Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 847 Recovering Taiwan

The East likes to use wood in construction, while the West is good at using stones. After the Dutch arrived in Taiwan, they chose the dangerous place of Dayuan Bay, and then gave full play to their characteristics of making good use of stone buildings to enslave the islanders. Two stone fortresses with horns were built near the bay. The one on land is called Chikan Fort, and the one on Yikun is called Zelanzhe Fort.

At this time, there were hundreds of ships moored in the inner harbor. At the pier of Fort Zeelandia, more than a dozen looted cargo ships of the Rising Sheng were being watched by more than a dozen Dutchmen, urging the coolies to leave. Boxes of cargo are moved on board.

The value of these more than ten cargoes, Sports Western Ocean's profit will be more than one million.

In the meeting hall of the fort, members of the Taiwan Council of the East India Company were sitting around a round table at this time, forming two different emotions. The faces of the Dutch who came to support from Batavia had There was joy, but the members of the Taiwan Council all expressed concern.

At this time, Feuerberg, the tenth governor of the Netherlands and Taiwan, looked at the reinforcement commander Kau Wu, stood up, and accused him: "Your Excellency, you are too impulsive, this will cause Guo Xingye to attack the senior officials, and cause unsustainable damage to the company." You will bear the responsibility for the estimated loss at that time."

"Your Excellency, look at the booty I brought back. The Taiwan Council has not contributed so much to the company for a year. Why do you have any reason to criticize me? If you are really afraid of the Chinese, then I will send this batch of booty back to Bada Via, let the Chinese come to trouble me!" Kauu spread his hands, his face didn't care, he didn't understand why the Dutch were afraid of the Chinese.

"Oh, that's not acceptable!" Feuerberg said exaggeratedly, "These trophies naturally belong to the Taiwan Council."

He was a bit of a rogue, and he wanted benefits, but he didn't want to take responsibility. Kaowu looked at his face and stood up immediately.

Seeing this, Kui, who was sitting on the side, came out to reconcile and said, "Your Excellency, what happened has already happened, and it cannot be undone. What we should do now is to consider how to defend against the attack of Lord Guoxing!"

The people sitting around listened and nodded. The matter of responsibility and the distribution of benefits, it is meaningful to talk about it after defeating the Chinese peeping at the big officials. Otherwise, once the big officials are occupied by the Chinese, they will die together. Now it is There is no point in arguing.

Felberg sat down again, calmed down, and said to Kao Wu: "Your Excellency was appointed as the commander of the fleet by the company. What do you think of the guards?"

Kau Wu said with a smile: "The Chinese have nothing to praise except for their large numbers of people and ships. We only need to hold on to the dangerous points, block the southern channel with ships, and cooperate with the forts of Fort Zeelandia to stop the Chinese Landing, even if there are a lot of them, they will not be able to go ashore, without food and fresh water, and they will leave after a few days, so you have nothing to worry about."

The terrain of Dayuan Bay is very complicated. The Dutch chose this place because Dayuan Bay is easy to defend and difficult to attack.There are two stone forts built by the Dutch, one is called Zeelandia Fort and the other is called Chikan Fort. There is an inner harbor between the two forts. Two waterways provide access to the inner harbour.

The Qikun body is seven connected islands, which are called the first Kun body, the second Kun body, and the seventh Kun body.

These seven islands are located in the southwest of the inner harbor, lined up in a straight line, each less than a mile apart, full of hidden reefs, ships can't sail, but they can pass between Yikunshen and Beixianwei Island, It is called the Southern Channel, but Zeelandia Fort is on Yikun's body. As long as the ships are blocked and the heavy artillery on the Zeelandia Fort cooperates, it will be impossible for anyone to open it.

The other northern channel is between the end of the northern line and Luermen Island, that is, the "Luermen channel". Compared with the southern channel, which is wide and deep and easy for ships to navigate, the northern channel is shallow and narrow, and can only be passed by small boats. Large ships must be at high tide and familiar with the route to pass.

"What about the Northern Passageway?" Kui asked as soon as he opened his mouth.

"There are too many hidden reefs in the northern channel, and the route is complicated. We can only pass by small boats. We can put [-] Dutch soldiers on Wei Island on the northern route, and we can prevent the Chinese from entering there."

To attack Taiwan, in addition to relying on manpower, as long as it depends on the weather, after Zheng Chenggong and Chen Zilong joined forces, they prepared in Xiamen for two days, replenished food, fresh water, and gunpowder, and sacrificed to the sky and sea on Gulangyu Island on June 5000. Eight three-masted ships, [-] large and small seagoing ships, and [-] soldiers set off from Jinxia and arrived at the Penghu Islands on the [-]th, where they waited for the right time.

On the evening of the [-]th, a full moon hung high in the night sky, and the soft moonlight shone on the sea. A huge fleet outside Dayuan Bay was like a moving black mountain, like layers of mountains riding the wind and waves, and waves were shining around. A sparkling piece.

On the flagship of the Navy, Chen Zilong and Zheng Chenggong stood at the bow, "Is the name of the country sure that the fleet can enter Dayuan Bay directly from Luermen?"

Generally speaking, if you want to enter Dayuan Bay, you can only take the southern channel, but there are Fort Zeelandia and the Dutch navy, and the terrain is very unfavorable to the Ming army. If the Dutch navy retreats into the port, the Ming army basically has no choice.

The sea breeze blew Zheng Gongcheng's robes, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen, our army has obtained the sea charts, and today is the full moon. It happens to be a spring tide, and the sea level rises. There is absolutely no problem for the army to pass through Luermen."

After Zheng Chenggong finished speaking, he turned his head and asked, "How is the situation with Gan Hui? Is there any reward?"

While talking, a small boat approached the flagship, and the soldiers on it immediately lowered a rope ladder, and a general climbed up.

"General Gan sent someone back." Hearing the movement, the general looked back and clasped his fists back.

Zheng Chenggong turned around immediately, and the general who was boarding the boat had hurriedly walked in front of him, and then bowed on one knee, "I would like to report to Lord Guoxing that General Gan has already passed the Luermen Waterway."

"Can you find the Dutch guards?"

The general raised his head and answered aloud, "There is a small Dutch fort on Wei Island on the northern line, and there are about 200 people guarding it. General Gan has led his troops to the island. You can safely let the fleet enter the port."

Zheng Chenggong nodded, with a hint of excitement on his face, "Order the entire army to pass through the Luer Gate, and form a formation in the bay to fight the Heyi navy."

At the beginning of the Dutch occupation, they built a hot fort at the northern end of Weidao on the northern line. The function of the fort was mainly to monitor the Luermen Waterway. No enemy situation has ever been found. By now, the fortress has long been disused, and it is no longer as powerful as it used to be, and it cannot be compared with the other two fortresses.

If it wasn't for Batavia's reinforcements, Kau would not have bothered to send 200 people here to guard.

At night, on the beach of Beiweixian Island, Gan Hui led more than 300 people, lurking in the darkness a hundred steps away from the fortress. A Han Chinese from Taiwan’s main island served as their guide. under the fort.

(End of this chapter)