Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 351: Enemy Ship Thin City (6K)

Nuiz landed on the main island of Penghu and, under the guidance of Bangkut, came to the Penghu Guerrilla Office, where Peter de Carpentier, the former chief of VOC and current fleet commander, was waiting for him.

Next to Carpentier sat the fleet's deputy commander, William Janssen, the port master of Batavia who was sent to Japan by Cohen last year. He was a VOC official with extensive sailing experience and had climbed up to his current position step by step from a low-level sailor.

Captain Antua Anthony sat on Carpentier's other side. He was also very old, having arrived in the East Indies seventeen years ago as a sergeant in the army.

This man was well-known among the VOC's Asian staff and was known for his aggressiveness. However, General Cohen favored him and promoted him to captain, the highest rank in the VOC Army, at the end of his first term.

Last September, Cohen was reappointed as the chief judge of Batavia and immediately promoted Anduan to the position of the president of the court. Obviously, this was a move by Cohen to establish his authority during his second term, otherwise he would never have allowed this notorious figure to take charge of judicial power.

In another time and space, Anduan only served as the president of the court for two years. During the dry season of these two years, the Sultanate of Matalan had launched a large-scale siege of Batavia, so Anduan made great contributions for two consecutive years. During the second siege, he was awarded the position of field commander by Cohen, which was equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the army in Batavia.

Nuyiz ignored William Janssen and Anduan Anthony, who were of lower ranks than him, and walked directly forward to salute Carpentier: "Your Excellency, we meet again."

"Peter, it's nice to see you again, but please don't call me CEO anymore, I have already resigned..." Carpentier let out a wry smile. According to the company's arrangement, he should have been on his way back to China as the commander of this year's returning fleet.

However, Cohen detained the fleet without authorization and appointed him as the fleet commander to attack the Friends Company. To be honest, Carpentier did not want to do this hard job. He had not been involved in fighting for many years. The last time he remembered was nine years ago when he and Cohen captured Jakarta, which is now Batavia.

Like Nuize, Carpentier was a highly educated talent. When he first joined the VOC, he was a senior commercial officer, which was much higher than Cohen. Just three years after arriving in Asia, he became the Secretary-General of the East India Council, also known as the Director of Trade, and the second-in-command of the VOC in Asia.

Five years later, he was nominated by Cohen and unanimously elected as the General Governor of Batavia by the Council, and from then on he became the highest authority in charge of the Asian maritime hegemony. With such a resume, he had a bright future after returning to the Netherlands, and he could thrive in both politics and business.

Carpentier was extremely reluctant to take on this new job assigned by Cohen. He declined several times, but in the end, Cohen roared like a lion: "Listen to me, old friend! You have to do this job, or you won't be forgiven for not being kind to me!"

Carpentier did not dare to disobey anymore. Whether in the East Indies or in the Netherlands, Cohen's power was much greater than his. He was regarded as a hero by the people of the country, and even the Seventeen Gentlemen had to give him some respect...

"Well, sir," Carpentier said with a wry smile, "May I ask you a question? There are many people in the company who have more experience in naval warfare. Why did you insist on letting me take charge?"

"You're right, so I let William be your deputy. You can listen to his opinions on naval warfare. As for land warfare, you're even worse. Fortunately, An Duan is both fierce and cunning. You just need to listen to him. There are few people in the company who are better than him in this regard, including myself..."

Cohen then explained, "For a fleet commander, battlefield command ability is not important. The most important thing is authority, especially when the fleet is large. Old friend, you know that we are sending out elite soldiers this time. Who else but you and I can control them? And your junior who works in a high-ranking official, to be honest, I am most worried about him. If you don't go, I am afraid that the command of the fleet will fall into his hands."

Carpentier suddenly realized what was going on. Cohen had always been critical of Nuys, but this man was not only of a high rank, but also a favorite of Seventeen Gentlemen. The company was rumored to have him take over Cohen's job in the future. With such a status, naturally there would be many interested people who wanted to invest in advance...

