1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 258
Zheng Zhilong looked at the information in his hand, with a playful smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Brother, what's the matter?" Zheng Zhibao asked curiously.

"The Xinsheng Island in Hanzhou has recently hoarded a large amount of military weapons, and it is still buying food." Zheng Zhilong handed the information to Zheng Zhibao.

"Are they going to sell us a lot of artillery?" Zheng Zhibao asked: "I heard that the firecrackers they make are not bad, we can also buy some back."

"Except for the artillery sold to us, most of them are hoarded on the island by themselves." Zheng Zhilong said: "Do you know what this means?"

"Are they going to attack nearby Cambodia and Champa?"

"No, I think they may have turned against the Dutch." Zheng Zhilong said with a smile: "They are hoarding large quantities of weapons and food to prepare for war!"

"No way. Cao Xiong's people have only been in Hanzhou for three years, with an estimated population of more than 3 and few warships. How dare they fight against the Dutch?" Zheng Zhibao was a little unconvinced. Powerful, their Zheng family's fleet has a deep understanding.Leaving the coast of Daming, the Zheng family's fleet may not be able to suppress the numerous armed merchant ships at sea in the Netherlands.

"The Dutch have always been domineering, perhaps because they oppressed too much, Cao Xiong and his gang couldn't bear it anymore." Zheng Zhilong sighed, "Simply, turn the table over, and prepare to bite the Dutch hard."

"Brother, can we..." Zheng Zhibao was a little moved.

"Japan is going to completely lock down the country. All trades only allow us Ming and the Dutch to go to Nagasaki, and businessmen from other countries and regions are forbidden to come and go to Japan." Zheng Zhilong said leisurely: "Trade to Japan is very profitable, and it provides us with a lot of money every year. Millions of taels of silver. Tell me, if we exclude the Dutch, will our income be higher in the future.”

"The Dutch occupy the southern side of Dayuan (Taiwan), where ships passing through Japanese trade dock for repairs, and our stations in Quanzhou and Zhongzuo (Xiamen) are even superior to us in terms of geographical location. Zheng Zhibao said: "Besides, the sea is vast, so it is more difficult to intercept."

"The only best way for the Netherlands to deal with Hanzhou is probably to send a large number of ships to blockade the port of Hanzhou." Zheng Zhilong did not respond to the third brother's question, but instead mentioned Hanzhou, "And Hanzhou has four or five large Western ships. How many ships do you think the Dutch need to send to block the Hanzhou access passage.”

"At least ten armed merchant ships are needed."

"What if we send some ships to Xinsheng Island in Hanzhou?"

"Brother, what do you mean, we sent a large number of ships to Xinsheng Island to intercept the Dutch merchant ships going to Japan?" Zheng Zhibao was a little surprised.

"That's right. The Xinsheng Island is right next to the route between the Dutch and Japan, so we can attack and intercept Dutch merchant ships." Zheng Zhilong said with some pride: "The Dutch don't have any strongholds nearby."

"Han Zhou is willing to let our ships use Xinsheng Island to attack the Dutch?"

"We help them fight the Dutch, why don't they want to?"

"What if the Dutch dispatch a large number of warships to find us, how should we deal with it?"

"Just withdraw to the mainland." Zheng Zhilong said indifferently.

"Don't care about the Hanzhou people on Xinsheng Island?"

"Didn't they hoard a lot of arms and food?"

Zheng Zhibao looked at Zheng Zhilong and couldn't help admiring him.This move will not only attack the Dutch trade routes, but also transfer the anger of the Dutch to Hanzhou.The sea is vast, and the Zheng family fleet sails away at any time, leaving Xinsheng Island alone to attract the Dutch sea power.

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"Governor, representatives of the Spaniards are going to Hanzhou." Colonel Aryan Van Dijk came to the Governor's Mansion and reported to Governor Anthony Van Daiman about the Spaniard's itinerary.

"No, they can't be allowed to go to Hanzhou!" Governor Anthony Van Daiman immediately said after hearing this: "The Spaniards must have colluded with Hanzhou under the guise of exchanging prisoners to deal with us together."

"The Spaniards invaded Hanzhou, and Hanzhou also massacred many Spaniards in the Philippines. They... are unlikely to be in collusion?" Colonel Aryan Van Dijk said.

"No. We can't take it for granted!" Governor Daiman shook his head and said: "Don't think that the Spaniards are always arrogant, so they don't want to unite with their former enemies. At least, when dealing with the situation of our Dutch East India Company Now, it is possible for the Spaniards to join forces with Hanzhou. Because none of them alone can counter our sea power in the Far East.”

Colonel Ayan Van Dijk still disagrees. The Portuguese and the Spaniards have a common king, and they have never been able to unite in the Far East.What's more, Hanzhou not only had wars with the Spaniards, but also, in the eyes of the arrogant and religious Spaniards, Hanzhou was an out-and-out pagan.

