1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 341 The Dutch breakthrough direction
The Dutch East India Company repelled and severely damaged the two kingdoms of Mataland and Banten under the city of Batavia, and killed and wounded more than 1628 natives. This is another attack on Java Island since [-]. Unprecedented victory in the native kingdom war.

But the losses of the Dutch were not small. In the offensive and defensive battle of Batavia, as well as sending troops to attack Mataran King City, nearly 800 mercenaries and sailors were killed and injured, and more than 700 civilians and native servants in the city also suffered casualties. It can be described as a great loss of vitality.

However, what shocked the Dutch even more was that on the night of the counterattack, several natives from outside the city sneaked into the shipyard, set a fire, and burned a large number of stored ship materials.The fire also endangered two berths, and severely damaged the two armed merchant ships being repaired in the dock, with little irreparable value.

Dozens of folks closest to the shipyard quickly killed the natives on the spot when they were about to flee.However, in view of the fact that the fire at the shipyard was too large, several Dutch officers could only take mercenaries and civilians to hastily establish a fire isolation zone, and finally kept half of the shipyard.

However, due to the serious damage to the entire shipyard, it will be impossible to maintain and maintain the ship for at least half a year. As for the restoration of shipbuilding functions, it may take a year later.All this made the Dutch East India Company extremely depressed.You must know that the East India Company was able to maintain its trade hegemony throughout the Far East and even the Indian Ocean, all relying on its large number of ships.

Today, the shipyard is badly damaged, which puts the East India Company's many ships in need of maintenance in a very difficult situation.Whether to continue to sail with shipworms and mayflies all over the bottom of the ship, and then cause some damage to the ship, or to dock the ship at the dock and wait for the shipyard to resume its maintenance function.

Governor of Batavia, Anthony van Daiman, was somewhat troubled by the plight of the many ships under the command of the East India Company, but this was not what worried him the most.

From the merchant ship of the Ming Dynasty in the port of Batavia, Governor Daiman learned that the two strongholds of Formosa had been captured by an official Nicholas (Zheng Zhilong's Christian name). In addition, before that, he had sent many Ships wantonly intercepted and attacked Dutch ships heading for Japan and North Korea trade, causing heavy losses to the East India Company.

So far, Batavia has stopped sporadic ships heading to Japan and North Korea in order to prevent Dutch merchant ships from being attacked by wolves from the Zheng family fleet.Prepare to organize a fleet of more than seven or eight ships, stay away from the waters of the Ming Dynasty, and cross the southern tip of Formosa Island to trade in Japan.

As for sending armed merchant ships to compete with Zheng Zhilong for the sea control of Formosa and the coast of the Ming Dynasty, Governor Daiman believes that the East India Company may not be able to do so for the time being.Across thousands of miles, there is no suitable nearby supply point, and it seems a bit unwise to have a naval battle with Zheng Zhilong's fleet at his "doorstep".

Seven or eight years ago, there was a battle with Zheng Zhilong in Liuluo Bay. Although most of the ships lost were the ships of his former partner Liu Xiang, it also proved that Zheng Zhilong's sea power was already very strong.Now, with the backing of the Ming Kingdom, he has integrated many pirate forces of the Ming Kingdom, and possesses inexhaustible manpower and material resources.The East India Company cannot guarantee that Zheng Zhilong can be defeated in the short term.

"I think we can try to talk to Nikolai (Zheng Zhilong's Christian name)." Senad Kalamet, the company's senior commercial counselor, suggested: "The markets of Japan and North Korea are very important to us, and they are also It’s huge, and Nicholas can’t eat it alone. We can make some concessions appropriately, and even pay him a part of the trade profits, which is more meaningful than fighting each other like this.”

"If we do this, it will be tantamount to acknowledging that Nicholas has the trade hegemony over the entire Ming, Japan, and North Korea." Colonel Dakman Barek, commander of the Batavia fleet, said with some resentment: "Our east The Indian company owns the largest number of armed merchant ships in the Far East, and it is absolutely possible to organize several expeditions to defeat Nikolai’s sea power, force him to withdraw from Formosa, and give up some markets in Japan and North Korea.”

"Then how many ships is your navy going to use and how much time will it take to defeat the sea power of Nicholas?" Senad Kalamet asked: "Or, how many ships are you going to lose to achieve the goal you just said ?”

"Of course we have lost something, but Nikolai will definitely lose more than us!" Colonel Dakman Barek said.

"Even if Nicholas suffered a greater loss than us, you may have forgotten that he is a general of the Ming Dynasty, and he has endless manpower and material support behind him." Senad Karamet said sarcastically: "And our loss, But it needs to be replenished from Europe tens of thousands of miles away. It is said that the number of his army alone is as many as [-] to [-]. And how many people do we Dutch have in the entire East Indies?"

"..." Colonel Dachman Barek was speechless.

"Mr. Karamet, do you think Nicholas will agree to our request for reconciliation?" Governor Daiman asked.

"Your Excellency, Nicholas is fighting with us, what can he get?" Senad Karamet said: "He just wants to monopolize the largest share in the trade between Japan and North Korea. And Our East India Company is currently troubled by various problems, and we are temporarily unable to compete with it. The fundamental interests of our East India Company are the Spice Islands and India. Although the trade between Japan and Korea is a direct way for us to obtain a large amount of gold and silver, other The trade volume only accounts for one-fifth of the total trade volume."