Of course, Nuys knew that Cohen disliked him, but he thought to himself that he had connections in the court, so it didn't matter as long as he didn't get caught. So he smiled and said to Carpentier, "You are still the president even if you step down as president. When you return to your country, your future prospects may not be worse than those of some barbarians who have never been to college."

Although this statement was a veiled insult to Cohen, it also insulted William Janssen and Anduan Anthony.

An Duan was about to explode when he saw Carpentier slamming the table and angrily saying, "Nuizi, Mr. Cohen is a hero of the Netherlands. If your words were to reach Amsterdam, I'm afraid he would be dead on the street the next day... Well, stop talking nonsense. When Mr. Yang Sen passed by Dayuan last year, he suggested that you pay more attention to the Huiyou Company. Do you have any information to share with us now?"

"No." Nuyiz replied straightforwardly, "Aren't we very clear about the situation of the members? Nicholas Yi Guan and Kapitan Ming Gang have already told us a lot. A naive Ming general is imitating the company and trying to monopolize Ming's maritime trade, but he doesn't know that this will bring him fatal disaster..."

Carpentier was speechless when he heard this. He was a more cautious bureaucrat. Five years ago, it was he who gave up on using force to open the Ming Dynasty's door.

To be honest, Carpentier did not regard Huiyou as a mortal enemy. He did not think that this Ming company could shake the VOC's maritime hegemony. But that was for Batavia, not for the Tainan Trading House. After Huiyou Company destroyed Zheng Zhilong, everyone with a discerning eye knew that this would be the biggest threat to Tainan. However, Nuyiz, the chief of this place, was so careless that he did not care...

"Mr. Cohen's vision is still as sharp as ever. This Nuiz is really an ambitious but incompetent fool..." Carpentier thought silently. He was a mature man and did not speak his mind out loud.

I only heard Nu Yizi continue: "Your Excellency, the fleet sent by the company this time is unprecedentedly powerful. I think we don't need to worry about the Friendship Company. It is better to go directly to Fujian and force the Ming Dynasty to sign a trade treaty. The person in charge of the Friendship Company is the general of the Ming Dynasty. As long as we conquer the Ming Dynasty, we can naturally order his superiors to hand it over to us for disposal."

Carpentier was completely speechless. Army Captain Anduan Anthony sneered at the side and said, "Commander Nu Yizi is very ambitious. I think it would be better to let the Taiyuan Trading Company take over Xiamen Island first... Oh, by the way, I forgot that the commander has never been to the battlefield before."

"So what if I have never fought a war? The Ming people are just a bunch of cowards. A volley of musket fire will make their army scatter like birds and beasts. If there were not too few soldiers in the Tainan Trading Company, I would have planted the tricolor flag on Xiamen Island long ago. This time, the company sent more than 3,000 people, which can completely sweep across the southeast of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, we must not only sign a trade treaty, but also force the Ming Dynasty to cede coastal territories..."

Nuyiz spoke with an arrogant look on his face. In fact, there are many Europeans as crazy as him, and there are even many who are crazier than him:
As early as the last century, the Spanish in the Philippines had proposed a plan to conquer the Ming Dynasty with 60 people. Later, they realized that the Ming Dynasty was not the Inca Empire, so the number of people increased to 6000, and then to 25000...

Carpentier finally couldn't stand it anymore. If the Ming Dynasty was so easy to conquer, then the Battle of Penghu many years ago was undoubtedly a huge joke. He, the decision maker who ordered the withdrawal of troops from Penghu, was even more ridiculous. He could be said to be the most cowardly person in the world...

"That's enough, Mr. Nuiz. If you don't have any more information about Huiyou Company, please return to Dayuan immediately. You don't need to say anything more about the fleet." Carpentier has been a leader for so many years, and he still has a temper.

"Mr. President? I don't quite understand what you mean..." Nuyiz had never seen this senior get angry with him before, and he was a little stunned.

