The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 294 May God Bless Them

At the mouth of the Kun River, Chinese-style Cantonese ships, which are suitable for offshore maneuvers, are cruising back and forth continuously.

Occasionally, larger black boats would spread their hard sails, and under the influence of the northwest wind, they would form combat units of three or four ships, constantly forming battle formations and demonstrating their skilled sea combat techniques to the Dutch patrol boats not far away.

The Dutch warships in the distance were also making various moves in the wind and waves, and sometimes even approached the mouth of the Kun River and chased each other with the Xingtang Navy guarding there.

"Mr. Secretary, you have seen that these Chinese have not shown any signs of retreat. I think this proves that it was King Xing Tang's order that prevented them from leaving."

The main force of the Dutch sentinel fleet at the mouth of the Kun River is a 300-ton offshore smuggling ship. The captain is explaining the current situation to a high-ranking official from Batavia, the secretary of the Dutch East India Company fleet.

"Can you tell me the exact location of the main force of the Xingtang Fleet?" the clerk asked with a gloomy face.

This clerk was the nephew of the Governor-General's wife Adriana and had great interests in the company. Others were paid salaries, but he was a major shareholder. Therefore, he very much hoped that the Dutch East India Company could defeat the Xing Tang Kingdom and overcome the current difficulties.

The captain wanted to roll his eyes and find out the exact location of the Xingtang fleet. What are you thinking about? Do you think you are fighting with the native Sultan of Bajang?

Those Chinese not only had several excellent naval ports, but also had their compatriots and tens of thousands of South China pirates to protect them.

If you want to find out their location, even if the Federal Republic sends its entire fleet to search island by island, there is a high probability that it will not be found.

"Mr. Secretary, the South China Sea is vast, almost twice the size of the Mediterranean Sea. The commander of the Xing Tang Navy is the experienced French Rear Admiral Fragosset. He won't make it easy for us to find them."

The captain paused and said, "But I am sure that Rear Admiral Fragosse must be watching us from somewhere.

Once our main force is exposed, he will surely pounce on us like a wolf, and perhaps even tens of thousands of South China Sea pirates will cooperate with him."

In fact, at present, Mo Zibu does not have the capital to recruit South China Sea pirates because he cannot provide enough benefits, that is, ways to make money and official hats to share with these pirates.

The South China Sea pirates also had an ambiguous attitude towards Mo Zibu. The relationship between soldiers and bandits has been like this since ancient times.

The Dutch East India Company naval officers also knew this, but deliberately did not say it out loud.

Because the naval officers and sailors of the Dutch East India Company were not willing to conflict with the Xingtang Navy.

This is human nature. Unless forced to do so, no one would be willing to fight an opponent stronger than themselves, especially in the current situation.

However, the high-ranking fleet clerk was not very clear about this, so the captain exaggerated the matter as much as possible to scare him and dissuade these company executives from thinking that they could compete with the Xingtang Navy.

Sure enough, upon hearing that there would be tens of thousands of South China Sea pirates coming to help, the clerk couldn't help but reveal a hint of fear on his face, and gradually began to worry about the possibility of defeat.

The Dutch captain's guess was correct. Major General Fragossels had been lurking nearby for a long time. If the main force of the Dutch Navy was willing to show up and enter the ambush circle, the major general would not mind taking on this huge fortune.

It’s a pity that the Dutch are not fools. They will not take the initiative to go north to get beaten.

"The king has ordered the fleet to advance south to the Kun River and drive out the Dutch fleet. They must not be allowed to take away the Dutch army in Pontianak."

Major General Fragosse looked at the Deputy Naval Officer of the Five Armies Commandery who had come to deliver the order. After receiving the order, he immediately asked, "Did Your Majesty really use the word 'expel' instead of 'attack'?"

The deputy officer nodded. "It's expulsion, and the king has specifically instructed us not to overreact as long as the Dutch fleet doesn't take any drastic action."

"Manuel, your wish cannot be fulfilled. It seems that His Majesty needs to communicate with King Rama XV before taking action against the Dutch."

Hearing what Major General Fragosse said, Brigadier General Manuel Bonn, who always regarded himself as the most loyal minister of the navy of Mozibu, sighed.

"Our navy consumes 55 percent of the nation's military budget each year, yet it cannot help the king solve his problems.

If this continues, not only will we lose respect from everyone in the middle school, but the army won't know how to manage us."

Major General Fragosse originally wanted to tease Manuel Bonn, but at this moment he couldn't help but nodded.

The discord between the navy and the army in the historical book has already begun in Mo Zibu.

This is a problem that every small country will encounter, including once-glorious countries like the Netherlands and Portugal.

The territory is so small, the benefits are so limited, and the navy is a big spender. If the navy takes more, the army will have less.

For example, in Mo Zibu's army, one corps and two regiments, including auxiliary troops and a total of 30,000 people, only accounted for 45% of the military expenditure.

The naval officers, soldiers and sailors numbered less than 6,000, but they consumed 55 percent of the supply.

In all the wars, except for the navy's deployment to attack Hue City, there were no major battles at other times. Instead, the army continued to fight north and south without stopping.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange if the army did not have any opinions about the navy. Some unethical guys in the army even nicknamed the navy "water fish".

In Cantonese, "shuiyu" means nail fish. This thing looks stupid and ugly, so it is often used to insult people in Guangdong. The original meaning is a stupid and gullible sucker.

