1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 270 The Return of the Eastern Front

When you saw Dong Fengshan and several sailors of the exploration fleet at the Guangzhou warehouse on Tuesday, you were beyond surprised.

Logically speaking, with the strength of the Dutch, they would definitely block the line between the mainland of Hanzhou and Java Island, and it would be difficult for the ships of Hanzhou to break through the blockade of the Dutch and defend the mainland.But when he suddenly saw Dong Fengshan and others appearing in front of him, a thought popped up in his heart, Han Zhou surrendered to the Dutch!
"We came to Daming from another direction." Dong Fengshan said, "We came here just to see if there is any news or items that we need to bring back."

Gui was surprised and delighted when he heard the news on Tuesday. A new route has been opened in Hanzhou. Doesn’t that mean that we in Hanzhou can completely break the so-called blockade of the Dutch in the future and travel freely to and from Ming Dynasty!
"Large-scale fleets travel to and from Ming Dynasty. It is not possible for the time being. There are many problems. We have not completed the construction of some supply points, and we have no supplies." Dong Fengshan said cautiously: "But a small number of ships and personnel should be able to navigate. of."

On Tuesday, Gui informed Dong Fengshan that Zheng Zhilong had sent more than [-] large and small ships to Xinsheng Island, using this as a base to rob and kill Dutch merchant ships passing by.

In addition, more than 2000 hungry people were stranded on Xinsheng Island and had not been transported away.Although the defensive strength of the two strongholds on Xinsheng Island has been enhanced, there is also a huge consumption due to the large number of people. Once they are besieged by the Dutch, there is a risk of food shortages.

Using Zheng Zhilong's official background as a bridge, Hanzhou Warehouse got in touch with the Portuguese in Haojing, expressing their intention to truce with them and deal with the Dutch together.But in the end, it will take several Portuguese colonial strongholds to discuss before they can give an answer.

In addition, Japan was cut off from the Portuguese trade, and only the Dutch and Ming were allowed to go there.The Portuguese believed that the Dutch were responsible for this. Not only did they help the Japanese shogunate exterminate and massacre a large number of Shimabara Christians, but they also encouraged the shogunate to ban Portuguese trade, which caused heavy losses to the Portuguese in Hokage.

On Zheng Zhilong's side, it seemed that he was a little moved by the attack on the Dutch stronghold in Dayuan (Taiwan).They proposed that Xinshengbao dismantle several 18-pound heavy guns at the head of the city and deliver them to them so that they can bombard the Chikan and Zeelandia cities built by the Dutch.

Dong Fengshan silently wrote down the information that Tuesday Gui said, and at the same time asked him to write a copy and bring it back to Hanzhou.

In the next few days, Gui bought a large amount of rice, wheat, miscellaneous grains, and other daily necessities at the Guangzhou market on Tuesday. He collected a hundred refugees from the north and loaded them into three flying fish boats.

Considering that these refugees need to build a camp on the small island of Ryukyu, reclaim some farmland, and defend themselves.Dong Fengshan added some farm tools and dozens of swords and spears to purchase.

On January 1639, 1, Dong Fengshan stayed in Guangzhou for more than ten days. After successively shipping more than 2 refugees and many materials to three exploration ships, he set sail, sailed out of the Pearl River Estuary, and then turned to the east, heading for Ryukyu .

Four days later, I arrived at the small island (Miyakojima) that was used as a supply point for late immigrants.Zhang Qisheng, who stayed on the island, and more than a dozen people even directed those more than 20 Ryukyu natives and more than 30 Japanese pirates to build a temporary camp on a high slope one kilometer from the shore within [-] days.

In the camp with a radius of more than 200 meters, a large number of trees were cut down, and then they were driven into the ground more than a foot deep, and a row of wooden fences were simply erected to surround the camp, barely able to deal with some weaker pirate attacks.

"In a few days, we will return to Weiyuan Island. You stay here, can you handle it?" Dong Fengshan looked at Zhang Qisheng and said, "When we come here again, it will probably be at least two or three months later."

"It's okay. Although the food you brought can't last for three months, we usually organize those refugees and Japanese samurai to go to the sea to catch some fish, and it may last for a while." Zhang Qisheng said with a smile: "When you come next time , bring more artillery and muskets. Otherwise, if the Dutch or the Satsuma domain in the south of Japan want to come, I can only bring these refugees to surrender.”

Looking at Zhang Qisheng's immature face, Dong Fengshan couldn't help feeling a little emotional. The ignorant boy three years ago can now be alone on this deserted island.

On January 1639, 1, Dong Fengshan left more than ten people including Zhang Qisheng, and set sail southward, heading for Midway Island (now Koror Island, Palau).

After one year and eight months of hard work to explore the eastern route of Daming, the confirmation of all route routes and supply points has finally been completed.So far, Hanzhou can completely get rid of the blockade of the West Front by the Netherlands and go directly to Daming.

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Cao Xiong stood on the mountain watchtower on the side of Jianye Port, holding up a binoculars to watch the two Dutch armed merchant ships patrolling outside the bay, and did not speak for a long time.

The two township soldiers stationed next to them were a little nervous, looking at each other from time to time, and stealing glances at Cao Xiong a few times.

"Damn it, let's see how long you can spend here!" Cao Xiong cursed in a low voice, then turned around and looked at the two townspeople.

"Is it boring to stay here every day?"

"Back to Commander, we are not boring." A village soldier replied loudly: "Besides, we have two shifts a day."