He was even more surprised that Carpentier wanted to send him back to Dayuan. According to company practice, every fleet going out on an expedition had to form a fleet council, and the members were generally composed of the highest-ranking people in the fleet.

Nuyiz was the director of the Tainan Trading Company and also a special member of the East India Council. The target of this fleet expedition was near Tainan, so there was no doubt that he should be included in the Fleet Council.

"General Cohen has ordered that anyone who has never fought in a war is not allowed to appear in the fleet council." Anduan Anthony's sarcastic laughter rang out again, like a bolt from the blue, shattering Nuyiz's dream of making great achievements.

"I don't accept it. This is against the company's practice!" Nuyiz was furious and protested loudly immediately.

This is indeed inconsistent with VOC practice, because the VOC fleet council is often composed mainly of civilian personnel. For example, in the Penghu fleet during the Tianqi period, only one of the seven captains was on the council, but the commercial officers on almost every ship were on the council, and the position of commercial officer did not require any military experience.

"This is an order from President Cohen. You know, even the Seventeenth Gentleman can't get over him on many things." Carpentier spoke calmly, but Nuize knew it was the fact. Van Diemen's career was a typical example.

"Go back, Peter. Commander Cohen has given the fleet the top priority of exterminating all members, and then forcing the Ming Kingdom to trade. Once the first task is completed, I will let you participate in the rest..."

Carpentier finally decided to give his junior a chance to make contributions, because he had connections in the government. It is important to make more good friends, which is his philosophy of life and the secret of Carpentier's rapid rise in the VOC.

Anyway, Cohen only banned Nuiz from entering the Fleet Council, but it would always be possible to let him participate in the negotiations with the Fujian authorities, right?

Carpentier also had high hopes for opening the door to the Ming Dynasty this time. After all, the fleet sent by the company this time was extraordinary, and there were tens of thousands of Ming pirates as allies. Huang Mingzuo also repeatedly assured him that as long as he could destroy the friends of the Society, trade would be a piece of cake, because the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty was much tighter than it was five or six years ago, and the emperor could not afford to fight a protracted war on the southeast coast.

Huang Mingzuo was once a special envoy of the Fujian governor to Batavia, and Carpentier was also involved in this matter, so he thought that his words were very credible...

"Since there is no more intelligence from the officials, let's invite our friends from the Ming country over and we can discuss the next plan of action." Carpentier instructed the Chinese youth standing beside him. This man was Cohen's Chinese translator Li Enzuo. His father Li Jin had been to the Netherlands thirty years ago and had been working for the Red Devils long before the establishment of the VOC.

"Yes, Commander!" Li Enzuo immediately went to invite Huang Mingzuo and Li Kuiqi. He was sent to Macau by Cohen at the end of last year and has been inseparable from Huang Mingzuo for the past six months.

Carpentier then ordered someone to invite other members of the Fleet Council, namely the captains of the nine main battleships, and soon everyone gathered at the Penghu Guerrilla Office.

"Kapitan Kuiqi, have we heard any news about our other allies?" Carpentier asked Li Kuiqi first. "Don't worry, Chu Cai, Cai San, Zhu Shi, Zhou San's troops will all come, but the prerequisite is that we must win a victory at sea first, or seal the Huiyou Company's fleet in Keelung Harbor so that they dare not come out."

Li Kuiqi met up with the VOC fleet outside the Pearl River Estuary, and then sent people to contact the other pirates to send troops. After entering the Fujian waters, these pirates sent people to Li Kuiqi's ship one after another, but refused to send troops now. Obviously, they were still quite afraid of the naval strength of Huiyou Company and worried that the red-haired devils would not be their opponents.

"The Ming people are really as untrustworthy as the rumors say..." An Duan was very dissatisfied when he heard this. It's not that he didn't have confidence in his army, but Cohen had reminded him: In land battles, try to use Ming pirates as cannon fodder and don't let your own people sacrifice in vain.

"Why don't I keep my word?" Li Kuiqi was also annoyed with the red-haired devil. "My brothers are also good men who keep their word. As long as you can win a game first, I guarantee that they will come within three days!"

