1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 972
It is a very important part of Haihan's foreign military strategy to use the cross-age black technology in its hands to maintain advanced military advantages over neighboring countries in the military field, and to maintain military deterrence against these countries.The Haihan militia has fully demonstrated its superiority in weapons, equipment and combat methods in the past few years of war, and now it will also use opportunities like this to demonstrate the speed of equipment upgrades, so as to inform neighboring countries who is the best! The boss with the highest force value in an area.

Although the expenditure on R&D and construction of this new type of ship has forced the Navy, which has always had a sufficient budget, to grit its teeth, both the Executive Committee and the Military Commission agree that maintaining the leading position of the Haihan Armed Forces in terms of armaments is very important in the long run. strategy, this advantage also helps to avoid the outbreak of international military conflicts to a certain extent.For example, Western countries like Portugal and the Netherlands, which have suffered from Haihan, will now try to avoid military friction or more serious conflicts with Haihan.

One generation of equipment, development of one generation, and design of one generation are Haihan's long-term strategy in weapon R&D and manufacturing at present, and the test ship "Deterrence", which is publicly displayed, is actually a new type of equipment that is under development.In the Haihan Ordnance Design Institute, the real next-generation warships are already in the design stage, but it will probably take a few years before the actual construction starts, and the manufacturing technology level in all aspects has developed.Haihan Ordnance’s technical reserves in terms of design capabilities must far exceed the combat needs of this era, but limited by the current manufacturing process, it is not yet possible to build more advanced warships at a cost acceptable to the military.

However, outsiders don't know these inside stories. What they see is that the Haihan military produces endless new equipment every year, almost all of which are beyond their reach.If we said that when we first dealt with Haihan people, we still had the idea of ​​stealing and imitating, but now the frequency of Haihan's equipment update is simply desperate. What we got a few years ago has not been understood yet, Haihan A new generation of equipment has already been released, and it is almost impossible to rely on imitation methods to catch up with Shanghai Han's equipment change speed.

Van Diemen, governor of the Dutch East India Company, was also one of the spectators in the stands with mixed feelings. He arrived in Sanya two days ago, just in time for the new ship launching ceremony that he was invited to watch. Haihan's main battleship was observed up close.He noticed that the number of gun ports on the side of this new battleship is obviously much less than the number obtained through intelligence collection, and the Haihan people will reduce the naval guns equipped on a mature battleship, obviously not because of financial problems , the only reasonable explanation is that the Haihan people have upgraded their naval guns, and they no longer need to rely on the number of naval guns to support their firepower output.

The reduction in the number of artillery means that the number of combat personnel required on board will also be reduced accordingly, and the endurance of the warship at sea may be improved.Of course, this configuration also has obvious hidden dangers and disadvantages, because the number of naval guns is less than before. If some of the naval guns are hit by enemy fire or break down during combat, the combat effectiveness of the entire ship will be affected. relatively large impact.However, Van Diemen believed that the Haihan people probably would not easily make such a low-level mistake, and there might be some special means to ensure the safety of the artillery deck, such as increasing the thickness and structural strength of the side.However, limited by his knowledge, he really didn't expect that the real plan of the Haihan people was to cover the outer sides with a layer of iron armor.

In fact, the Dutch also have warships with a tonnage similar to the "Majestic Class", but at this time they are all deployed on the European battlefield and are engaged in a fierce battle with the Holy Roman Empire camp, so it is impossible to dispatch them to the Far East.However, the largest armed sailing ship that the Dutch shipyards in the Far East can build is only about two-thirds of the tonnage of the "Majestic Class", and the construction period is long, which is far from the speed of building six ships in four years like Haihan. .The most terrible thing is that this shipyard was completely destroyed in the battle of Mata blue army attacking Batavia in 1632, and the current reconstruction progress is not smooth. It may take a year or two to restore the past shipbuilding capacity. .In the foreseeable period of time, the East India Company probably will not have the opportunity to reverse the situation in which the maritime armed forces are suppressed by Haihan.

