Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

The shipwreck was dragged to the chicken coop. Moore saw this from a distance and shook his head repeatedly, clenching his fists as if he wanted to dig the flesh of his palms into his fingernails.

As his subordinate ran towards him, he already knew what the other person was going to say.

Aside from the Dutch, who else would dare to do such a thing so openly?

The Dutch have no part in the blame for what happened last time—the English, and this time it's themselves.

"Reporting to the Governor, Your Excellency... our fleet has been spotted fifty nautical miles from Taiwan..." the commander said nervously, pulling something from his pocket, "and this..."

Moore took the half of the Dutch naval flag and gripped it tightly; everything was exactly as he had expected.

"Bastards, these bastards! The fucking 'real money' must be dirty!" Moore said.

His anger reached its peak, and he immediately gave orders to organize the army to prepare for a southward attack.

However, the adjutant dissuaded them from this action, arguing that it was too hasty to launch an attack now. He believed that they were not yet fully prepared militarily, and they had not even prepared an attack plan for this time of year. Launching an attack now would be basically a waste of time.

Besides, the weather will soon turn completely cold, and we've run out of winter supplies. If we can't resolve this quickly, we'll definitely be the ones who suffer in the end. The Dutch in the south are much better off than us in terms of both climate and supplies. If they want to, they can stay in the city for a while, and our people won't be able to hold out and will have to return empty-handed.

But no matter how much the adjutant tried to dissuade him, Moore simply wouldn't listen.

All he knew was that if the Dutch weren't going to let themselves have a peaceful winter, then he wouldn't let them have a peaceful winter either.

At his command, Moore led several hundred men south from Chicken Coop.

On the way south, driven by rage, he didn't care whether the local inhabitants were Dutch or not. He burned or killed anything that wasn't his or anyone's property, without a shred of remorse.

After all, they did the same thing back in the Americas, and they're used to doing it this way.

When they drove to a spot not far north of Fort Zeelandia in the south, they encountered a group of Dutchmen who were hauling timber and some equipment toward Fort Zeelandia.

Upon seeing this, Moore's face immediately broke into a smile; killing the Dutch would be more satisfying than killing these natives.

He rode his horse and led his men into the crowd, hacking and slashing. Originally there were about two or three hundred people, but after the slaughter, only twenty or thirty people escaped to the nearest city, Chihkan.

These people originally cut down local timber for use in winter and for making timber. After all, the oak used for shipbuilding is not produced in Taiwan. If they wanted to build Western-style warships, they could not use the local timber. They couldn't use oak that had been transported from afar as building material for winter, so this is what happened.

Seeing his compatriots covered in mud and blood in Chihkan City, the man was naturally furious. He thought, "I didn't plan to provoke you this winter, but you took the initiative to stir up trouble."

Despite their anger, the Dutch in the city did not launch an attack.

It's not that they were able to control their temper; the city's forces numbered only three or four hundred. If they all left the city, not only would there be no one to defend it, but if they were defeated, they might lose both the city and their lives.

They immediately sent men to Fort Zeelandia in the south.

Governor Hans was astonished.

The Spanish have invaded? How dare they!

I'm already being lenient by not causing him any trouble. How much strong liquor did he drink to get through the winter? He got so drunk that he went south to beat me up.

"Men, gather the troops and go to Chihkan to avenge our brothers! Let those damned Spaniards see that they couldn't defeat us in the Low Countries back then, and they can do it again in a different place!"

Hans immediately led 500 men from Fort Zeelandia to Chihkan. These 500 men did not include the troops led by Liu Qingjiang. In the eyes of the Dutch, although the people of the Ming Dynasty used firearms, they were not as good at using them as they were. Rather than sending them to the battlefield as cannon fodder to wear down their own morale, it was better for them to honestly undertake the defensive task in Fort Zeelandia.

He was not afraid of Liu Qingjiang and others rebelling. Although 500 people had left the city of Zeelandia, after the previous replenishment, there were still more than 500 combat personnel, not to mention a considerable number of craftsmen.

Upon arriving in Chihkan, they did not choose to enter the city directly, but instead coordinated with the forces in Chihkan to gather in the wilderness and find the Spanish.

The two sides encountered each other, and a conflict could erupt at any moment.

Both Moore and Hans were extremely impatient and eager. After firing two volleys of small-caliber cannons at the front, they immediately engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Bayonets flashed, white blades flashed, red blades flashed, and the fighting was fierce, but the Dutch, who had fully assembled, numbered nearly a thousand.

Although the Spanish fought valiantly under Moor's command, they were ultimately outmatched and had no choice but to retreat and regroup.

But the defeated Moore was not willing to give up. If he failed at sea, and could not gain any advantage on land, how would he get through the winter?

If you can't win head-on, then resort to some unorthodox methods.

He led the remaining men and, under cover of darkness, burned down some of the facilities around the Dutch stronghold before immediately retreating back to Chicken Coop.

For him, at least the Dutch had paid a price, so the trip wasn't a failure. At least it showed the Dutch that the Spanish weren't easy to bully.

As for the Dutch, although some important facilities around these outposts were damaged, most of them were temporary structures destroyed by fire, and the overall situation was not greatly affected.

They went out of the city to search for the Spaniards after daytime, but found no trace of them. After retreating back into the city, they held a victory celebration.

After all, they did indeed defeat the Spanish on the main battlefield, letting them know that the Dutch could always ride roughshod over the Spanish!

This is a win-win situation, and this is roughly the charm of the philosophy of winning.

However, after this large-scale direct confrontation, for a long period of time afterward, the two sides not only did not cool down, but instead had more frequent skirmishes of varying degrees.

Today you rob my supplies, tomorrow I'll burn your houses. For the indigenous people, the struggle between the two sides is also fierce.

Both sides are seeking cooperation from the local indigenous people. If they do not comply, they will face retaliation regardless of whether they are neutral or side with the other side. This practice has caused great suffering to the local indigenous people and the Han people who migrated here before.

For them, there can only be one ruler on this land of Taiwan, and that is themselves.

If you do not obey my orders and do not fulfill my needs, then you residents are of no value whatsoever.

Friction was frequent and escalated each time, but despite the escalation, it was still just friction and did not escalate into a large-scale, real battle like it did outside Chihkan City.

This was something Chi Honghai could pretty much have predicted.