"Colonel Van Dijk, as long as there is a chance that the enemy has a joint counterattack against us, we must ruthlessly kill it." Governor Daiman said: "Don't you think that our East India Company has enemies in the Far East? Is there a lot?"

Yes, the Dutch seem to have no allies in the entire Far East, and almost all of them are enemies. The Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Kingdom of Banten, the Kingdom of Mataland, the Kingdom of Aceh, the Kingdom of Dili... and now they have added A Hanzhou.

If these enemies were not scattered over the vast East Indies, divided by the sea, and the Dutch had the most armed merchant ships in the entire region, otherwise, the East India Company would not have survived for long.

"My lord, do you need to register and transfer the goods and property sealed in the Hanzhou Warehouse to the company's account?" Batavia's finance officer, Predrag Poole, asked.

"Have all the Hanzhou people evacuated?" Governor Daiman asked.

"Yes, two days ago, they returned to their Jianye City on a Hanzhou transport ship."

"What is the estimated value of the sealed goods and property?"

"It's estimated to be [-] to [-] guilders." Financial Officer Predrag Poulton replied after a moment, "It's mainly the warehouse buildings and the goods inside, and there are several properties in the city."

"Temporarily sealed and not included in the company's account." Governor Daiman thought for a while and said: "If they can find their way back, we can still return their property."

Treasurer Predrag Poulton sighed slightly and nodded with some regret.It seems that the governor is still thinking about restoring the former affiliation with Hanzhou in the future.

"Has the ransom for the Spanish captives been determined?" Governor Daiman asked suddenly.

"They insisted that each military officer and colonial official pay no more than [-] pesos, and soldiers and civilians no more than [-] pesos." Finance officer Predrag Poulton said: "After many rounds of pressure with Colonel Van Dijk, They've stuck to that price. So, I guess, these Spanish representatives are probably only authorized for now."

"Based on this, we can only take in less than [-] Spanish pesos?"

"Yes, Your Excellency Governor. If the Spaniards deliver at the base price, they will need to pay us more than 7000 Spanish pesos." Financial Officer Predrag Pulton said.

"The war with Hanzhou, how much do you expect us to spend?"

"If Hanzhou surrenders within half a year, we will need to spend about 30 dong." Predrag Pulton said: "If they persist for a year, we will spend 60 to 70 dong. "

"so much?"

"Because we need to send more than [-] armed merchant ships to attack and blockade their Dili City, Xinxiang Castle, and Jianye City for a long time. Coupled with the casualties of the mercenaries, the consumption of materials, and even the loss of ships, the cost is probably the same .”

"Damn Hanzhou!" Governor Daiman cursed in a low voice.If Hanzhou persists for a year and does not give in, it means that Batavia may underpay the profit of 70 million guilders to the Netherlands next year.

"Mr. Poulton, if Hanzhou attacks our trading post (colonial stronghold) in the East Indies, will our losses increase?" Colonel Aryan Van Dijk suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Predrag Poulton was stunned for a moment, Hanzhou will attack our trading station in the East Indies?
Upon hearing this, Governor Daiman turned to look at Colonel Ayan Van Dijk.

"Hanzhou will definitely not hide all armed merchant ships in their ports." Colonel Aryan Van Dijk said: "They will definitely transfer combat-capable warships to a place we don't know, and then launch from there Attack on our trading posts in the East Indies. They'll do it!"

"Where... might they attack?" Governor Daiman suddenly became a little nervous. He never thought that Hanzhou would take the initiative to attack the Dutch trading post.

"Your Excellency, we have too many commercial stations in the entire East Indies." Colonel Aryan Van Dijk said in embarrassment: "Any commercial station may be their target."

"Then we need to strengthen it now..." Governor Daiman said halfway, and suddenly felt that it was inappropriate to strengthen the defense of that commercial station?Or are all business stations reinforced?
"It is said that the Hanzhou Army has a strong fighting capacity." Colonel Pete Kurucs, the Army Commander, said, "Moreover, they will have artillery to assist in the attack."

With strong combat effectiveness and artillery-assisted attack, this means that Hanzhou may break through one or several trading posts of the Dutch in the East Indies.

"Colonel Van Dijk, your Batavian fleet must organize a task force to find and destroy those warships in Hanzhou that threaten us. Avoid their potential threats to our trading stations in the East Indies! "Governor Dayman said solemnly to Colonel Ayan Van Dijk.

Colonel Aryan Van Dijk immediately felt that this task was simply impossible.In the vast sea, how to find those armed merchant ships in Hanzhou.

"Perhaps, you can set a trap." Governor Daiman suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "It's like the trap that the Spaniards set for our expeditionary fleet in the Philippines."

(End of this chapter)