The only thing that makes Van Diemen feel lucky is that the Haihan people don't seem to be as militaristic as the legend says. Although their armed forces do have high combat effectiveness, the Haihan people don't always try to use force to solve problems.Most of the time, they seem to be willing to sit down and resolve their differences through negotiation and communication. Of course, when the conflict cannot be resolved, they will not hesitate to use the threat of force, but it is better than direct action if there is a disagreement.

After Fan Dimen participated in the consultation meeting on Ambuna Island last time, he decided to go to Sanya to see the real situation of the area under Haihan's rule.Sanya, the "first port in the South China Sea", has been known for several years. Anyone who has been there has praised this magical port city. Fan Dimen has long thought of visiting it in person, but the two sides have been in conflict in the past. In a hostile state, it is impossible to take into account personal safety issues.

People are dead compared to others, and goods are thrown away. After seeing the bustling scene here in Sanya, Fan Diemen realized that there is indeed a gap between Batavia and Sanya that is hard to catch up.Whether it is port operation or urban infrastructure, Sanya has obvious advantages. The Batavia City, which the Dutch spent more than ten years developing and building, is far behind Sanya, which the Haihan people only spent half the time building.

What is different from Van Diemen's expected situation is that there is not a big city surrounded by tall and majestic walls, but an open port city. The place surrounded by walls and fortresses is just a victory in the center of the city. It's just a fort. It seems that the Haihan people don't seem to worry about foreign enemies attacking here.Van Diemen believes that the confidence of the Haihan people comes from the powerful armed fleet and the seemingly reliable coastal fortifications. With such a protective capability, the Mata blue army probably has very little chance of landing.

But it is a pity that so far, Van Diemen has not been allowed to visit Haihan's military base or fortifications, so the understanding of Haihan's armed forces can only remain at the level of speculation for the time being.But he heard that there will be a grand military parade at the upcoming Haihan founding ceremony, and he can take a close look at the military appearance and weaponry of the Haihan army at that time.

However, Fan Dimen deliberately came to Sanya more than half a month earlier, not entirely for the purpose of inquiring about the military information here. When he was negotiating with the Haihan people on Abunna Island earlier, he proposed that he hoped to come to the place where Haihan ruled. He went down to Hainan Island to take a look around, and Haihan's party readily agreed to come down, and invited him to come before Haihan's founding ceremony, and arranged a separate inspection itinerary for him.

This kind of treatment is quite rare in the diplomatic field of Haihan. In recent years, only foreign friends with prominent status like Zheng Zuo can enjoy this kind of arrangement. It's over.The diplomatic department made this arrangement for the governor of the East India Company, somewhat in the idea of ​​showing off to him, so that he could clearly realize the huge gap between him and Haihan in terms of colonial development.

After watching the sailing ceremony of the "Deterrence", the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came to find Fan Dimen and arranged for him to take a ten-day trip around the island on a sailboat affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce of Haihan.The Haihan official who accompanied Fan Dimen on his trip was one of the members of the executive committee, and Ning Qi, who was about to become Haihan's Minister of Foreign Affairs after the founding ceremony, was considered quite high.

Although Fan Dimen had never seen Ning Qi before, he knew a thing or two about this high-ranking Haihan official. In 1631, when the Haihan mission visited Zhangzhou, Fujian, Shibazhi sent a group of assassins to Zhangzhou city to try to assassinate the Haihan mission. At that time, the chief officer of the Haihan mission was Ning Qi.Although Shibazhi's assassination failed in the end, it caused big trouble for Shibazhi and the East India Company.The Haihan Armed Fleet accompanying the mission took retaliatory actions that month and captured Nanri Island, a very important foothold of Shibazhi in the coastal waters off Fujian.Two months later, the armed fleet sent by Dayuan Port to support Shibazhi also collapsed on Nanri Island.

