Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 74 The Dutch’s Difficult Choice
"In fact, the Dutch had attacked Oyster Mirror several times before. However, they were repelled by the Portuguese without exception."

Watching the small boat carrying the East India Company's envoys back to their mother ship, Harvey smiled with a hint of disdain and said, "Most recently (in 1622), the East India Company mobilized thirteen armed merchant ships and over armed mercenaries to attack Oyster Mirror in an attempt to completely drive the Portuguese out of the East."

"At that time, the Portuguese had not yet built the city walls in Haojing, and their military strength was pitifully small. Their commander mobilized all available forces and only managed to gather more than a hundred people to fight."

"As a result, the Portuguese, with such a small force, defeated the East India Company mercenaries, killing and wounding over 300 of them, and severely damaged a Dutch warship, ultimately forcing the enemy to flee in disgrace."

"The Dutch are so weak!" Kuang Xu was surprised. "With such fighting power, how did they occupy the vast Nanyang region?"

"Sir, they didn't actually occupy the entire South Seas region at that time, uh, that is, the East Indies." Harvey glanced at the Chinese leader in surprise. "The Dutch only occupied several important ports and strategic points, but they didn't completely control this vast island and ocean. They didn't even fully control Java Island, where their Eastern headquarters, Batavia, was located."

"Oh, if they don't occupy it now, they might slowly encroach on it in the future and eventually control the entire Nanyang."

In later generations, except for Borneo, the Malay Peninsula and Luzon, almost the entire South Pacific Islands were occupied by the Dutch, who eventually merged these scattered islands into a country.

It is really sad to think about it. This area is so close to the Chinese mainland and has such an important geographical location, but it was not turned into one's own back garden. Instead, it was taken advantage of by the invading European colonists.

"Do you think the Dutch would mistake us for the Ming Dynasty navy?" Luo Zhenhui asked.

To be honest, they really didn't intend to pretend to be the Ming Dynasty navy.

The Dutch had been hanging around in Southeast Asia and along the coast of the Ming Dynasty for so long that they should have long since understood the Ming Dynasty's maritime strength, otherwise they would not have invaded the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty again and again.

In 1622, after seizing Penghu, the Dutch East India Company turned to the coast of Fujian and fought the Battle of Liuao with the Ming Navy. Five Dutch warships sank more than 5 ships of the Ming Navy, causing heavy casualties to the Ming army. Only a few Dutch soldiers were killed and more than ten were injured, which was a great victory.

Earlier, the Dutch attacked Macau four times and fought fiercely with the Portuguese, without any regard for the face of the Ming government, and were not afraid of the Ming navy's intervention.

It can be said that the Dutch did not take the Ming Dynasty navy seriously at all.

But Harvey casually said that the "Breaker" belonged to "a powerful kingdom in the north", which unexpectedly led the Dutch to mistakenly think that it was the Ming Dynasty.

So, in this situation, how should the four armed merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company treat them?
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"This large ship certainly doesn't belong to the Ming Navy." After listening to Lieutenant David Claessen's report, Lieutenant Colonel Marco van Oesch, commander of the Dutch East India Company's task force, turned his head and glanced at the unusual three-masted sailing ship in the distance with a mocking smile. "If the Ming Navy really had such a warship, they would have sailed it out long ago to issue a demonstration and warning to us."

"Then the identity of this ship is..."

"They're probably pirates like Nicholas (Zheng Zhilong)," Lieutenant Colonel Osch said confidently. "They might have surrendered to the government, thus nominally joining the Ming Navy. But in reality, they're likely still operating independently, using the Ming government's name to continue their lucrative maritime trade."

"But, Commander, over the years, it seems that such a strange sailing ship has never been discovered or heard of in the waters surrounding Ming Dynasty," Lieutenant David Klassen raised his doubts. "Furthermore, do they have the ability and technology to build such a large ship?"

"Just because we haven't seen or heard of such ships doesn't mean they don't exist in this sea area," Lieutenant Colonel Osch said. "You have to know that this Eastern Empire boasts thousands of years of civilization and boundless creativity. You might not know this, but over two hundred years ago, this country organized several massive long-distance voyages, each with over a hundred ships and tens of thousands of crew."

