1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 117 Gu Bang
In the next two days, they successively visited Colonel Aryan Van Dijk, Commander of the Batavia Fleet, and Kapitan Su Minggang, a Chinese.

Considering that the Dutch East India Company had to ship materials and personnel, Cao Xiong could only put down more than [-] immigrants on board, and unloaded all the livestock and poultry. Only nearly [-] immigrants and some seeds, grain, cloth, etc. were shipped. living supplies.

After staying for another two days, Cao Xiong and his party left Batavia with three ships after the East India Company replenished supplies and personnel on board.

Five days later, under the guidance of a business representative of the East India Company on board, they arrived at the Dutch colonial site of Batang (later Denpasar, Bali) and stayed for two days.Unload some personnel and supplies, and add some fresh water, fruits and food.

Batang is a colony with only more than 300 people, surrounded by simple wooden fences. More than 20 East India Company colonists, more than 50 German mercenaries, and the rest are Javanese and Malay.Some fields have been reclaimed nearby to grow vegetables and fruits, and there are more than 100 mu of rice growing crookedly.

Cao Xiong shook his head, what a waste of such a good land, this rice plantation.Unexpectedly, every once in a while, the East India Company needs to transport grain here by ship.It takes dozens of Ming people to come here, and the food produced must be enough for these hundreds of people, and there may be surplus.

The Dutch didn't care, it was just a supply point, providing supplies along the way for various merchant ships returning from the Maluku Spice Islands.They have only two important nodes in the entire East Indies, one is Batavia, which serves as the political, economic and trade center of the entire East Indies.The other is Ambon in the Maluku Islands, as the ruling center of the Spice Islands.

The rest of the colonial points are either supply points along the way or trade transfer points.

As for Cao Xiong's fleet, the next destination is Kupang on the west side of Timor Island, an important trade transit point.

Leaving Batang, Cao Xiong has been thinking about whether to find an uninhabited island nearby as a supply point between Batavia and Jianye City, and asked the Dutch for one with a shy face.It is estimated that most of them will be rejected.How can you easily let others enter your own territory.

This shitty Dutchman just occupied all the islands along the way?Cao Xiong looked angrily at his Dutch "supervisor" Andrew Florent.

"Captain, what are your orders?" Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent looked at Cao Xiong with a smile.

After several months of running-in, Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent was basically familiar with Cao Xiong and the sailors on board.Professional sailing skills and a serious attitude have also been affirmed by many sailors.

"Xiao'an, this road is all occupied by you Dutch. ... Then, is there any unoccupied land around you that you haven't occupied yet?"

Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent can already speak a few simple words in Chinese, but he still cannot get rid of the translation of the general interpreter in order to have a normal conversation.

"Captain, do you want to find a supply point?" As a professional naval officer, Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent immediately understood the meaning of Cao Xiong's words.

"That's right, traveling back and forth and having a place to stay, for the ships and sailors, the benefits go without saying."

"You can apply to the company, and after getting authorization, you can stop at our various colonies for supplies."

"I still need to apply for it, and I need to authorize it, what a hassle! It's better to get one yourself, it will save a lot of trouble!"

"However, with your strength, I'm afraid you won't be able to occupy an island owned by others." Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent immediately analyzed the surrounding maritime colonial forces. It seems that they are not under the control of the Dutch East India Company, and only Spain and Portugal of the site.

Of course, the whole of the East Indies is very large, and there must be many undiscovered islands.However, between Cao Xiong's settlement and Batavia, except for the place occupied by the Dutch, there seems to be only one place suitable for them to establish a supply point.

"You mean, there is another piece of land nearby that you didn't occupy?" Cao Xiong figured out the subtext in the words of Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent.

We don't have the strength now. After two years, we will have more people and more ships. Naturally, we will have the strength to occupy it and be able to hold it.

Four days later, Cao Xiong's fleet arrived in the waters of Timor Island. When the navigator sent by the East India Company guided the ship to the port of Kupang Colony, they encountered two Galen ships.

Cao Xiong didn't take it seriously at first, thinking that it was a merchant ship passing by the Dutch.But Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent held up the binoculars, observed for a while, and said to Cao Xiong nervously: "Captain, get ready to fight!... They seem to be Portuguese ships!"

Cao Xiong was startled, and immediately asked people to blow the battle horn to prepare for battle.The cannons were quickly stripped of their gun covers, and various types of projectiles were moved to the gun positions. Different gunpowder packs were also estimated according to the gunner's distance and stuffed into the muzzle.

Under the loud roar of the helmsman, the sailor tried his best to adjust the sail and seize the upper wind position.After a while of professional integration by Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent, the entire fleet has become somewhat decent.

The two galleons on the opposite side were indeed Portuguese. They set off from Dili to Goa, India, and they were all loaded with spices.When passing through Kupang, I had a sudden idea and wandered back and forth outside the port.

As for attacking the Kupang Dutch colony, the Portuguese still did not dare.It is just an attempt to intimidate the officials and people of Kupang, dampen their morale, and create some obstacles for their subsequent colonization.

In fact, Portugal has been trading with Timor since around 1520 because of sandalwood.But in 1613, the Dutch settled in a hidden bay at the southwestern tip of Kupang, and gradually developed and began to squeeze the Portuguese colony.

At this time, the Portuguese had begun to be weak in the entire East Indies, unable to fight the Dutch, so they moved to the north and east of Timor Island.

Therefore, the Portuguese hated and feared the Dutch East India Company.Whenever there is a chance, there will always be trouble for them.

The Portuguese kept coming and going outside the port of Kupang, which made the local colonial officials very annoyed and a little panicked.

Unexpectedly, suddenly three ships with the "VOC" flag sailed over.But what is strange is that although the other party is flying the flag of the East India Company, the style of the ship is completely different from the typical Galen and Flutter ships of the East India Company in the past.

The combination of a Spanish galleon and two Ming-style ships made the Portuguese suspicious.

Seeing that the opponent began to seize the upper hand, and set up a battle formation.This gave the Portuguese no time to think, and they drew an arc across the sea, turned around and headed northwest.

"I knew the Portuguese didn't dare to fight!" Second Lieutenant Andrew Florent looked contemptuously at the away Portuguese ships.

Cao Xiong sighed softly, in this area of ​​Nanyang, the Dutch are still very powerful.The two Galen ships just now really wanted to fight with them, and they were at a disadvantage, and I don't know who it is!In the future, if you have the opportunity, you must first buy two warships that can fight.

The officials and people in the Kupang colony were overjoyed at the arrival of Cao Xiong's fleet.Not only did they bring a large number of personnel and supplies, but more importantly, they scared away the two Portuguese galleons outside the port, which boosted the ambition of the Dutch East India Company and made the Dutch East India Company The natives of the land realized the strength and prestige of the Dutch.

In Cao Xiong's opinion, Kubang, the colonial site, is in an excellent location, less than ten days' flight from Batavia, and less than five days' flight from Ambon, another important stronghold of the Dutch. Jianye City is only a five-day flight.

In the future, if there is an enemy with the Dutch, this colonial point must be taken first, so that the Dutch will lose the supply point nearby.

At the same time, Cao Xiong is more eager to occupy a stronghold nearby. Whether it is attacking the enemy or defending, it is a good outpost fulcrum.

On the other hand, Cao Xiong also saw how weak the Portuguese was.In the case of equal strength, you can at least confront me for a while.In the end, he left without looking back.

In this area, the Dutch are the boss, I am the younger brother, and you Portuguese are also the younger brother.No way, we have to line up the seats.

(End of this chapter)