But when used to describe the navy, it took on a shifty, shifty tone, consuming supplies with no return and ultimately being of little use. After Major General Fragosse understood this term, he nearly came to blows with Wu Wenyong and his men at the Five Armies Commandery several times.

The naval officers and soldiers were also greatly stimulated. They had long been looking forward to defeating the Dutch navy, becoming the overlord of the South China Sea, and holding their heads high.

The captain of the Zhongzheng, Commodore Zhou Yuanquan, coughed and said, "General Fu, the king's order has been issued. Let's execute it. The Dutch will be dealt with sooner or later. There's no need to rush now."

Major General Fragosse was given the surname Fu by Chinese officers and soldiers based on the first pronunciation of his name, and most Chinese in the army called him General Fu.

"Of course. The most important thing for a soldier is to obey orders." Although Major General Fragosse was a little unwilling because he urgently needed a victory to get the title of count, he still knew that he had to obey the overall situation.

"But we can't just go over and chase them away. The Dutch fleet's combat effectiveness isn't much lower than ours. If we show up rashly, we'll lose the initiative.

Commodore Bonn, I order you to lead a small fleet south as a vanguard to tell Rear Admiral Hendrick not to embarrass us and to immediately lead the fleet back to Batavia, otherwise a conflict will be inevitable."

. . . .

Major General Levi Hendrick is 51 years old this year. If he were in Europe, he would basically have reached the age where he would have to retire.

But in Batavia, the major general was reluctant to give up the salary and gray income which were much higher than those in his hometown, so he continued to work for the company despite his lack of energy.

This is also a chronic disease among the top brass of the Dutch East India Company in the Far East. The highest officials who hold real power here are all old men who have been in power for decades.

Major General Hendrick was still relatively young. The other army members were Brigadier General William Ottoen, who was fifty-five years old; the company's second-in-command, Director and General Manager of Batavia Jeremias, who was sixty-two years old; and Governor Petrus, who was sixty years old.

Their existence and the entanglement of nepotism among them greatly hindered the development of the Dutch East India Company, restricted the upward path of young people, and severely hit the enterprising spirit of the middle and lower levels of the company.

They even turned Batavia into a playground of corruption, and the entire company's Eastern branches were filled with incompetent people who had connections or bought their positions with money.

This is also the reason why Mo Zibu wants to recruit Secretary Holdyk and Major Marco. Although these two people are not the most capable, they are among the very few people who have come to power without nepotism. Getting rid of them will mean blowing out the only light of hope for the middle and lower classes in Batavia.

"Are we still unable to determine the approximate location of King Xingtang's fleet?" Major General Levi Hendrick was extremely angry after hearing the Xingtang Navy envoy, who was waving a white flag, demanding the withdrawal of his fleet in a condescending tone.

"Yes, General," the officer replied cautiously. "The Xing Tang Kingdom has numerous naval bases available, and Major General Fragosse is very skilled in hiding. We are unable to locate him."

"On the contrary, we don't have many ports for anchoring except for the military port in Batavia, which makes it very easy for the enemy to locate us.

The fact that they were able to deliver the message directly here this time is a demonstration.

Major General, regardless of whether we are going to fight the Xing Tang Fleet or not, regardless of whether they guessed or really knew our location, the fleet must set sail."

Another officer advised that for a warship that was almost entirely dependent on natural power at this time, it would be extremely dangerous to have its location determined by the enemy.

Because it is impossible for humans to precisely control nature, if you don't leave, and if enemy ships attack in large numbers, you won't have the power to sail away, and that would be a big problem.

Major General Hendrick looked at the officers in the room, his face looking very unhappy. He loudly scolded:
"What caused you to lose your desire to fight even before you even started fighting? Did a third-class battleship scare the sea coachmen?"

Hearing the scolding, the officers lowered their heads and said nothing. They could accept the scolding, but they would not rashly go into battle.

After a few minutes of silence, an officer finally stood up and said,

"General, it's not that we're scared. We tried our best, but we couldn't find the main fleet of the Xing Tang Navy.

Unless we are willing to directly attack Hexian or Jiading, we might be able to force them out."

This was obviously a verbal squeeze, because the Dutch East India Company did not dare to attack the Xing Tang Kingdom, as the situation would become out of control.

Hendrick felt a pang of annoyance at this, and before he could find a reason to continue his reprimand, another officer stepped forward and said:
"The wind direction at this moment is favorable for the Xing Tang Fleet. If we attack rashly, the balance of victory will tilt towards the enemy.

I suggest that if we have to fight, we should choose the time to fight during the monsoon when the wind direction is more favorable to us."

This is a very pertinent suggestion. For warships weighing hundreds or thousands of tons, maneuverability depends almost entirely on wind power, so at this time, wind direction is the first factor to be considered for all warships.

Major General Levi Hendrick glanced at the officers again, knowing that this was his last chance to back down.

In order to maintain high returns to shareholders, the company has reduced the salaries and dividends of the navy and army in recent years. They have not received enough returns, so naturally they will not come forward to take responsibility.

"Okay, I will report the current situation to the Governor-General. I order the fleet to temporarily return to Surabaya Port and await further orders."

The officers immediately breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they returned to Surabaya Port, waiting for further orders would be just a step down. As for the Surabaya Regiment of the Army in Pontianak City.

Well, God bless them.

(End of this chapter)