"Oh my God!... A massive fleet of over a hundred ships!" Lieutenant David Claessen marveled upon hearing this. "Then why has this country's navy become so... weak? It could even be said to be vulnerable, inferior to even Officer Nicholas's fleet?" "That's normal. No empire in this world has ever flourished forever. The Roman Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Arab Empire, and the Mongol Empire all vanished into the long river of history. The Ming Dynasty has lasted for over two hundred years, and I imagine it's in decline now. I heard they're suffering heavy defeats in their battles with the Tatar barbarians to the north, losing hundreds of thousands of troops."

"Commander, you are absolutely right," Lieutenant David Clason nodded in agreement. "The once-mighty Kingdom of Spain is now in decline and can no longer pose a substantial threat to the independence and freedom of our United Provinces."

"The Spanish..." Lieutenant Colonel Osch shook his head and said, "Until we completely defeat the Spanish and force them to recognize the independence and freedom of our United Provinces, they will remain our greatest enemy. If we have the opportunity, we must launch another attack on the Philippines to eliminate their military threat to the East Indies, especially the Spice Islands."

Lieutenant David Klassen listened and nodded in agreement.

The existence of the Spanish Philippines was like a thorn in the throat for the Dutch East India Company, and it wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

In October 1609, an East India Company fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Vitel launched an attack on the Spanish Philippine Islands and blockaded Manila for five months.

However, in April of the following year (1610), Silva, the Governor-General of the Spanish Philippines, personally led a fleet of six armed sailing ships to suddenly attack the Dutch fleet anchored in Hang Da Tan.

After a fierce battle, the Dutch commander Vittelt was killed. Except for one ship that escaped in the chaos, the other four ships of the Dutch fleet were all sunk. This was the worst defeat since the East India Company colonized the Far East.

What made the Dutch even more jealous was that the Fujian merchants who were supposed to go to Batavia, coveted the Spanish money and frequently sailed to Manila, and together with the Portuguese, they supported the Spanish trans-Pacific trade activities, thus indirectly promoting the Spanish Kingdom's trade with the East.

You must know that in addition to the economic function of colonizing overseas and reaping huge trade profits, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company also have a political task, which is to attack the overseas colonial interests of the Kingdom of Spain and continue to bleed the Spaniards in order to weaken the Kingdom of Spain's ability to continue fighting on the European continent.

As long as the Spanish purse was empty, they would not be able to form more armies or equip more military supplies on the European battlefield, nor would they be able to defeat the Protestant Alliance composed of the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and England (France had not yet joined the war at this time).

The Dutch East India Company suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Spanish in the Battle of Hang Da Tan, which caused the Dutch to remain silent for a long time, and they did not launch another attack on the Spanish Philippines for more than ten years.

A few years ago, as the power of the East India Company grew and the number of armed merchant ships continued to increase, the East India Company began to intercept and plunder Ming merchant ships in the waters north of the Philippines in order to obstruct the "silver trade" between the two sides.

However, pressing down on one gourd only caused the ladle to float up, which slightly curbed the trade activities of Fujian merchants. The Portuguese in Haojing took the opportunity to expand trade with the Spanish Philippines, shipping a large number of Ming Dynasty goods to Manila, leaving the Spanish trans-Pacific trade unaffected.

The Dutch East India Company thought that since they couldn't take over the Spanish in a short time, they would first deal with the Portuguese and seize the oyster mirrors.

Unfortunately, the Dutch, who were weak in land warfare, were once again beaten badly by the Portuguese and were driven into the sea in one wave.

In desperation, the Dutch East India Company could only use this maritime blockade to regain its ground.

We will prevent all of your Portuguese ships from leaving the port. We will trap you, impoverish you, and suffocate you to death!
But now the problem arises. A three-masted sailing ship calling itself "The Powerful Kingdom of the North" wants to enter Oyster Glass and trade with the Portuguese.

So should we stop it or not?

(End of this chapter)