Xinshun 1730

Chapter 689 Suggesting Surrender
The judgment of the British East India Company is undoubtedly correct.

The French quickly launched an attack on Madras. Reasons are always easy to find. The two sides have been fighting in India for almost 100 years. There are a lot of reasons that can be found casually.

The fleet of the British East India Company did not support Madras as expected, but avoided it far away.Because they don't know Dashun's attitude, they are worried that after their fleet is assembled, Dashun will seize the main force and wipe it out.

Not long after the French launched an attack on Madras, Dashun's fleet also left Pondicherry and headed for the ocean.

This time card was very good. On the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Free Trade and the Gothenburg bypassed India, and an accompanying fast boat came to the local government to deliver a message.

On the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, Dashun's fleet set sail.

In the eyes of the British, Dashun is preparing to launch a battle formation, looking for an opportunity to destroy the fleet of the British East India Company at sea.

But in fact, Dashun's squadron did not go looking for the British fleet, but turned around and headed for Ceylon.

It is very far from Guangzhou to Ceylon.

But sailing from Pondicherry to Ceylon is like going from Weihai to Pyongyang. The marines and sailors, who had been repaired for more than a month, had unlimited supply of cachaça and ate fish-filled dumplings before sailing.

So the soldiers and sailors understood that the war had begun.

On the ship, the battle cry was also issued quickly.

Very simple sentence.

Celebrate New Years in the Land of the Lions!

At this time, it was the northeast monsoon in the Indian Ocean, the weather was fine, the climate was dry, and there was not much rainfall. It was a season suitable for war.

The Dutch had two important pivots in Ceylon.

One is Jaffna in the north of the island of Ceylon, which controls the Palk Strait between Ceylon and the Indian subcontinent.

The other is Colombo, on the main road from India to Southeast Asia, in the south of Ceylon.

Most of the Chinese immigrants are in the south of Ceylon, and there are not many Chinese in the Jaffna area.

According to intelligence, the Dutch actually have a lot of troops stationed in Ceylon.There are nearly 2500 people in total, because they have to constantly deal with the harassment of the Kingdom of Kandy, especially the British behind the scenes, constantly encouraging the feudal nobles in Kandy to attack the Netherlands.

However, these 2500 people were scattered in seven fort groups. The Netherlands had no field regiments in Ceylon, only fortress garrison troops.

It's just that, in view of the pathetic combat effectiveness of the Kandyan army, these fortress garrison troops are sufficient as field troops when fighting the Kandyan people.

According to the combat plan formulated by the staff officers, the squadron's first attack direction is Colombo.

A large number of Nanyang Chinese are near Colombo, and there are a total of 800 Dutch soldiers in the city, so it is not difficult to attack.

On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the fleet arrived off the coast of Colombo and did not launch a sneak attack.

It's neither necessary nor makes much sense.

Instead, according to the code of practice, it expanded into an artillery formation, opened the baffle of the deck gun bay, and aimed at Colombo Castle.

The style of the Dutch, or the style of the colonial layout, is "a city is a city, and a city is a city". The core area of ​​the Dutch is in the castle, including the city council, the governor's mansion, and the military port.

After taking Colombo Fort from the Portuguese that year, the Dutch strengthened the Colombo Castle.

But with the advent of the Dutch Golden Age, the Dutch navy is almost invincible in Southeast Asia, which makes Fort Colombo a significant weakness.

The location of this kind of coastal fortress is basically the same.

A concave bay, the bay is used as a military port, forming a moon-embracing structure.

Normally, a strong fortress must be built on the two protruding corners of the moon-holding structure to be considered a qualified coastal fortress.

However, there is money in the golden age, but there is no need to repair it.

There is a fleet, as long as there are forts that can protect the fleet a little bit from being attacked by pirates, it is meaningless to spend a lot of money to fortify all the coastal areas.

Once the golden age was over, it seemed necessary to repair it, but there was no money, and the directors of the East India Company did not approve enough money at all, and the turnover was difficult.

Originally, I thought that I would transport the Chinese slave workers from Batavia to be debt slaves and repair the fort for free.

But debt slaves have become contract immigrants, and the board of directors is forced by Dashun to contribute money, and they are more eager to see more intuitive economic benefits.

It cannot be said that the directors of the East India Company are mentally retarded, but based on their own judgment, they believe that it is not necessary to strengthen the defense in the direction of the sea, and there is no need to strengthen the fort.

Although the United Kingdom has been secretly poking at things over the years, in view of the relationship between the European continent, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands still have a mutual defense treaty, and the British will not attack.

It was snatched from the Portuguese at the beginning, but after Portugal was restored from Spain, the policy it pursued was that we are good friends whoever fights Spain.The Netherlands and Portugal have largely reconciled.

The Kingdom of Kandy in Ceylon has no navy at all.

The only possible threat was the French, but the French East India Company didn't even have a fleet.

In this case, what is the use of money to repair the fort?It costs a lot to build a formal fort, and the East India Company is responsible for the profits to the board of directors and shareholders, so save money if you can.

So this Colombo Fort has the biggest weakness.

On the side along the bay, there is no complete fortification, only at the two protruding corners, there are two forts, each with seven or eight cannons, less than a fraction of the number of heavy cannons on a battleship.

