Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1311 Whistleblower
The appearance of the Ming Dynasty's allied fleet caught Batavia completely off guard. While the Ming Dynasty launched attacks on the port and forts, Batavia was still embroiled in its own internal fighting.

Due to the fierce fighting between the governor and the board members in the city, Batavia has been in complete chaos for the past few days. In addition to the battles between the governor's guards and the board members' guards, the military camps stationed in Batavia are also at a loss. Even General Capelen remains neutral, waiting for the outcome of the battle.

This situation led to Batavia's attention being focused on the internal civil war, resulting in a complete relaxation of external defenses and a lack of unified command. No one expected the Ming army to launch an attack on Batavia at this time, and when the Ming army opened fire, those inside the city thought it was just a continuation of the civil war, a mere exchange of artillery fire between the Dutch.

However, they quickly realized something was wrong, and by the time they understood, it was too late. After the Ming army swiftly and decisively captured the port and forts, the outskirts of Batavia were already in Ming hands. The Batavian city defense forces then realized the situation and hurriedly began to prepare for defense. However, the problem was that the city defense soldiers were unable to receive orders from their superiors, as neither the governor's office nor the board of directors had ceased fighting.

In this situation, the Dutch garrison could only hold their position voluntarily, and due to the lack of command, their defense and counterattacks were weak. Moreover, with the army in disarray and unable to be effectively mobilized, the seemingly impregnable defenses of Batavia proved to be far weaker than anticipated when Zheng Hongkui ordered an attack on the city, with several obvious gaps in the defenses.

Zheng Hongkui, a seasoned soldier who had fought countless battles, large and small, naturally possessed a keen understanding of warfare. Seeing this, he immediately concentrated his forces to launch a fierce attack on Batavia's weak points. Meanwhile, the Ming army, facing this rare opportunity, was seething with anger. Having drifted at sea for so long since setting sail from the Ming Dynasty, they hadn't yet engaged in a proper battle. How could they bear to watch their naval comrades wreak havoc while they remained idle?
The imperial court's purpose in sending a large army to the South China Sea was clear to everyone in the expeditionary force. A victory, especially the capture of Batavia, would bring immense reward. And what kind of place was Batavia? It was the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in the Far East, where the Dutch had operated for fifty years. As the world's most profitable company, the city was incredibly wealthy. Zheng Hongkui had promised a substantial reward for capturing Batavia, though not as generous as a large-scale plunder. Zheng Hongkui's promise was still quite good; everyone would return laden with spoils after the battle.

Driven by this, how could the soldiers not fight with all their might? Moreover, the Ming army had long been prepared to attack the city. In an instant, a tidal wave of Ming troops surged towards the walls of Batavia. The Batavian defenders, lacking effective command from their superiors, managed to organize a defense on their own. Although they managed to hold off the first wave of the Ming offensive, when the second wave began, and with the arrival of numerous cannons from landing ships, and the addition of Ming warships already in port firing fiercely at the city walls, the morale of the Batavian defenders quickly collapsed, and they could no longer hold out.

In less than an hour, the breach was opened. After the first to scale the city wall, the defending troops on the top of the wall put up a weak resistance for a while before beginning to collapse. With the breach opened, countless Ming soldiers rushed to the top of the wall, and the Dutch defenders were forced to retreat step by step. The Ming army quickly occupied a section of the city wall.

If there hadn't been internal strife, Batavia's command had been sound, and with its strong defenses and garrison, it wouldn't have been so easy for the Ming army to capture Batavia. The problem was that the Ming army chose the perfect moment: precisely when chaos erupted within the city, with both sides engaged in fierce fighting, especially as the board of directors began their breakout attempt and the governor's guards pursued them. The Ming army then launched a surprise attack on Batavia.

At this point, neither the board of directors nor the governor's office had time to react, especially since they hadn't even taken control of the city's defenses. General Capelen, who had maintained neutrality, was in the same predicament. His failure to immediately take a stand and his allowing the two sides to fight each other, coupled with his neglect of the military camps, created a breach in Batavia's defenses. By the time the Ming army launched their attack, they realized the problem, but it was too late.

When the Ming army captured the city walls and opened the gates, the three factions within Batavia finally realized what was happening. However, it was impossible for them to immediately cease hostilities and unite to counterattack the Ming army. Each harbored their own ulterior motives, fearing that the other might take advantage of the lull in unified command to eliminate them. How could they possibly stand by and watch the other gain control of the situation?
Thus, the chaos not only did not end, but became even more chaotic due to the arrival of the Ming army, which made the Ming army's military operation to capture Batavia exceptionally smooth. As the city gates opened, the main force of the Ming army began to enter the city, sweeping away and annihilating the military forces within. At this moment, whether it was Governor Reines, Director Jacob, or General Capelen, they could only lead their men to fight individually, trying to find ways to stop the Ming army, while simultaneously retreating towards the southeast.