"You'd better keep your word, or I'll shoot you!" An Duan roared loudly, and then yelled at Li Enzuo, "You, translate this sentence to him verbatim..."

Li Kuiqi was also frightened after hearing the translation. He slammed the table and stood up: "Fuck you! Do you think I was brought up by being scared?"

Huang Mingzuo quickly grabbed him and said with a smile: "Everyone calm down, calm down, we are all family, don't hurt our harmony. Three of the four leaders are in the north, and it is really inconvenient for them to meet in Penghu against the wind. Besides, they have never fought against the plywood boats, and they are still skeptical about whether you can defeat the Huiyou Company. As long as we win the first game..."

"An Duan, don't say any more." Carpentier also tried to smooth things over after hearing what Huang Mingzuo said, and then said, "Mr. Huang is right, we just need to win the first game. Everyone, tell me how we are going to fight this battle."

Everyone started talking about it. Li Kuiqi had already explained to the VOC Fleet Council the geography of Tamsui and Keelung, as well as other situations of the Huiyou Company.

He had a deep understanding of the situation of the Huiyou Company, mainly because Zheng Zhilong captured Zhang Daniu and others during the Battle of Dongshan, and Li Kuiqi also participated in the interrogation. At the same time, he himself had been to the mouth of the Tamsui River and Keelung Port many times in his early years and was very familiar with the local terrain.

Based on the information provided by Li Kuiqi, the VOC Fleet Council discussed in Dutch for a while and finally agreed to the plan proposed by Fleet Deputy Commander William Janssen to lure the snake out of its hole:
Li Kuiqi led his headquarters ahead, and the VOC sent the Yahat ship Lioness, the curved bow ship Vesp and the Texel to accompany them, responsible for driving away the patrol ships of the Huiyou Company and luring the main force of the Navy out of Keelung Port. The main fleet of the VOC followed behind at a distance of dozens of miles, and after the front army entangled the enemy's main force, it suddenly rushed out and annihilated it in one fell swoop in the open sea...

The VOC members reached a consensus before asking Li Enzuo to translate the resolution into Chinese. Li Kuiqi pondered for a moment and said, "This plan is good, but it may not work. Lin Hai's official position in the Ming Dynasty is the Penghu guerrilla, but now there is not even a single soldier in Penghu. This means that he may have already grasped the situation of our army. I am afraid he may not be led out of Keelung Port."

"Kapitan Kuiqi, what you said makes sense." Carpentier looked at Li Kuiqi approvingly, and then asked William Janssen, "If the enemy retreats and refuses to come out, what should we do?"

"Commander, our fleet has come from afar and does not have enough small boats. The same is true for Kapitan Kuiqi's junk fleet. We do not have enough ships for inland river operations, so we cannot attack Tamsui by force. We must wait for the other allies of the Ming Dynasty..."

Yang Sen then asked Li Kuiqi: "You said they would bring a lot of small boats, right?"

Li Kuiqi patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, they are close by, and we have as many boats as you need."

Yang Sen nodded, and then said to Carpentier: "Then, I suggest that we blockade Tamsui and Keelung first, and then formulate the next battle plan after our allies arrive."

At this time, the captain of the Zelan stood up and said, "Why bother? The water in Keelung Harbor is deep enough, and the channel on the west side is wide enough. The fleet has so many cannons, so we can just rush in and blow the Ming fleet to pieces!"

The captain of the Zirizik also agreed: "If the hydrographic information provided by Kapitan Kuiqi is correct, this plan is completely feasible."

The captain of the Delft asked: "What if the enemy uses the fire ship tactic?"

"We can pick a rainy day to break into Keelung Harbor." The captain of the Zirijik then asked Li Kuiqi, "You said that it often rains in Keelung, right?"

Before Li Kuiqi could answer, William Yangsen rejected the proposal: "No, there are many variables in the inland sea battle. The enemy can do a lot of things, such as blocking the western channel with sunken ships or boulders, leaving only the narrow eastern channel for future entry and exit... In short, we will face great risks if we rush in rashly. I will not agree to do this unless it is absolutely necessary."

