1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 362 The War Potential of Hanzhou

September 1640, 2, Hanzhou, Jianye Port.

Lieutenant Andrew Florent was the first to jump off the ship, and what he saw was a solid concrete trestle, extending from the pier to the sea for more than 50 meters.At this pier, there are four other cement permanent trestles like this one.In other words, the port of Hanzhou can dock ten large ships at the same time.

A tall pulley boom is also erected on each trestle bridge, which can easily hoist various heavy objects onto the ship or unload the goods.And in the depths of the pier, thick gun barrels protruded from more than a dozen half-covered gun positions.You don't need to go closer to observe, just look at the appearance, you know that it should be a heavy gun above 18 pounds.

"Hanzhou's port defenses are still relatively tight." Dutch representative Rudne Cheers said softly: "No wonder our fleet dare not break in."

"As far as I know, in addition to the fort on the front of the pier, there are two forts on the mountains on both sides of the harbor." Lieutenant Andrew Florent said: "Theoretically speaking, the Hanzhou Ports are impenetrable to any fleet."

"Oh, Hanzhou people always like to build their stronghold into a tortoise shell." Rudney Chers said contemptuously: "It costs a lot of money to build a fortress that is difficult for outsiders to conquer. This is what the weak like to do most .”

"Is Hanzhou weak?" Lieutenant Andrew Florent shook his head and said, "We have suffered a lot from them."

"But in the end, they couldn't persist in fighting us for long, so they had to send peace representatives. Isn't it?"

"No, they are not asking for peace. They may feel that it is meaningless to continue the war with us." Lieutenant Andrew Florent said: "Through more than a year of war, Hanzhou has proved to us that Yes, they have a certain strength, enough to withstand the suppression of our Dutch East India Company. It also shows that they cannot be easily subdued, and they cannot be easily threatened."

"So..." Rudney Chelsea looked at Lieutenant Andrew Florent with some doubts.

"So, they feel that the war can be ended. Because if the fight continues, the conflict with our East India Company may intensify." Lieutenant Andrew Florent said: "I think the Governor may have misjudged Hanzhou. .They should not be afraid of war, but want to try to have an equal and peaceful relationship with us, no longer in our subordinate position."

"However, the Governor insists that Hanzhou will definitely be the strongest opponent of our East India Company in the future, and we must suppress and restrict them while they are still relatively weak." Rudney Cheers expression He said solemnly: "So, Hanzhou must submit to us and accept our planning and guidance. Only on this basis can we maintain peace with Hanzhou."

"Hanzhou is not those kingdoms in the East Indies. They have inherited some of the traditions and civilization of the huge Ming country in the north. Moreover, some of their ideas and technologies even surpass ours in Europe. Believe me, Mr. Cheers, this The next time we come to Hanzhou, there will definitely be no results. Hanzhou will not succumb to us easily, and they will definitely continue the war after seeing the prerequisites put forward by our East India Company."

"Lieutenant Florent, do you know them that well? Perhaps, their current resources and potential are no longer able to support the war."

"Mr. Cheers, I was once sent by the Batavia fleet to Hanzhou as a liaison representative, and I spent a year with them day and night." Lieutenant Andrew Florent said, "So, I know them well and know them well. Familiar with them. Even if their strength is obviously weaker than ours, they would rather perish together with the jade than seek a momentary struggle."

After listening to Lieutenant Andrew Florent's words, Rudney Cheers couldn't help feeling a little worried. Perhaps the peace given by the East India Company when they came to Hanzhou this time to "give alms" would not achieve their wish. Target.

"Oh, look, Hanzhou people are really extravagant, they actually spread such thick iron bars on the road!" Just as they walked to the wharf warehouse area, they suddenly heard a Dutch representative exclaim.

Everyone looked for the reputation, and sure enough, two thick iron bars (steel rails) stretched from the wharf warehouse area to Jianye City in the distance. Under the iron bars, there were pieces of square wood padding them.Obviously, these two thick iron bars should be used for some kind of means of transportation, and they run back and forth on the two upper rails after being loaded with goods.

"This is steel!" A Dutchman who is familiar with steel materials squatted on the two rails, looked carefully, and tapped a few times with his hands, and said in amazement: "The Hanzhou people actually laid steel on the ground." !"

After hearing this, several Dutch people suddenly changed their colors.You must know that in Europe, steel is a very scarce metal material, and its refining is quite difficult, and the output is also very low.Most of the smelting workshops basically produce iron.

In the development of steel in Europe, the final breakthrough occurred in 1856, when Henry Bessemer developed an effective method of using oxygen to reduce the carbon content in iron, that is, the Bessemer steelmaking process, which led to the birth of the modern iron and steel industry .

