Chapter 587 Taking over Hong Kong Island
"Did you find anything good on the captured Dutch sailing ship?" Mu Xiabai asked subconsciously when he saw Tom Wang walking into the room excitedly. He had just received news half an hour ago that the navy had seized a Dutch sailing ship at the port that entered the port on its own. Judging from the emotions shown by Wang Tom, it was obvious that he had gained something on this ship.
"You've got your money back, you've got your money back!" Wang Tom said with a smile while rubbing his hands: "I found a treasure this time, and I got my money back in one fell swoop!"
"Oh? There are gold and silver treasures on this ship?" Mu Xiabai became interested when he heard it and asked quickly.
"It's not just treasure..." Tom Wang grabbed the water cup and took a big sip of tea. He raised his hand to wipe the corners of his mouth and said, "Where do you think this ship is going?"
Mu Xiabai responded with a smile: "Where else can we go? Either go south to Batavia, or go north to Taiwan. Is there a third destination on this route?"
"It's a ship to Taiwan." Wang Tom nodded and responded: "Their destination is the city of Relanjia in Taiwan. The goods on the ship are various supplies shipped to the local area, and there are a lot of good things."
After the Dutch East India Company seized Penghu in 1622, it used the place as an entrepôt for East Asian maritime trade. In 1624, the Dutch and the Ming Navy fought in Penghu for several months, and finally reached a ceasefire agreement. The Dutch withdrew from Penghu, while the Ming Dynasty did not interfere with the Dutch colonial occupation of Taiwan Island.
So the Dutch built a large-scale castle, Orange City, on the southern coast of Taiwan, and changed its name to Geranje City in 1627. At the time when the Haihan militia occupied Amborna Island, the construction project of the city of Geranje was still not completed. In the original time and space, the Dutch stronghold on Taiwan Island did not complete the first phase of the project until 1632.
It is worth mentioning that in the original time and space, Zheng Chenggong captured the city of Relanja 30 years ago, expelled the Dutch from the island of Taiwan, established the first Han Chinese regime in Taiwan's history, and brought the local people into power. It was renamed Anping City and became the location of Anping Castle, a famous tourist attraction in Tainan in later generations. Of course, since the Haihan regime has appeared in this era and regards the Far East as its future territory, there will naturally be no Battle of Relanja City in 30 years, and the Dutch will not There is an opportunity to gain 30 years of development time on the island of Taiwan.
Tom Wang took out a cargo list and explained to Mu Xiabai the supplies seized from the Dutch sailing ship that had fallen into the trap. In addition to the large amounts of gold and silver needed to maintain the local operation and trade of the city of Relanja, this ship also has some commodities shipped from Europe across thousands of miles, as well as spices, jewelry, etc. originating in India and Southeast Asia. . Most importantly, this ship also carried a batch of brand-new weapons, including 800 matchlock guns, 40 artillery pieces of various calibers and a considerable amount of ammunition. According to the crew's account, these weapons were sent to the city of Jelanja to be used to arm the local Dutch. The total value of this batch of weapons and ammunition alone exceeds one hundred thousand taels of silver.
"According to preliminary statistics, this cargo is worth at least 200,000 taels of silver. Do you think we can get our money back in one fell swoop!" Wang Tom said proudly and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Purchase this cargo Once this is done, the navy can add another battleship!”
"What's the point of co-writing without our army?" Mu Xiabai reminded: "This is a joint operation between the army and the navy. Commander Wang, don't take all the credit!"
"Yes, yes, you are right, of course there is also a part of the army in this!" Wang Tom knew he had made a mistake and quickly added.
"Speaking of which, the Dutch are really courageous. They packed so many valuables and traveled on just such a ship without even a single person to take care of them." Mu Xiabai sighed.
"Perhaps the Dutch think that no one can challenge their position in the Far East." Wang Tom responded: "What I want to say is that there are bound to be two cases like this, and there will definitely be Dutch ships coming to the island. Stop for supplies, you know what to do.”
"Needless to say, all the Dutch ships must be captured. What I want to know is if there are merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty docking here, what should be done?" Mu Xiabai asked.