Since then, the East India Company's influence in the Fujian waters has been in a slump, and it is completely powerless to fight back in the face of the Haihan people's pressing every step of the way.Although the two sides reached an armistice agreement through negotiations, the East India Company had to swallow the big loss in Fujian.

Since it was Haihan who arranged the trip, the number of Fan Dimen's entourage was also limited, and he was only allowed to bring one servant.Although Fan Dimen didn't quite understand the harsh demands of the Haihan people, he still agreed. After all, this kind of opportunity is really rare. It doesn't make any difference to him, a foreigner, to bring one subordinate or a team of subordinates.If something really happened to him in terms of safety, it would not be the East India Company that would be ashamed, but the Haihan people.

However, when Van Diemen was taken to the special pier and saw the sailboat he was going to ride on, he understood why the Haihan people had to limit the number of people, because the boat was really not that big. If he brought a team of men and guards, the boat would Probably no way to sail around the island at all.

The sailboat arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this itinerary is the catamaran "Flying Speed", which has been greatly reduced. This second-hand sailboat was bought from Europe by the North American gang and served as a universal sailboat for a long time in the early days of the crossing. A means of transportation, and was even once used as a reconnaissance ship for military purposes.However, after Haihan had the ability to build its own ships, both the "Flying Speed" and its sister ship "Lightning" gradually reduced the frequency of sailing. After all, the spare parts of these two ships are too few, and maintenance and repair will face certain difficulties in this era. Technical hurdles, as little sailing as possible can also slow down the rate of its depreciation.

At present, these two ships will only be dispatched for some more important tasks or tasks that require a time limit.This time Fan Dimen visited Sanya and had a trip around the island, so Ning Qi flamboyantly brought out his own most advanced yacht, more or less for the purpose of showing off to the Dutch.

There were only four bedroom cabins on the ship. Van Diemen and his servants were assigned to the largest bedroom, Ning Qi took the other one, and the remaining two bedrooms were filled by the sailors plus various other bedrooms. The supplies were divided up.

Compared with the dirty and messy European sailing ships of this era, the cleanliness of the "Speed" made Van Diemen really amazed.Moreover, the hull of this ship was not made of wood at all, except for part of the deck, and its hull structure also made him feel very strange. It was obviously different from the Haihan sailboat that he was used to knowing, both inside and outside the hull.

Ning Qi came late today. As the chief officer of the two departments of foreign affairs and civil affairs, he was very busy recently for the founding ceremony of the country. When the departure time was approaching, Ning Qi hurried to the dock to board the "Speed" to meet Fan Dimen.

Ning Qi's understanding of Anthony Van Diemen must be much better than the other party's understanding of him, and he has already done the corresponding homework.If it hadn't been for the appearance of Haihan that made the historical trajectory deviate, Van Diemen would have waited until 1636 to become the top leader of the East India Company, and then expelled the Portuguese from the Strait of Malacca in the following years, and sent troops to expel them. The Spaniards who colonized the Taipei area opened up trade between the Netherlands, the Annan Thang Long Mansion and the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, bringing the influence of the East India Company in the Far East to a new level.

However, these outstanding personal achievements probably could not be realized according to historical records. Except for the trade relationship with the Tokugawa shogunate, other things were basically completed by the Haihan people.And the East India Company that Van Diemen took over is a complete mess, and it is unlikely to support him to complete these great achievements.However, judging from the original historical records, Ning Qi believes that Fan Dimen is a very capable official who has accomplished many difficult tasks during his nine-year tenure. If he hadn't died of illness, his tenure as governor is very promising Beyond predecessor Peterson Cohen.

Ning Qi also specifically went to Schneider to learn from it. After all, Schneider had a long consultation with Van Diemen on Ambuna Island, so he had a clearer and more intuitive feeling about this person's situation.In short, the homework beforehand has basically been done enough. As for how many points you can get in the final exam, it depends on Ning Qi's performance on the spot.

(End of this chapter)