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Chapter 1391 The Pessimistic Strategist
"I'm not a soldier, I don't need battle merits."

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man turned his head, shrugged slightly, and his gaunt face was illuminated by the glow of his cigar. He was none other than Jane Petersson Cohen, the former governor of Batavia.

"Do you still think it was a mistake to go to war with the Ming Empire at this point?" General Tropp also took out a cigar, reached out and took the half-smoked cigarette from Enko's mouth, and blew on the cigarette butt.

"Marshal Bernhard's military talent and courage are admirable, but Enniu City doesn't tell the whole story. Based on my observation, the defense system of Enniu Port was superior to that of Enniu City, and moreover, it was the Ming army that voluntarily abandoned it. I believe this has a lot to do with the Xhosa people."

The Ming army's retreat to the port area is not good news for us. They have shaken off the troublesome Xhosa people and can now focus all their efforts on fighting, making the upcoming battles very difficult.

Another issue to consider is time! Besides Colombo, the Ming navy must have another base closer to Enniu Port. Judging from their sailing speed, reinforcements will most likely arrive within a month.

Today is day 9, which means we have a maximum of 20 days left. Do you think Bernhard can completely control the port within 20 days? If not, we'll be attacked from both sides, and even escape may become a pipe dream!

Cohen and Tropp not only knew each other long ago, but were also good friends. Before joining the United Provinces Republic Navy, Tropp had worked and lived in Asia for several years, during which time he spent most of his time as a captain under the East India Company, and received a lot of help from Cohen, the then Governor-General of Batavia.

When Tropp became the Republic's Admiral of the Navy and accepted Bernhard's invitation to become the Allied Naval Commander, the first person he thought of was his old friend who had served in Asia for many years.

Upon learning that Cohen had offended the Republic's high command by opposing the Republic's participation in the war and had been recalled by the East India Company, he immediately used his power to incorporate Cohen into the combat force to prevent his old friend and family from being treated as traitors.

However, his old friend was anything but easy to deal with. Even when he was leading a cargo fleet in the Allied military operations, he still couldn't hide his pessimism and often made some inappropriate remarks, which drew a lot of criticism within the fleet.

"Is there absolutely no chance of winning?"

However, the idea of ​​changing the landing site was also Cohen's. No one in the Allied forces was more familiar with Enbird Port than him. Even though his pessimistic views were very inappropriate, Tropp had to convince himself to listen to him more.

"...May God be merciful and allow him to make a mistake just this once! After all, he's only human, and humans make mistakes!"

Looking at his old friend's hopeful face, Cohen couldn't bear to rule out the possibility entirely. But people accustomed to rational thinking base their judgments on logic, and if they can't find logical evidence, they can't convince themselves.

I thought and thought, but I couldn't find a single reasonable explanation. In fact, I've been thinking about this for over two months since I left Spain, and I still haven't come up with anything. In the end, I can only numb myself with this kind of curse-like prayer.

"Being at odds with all of Europe was a mistake in itself, and his attitude and practices toward religion were even more wrong. According to their military strategy, fighting on multiple fronts was also a major error. A series of mistakes led to today's outcome. When I worked for the East India Company, I specifically studied the rise of the Ming Dynasty's navy, and in the process, I stumbled upon one person. It's quite interesting that the Ming Empire and the Ming Navy rose almost simultaneously, and the point of intersection between the two was this emperor."

Before he succeeded the previous emperor and became the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the country was large, chaotic and weak. It was frequently harassed by nomadic tribes in the north and did not have a single ocean-going warship. A small group of Portuguese were able to establish a foothold in Macau by robbing and harassing.

The Spanish in Manila acted even more brazenly, repeatedly instigating the indigenous people on Luzon Island to massacre Chinese merchants, while the Ming Empire remained completely indifferent. In reality, even if it wanted to react, it lacked the available ocean-going warships and had no effective means to deal with the Portuguese and Spanish.

But all of this changed completely soon after the new emperor ascended the throne! He first used a series of political maneuvers to dismiss officials in the government who did not support change, and then gradually seized military power.

What followed was even more amazing. In just ten years, he led the navy and army he had built to conquer all the surrounding countries, including Mongolia, which had once swept across Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

It is said that many weapons and equipment were invented by this emperor, such as the warships and cannons of the Ming Dynasty navy, as well as the firearms used by the Ming army. One of these technologies has now spread to Europe and is being used by more and more ocean-going sailing ships and warships, namely the Gothenburg sail on my head.

Gothenburg is a city in Sweden. I'm not sure why a sail invented by an Asian emperor was called that, but what I do know is that this type of sail could greatly improve a ship's ability to sail against the wind, while not losing too much power in the wind, and could also greatly reduce the number of people required to operate it.

However, at that time, European countries were preoccupied with the damned religious wars, and no one noticed that a huge country was quietly rising in Asia. Even the expulsion of the Spanish from the Philippines did not attract the necessary attention.

Oh right, except for you. I remember you mentioned that before becoming the governor of Batavia, you had written a report to the East India Company leadership about the Ming Empire, hoping to raise awareness, but unfortunately, those guys who only had silver coins in their eyes didn't take it seriously.

In the past decade, the Ming Empire suddenly surged forward, rapidly expanding its sphere of influence in Asia while simultaneously striking down any competitors. It used the port of Enniu to restrict European ships' activities in Asia, severely damaging the Anglo-Spanish fleet and even seizing Ottoman ports, thus gradually revealing its true nature.

The emperor still had a choice: if he agreed to the peace terms proposed by the European delegation and ceded some of the Asian seas, war could be averted. In reality, this would not affect the fundamental interests of the Ming Empire, and might even allow him to collect more taxes.

It's a pity... The three armies, from the north, central, and south, were at least several thousand miles apart, and none of them could be ignored. The result was this situation: each route had to be defended, severely dispersing the forces. If the Ming emperor had stationed several thousand more troops here, Marshal Bernhard would likely have perished in Africa.

"By the way, Cohen, have you noticed that the Ming Dynasty's army is severely mismatched with its population? I wonder why the emperor doesn't hire more soldiers; it certainly isn't a matter of pay!"

(End of this chapter)