The captain of the Zeeland wanted to say something, but Carpentier stopped him with a wave of his hand: "I agree with Mr. Yang Sen's opinion. Listen carefully. No one is allowed to force their way into Keelung Port without my order."

Carpentier made the final decision, and no one dared to say anything. At this time, Army Captain Anduan Anthony suddenly spoke up: "It's not that difficult to take over Keelung Port. It's enough to just capture the commanding heights..."

As he spoke, he walked over to the sketch of Keelung Harbor drawn based on Li Kuiqi's intelligence, and continued, "Please look, everyone, there is a hill at the entrance of Keelung Harbor. As long as we occupy this high ground and pull up the naval guns, then everything will be over!"

The captain of the Orange said, "If I remember correctly, the company built a fort on the mountain and another one at the foot of the mountain. Kapitan Kuiqi, am I right?"

"That's absolutely right." Anduan Anthony answered on behalf of Li Kuiqi, and then continued, "The fortress at the foot of the mountain is in the direction of the inland sea. We will land from the outer sea, and they can't hit it. As for the one on the mountain, since the enemy can hit us, we can certainly hit them too. The fleet only needs to provide fire suppression, and the army will take over the rest."

"Does the army have enough troops?" Carpentier asked. An Duan had only 1500 men under his command, including 500 Japanese soldiers.

"It's completely enough. This island is not that big, and we can't deploy too many troops..." An Duan said, "But after occupying Keelung, we will need more troops to continue advancing towards Tamsui."

"Very good! Take Keelung, then gather other allies, and then attack Tamsui from land!" Carpentier decided on the final strategy, and no one, including Li Kuiqi, raised any objections.

At dawn on the second day, when the eastern sky was just beginning to turn pale, Li Kuiqi led the vanguard of the coalition forces and sailed away from the Penghu Islands in a mighty force. That afternoon, they encountered a communication ship of the Huiyou Company on the west side of the Changhua Plain.

The two bow guns of the Yahat ship Lioness opened fire immediately. The ship also had 30 heavy guns, including 26 broadside guns, but Captain Lucas did not attend the fleet council. What annoyed him even more was that the fleet commander asked him to accept the leadership of the Ming pirates, which made him even more angry...

Therefore, Lucas was full of anger and wanted to grab the credit. After seeing the enemy ship, he immediately ordered to open fire. Unfortunately, both shells missed the target as the distance between the two sides was still too far.

The reporting ship did not fire back, but just ran away...

"Pursue with full sail!" Lucas ordered loudly, and then said to the first mate Marcel, "The Ming people are really cowards."

The Ahat ship was originally a variant of the galleon specialized for the pursuit of high speed. After the Lioness hoisted full sails, it quickly left Li Kuiqi's fleet behind.

However, the reporting ship in Lucas's sight was getting farther and farther away, gradually becoming a blurry dot...

"Damn it! This boat is flying on the water!" Lucas punched the winch at the bow in hatred.

"Captain, this should be the strange ship that Lord Yang Sen mentioned. It looks a bit like our Throop, but it runs faster." First mate Marcel looked serious, and after a while he continued, "This Ming company is still something, and it's worth our serious attention."

Lucas sneered, obviously not taking this seriously. Marcel then said, "Of course, their end is coming, we will use cannons to send them to see God!"

Late that night, Lin Hai was awakened from his sleep and was told that the patrol ship had sighted the enemy fleet.

So he didn't have time to sleep, nor did he have time to wait for the 500 native troops to set out together. He rode to Keelung overnight with his personal soldiers. The reason why he chose to ride a horse instead of a boat was because the open sea was no longer safe, and sailing upstream on the Keelung River could not keep up with the speed of horses.

By the time he landed on Sheliao Island, it was already daybreak. The enemy squadron led by Li Kuiqi also arrived off the coast of Keelung at about the same time.

(End of this chapter)