The battle began around noon and lasted until sunset. As the Ming army's offensive continued relentlessly, Batavia's resistance was gradually suppressed. By nightfall, Batavia was basically occupied by the Ming army, and most of the garrison surrendered. As for the remaining defenders, including the board of directors, the governor's mansion, and General Capelen's guards, their escape routes were also blocked by the Ming army. With nowhere to escape, their complete annihilation was only a matter of time.

News soon arrived that General Capelen and Director Jacob had surrendered one after another. Because of his neutrality, the former was not prepared for battle at all. When the Ming army entered Batavia, General Capelen was too late to take over military command. His guards could only put up a weak resistance.

As for Director Jacob, since the breakout, his entourage has suffered heavy casualties, and he is now the only one left of the three directors. As for Directors James and Otto, their whereabouts are unknown; whether they are alive or dead is a question.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless and he had no choice but to surrender, he realized he had no option but to give up resistance. As a board member, he had been in charge of peace talks with the Ming Dynasty, but this turn of events had changed everything, leaving him with no choice but to make this decision to save his own life. Governor Reinnis's resistance was the fiercest and most tenacious. Both Governor Reinnis and Colonel Cohen knew very well that as the instigators of the war, they were the very people the Ming Dynasty wanted to eliminate. Furthermore, to protect themselves, they decisively launched a mutiny, intending to eliminate the three directors of Batavia first. This not only offended the Ming Dynasty but also the company's board of directors.

Now that the Ming army has invaded, the complete loss of Batavia is a fait accompli. Governor Reinier is now at his wit's end; he has no other choice but to lead his troops in a fierce resistance, trying to fight his way out.

Unfortunately, Zheng Hongkui had already foreseen this. To be honest, although the real cause of this civil war was the peace talks between the Ming Dynasty and the East India Company's board of directors, the fact that Governor Reines knew about it and suddenly arrested Ribeck, who was the envoy, showed that the Ming Dynasty was behind it. In other words, it was a scheme devised by Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui, and Governor Reines and the three directors, including Jacob, were actually just pawns being manipulated in this scheme.

From the very beginning, Zheng Hongkui never intended to resolve the war with the East India Company through negotiations, because the purpose of the Ming Dynasty's war against the Dutch was not to punish them, nor was it merely to demand an explanation or compensation from them.

Zhu Shenzhui's initial goal was to completely defeat the Dutch East India Company in the Far East, drive it out of the Far East, seize all of its colonial territories, especially the two key locations of Batavia and Malacca, restore the Ming Dynasty's rule and influence in the South China Sea, rebuild the former Pacification Commissioner system, and even use the colonies seized from the Dutch as fiefdoms for the imperial princes.

Based on this, the Ming Dynasty could not simply give up on the East India Company by sacrificing some benefits. In other words, the war would not end until the Dutch were completely eliminated.

Both Zheng Hongkui and Wang Fuzhi were well aware of this. The reason they held talks with Jacob and other directors was not to achieve their goals through negotiations, but to use this opportunity to set a trap for the Dutch, make them lower their guard, and thus win the battle.

It's difficult to say, and even more difficult to do. But Jacob and his group took the initiative to request peace talks and sent people to negotiate, which gave Zheng Hongkui and his men an opportunity.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zheng Hongkui and Wang Fuzhi decided to turn the tables on each other. Do you remember when Ribeck first came to negotiate, Zheng Hongkui generously released three prisoners to show his sincerity in the peace talks?

To the enemy's utter surprise, of the three prisoners, two had already been recruited and turned into spies for the Ming Dynasty. This wasn't surprising. The Dutch were different from the Ming people; Western countries generally didn't have a strong sense of loyalty to their monarchs or patriotism. Furthermore, the Netherlands' development from the Age of Exploration to the present day relied on global colonies and commerce. In other words, the entire country was extremely commercialized. Merchants have always been profit-driven. Even in the Ming Dynasty, how many times did those Shanxi merchants, or even figures like Yuan Chonghuan, secretly trade with enemy leaders for profit?

Furthermore, the three released prisoners were all members of the Ribeck Trading Company. They were just ordinary people who, as ordinary citizens, had been unwillingly conscripted by the East India Company into the war, only to become prisoners and even risk their lives. This already fueled their resentment. Coupled with some inducements and the fact that their relatives and friends were controlled by the Ming Dynasty, it didn't take much effort to persuade two of them to defect and serve the Ming.

After the three were released, the two who had defected to the Ming Dynasty became Ming spies in Batavia. Under Zheng Hongkui's instructions, they not only collected intelligence on Batavia for the Ming Dynasty, but also anonymously informed Governor Reines before Ribeck's last return to Batavia.

(End of this chapter)