Wang Tom responded: "Don't worry, we have specially trained a group of Southeast Asian sailors. When the time comes, we will arrange for these people to work on the dock. Everything will be done according to the previous rules. When the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty come, they will still charge for supplies."< br>
"There are no Dutch people on the island, and it will eventually arouse suspicion." Mu Xiabai was still a little worried.
"We also have ways to deal with this." Wang Tom smiled and said: "Don't forget, we also have Western partners, so it is not difficult to pretend to be someone else."
"You mean... Portuguese?" Mu Xiabai reacted immediately.
"Yes, they are the Portuguese." Wang Tom nodded and confirmed Mu Xiabai's guess: "The Portuguese have been competing with the Dutch for colonies in the Far East in recent years. However, after the Netherlands established the East India Company, the Portuguese have been in a They are at a disadvantage. They have relatively few colonies, which makes them slow to respond to troubles, and their maritime strength in the Far East is not as good as that of the Dutch. Sooner or later, as in history, the Dutch will take away all the cake in their hands. The Time Executive Committee specifically talked to the Portuguese envoy Thomas and asked them if they were willing to help us establish a stronghold in the South China Sea to fight against the Dutch. He readily agreed that the next time a supply ship came here, he would probably do so. Bring thirty or fifty Portuguese immigrants, and then you can arrange their roles.”
Regarding the role that Ambon Island will need to play in the future, the Executive Committee and the military have planned a relatively complete camouflage strategy, striving to allow the Dutch to discover the changes here as late as possible. The voyage from Batavia to the city of Jelandja on Taiwan Island is more than 2,000 nautical miles. The time on the road takes almost two months, and the communication conditions of this era are extremely backward. Wait until the Dutch discover something is wrong before proceeding. During the investigation, we didn’t know how long it had been. After capturing Amborna Island, Mushaba commanded his troops to conduct another drag-net investigation of the entire island, checking all the settled places to ensure that there were no Dutch people on the island who had slipped through the net. exist. In fact, the Dutch colonists did not dare to disperse and live in the wild. After all, the transportation conditions on the island were relatively primitive, and it would be more troublesome to obtain supplies a little further away from the settlements. If they were sick or injured, they would basically just Able to fend for itself.
On May 1st, exactly one month after leaving Hainan Island, the task force that had finished its rest was preparing to leave Haihan's latest colony and return to Hainan Island. In order not to expose the true local situation easily, all the warships heading south this time will leave and will not stay here. Only the six troop transport ships that joined halfway from Annan will stay here. After all, these ships are lucky ships and are not easily exposed. Returning with this fleet was the captured Dutch galleon, as well as all the captured Dutch on the island. Due to the limited loading capacity, there was no arrangement for the people on the island to move away with the fleet. Mu Xiabai was able to seize this period of time when the labor force was still sufficient to speed up the construction process of the port and coastal defenses.
During this battle south, the Haihan militia suffered basically zero losses. Except for a small number of people who fell ill due to acclimatization, there were no casualties during the attack on the island. Not only that, the militia also seized a large amount of wealth that originally belonged to the Dutch during this period, which was not only able to offset the military expenses of this operation, but was more than enough to add another considerable amount of income to the military's accounts.
While the Haihan militia secretly went south to seize the Dutch colony, their colleagues in the north were not idle either. The Zhennan Port project on Hong Kong Island, launched two years ago, has now divided the nearby area into various parts. The narrow area has restricted the continued development of Zhennan Port and seized the key points of the entire Hong Kong Island, especially the northern part of Hong Kong Island. Lei Yue Mun, a waterway, has become the next target of the military.
The Ming Dynasty Navy, which was originally stationed at Shau Kei Wan next to the Lei Yue Mun Waterway, is now increasingly miserable. The former general who commanded this force had expired and resigned at the end of last year. The new general had spent seven to eight thousand taels of silver to get a spot from a forced campaign, but the person who came forward to pay for it was " "Qiong Lianfa" is a major shareholder, so this general disappeared for a long time after taking office in Dianmao, in order to create better objective conditions for Haihan to attack this area.
Since the end of last year, the Daming Navy Station on Hong Kong Island has been unattended, with no one ordering or paying wages. Some soldiers and low-level officers who have the means have begun to sell military supplies in the water village, such as gunpowder, armor, weapons, etc. Even if the Haihan people don't take action, this place will collapse on its own in another year and a half. During this period, there were indeed many naval officers and soldiers who benefited from Haihan in various forms, and were even directly bribed.
