1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 347 Breaking Ambon Again ([-])

Edel Kone is the acting governor of the Dutch East India Company in Ambon, and he only took office in February this year.His predecessors, including all the Dutch colonial officials, ordinary residents, and even native servants in Ambon, were all taken away after the city was captured by the Hanzhou in December last year. Not only did they evacuate the entire city, but they also The former solid city defenses were also completely destroyed.

In the following months, the native riots on the island revived and intensified. Several commercial strongholds in the interior of the island were attacked by the natives. He began to oppose the Dutch's clove monopoly trade policy both openly and secretly.According to the unified plan of the East India Company, the nutmeg tree, pepper tree and other spice trees that need to be felled were blatantly rejected by all the native tribes.

At the same time, the Dutch East India Company was facing the double attack of Mataram and the Kingdom of Banten, as well as the siege of the Portuguese and Hanzhou people, and gradually lost control of the situation in Ambon within a short period of time.For this reason, the governor of Batavia had to temporarily seek support from the Ternate Sultan Kingdom, and agreed to double the purchase price of the anise, cardamom, cinnamon and other spices they supplied, and also promised to provide them with a large amount of iron. quality swords and muskets.

In March, [-] Ternate Sultanate troops landed in Ambon. Under the guidance of Dutch officers, they began a bloody purge of the native tribes who firmly opposed the Dutch clove monopoly trade policy.For a time, the entire Ambon Island was bloody, several native tribes were slaughtered, property and women were plundered, countless clove trees and nutmeg trees were cut down, and then the entire tribal camp was completely burned.

The natives quickly chose to succumb to the fierce blows of the Dutch and the army of the Sultanate of Ternate.Dozens of tribal leaders came to the dilapidated city of Ambon with a large amount of gifts to express their submission to the Dutch again.

But the leader of the native riots that the Dutch most wanted to capture and kill, Tolucabesi, once again hid in the jungle and escaped the army.For this reason, the Dutch ordered the tribal leaders on Ambon Island not to support or take in Turuka Besi.Moreover, a reward order was issued, and for anyone who reported or provided clues about Turukabesi, the East India Company's Ambon colonial authorities would promise a reward of [-] guilders.

From July to July, the situation on Ambon Island gradually calmed down, and native tribes from all over the country began to deliver the picked cloves one after another and transport them to Ambon City.The soldiers of the Ternate Sultanate's army had plundered a lot in a few months. Under the constant urging of the Dutch, they seemed a little reluctant to return to Ternate by boat.

In September, there were still more than 200 soldiers of the Ternate Sultan Kingdom in the temporary camp outside Ambon. Under the instructions of the Dutch colonial authorities in Ambon, they were responsible for supervising the restoration of some docks by more than 300 natives on Ambon Island. Facilities and nearby castle.In Ambon City, there are still hundreds of natives, driven by the Netherlands, working hard to re-strengthen the city walls and build public facilities in the city.

"Damn Hanzhou people, how did they destroy this city in the first place!" Standing on the tower, the Acting Governor of Ambon, Edel Kone, looked at the neighborhoods in the city that were gradually recovering a little bit of vitality, and said softly: "If we It would be great if the mercenaries could invade the mainland of Hanzhou. I swear, I will burn their city called Jianye to the ground, and all the Hanzhou people will work as coolies, and then make them miserable died in a labor camp."

An armed merchant ship that arrived yesterday docked at the pier, bringing more than 30 mercenaries and more than 100 native servants to Ambon, as well as a large amount of living supplies.

In addition, a big person came on board, Mr. Senad Kalamet, Senior Commercial Counselor of the East India Company.On behalf of the governor, he came to Ambon to inspect the recovery of the local clove supply. At the same time, he also had an important task, which was to escort 15 dong silver coins and supervise the use of the funds to pay for the purchase of spices in the next few months. cost.

In view of the fact that the Dutch have just repaired the natives on Ambon Island, Mr. Senard Karamet took advantage of the fear of the natives in a very timely manner and lowered the purchase price of cloves by another [-]% on the basis of last year. , and the payment currency is only half.The other half will use grain as a substitute.In this way, the East India Company will save most of the funds, which will be used to pay for spices in the Ternate Sultanate.

You must know that the Dutch have fought many battles with several surrounding forces since last year, and their losses have been somewhat large.Moreover, the reconstruction work of Ambon City is far from over, and even the gaps in several sections of the city wall have not been repaired, but a dozen giant trees are used to temporarily cover them.

The Deputy Governor of Eder Konnet expressed his objection to Mr. Senad Kalamet's lowering of the purchase price of cloves. He believed that the East India Company had just implemented thunder suppression measures on the island. They eat a "sweet date".Even if the purchase price of cloves cannot be increased, the price cannot be lowered by such a magnitude, and the currency is only half.As for the other half of the grain, it was the grain that Batavia had stored a few years ago, and some of it was even mildewed.This may arouse the dissatisfaction of the natives and bring some security pressure to the colonial authorities in Ambon.