There are a total of four bastions around it, facing the inland direction that does not rely on the sea.There is a set of moats about four meters wide, and there are some simple fortifications outside, but they are also in disrepair and have not been used for many years.

Normally, or according to the textbooks of fortress engineering in regular military schools, fortresses with ports along the coast must achieve the level that "the enemy fleet dare not stay in the bay, and the coastal defense artillery will completely destroy the fleet".Weihai Naval Port, Lushun Naval Port, and Lingdingyang Naval Port were all built according to this scale: In theory, the most effective way to attack such a military port is for the army to capture the fortress area, rather than let the navy and the fort shoot at each other.

However, although the Code of Operations was written in this way, since the establishment of the Dashun Navy, there was no chance to follow the Code of Operations in this matter.Whether it is Japan or Southeast Asia, there is no naval fortress that meets the code of conduct at this time.

So the plan made by the staff is very simple.

The fleet lined up, bombarded the two forts on the protruding corner, broke into the bay, and bombarded the inside of the fort with naval guns, suppressing the Dutch bastion from the inside out.

The marines landed on the flanks, gathered the local Chinese, approached by tunneling, and used Vauban's siege method to capture the bastion.

Better to simply force the Dutch to surrender.

When Dashun's fleet suddenly appeared off the coast of Colombo, the head of the garrison and the governor of Ceylon only glanced at the formation of the fleet on the ocean, and knew that it was the start of a war.

Although I don't know why Dashun suddenly went to war, and I don't know whether Dashun declared war on the Netherlands or became a military ally with France to participate in the War of Austrian Succession, but in short, the deployment of the fleet in this way is definitely not a friendly visit or a request to berth. Replenishment attitude.

I haven't heard that the friendly visit will open the cover door of the gunboat warehouse.

Four Dutch armed merchant ships were blocked in the port, and they did not dare to leave the port at this time. They could only hope that the two forts would protect them and prevent Dashun's warships from entering the port.

But obviously, they are also very clear that these two forts cannot withstand the attack of the Dashun fleet.

Just as Dashun's warship was launching its artillery formation, a small boat sailed from the flagship, flying a military flag instead of a white flag, towards Colombo.

The Dutch are generally unreasonable. If they were replaced by the Sinhalese, the ship would probably be sunk.

But under the black muzzle of several battleships, the Dutch became extraordinarily reasonable.

After the boat docked, a group of nervous soldiers sent several Dashun officers on board to the fortress.The head of the garrison and the governor of Ceylon knew very well that most of these people came to deliver the declaration of war.

The Netherlands often went to war without declaring wars and attacked everywhere.Back then, the Hirayama Changchen incident also hijacked Japanese merchant ships without permission, but at this time, they actually thought of the so-called international law.After all, the Netherlands is still the originator of international law. Because Spain and Portugal monopolized trade and the sea 100 years ago, the Netherlands hoped that axioms would prevail over power, so they made up an axiom.

"Why did your country's fleet appear near Colombo? Does this mean war? This is the territory and territorial waters of the East India Company. Your country's warships should evacuate as soon as possible."

The governor of Ceylon in the Netherlands did not receive the declaration of war, so he asked directly.

The officer who sent the letter of war could speak Dutch, stood there, and said seriously: "How can this be the land of the East India Company?"

"In the seventh year of Yongle in the previous dynasty, Emperor Yongle sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean. He ordered the eunuch Zheng He and others to bring gold and silver offerings to the Mount Ceylon Temple for donation. Today there is still the "Buddhist Monastery Stele of Mount Ceylon" as evidence .”

"The emperor of this dynasty respects the gods and the Buddha. Ceylon has believed in Buddhism since ancient times, and worships the tooth relics of the Buddha. You are spreading Christianity here, and the emperor is furious."

"The current king of Kandy Kingdom, Rajsingh, was originally a Hindu. Since he ascended the throne, he served as the Lord of the Buddha. The Son of Heaven thought it was good, but he couldn't bear the fact that there was no Buddhist voice in the Lion Kingdom, so he sent us to ask you to leave."

The governor of Ceylon quickly said: "No, no, we in the Netherlands are not Catholic, we believe in Protestantism. We don't force others to believe in Protestantism, and our policy is quite tolerant. Some believers of the Lord have to bow down when they see Buddhist temples. in spite of."

The officer who sent the letter of war said with a smile: "Mahayana and Hinayana are both Buddhism. Catholicism and Protestantism are both Christianity. In my opinion, there is no difference."

"I'm just sending a letter for the general. The declaration of war will be delivered through regular channels. The commander of the fleet asked me to bring you a message: vote, you can't win."

"If you don't surrender, we're going to bombard. The Marines have landed in Kote not far away and are advancing here."

"Although a colonial governor may not have fought a formal war for a long time. However, he should still have the most basic judgment."

"After destroying the fort, we will enter the harbor to bombard. At the same time, the marines will use the Vauban siege method to dig into the bastion near the shore."

"Given the large number of local people who admire the Chinese government, I personally think that resistance is pointless."

"The general said that if you are able to surrender, we will keep you safe and keep your honor and personal belongings instead of taking them as trophies."

"Actually, please don't expect reinforcements. Now, Malacca and Batavia may be under attack at the same time. It will take at least two years for reinforcements from the Netherlands to arrive after receiving news."

"Let's vote."

(End of this chapter)