Then, in the 19s, German engineer Karl Wilhelm Siemens took steel production even further by creating the open-hearth process.During this period, the steel industry in Europe began to grow explosively, making it the most important metal material in industrial development.

"Hanzhou has so much steel that it can be laid on the ground and used as a rail for transportation. Then, Hanzhou may really be as you said, they are not very weak, and the potential for war may exceed our imagination." Rude Ne Cheers smiled wryly and said to Lieutenant Andrew Florent.

After waiting at the pier for a short time, several unpretentious carriages drove up in front of the Dutch representative. Two cold-faced Hanzhou military officers stiffly invited members of the Dutch delegation to board the car.

Coming to Hanzhou Jianye City again, Lieutenant Andrew Florent found that it was more lively than a year ago, and the number of buildings in the city had increased a lot. The faces of the residents in the city did not seem to show any changes brought about by the war. , everyone was filled with a positive demeanor.The streets are still very clean and tidy, supplemented by neatly planned rows of buildings, the whole city seems to be very orderly.

The Dutch were taken to a remote building to rest temporarily. This move was not intentional to neglect them, but because the two sides were still in a state of war, and the Hanzhou government was worried that the Dutch delegation would be attacked by radical people.

In the early morning of the next day, the Dutch delegation was taken to the conference room on the second floor of the Hanzhou Commander's Mansion by a Marine Corps officer. There were already several high-ranking Hanzhou officials waiting for their arrival.

After listening to the interpreter's introduction of the identities of the Dutch delegation, Qi Tian couldn't help smiling, and shook his head at Cao Xiong next to him.The Dutch representatives who came this time were all middle and low-level officials of the East India Company. Obviously, they did not come here with the utmost sincerity for reaching a consensus this time.

"Just tell me, if you are willing to end the war, what conditions do you have?" Cao Xiong asked straightforwardly, not wanting to waste time.

Rudney Chers originally served as the governor of Palembang, but because of his outstanding performance, he was promoted to the senior business representative of the company and returned to Batavia to serve.I thought that I had served as a decisive local governor in Palembang, and I would have some psychological advantages when facing the commander of Hanzhou.

Although Cao Xiong only opened his mouth to ask questions, there was a sharp look in his eyes, which made him stagnate, and his momentum weakened a bit.

"With regard to your Hanzhou peace request, our East India Company has carefully considered and proposed the following prerequisites for the peace talks." Rudney Chers took out a document and handed it to the Hanzhou representative across the table .

Qi Tian took the text of the preconditions for the collegiate agreement, opened it and looked at it. The Dutchman was still very careful and prepared a Chinese text.Immediately, take it up close and watch carefully.

The entire meeting room seemed very quiet for a while, only the sound of Qi Tian flipping through the pages of the paperwork, and his... "tsk tsk" sneer.

Seeing Qi Tian's reaction, the representative of the Netherlands seemed a little sullen. If he had any objections to their prerequisites, could he raise them politely instead of making such a mocking expression.

And the few people sitting in Han Zhou were also very strange. I don't know what Qi Tian saw, and they would behave like this. Could it be that the Dutchman put forward very strange conditions?

"Commander, I think there is no need for our Hanzhou to continue the negotiation with the Dutch East India Company." Qi Tian finally closed the text gently, and then said to Cao Xiong: "We are going to continue the fight." Bar!"

Cao Xiong looked at Qi Tian with a serious face, nodded, stood up, glanced coldly at the Dutchman opposite, turned and left.Since Qi Tian didn't want to discuss the preconditions with the Dutch at all, it is conceivable how excessive the conditions proposed by the Dutch were.

Afterwards, Yu Fukun, Qi Dajiang, Hu Wenjin and others followed Cao Xiong out of the room.

"You Dutch people are too confident." Qi Tian looked at the stunned Dutch representatives, and said softly: "Our Hanzhou has not been defeated. It is unexpected that you will propose such unreasonable conditions. You East India The company will definitely pay for it!"

"Who will pay the price in the future, we will wait and see." Rudney Chelsea replied forcefully.

"Really?" Qi Tian smiled and said, "I heard that you have made many enemies in the Netherlands in Europe. I hope you can survive the siege of Spain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire."

Rudney Chells was a little surprised when he heard this. The young man in front of him actually knew something about European countries.However, he may be mistaken.The Netherlands is indeed at war with Spain and Shinra, but at this time, France is their ally, together with Sweden, they are fighting against the Shinra Alliance.

"War is a test of its own strength, potential for war, and tenacious will to fight." Qi Tian continued, "And our Hanzhou lacks none of the above three items. As long as you Dutch people are willing, our Hanzhou The war can go on forever."

(End of this chapter)