Just when Governor Edel Konedai returned to the Governor's Mansion in the city and faced the countless complicated colonial affairs in front of him, more than 800 men in black military uniforms emerged one after another from the edge of the forest about 200 meters southwest of Ambon City. The soldiers, carrying a crocodile leather backpack on their backs and holding muskets in both hands, squatted quietly on the grass one by one.

Xu Hongxiang, as the temporary battalion commander of the landing force, unified command of more than 260 officers and soldiers of the new Fourth and Fifth Marine Corps.They landed on a coast three kilometers southwest of Ambon City at around five o'clock in the morning, and marched quickly through the dense forest to the vicinity of Ambon City.

Climbing on a tree, holding a binoculars to observe carefully for a while, Xu Hongxiang felt a little apprehensive, and gradually relaxed.He quickly jumped down from the tree and called several leading officers to get together.

"I observed it just now, and it shouldn't be difficult to take down Amwen City." Xu Hongxiang said with a smile: "We fought once in Hanzhou last year, and the pier fortress and some of the defense facilities of Amwen City have not yet been repaired. My plan It's very simple, our two companies all rushed to the pier and the small castle nearby to resolve the battle as quickly as possible. Then we waited for the fleet to dock, transported the artillery down, approached Ambon City, and bombarded their unrepaired city wall .In the end, the whole army entered the city."

"There is a military camp near the pier. From the looks of it, there may be about 400 people inside, but there are no Dutch red-haired ghosts outside. Therefore, the soldiers there must be their native servants, and their combat effectiveness should not be strong. We still follow the previous Battalion Commander Niu’s combat mode is to sneak quietly to the vicinity of Ambon City, shoot with guns, and then charge with bayonets. Ladies and gentlemen, do you have anything to add?"

"There is a Dutch merchant ship on the pier. When we get close to the pier, we may be bombarded by its artillery." Su Zhongfu, the company commander of the Fifth Marine Corps, said: "In this case, there may be many casualties."

"However, if we can't take down the fort, our fleet may be attacked by the Dutch at sea and on land." Xu Hongxiang lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said: "We will take down the fort first. If we can use the It is best to bombard the enemy ship with the fort. If the artillery of the fort cannot hit the enemy ship, destroy the cannon, and then quickly evacuate from the dock, and wait for the fleet to come and attack the Dutch merchant ship."

When everyone heard the words, they all nodded and said yes. It is impossible for any combat environment to be [-]% beneficial to one's own side.The defense of Ambon City, relatively speaking, is extremely crude and lax.

The plan has been decided, and more than 200 marine soldiers, under the orders of officers at all levels, put the bayonets under their waists on the barrels of the guns, and then fell to the ground and sneaked in the direction of Ambon City.

More than a dozen soldiers of the Ternate Sultan Kingdom lay lazily at the gate of the barracks at the pier, and from time to time glanced at the natives who were working hard to carry stones nearby.As the situation on Ambon gradually calmed down, the Dutch East India Company began to restrict their policing operations, which made them lose the opportunity to earn extra income.Now they act as overseers for the restoration and reconstruction of the wharf outside Ambon, supervising and driving the natives who have been expropriated to work.

Perhaps in another ten days and a half months, they will also leave Ambon and return to their hometown to enjoy the wealth plundered from the natives of the island over the past few months.The Dutch are still relatively generous, acquiescing to them to keep the spoils they obtained from the conquest of the natives and bring them back to Ternate.Moreover, they also obtained a large number of iron swords, as well as some muskets and gunpowder from the Dutch.This allows them to gain some weapon advantages when they are fighting against the Kingdom of Tidore Sultan and the Kingdom of Gova Sultan.

The afternoon sun was very dazzling, with a silvery light on the sea, and even the meadows on land were shining with dazzling sun rays from time to time.Hey, the question is, shouldn’t the meadow be full of green grass leaves and yellow flowers, why can they reflect bursts of dazzling light from time to time?
Less than 300 meters away from the pier, Xu Hongxiang ordered the soldiers of the [-]th Marine Corps who had experience in killing the natives of Timor Island to come forward, and began to speed up his pace, rushing towards the camp of the natives.

The soldiers of the Ternate Sultan Kingdom, who were lying or sitting at the gate of the camp, watched in astonishment as hundreds of Hanzhou marines in black uniforms stopped their bayonets and rushed towards them at a trot.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..." A dozen soldiers of the Hanzhou Marine Corps rushed to a distance of 80 to [-] meters from the gate of the camp, stood still for a while, and then raised their guns and started shooting.

The soldiers of the Ternate Sultan Kingdom who were in a panic at the gate of the camp suddenly fell down, and the remaining few turned their heads and ran towards the camp.But the gunshots that followed made them fall on the road one after another.

Soldiers of the Fourth Marine Corps rushed into the native camp with bayonet-tipped muskets, while soldiers of the Fifth Marine Corps, led by company commander Su Zhongfu, rushed towards the pier fort.

All of a sudden, gunshots and shouts of killing rang out near the pier.

(End of this chapter)