On May 7, five warships belonging to the Hoi Han Navy sailed around the eastern waters of Hong Kong Island, sailed from Lei Yue Mun Waterway into Shau Kei Wan, and directly blocked the entrance of this water village.
The internal staff who had made arrangements in advance quickly opened the water gate of the navy and let the Haihan warship enter the water village and dock. The Haihan militiamen who got off the boat did not even encounter any decent resistance, and quickly took control of the inside and outside of the water village without any blood. Driven by the militia, the Ming soldiers in the water village quickly gathered at the entrance of the White Tiger Festival Hall in the center of the water village.
Chen Yixin, surrounded by a group of militiamen, entered the White Tiger Festival Hall of Shuizhai and sat down on the chair belonging to the water village general in the middle of the hall without hesitation: "Come here, bring me the roster of Shuizhai!"< br>
Immediately, someone submitted the roster of the water village, and no one seemed to think there was anything wrong with it. Chen Yixin also looked like it was natural, he opened the roster and started tapping directly.
There are a total of 532 people on the roster, including officers, sailors, soldiers, doctors in charge of logistics, shipwrights, cooks, etc. However, after an hour-long roll call, there were so many vacancies that only about half of the people showed up. Although Chen Yixin was prepared for this result, he was still shocked by the proportion of vacancies.
"Everyone, the situation just mentioned is very clear. Not to mention the combat effectiveness, this water village lacks even the ability to protect itself!" Chen Yixin closed the roster and began to speak: "In order to keep the Ming Navy as it should be. In order to protect the safety of the local people, our Haihan Militia was entrusted by the Guangdong government to dispatch 420 combat personnel and five warships to join the original personnel of the Ming Dynasty's Xin'an Water Village. You can stay or leave on your own, and those who want to leave will be given 10 taels of silver as severance pay. I am Chen Yixin, Major of the Haihan Militia. If you have any questions about the future arrangements, you can ask me. I would like to emphasize one more thing. The Han militia does not raise idle people. If anyone wants to stay in Shuizhai and earn a living, I advise him to get his severance package and leave as soon as possible!”
Someone below asked: "I am still a general bannerman after all. Is the severance pay the same as that of ordinary soldiers?"
Chen Yixin responded without changing his expression: "I don't care what official you are, your position was given by Ming Dynasty, and your severance pay was given by Haihan. Why do you use your official position in Ming Dynasty to ask for the amount of severance pay? If it's too little, You don’t have to, we won’t force you.”
At that moment, someone asked: "Then if we stay, will you really give us a more generous military salary than the Ministry of War as promised?"
Chen Yixin said: "We did promise that the military pay would be double the standard of the Ming Dynasty, but at the same time there was a premise, that is, you have to have real ability! If you want to wait for death, you have to get double the military pay. I'm sorry, this kind of thing cannot be done." It will happen in the Haihan Militia. As for whether they have real abilities, we will conduct special assessments and screenings, and those who pass will naturally receive more generous rewards.”
Someone complained loudly: "Well, I have been serving in the army for many years, and now you are going to dismiss us with just one word. Where is the morality?"
Chen Yixin looked at the place where the voice came from and said coldly: "How many years have you been in the army? What have you done in the past few years? Is it fighting pirates or catching water bandits? How come I heard that two or three years ago, this place was Liuxiang? Who has the final say? If I’m not wrong, many of the people present should have benefited from Liu Xiang, right?”
There was dead silence below, and no one dared to respond to him on this issue. At that time, Liu Xiang was so powerful that almost all the waters around Hong Kong Island were under his control. Merchant ships entering Lei Yue Mun Waterway had to pay a certain amount of tolls to him to pass safely, and part of this money was transferred to the water channel. This side of the village has become a regular source of income for Shuizhai. However, since Liu Xiang was beaten away by the Haihan militia two years ago, this member's money has been cut off, and the people in Shuizhai are not bold enough to openly collect tolls from maritime merchants, nor are they strong enough to follow Haihan fell out and could only suffer the loss silently.
(End of chapter)