"Very good, thank you for your hard work." Cao Xiong patted the shoulders of both of them.

"We don't work hard. The brothers who sail the boat and watch the bay below at night are the real hard work."

At night, Jianye Port will send four or five small boats to the entrance of the bay to closely monitor whether the Dutch armed merchant ships sneak into the port, and use musket shooting and fireworks to warn the dock fort in advance.

"Old Yu, we must reward these brothers who guard us day and night. Our safety, as well as the safety of Hanzhou, are all guarded by them." Cao Xiong whispered to Yu Fukun.

"I'll arrange people from the logistics department to do these things when I get back." Yu Fukun nodded in agreement.

"Well, judging by the attitude of the Dutch, they intend to blockade our Hanzhou for a long time. We don't know anything about what happened outside. After all, we are still a little flustered!" Cao Xiong said.

Since the beginning of November, when the Dutch ships arrived outside Jianye Port, the communication between Hanzhou and the outside world was cut off.Cao Xiong couldn't help but feel a little worried about Xinsheng Island, Dili, Xinxiang, and Weiyuan Island outside the mainland of Guxuanzhou.

"Or let the newly built flying fish boat try to rush out." Yu Fukun suggested.

Cao Xiong thought for a while, then shook his head, and said, "All our skilled sailors were taken away by Da Jiang. If you let some fishing sailors go out in the boat, it probably won't go very far. It's not that they were intercepted by the Dutch. Even if the ship is sunk. Besides, they might not be able to find Fort Weiyuan."

"Oh, it's really aggrieved to be blocked at the door of the house!" Yu Fukun sighed.

"That can't be helped!" Cao Xiong smiled wryly, "Who let the Dutch have many more ships than us! When we finish this battle with the Dutch, we must build more ships and train more ships." sailors."

"Then get more people back first!" Yu Fukun said with a smile: "With people, we can train more shipbuilders and train more sailors!"

"Yes, we are still short of people!" Cao Xiong shook his head and said, "If we have 10 people, we can at least get four to five thousand sailors."

"As of the end of last year (1638) in Hanzhou, the outside territories were not counted. The native population of Hanzhou was only [-] people (excluding natives and captives from mines). But from October last year to now, we have No one has been replenished." Yu Fukun said: "It seems that the Dutch blockade will not end in a short time."

"If Dong Fengshan goes through the east route, we might not be able to bring people back." Cao Xiong said: "The Dutch will know for a while, and they will definitely not know that we still have a colonization point east of Beikoubao."

"Weihai is still not self-sufficient in food, and I am afraid it will be difficult to take on more people."

Cao Xiong patted Yu Fukun on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You probably don't know yet. Qitian's civil government has long been eyeing the grain of the Banten Kingdom and the Matalan Kingdom on Java Island. We have swords Firearms can be exchanged for their food. At that time, our ship will set off from Beikoubao and go directly to the coastal wharfs controlled by several Tu-states on Java Island, and exchange their weapons for their food.”

"Will it meet the Dutch warship?"

"On the vast sea, there are not many opportunities to encounter. Even if we encounter them, we can barely protect ourselves by going to five or six ships at a time."

"Xiao Tian thought far-reaching."

"Yes, he thinks more thoughtfully than us."

"However, some people have recently reported that this is related to the fact that the Dutch implemented a rationing system for all supplies in Hanzhou not long after the start of the war, which somewhat hurt the hearts of the people."

"Who is making noise?" Cao Xiong's eyes widened, "Our Hanzhou is weak, so naturally we have to concentrate all our strength to fight the Dutch. If all materials are not centrally controlled, wouldn't it be the end of the fight? I don’t know how many resources I have left? The implementation of the rationing system is to distribute in a planned way to all the people in Hanzhou according to our existing reserves and production capacity.”

"Otherwise, those new immigrants who have a little money in their pockets, who are rich in fish and meat every day, who are suffering, are hungry every day. How can this work? The Netherlands has blocked our Hanzhou, and no supplies can be imported. Those things that are in short supply , shouldn’t everyone share a bit according to the plan! Now, in our Hanzhou, at least no one is hungry. Those who complain about this have really broken their consciences!”

When Yu Fukun heard the words, he took it very seriously, and couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that some people made such remarks.

As Qi Tian said, Hanzhou is like a small country, and the Dutch East India Company is as powerful as a big country, so it will do everything in its power to contend with it.If we can force a peace in this battle, we should be able to stand here with a high-spirited attitude.

If you lose this battle, you will die in one battle, or you will no longer have the potential to be independent.

"What is our chief executive doing recently?" Cao Xiong asked, "Haven't you seen him much recently?"

"In Heishan City, study artifacts with those three gentlemen."

"What artifact?" Cao Xiong asked curiously.Artifacts that can make Qi Tian leave civil affairs behind must be particularly important.

"It seems to be an utensil that can drive itself to do work without manpower."

"...There is no need for manpower. After that, people are useless?" Cao Xiong was a little dumbfounded when he heard that.

"I don't know either." Yu Fukun said: "Last month, our chief executive and Mr. Liang Fu (Wang Zheng) were discussing and studying the artifact. I heard that Qi Tian was very excited. Ten days ago, he called a large number of The materials and personnel were sent to Heishan City, and a special workshop was built to research and manufacture the utensils that they could make. Later, two other old gentlemen and some students also participated in it.”

"Such a mobilization of teachers and people, that artifact will surely be our Hanzhou's future weapon!" Cao Xiong said.

(End of this chapter)