the route from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, so as to prepare for Haihan to extend its tentacles to the South Asian subcontinent and even the Middle East in the next step. Prepare.This move is the top priority in Haihan's long-term development strategy, and its strategic significance is no less than Haihan's taking control of the Fujian Strait in the southeast of Daming.Regardless of whether it is the Portuguese, the Dutch or other forces who are now sitting in the Strait of Malacca, Haihan will definitely go ahead with this move, at most it is due to the difference in attitude due to closeness.Whether the Portuguese agrees or not will not affect Haihan's decision.

Of course, considering that the cooperative relationship between the two parties has been tacit in the past few years, Schneider, not a military figure, will bring this matter up to the Portuguese representative. A little buffer.If Yan Chujie was the object of Thomas's obstinate rejection, then maybe Yan would have to throw some important scenes to frighten Thomas.But Schneider will not be so decisive, he will express the attitude of the Haihan executive committee on this matter in a more tactful manner.

"The Executive Committee attaches great importance to the ownership of the Strait of Malacca. It is not an exaggeration to say that this will affect the prospects of our two countries' future cooperation in trade and other fields. If your country rejects our proposal, then maybe your country's businessmen Trade activities along the coast of Daming will also be subject to certain restrictions."

Although the country has not yet been formally established, Schneider still uses "two countries" to explain the relationship between the two parties, but Thomas does not care about such details. The Portuguese have long stopped treating Haihan as an ordinary civilian armed forces or business organization.What he pays more attention to is the extent of the "restriction" mentioned by Schneider, and what impact it will have on Portugal's trade activities.

But Schneider made it very well, so he stopped talking at this point, which made Thomas feel a little bad. He had to emphasize to Schneider again the role of Portugal in the East-West trade system: "Schneider Sir, if your side... Your country really wants to restrict the commercial activities of Portuguese merchants, I think this unwise move will also hurt your own interests. Without us shipping these Ming-produced goods to the West for sale, wouldn’t you Can Haihan digest all these sources by itself?"

"Of course not." Schneider frankly admitted the problem pointed out by Thomas, but he changed the subject: "But Mr. Thomas probably forgot one thing. Now we are not only cooperating with Western countries than your country."

Thomas was secretly startled, he really didn't expect Schneider to threaten himself with this matter.Apart from Portugal, the Western countries that are also conducting trade cooperation with the Haihan people are naturally the Netherlands, and the opportunity for the normalization of relations between the two parties began with the talks on the island of Ambuna just over two months ago, so that Thomas He didn't remember the role change of Holland, and subconsciously regarded him as the common opponent of Haihan and his family.

The Dutch gave up most of their rights in Northeast Asia in exchange for Haihan's navigation and trade agreement and the opportunity to compete with Portugal in Northeast Asia.Of course, in terms of specific treatment, the Netherlands, which has just switched camps, is definitely not as good as Portugal, which has already reached an in-depth cooperation with Haihan, and the scope of business activities is severely restricted. Support the Dutch, and it will not take too long to form a competitive situation with Portugal.After all, Fuzhou and Guangxi plus today’s Zhejiang, most of the import and export trade share is controlled by Haihan. Whoever Haihan wants to give resources to is a matter of one sentence, and the Dutch will definitely not refuse to drop from the sky. Opportunity.

Schneider's meaning is obvious. Without Butcher Zhang, he would not eat hairy pigs. Even if Portugal's trade rights in the Daming coast were restricted, Haihan could still transfer the shares to the Dutch who were also engaged in the East-West maritime trade. The sea trade routes of the country will not fluctuate significantly due to the restrictions imposed by the Portuguese.If the Portuguese tried to use maritime capacity as a negotiation condition, they might shoot themselves in the foot.

This change of situation is really subtle. Before Haihan and the Dutch East India Company were negotiating a trade agreement, Portugal was still a very deterrent card in Haihan's hand. The East India Company was willing to agree to Haihan's harsh proposal. Conditions, a large part of the reason is also worried about being monopolized by Portugal in the trade share of Northeast Asia.But time has passed, and now the party that needs to be feared seems to have been replaced by Portugal, and the Dutch East India Company, which was once an enemy of Haihan, has now become a trade war weapon in Haihan's hands.

Thomas' current mood can only be described as depressed. He originally wanted to get some benefits from Haihan and win a wider range of activities for Portuguese businessmen, but he never expected that Schneider had already dug a hole and waited. Jump in by yourself.Naturally, the right to control the Strait of Malacca cannot be discarded at will, but the Haihan people threatened their trade rights, and even pulled out the Netherlands as a competitor. If this is not settled, it will also be a big trouble.Both sides must not be lost, but judging from the current attitude of the Haihan people, it is probably impossible to catch both sides.

However, the current deadlock in the negotiations does not seem to be easy to resolve. The main reason is that Portugal has no exchange conditions at all, and Haihan firmly holds the initiative, but his attitude is confident.If Portugal refuses to give in, then Haihan can use a lot of backhands, but Portugal may not be able to deal with it calmly.After thinking about it, Thomas decided to adopt a delaying tactic. Under the situation that the Haihan people refused to make concessions, this was probably the only tactic that would work at present.

"Mr. Schneider, please understand my difficulties. Many things cannot be decided by a businessman like me on behalf of Portugal." Thomas tried to squeeze a embarrassed expression on his face: "For such a big matter, I have to report to the Macau Council and The Goa Governor's Office should report separately."

