Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

"We're willing to work here," the Dutchman said.

People are afraid of death, and their original purpose in coming here was only to make money. If it weren't for the fact that there are many opportunities to make money here, who would be willing to travel so far?

These days, you can't risk your life for money; it's simply not worth it. Money can be earned anywhere.

Chi Honghai remained expressionless and replied calmly, "Everyone on the island is my man. I advise you to focus on your work and not cause any trouble, or you'll lose both your money and your life."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved it, and the people surrounding them put down all their muskets. At the same time, someone carried over two boxes of silver.

"Those on the island who need wages, we'll give them an extra month's salary today." Chi Honghai glanced at the group of Dutchmen: "You can receive it too."

After saying that, he walked away and didn't bother with distributing the extra salary anymore.

A group of Dutchmen, seeing the other party's act of giving them a reward after being slapped, were speechless for a moment. Now they had saved their lives and were even getting more money.

Although what just happened made me very unhappy and angry, I was only here for the money, and seeing how much money I'm making now, there doesn't seem to be any reason not to be happy.

What Boss Chi said didn't seem to be wrong. They were indeed occupying Ming Dynasty territory. If the imperial court really attacked, could they really hold out with only a few hundred men in their stronghold? Even if they didn't die in the crossfire, being a prisoner of war was not a good thing. In their so-called civilized Europe, the mistreatment of prisoners of war was common.

Right now, I have money to earn, I can survive, and I'm safe. I still have hope for the future. The only thing I'm worried about is that I was in the wrong first, so there really isn't much to complain about.

Then just do it without worry. Whether it's voluntary or involuntary, this is the only option right now, because nobody wants to die.

……

At the same time, Zeelandia also began to worry about the fate of the cheese transport ship.

Governor Hans asked his subordinates more than once why the cheese hadn't arrived yet, because if it waited any longer, it wouldn't be as fresh and delicious.

He understands life.

The subordinates' answers were all "I don't know," "I'm not sure," or to put it another way, "I counted the days and it should be time, but was there something that caused the departure to be delayed?"

That's all nonsense. What could possibly take this long?

The cargo on the ship was not ordinary goods, nor was it grain that could be stored for a long time. Didn't the Dutch themselves know that?

Hans, who had been waiting for a long time, couldn't sit still any longer, so he sent someone to take a stroll around the area to see if they could find one of his own ships at sea.

But the result was obvious, just like the Spanish.

Not far south, the ships that had set sail saw the wreckage of their own fleet.

It was more like drifting planks of varying sizes than wreckage, with sails still draped over them and several corpses floating on the waves.

The Dutch were more surprised than angry at what they saw.

From what they knew, this fleet was escorted by two carracks. Even though these cars were somewhat outdated, their overall firepower was far greater than that of armed merchant ships and small vessels like caravels.

Did the Spanish really have the capability to completely annihilate a fleet of five ships, including two of their own caravans?

Looking out over the sea, it seemed that all that could be seen were the corpses of their own people and the wreckage of their own ships; they couldn't really see what was happening to the other side.

The captain on deck sighed deeply and ordered the bodies on the sea to be retrieved and transported back to Fort Zeelandia to report to Governor Hans.

After hearing the description of the scene, Hans's face turned ashen.

He was puzzled as to who had such great ability, but after thinking it over, he could only conclude that the Spaniards had this capability.

The Ming Dynasty wouldn't deliberately travel such a long distance to intercept and kill their ships, and there's no reason for it to. They haven't provoked them recently. Even if it's an opponent like Zheng Zhilong, they've at least paid the toll. They wouldn't pay and then be robbed, would they? If they're going to rob someone, they'll rob them in the coastal waters, not in the open sea. They don't even know when their fleet will be able to sail on this route.

The English? Forget about it. They're already at their limit if they can make a huge detour to deliver their meager supplies to Chicken Coop. They don't even have the capability to organize a large fleet to intercept our ships. And with such a long voyage and no place to stop and resupply along the way, who would take the risk? More importantly, according to their intelligence, the English don't have any large ships in this area.

As for the Portuguese, they've lost their homeland for several years, and here they only have a small place like Macau, with limited power and basically no ability to cause any real trouble.

After considering all the options, there are only a few forces here, so who else could it be?

Spaniard, you've gone too far.

Not long ago, they suddenly came south to cause me trouble, killing my people, stealing my things, burning my house, and even had a big fight with me outside Chikan City.

Not only did he finish the fight, but he continued to cause trouble for himself, as if afraid that this winter wouldn't be lively.

I haven't even provoked you, and now you've come once on land and now you want to come again at sea. You're really something!

The subordinate asked Hans what to do next. All three cargo ships had disappeared, and all the supplies on board were gone, including not only milk and cheese, but also a lot of supplies for the winter!

It all benefits those damned Spaniards!

Anyone would be restless in that situation, not even Hans, who had been there for a while.

He clenched his fist, slammed it on the table, and twisted it, making the map that was originally on the table quite wrinkled.

"Pass down my orders: this winter, the Spanish won't have an easy time either!" Hans said through gritted teeth. "Send five hundred men out to cooperate with the troops from Chikan, and slowly sneak along the north. Bring back everything you can, and burn everything you can't bring back."

"Governor, what if we encounter some people in the north?"

"People? They're not our people. If they deserve to be killed, then kill them."

"And what about the indigenous people, Governor?" the subordinate pressed, his tone tinged with unease.

"Then it's just that they didn't live in the south. If they had lived in the north, wouldn't that have meant they'd joined the damned Spanish? Since they're allied with the Spanish, they're our Dutch enemies. When dealing with enemies, we don't care where they're from or whether they're even human."

The subordinate bowed, accepted Hans's order, and withdrew.