Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Looking at the Englishman, Chi Honghai confidently said, "Otherwise what?"

"But...how do you know so much about Zeelandia's movements?"

"There is an old saying in our Great Ming Dynasty: 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.' Besides, that was originally the land of our Great Ming Dynasty, and the island is inhabited by the people of our Great Ming Dynasty. If the Great Ming Dynasty is not clear about their situation and movements, wouldn't that be too ridiculous?"

After hearing Chi Honghai's words, the English envoy finally felt relieved. After drinking two cups of black tea, he took his leave.

After making excuses to the Englishmen, Chi Honghai finally looked at the map seriously and carefully considered the situation.

When Wu Wanruo returned to the room, she saw her husband staring intently at the map on the table. She could roughly guess what Chi Honghai wanted to do.

I walked over and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then poured him a cup of tea.

At this moment, Chi Honghai seemed to remember something. He looked at Wu Wanruo's figure, feeling somewhat apprehensive, and his expression became rather unpleasant.

Wu Wanruo, who had turned around, was also genuinely puzzled. She had never seen Chi Honghai so flustered before, as if he were a child who had done something wrong and was afraid his parents would find out.

"What's wrong?"

Chi Honghai looked at Wu Wanruo and thought about what had happened to him in Xin'an County a while ago. Although it was satisfying, he was still Wu Wanruo's biological father. Even though he had severed ties with her and refused to acknowledge her as his daughter, Wu Wanruo still had this father in her heart.

"It's nothing...it's nothing..." Chi Honghai sighed deeply and didn't say anything more.

Wu Wanruo knew that Chi Honghai was not a man of many words, and that he had been nervously looking at the map just now, so she didn't press him for more information.

After pouring the tea, he gave Chi Honghai a few more instructions and then left the room to prepare for today's teaching.

I happened to run into Shen Er on the way.

"Shen Er, come here for a moment."

"Oh, Madam." Shen Er ran up to Wu Wanruo. "Madam, what can I do for you?"

"The other day, didn't the master take you to Xin'an County to collect fishing boats? Did anything strange happen there?"

"Strange..." Shen Er pondered, then his expression turned strange. "No, no... Master was busy buying up fishing boats from fishermen all around Xin'an County, and that's all."

"But when he came back, he was wearing a new set of clothes."

Shen Er hesitated for a moment before answering, but then quickly realized what was going on and said, "Oh, oh, that's because when the master was buying fishing boats, he accidentally slipped and fell into the pile of fish that had just been brought in. His clothes got dirty, so he changed them, and the original clothes were left in Xin'an County."

Normally speaking, there's nothing inherently wrong with what he said.

However, Shen Er's reasoning was flawed. Chi Honghai hadn't been there long, and if he had really fallen into a pile of fish, there would be a fishy smell! A strong fishy smell can't be removed by taking a bath or two.

But when Chi Honghai returned, he didn't smell of fish at all.

"Have you gone to Xin'an County?" Wu Wanruo continued to ask.

"Yes, yes, many of these fishing boats were bought from fishermen at the dock in Xin'an County."

"With all this commotion, hasn't the magistrate given you any trouble?"

"How could he dare? He was beaten up by the magistrate in Hong Kong last time. Besides, the magistrate is now an official and doing normal business with fishermen. He hasn't violated any laws, so the county magistrate has no right to interfere."

After listening to Shen Er's words, Wu Wanru waved her hand and told him to go do what he was supposed to do.

Given Wu Wanruo's intelligence, and considering Chi Honghai and Shen Er's behavior just now, as well as her past visit to Xin'an County, she had already anticipated the worst possible outcome.

Although they were extremely unwilling, both Chi Honghai and Wu Wanruo showed little emotion throughout the day.

I hope this is all fake.

……

Inside the room, Chi Honghai looked at the map and carefully considered his assessment of Fort Zeelandia. He concluded that it was probably not too far off.

Even if the Spanish were to withdraw, they wouldn't withdraw so many at once; the Dutch would need time to react.

If the Dutch manage to take over all of Taiwan this year, it will be a real problem for them.

Taking over the north and driving out the Spanish meant that the whole of Taiwan was in Dutch hands, and it also meant that after all the hard work of putting Liu Ching-chiang and others up there, they would have to obediently bring them back.

However, it would be difficult to take back Taiwan after that.

It's important to understand that the more chaotic the situation, the easier it is to make a move.

Chi Honghai's judgment is not without reason; the current Zeelandia is indeed preparing to wipe out the Spaniards in one fell swoop.

And indeed, they did send troops to northern Taiwan to besiege the local Spanish.

The problem lies in that sentence that Chi Honghai mentioned.

The Dutch needed to prepare weapons and food before setting off, so the round trip involved resupplying them. By the time they were all arranged to depart, it was almost November.

Although the Dutch had besieged the Spanish, they did not have heavy artillery with them, so they could only stay on the outskirts of the city and could not directly attack it.

If they were to launch a siege against the odds, not only would they be unable to capture the city, but their own casualties would certainly be substantial, which was unacceptable to the Dutch people overseas.

Because their homeland is too far from here, it would take more time to transport new troops over. Besides, their homeland doesn't have much population, at least compared to the Spanish or even the Ming Dynasty, it's less than the population of a single province.

The siege lasted until the end of December 40th. Although the Spanish were besieged, they were at least inside the castle. Although they were eating and drinking very little and using fresh water in batches, they were not starving, thirsting, or freezing to death for the time being.

The Dutch outside the city were not so lucky. Their logistical support was disrupted by the local indigenous people, and the cold of northern Taiwan during the Little Ice Age in the dead of winter was truly unbearable. Many people suffered from frostbite, resulting in some non-combat injuries.

Both morale and fundamental combat effectiveness have been significantly reduced by the cold weather.

Under these circumstances, the commander of the Dutch army issued an order to withdraw his troops.

The Spanish who remained in northern Taiwan still maintained their strongholds.

But after this incident, everyone knew that the Spanish had reached the end of their road in Taiwan.

It was only a matter of time before the Dutch took over the whole of Taiwan.

Once winter is over, the Dutch will be fully prepared, regroup their forces, and drive out all the remaining Spanish forces in northern Taiwan.

But it wasn't just the Dutchman who was waiting to get through this winter; Chi Honghai was also there.

At this time, Chi Hung-hai was intensifying his plans on how to take control of Taiwan after this winter.