Schneider smiled and said: "Of course this is no problem. You have enough time to slowly study the countermeasures, but I would like to remind you that the measures I just mentioned do not wait for your reply. Implementation. As long as we feel that the time is ripe, we will take the necessary measures to ensure that we achieve our desired goals.”

Thomas was surprised: "How can this be... Mr. Schneider, we are allies... No, we should be called allies now. The relationship between us should not be damaged because of this kind of thing. Any differences should be resolved through negotiation , rather than magnify the contradiction."

"You are right, Mr. Thomas, as an ally, we should seek common interests, rather than care about gains and losses on some petty gains." Schneider responded with words: "Like you, people who have traveled thousands of miles to the East The Portuguese should all come here for the wealth here. As long as you do business well, getting rich is definitely not a problem. Why do you need to participate too much in other things? Against us, has anyone benefited?"

Thomas sighed and said, "That being said, the Strait of Malacca has been controlled by our country for a hundred years. How can we be willing to give up the place? If it were you, would you be willing?"

Schneider said: "Then let me change the wording. If you are given two choices, one is to guard the Strait of Malacca, but you will not have the opportunity to enter the largest market in the Far East, and you will have to face all the enemies who covet this strategic location. The second option is to hand over the Straits of Malacca to us, but you can extend your business to all the areas controlled by Haihan and get the protection we provide, which one do you think is more cost-effective?"

After hearing this, Thomas hesitated a bit. In terms of making money, the second option is naturally more cost-effective, but if Malacca is abandoned, the Goa Governor's Palace will definitely lose face, and lose control of the Strait of Malacca. Portugal's future The navigation rights in the Far East are all in the hands of others. If they do not deal with the Haihan people in the future, they will immediately block the main waterway into the South China Sea. There will be no place to sell regrettable drugs.

Seeing his expression, Schneider knew that he definitely couldn't make up his mind now, but Haihan's plan was not in a hurry to implement at this time, so Schneider didn't urge him to make a statement immediately, and asked him to go back and think carefully.Anyway, it won't be long before Haihan will launch a series of investment projects and related policies in the Zhoushan area. If the Portuguese miss this wave, they might really fall behind the Dutch.However, judging from the commercial sense the Portuguese have had in the past, they will probably make up their minds at that time. After all, the actual benefits that the control of the Strait of Malacca can bring to them are becoming more and more limited, while the huge market in Northeast Asia is not. Should not be missed.

On March [-], the sixth majestic-class battleship newly built by the Victory Port Shipyard went to sea for the first time. However, its firepower output capability has not decreased but increased.The military industry department equipped the new ship with the latest design of breech-loading guns. Due to the complicated processing technology, the first batch of manufacturing was not too much. The manufacturing cost of each breech-loading gun was five times that of the old-fashioned front-loading guns in the past. Coupled with the latest automatic recoil gun mounts and expensive new-style flowering ammunition, the cost of the ship-borne artillery alone has already made Navy Commander Wang Tom complain endlessly.

The new technology used on this new ship is far more than that. In addition to the artillery, the steam power system on the ship is also a new generation of products that have been improved after several years of actual use, and the speed has also been improved to a certain extent. promote.After the military parade in early April, the new ship will return to the dock and install protective armor on both sides of the ship.According to the test of the military industry department, this new type of armor can effectively resist the shooting of guns below 12 pounds at a distance of 24 meters, and even a [-]-pound gun cannot directly penetrate the armor and the side of the ship at this distance, so it can effectively Provides protection for gunners operating on the artillery deck.

This kind of protection seems to be relatively limited, but when you think about it, there are actually not many warships in the Far East that can rush into a distance of [-] meters to confront the Haihan warship. He has already been scared by Haihan, so it is rare to encounter a real threat. Such a layer of protective armor is actually enough.

There are more than one hundred technological innovations on and off the "Deterrence". Although the ship's shape has not changed significantly, the seaworthiness and combat performance of the entire ship have been significantly improved compared with previous warships of the same type.However, because of this, the Navy believes that the combat methods of the new ships also need to be adjusted according to the improvement of performance, so the previous training methods may not be fully applicable, and many areas have to be explored and improved.After the ship is fully completed, it will not be put into service in a certain fleet immediately, but will be used as a test ship and training ship for a period of time, so that the officers can sum up a set of effective tactics.

This majestic-class improved model is likely to be deployed to the Strait of Malacca in the future. The military believes that if it wants to take the local waters steadily, it must send the most powerful warships in hand, so that some restless People are completely desperate.

Under the organization of the military, representatives from various countries who arrived in Sanya earlier watched the launching ceremony of the new ship with mixed feelings.Seeing the "Deterrence" slowly leave the port under the escort of two exploration-class warships, everyone felt envy, jealousy and hatred in their hearts, and all kinds of emotions came to their hearts.Haihan's leadership in armaments is already beyond the reach of other countries, but new equipment will still be released every year, making the gap with other countries in terms of weapons and armaments wider and wider.

But this situation is not only because Haihan has a lot of black technology in his hands. In fact, money is the main guarantee for Haihan to quickly increase his military strength. The cost of this new ship is about the same as ten export-oriented expedition ships. The total quotation for a super-class warship, the cost is so large just to build a ship, such a price is not affordable by every country.Only a force like Haihan, which is rich and powerful and has a clear long-term plan for military development, would spend such blood to build a very experimental warship.

(End of this chapter)