Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

In the mid-40s, after another round of resupply, the Dutch were already planning to completely eliminate the Spanish in the north.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain, and this is especially true in the struggle for Taiwan.

Since 1626, when the Spanish captain Eduardo Valdes led his fleet from Manila along the east coast of Taiwan to the small island in Keelung Bay (Keelung Island, now Heping Island), and established San Salvador as his ruling center, they have been on this land long enough.

The reason the Dutch were able to make such a plan was not entirely because the Dutch were superior to the Spanish in every aspect.

Although they did have the upper hand during the Low Countries uprising.

But in the East, the Dutch had Malacca, the Spanish had Luzon; the Dutch had ships, and so did the Spanish.

Spaniards are no shorter or shorter than the Dutch.

The most important factor is Taiwan's geographical location.

From the source, the Dutch and other Westerners did not initially set their sights on Taiwan, but rather on other places. However, they were all taught a lesson by the Ming court and made to behave themselves.

However, although it hurt, it didn't completely behave; its covetousness hadn't died.

Since their attempts to seize Macau and Penghu had failed, they began to set their sights on Taiwan, a land beyond the reach of civilization, and occupied southern Taiwan.

As their arch-enemy, the Spanish were certainly unwilling to stand idly by, so they also sent people to occupy northern Taiwan.

Compared to the south, the north was truly a "land beyond the reach of civilization." Not only was it difficult to develop, but the indigenous people there were also very aggressive. When the Spanish first arrived, they were besieged by many Taiwanese indigenous tribes and held out for several years. Only after the Spanish attacked in all directions did they gradually gain a foothold, but they continued to have conflicts with the Taiwanese indigenous people.

The Dutch, on the other hand, occupied Tainan, a plain area with a mild-mannered population, making it suitable for development.

Although the Spanish continued to increase their troops, hoping to drive out the Dutch in the south through military force, dominate Taiwan, and seize its interests there.

However, the reality was that the fleet was constantly intercepted and destroyed, and the military on land did not make much progress. Even the recent large-scale expedition to Chikan City only resulted in burning down facilities and killing many indigenous people and some Dutch craftsmen. It was still a very weak attempt to say that it would fundamentally shake the Dutch rule in the south.

Most importantly, the operation failed, and the Dutch subsequently burned down the previously difficult-to-develop area.

This was a rather unprofitable deal for the Spanish, but not for the Dutch, right?

It's really not.

The Dutch in the south were able to continue trading with merchants and even officials in Guangzhou, Fujian, and other regions as usual.

For convenience, these merchants and officials would choose to do business with the Dutch, who were closer and less risky, rather than going to the more distant Luzon—Manila, which threatened Manila's commercial economy.

Although northern Taiwan is close, it is not as close as the south, and Chinese merchants who want to go north will be blocked and intercepted by the Dutch.

At this time, Spain was also unable to open up business with the Japanese shogunate in the north, which made Keelung a truly "useless" place.

Originally, the Spanish wanted to inject resources and try their luck, but after the two world wars, they realized that it was a losing proposition. Every year, Kepong consumed a lot of the colony's resources and economy. The original plan was to use Kepong to boost Manila's economy, but they did not expect that the place would become a vampire.

Now, the Spanish really want to leave. Just recently, they withdrew some of their people and took some supplies with them, intending to get away from this troublesome place.

However, they did not completely abandon their rule in the north, and still left some strongholds and troops behind.

This very motivation led the Dutch to see an opportunity to seize Taiwan for themselves, and they were thus intensifying preparations for their final offensive against the Spanish.

The news that the Spanish were beginning to abandon their bases in Taiwan could not be kept from the Dutch on the island, nor could it be kept from Chi Hung-hai on Hong Kong Island.

The reason they were able to know about this move was because of Chi Honghai's good ally, the English.

They panicked.

Originally, Chi Honghai and I planned to let the Spanish and Dutch fight on the island, and then the Ming Dynasty would take over the island and give the English a share of the spoils.

But now, the Spanish are leaving! The Dutch are about to take over! If that's the case, doesn't that mean all my credit is for nothing?

That won't do! We need to get the Ming Dynasty to come up with a solution and take some action before the Spanish are completely driven back into the sea.

Naturally, this news reached Chi Honghai's ears.

Chi Honghai was also stunned when he heard this. In his mind, this should not have happened. After all, he had made the English go to great lengths to give blood transfusions to the Spanish.

Why are you backing out now?

This was unacceptable to Chi Honghai as well. He paced anxiously, and the Englishman, watching him, hurriedly asked.

"Sir, what should be done about this? Is our agreement still valid?"

"What are you saying? When has our agreement ever been invalid? After all, you did help the court and contributed your efforts, so the court will naturally not forget you. As for what to do about this, let me think about it."

Chi Honghai walked around every two steps, turning every few steps, for a long time before finally stopping and letting out a long sigh.

"Your Excellency, is there a solution?" The Englishman sitting to the side, who had no interest in drinking his tea, watched as Chi Honghai finally stopped after pacing around for a long time, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let them fight."

"What? You're just going to abandon this matter?"

"It's not that we don't care, it's just not the right time yet."

"Then tell me, what time is it?"

"Consider this, Your Excellency: it's July now. If we were to send troops, given the Dutch's current state, how long would it take to prepare?"

"It's July now, but if we want to prepare for departure, we'll have to go around September."

"And what about the siege?"

"The siege will last at least two months, which will be in November," the Englishman replied.

Winter is here.

"Winter is coming? Given the situation the Dutch are in there, they probably can't sustain a long-term siege into winter."

"All they can do is besiege it."

"What do you mean by this, sir?"

"The firearms inside Fort Zeelandia are mostly light firearms, while the heavy artillery is mostly stationary. If they want to break through the Spanish city, they will need heavy artillery. Now they need to mobilize a certain number of artillery immediately. Even if they dismantle the artillery on Fort Zeelandia and reassemble it, coupled with the fact that the roads are relatively wet and slippery during the summer and autumn rainy season, it will not take two months."

The Englishman suddenly understood something, and he looked at Chi Honghai and said.

"Your Excellency, are you saying that the Dutch will not launch an attack this year?"