"Therefore, it is not in the company's overall interest to fight with Nicholas for one-fifth of the trade volume. Although he is a general of the Ming Dynasty, he is also a businessman. If not If you need to fight fiercely, you can get a part of the trade profits from us, I think he should make a wise choice. War, after all, costs a lot of money."

Governor Daiman nodded, thinking that what Kalamet said was very reasonable.In the entire Far East region, especially along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, no one can underestimate the strength of Nicholas, because he is backed by a huge country.In terms of Japan and North Korea, it is better to give up some of the profits to Nikola than to get nothing at all.

"Since this is the case, we will send business representatives to Quanzhou in the Ming Dynasty to talk to Nicholas." Governor Daiman said: "Formosa has been lost, and we can negotiate with them about the return of our personnel by the way. In addition In the short term, our merchant ships under the East India Company should try to avoid friction with them."

"Next, let's talk about the Portuguese in Malacca. Now that they have occupied Rapid Water Bay City (now Simawei City, Indonesia), they have blocked the entire Strait of Malacca, posing a serious threat to our merchant ships traveling to and from Europe and India. Gentlemen, how should we deal with this?"

"In March, we had contact with Prince Sawadin of the Kingdom of Aceh." Kalamet said: "He expressed his gratitude for our support. He promised that once he became the Sultan of the Kingdom of Aceh, he would definitely promise Launched a land attack on the city of Rapid Water Bay to drive out the Portuguese entrenched there. However, he did not agree with our proposal to occupy a coastal place in the Kingdom of Aceh and use it as a trading post."

"It doesn't matter, as long as they can expel the Portuguese." Governor Daiman said: "We cannot allow the Portuguese to control the Strait of Malacca, whether it is the south side or the north side of the strait. Military aid to Prince Savadin of Aceh can be added. Big, even artillery can be given to them, as long as they launch an attack on the Portuguese. But all this must be kept secret from the Kingdom of Johor.”

As we all know, Johor had a brutal triangle war with Aceh and Portugal, and it has been fought for decades, with deep grievances, but the Dutch East India Company has been colluding with Johor and conspiring to attack the Portuguese in Malacca.Therefore, the Dutch naturally cannot let Johor know that they have hooked up with a "new love", who is still Johor's old enemy.

"Governor, do we need to land on Ceylon Island again?" Colonel Dakman Barek felt that the navy must do something, and asked aloud.

"Of course!" Governor Daiman said: "Send our representatives to Ceylon to negotiate with the Kingdom of Kandy on landing again. However, before that, we must deal a heavy blow to the Portuguese at sea."

"Your Excellency, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find the many Portuguese warships at sea." Colonel Dakman Barek said.

"Of course we can't find Portuguese warships at sea. But we can attack where they must be rescued, lure their warships, and inflict heavy damage." Governor Daiman said.

"The Portuguese have operated Malacca for decades. I'm afraid they can rely on land defense alone to be safe. If they attack here, the Portuguese may not gather warships to rescue them."

"Malacca will be dealt with by our partner, Johor." Governor Daiman said: "We will attack Haojing (today's Macau)! It is the most important stronghold of Portugal in the Far East, and their castle, because the local officials of the Ming Dynasty It has not yet been completed under the opposition of the Chinese. I think it is a good opportunity. Even if it cannot be captured, it can still attract the few Portuguese warships.”

Army Commander Colonel Pete Kurucs couldn't help frowning upon hearing this, with a look of embarrassment on his face.

Twelve years ago (12), Colonel Kurucs had just come to serve in the East India Company with the rank of lieutenant and participated in an attack on Oyster Mirror.At that time, the Dutch organized five warships, and more than 1627 landing troops had just set foot on the beach. Before the formation was arranged, they were forcibly attacked by more than 800 Portuguese slave soldiers.Less than 200 minutes into the battle, the temporary retreat turned into a one-sided rout.In the end, he withdrew his troops hastily and returned to Batavia.

In 1622, the Dutch East India Company was defeated by more than 300 Portuguese at Oyster Mirror with a force of more than 300 troops.There are also the earliest years in 1607, 1605, and 1601. They all arrived in the area with armed fleets of different sizes, but they were all driven into the sea by the Portuguese defenders who were in full swing.

The Dutchman, even in his prime, never excelled in land-based encounters.Especially in the less threatening eastern colonial areas, only the lowest level of mercenary troops are often arranged.Therefore, even with the most advanced European weapons and infantry tactics at the time, it would always cause intermittent collapse due to poor morale.

On the contrary, the Portuguese method is more time-saving and simple, directly using a large number of trained slave populations to perform colonial security tasks with low combat intensity.Because they need to win rewards and freedom by their own performance, these people tend to work extra hard in the confrontation, and the cost performance is far better than that of European employees who rely on wages to dawdle.

Therefore, the Dutch East India Company can easily crush and defeat the natives on the South Sea islands when they are bullying them.But once it faces troops with the same firearms, or an army with a strong will to fight, it often leads to defeat.This is also when the mercenaries of the Dutch East India Company faced the Hanzhou army in Dili City. Although they were large in number, they ended up in a disastrous defeat.

Now, when Governor Daiman mentioned the Portuguese who attacked Oyster Mirror again, Colonel Pete Kurucs seemed a bit reluctant.In the event of another defeat to the Portuguese, will the morale of the mercenaries who had so easily gathered from the victory over the natives in the offensive and defensive battle of Batavia be defeated by the opponent again and lose the will to fight?

(End of this chapter)