Chapter 631 Temeilan Islands
The original intention of Zhan Gui's friendship with Qiong Ke came from the assignment from the Haihan Security Department, rather than his own initiative. The military initially planned to capture Belitung Island as well when moving south, but later considered that it was too close to Batavia's flight range, and it was difficult to guarantee safety after capturing it. During the transitional period to take over this place, they had no choice but to give up this step first and chose to focus on the Ambrosia Islands in the north as the main target.
The pepper grown on Belitung Island was not Haihan's goal, but there was a location on the west side of the island suitable for building a port, which was the location of Tanjung Pandan Port, the capital of Belitung Island. The local port conditions are obviously better than those of Amborna Island, but it is difficult for the Dutch to fully utilize it with their engineering capabilities. They can only temporarily choose a harbor on the south side of the island that is more convenient for building a dock as a colonial site. If the location of Tanjong Pandan is left to Haihan to manage, there is no doubt that an outpost for attacking Southeast Asia's chokepoints can be built within one or two years. However, given that the current strength of Haihan Navy is not strong enough to do whatever it wants under the nose of the East India Company, the military can only do the next best thing for the time being and set the springboard southward at the Ambrosia Islands.
Two months ago, when the militia army went south to seize the Ambuna Islands, in order to prevent scattered island residents from escaping the encirclement, the military and the Ministry of Security specially arranged for Zhan Gui to take a fleet to Belitung Island in advance - -If someone escapes from the island, he must go south to report the news, and Belitung Island, more than 400 nautical miles south of Ampur Island, is the first choice target for escapees.
If such a thing really happens, then the security field team members in Zhan Gui's fleet will have to take decisive action. Either look for mobile operators on the island, or intercept and intercept the ships sent back to the Batavia base camp to report the news. In short, the news of the change of ownership of the Ambrosia Islands should be kept secret for a while.
Fortunately, the Haihan militia's surprise attack captured all the Dutch ships docked at Ambona Island, and no fish escaped the net. Zhan Gui did not have to bear the risk of his identity being exposed. Of course, the luckiest person is actually Mayor Jonker on Belitung Island, because if someone really escapes here from Ambona Island, he will probably be involved. Then the killers in Zhangui’s fleet will If someone wants to kill someone overnight, Mayor Jonke, as an insider, will definitely not be able to escape.
However, Jonke didn't notice anything unusual about the inside story. He still believed that Zhan Gui was a friend worth keeping company with. What he is thinking about now is not what kind of gift Zhan Gui will bring next time, but thinking about asking Zhan Gui when they meet next time. What happened on the sea in the north has caused all the Dutch merchant ships that have recently gone south to Disappeared without a trace.
Because the three commanders of the search and rescue fleet drank a little too much the night before, they failed to set off early the next morning as scheduled. It was almost noon that the three of them came to the pier smelling of alcohol. After a brief lunch, the fleet unmoored and raised sails and sailed out of Belitung Port.
The next stop for the search and rescue fleet is the Temeilan Islands, located just north of Belitung Island, with a voyage of about 250 nautical miles. The location of this archipelago is exactly at the midpoint between Belitung Island and the Ambunas Islands, and food and fresh water can be replenished at the local port. However, the East India Company did not resettle immigrants here for no other reason than the area here was indeed too small and not suitable for colonial development. Only five of the seventeen islands in the Temeilan Islands are inhabited by indigenous people. The variety of local products is far less than that of Belitung Island and Ampurna Island. The main products are only coconuts and sea cucumbers.
Three days later, the search and rescue fleet successfully arrived at the Temeilan Islands, but they also found nothing here. The island's indigenous leader could not even tell them as much information as Mayor Jonker. At least Jonker can still have a relatively clear concept of time and records of ship dockings, but the indigenous people here live a chaotic life. There is only one witch doctor in the entire tribe who records time using the primitive method of carving wooden stakes. , as for when the last Dutch ship docked here, no one on the island can tell a clear time.
"These stupid monkeys should be exterminated as soon as possible!" After returning to the boat, the impatient Spikes finally couldn't help but lose his temper: "These guys are much stupider than black people! They are simply stupid and lazy!"
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The reason why Spikes lost his temper was that in the negotiation with the indigenous people just now, he asked the indigenous people to provide more locally produced fruits and vegetables, but this was rejected by the indigenous people because they did not want to work for outsiders. Spikes said that he could give silver coins as payment, but the natives believed that silver coins were of no use on this island. Of course, this is indeed true. There is no established commercial system here, and barter is still used. Original means of transaction.
Fortunately, it was not the first time for the three commanders to take this route. They knew how to deal with these extremely lazy natives. They immediately took out the goods on the ship and traded with the natives, and then successfully obtained supplies. Of course, the fleet's own manpower is required to carry these supplies onto the ship. The natives here are not interested in doing any manual labor other than subsistence.
"God is my witness, sooner or later I will catch all these monkeys and send them to the plantations in Surabaya to work as coolies, and let the whip teach them what the rules are!" Although this is not the first time that he has encountered such a thing, Spikes His anger was still uncontrollable.
"Okay, Mr. Spikes, stop complaining to these ignorant natives. We should think about what to do next." Brower stopped Spikes' venting with an indifferent look: "We are now A decision needs to be made whether to prioritize completing the voyage or launching a search operation in this sea area.”
Since the local indigenous people failed to provide any useful information, all the commanders can now determine is that the sea area where the Dutch ship happened is north of Belitung Island, but the specific place cannot be determined. The Temeilan Islands are located between Peninsular Malaysia and Kalimantan. The surrounding situation is relatively complicated. To the east is the world's third largest island, Kalimantan, which was called Borneo during this period. To the south is Belitung Island. In addition there are Bangka Island and Sumatra, the sixth largest island in the world.
The situation in the west is the most complicated. The Riau Islands and Linga Islands outside the Strait of Malacca have always been active areas for pirates in the South China Sea. Even if the Portuguese are stationed there, it has not changed the chaotic situation in that sea area. These two islands are only 1,560 nautical miles away from the Temeilan Islands, so there is indeed the possibility of pirates coming out to cause trouble.
As for the north, in addition to the Ambrosia Islands, there are also the Anambas Islands in the northwest. The local complex island environment also provides convenient conditions for pirates to hide. For the East India Company's search and rescue fleet, these islands may contain clues related to the disappearance of Dutch merchant ships. "If we want to search all these places, it will take at least one or two months. This is unlikely to be achieved." Van Longen was the first to shake his head and vetoed: "Gentlemen, our fleet is not a professional combat fleet. The extent to which the search and rescue mission is carried out must also take into account our actual situation.”
Although Van Longen accepted Governor Cohen's appointment to lead the fleet to participate in this search and rescue mission, he also knew that his fleet's capabilities were limited and could only undertake low-intensity military missions. Brouwer's tone was completely to filter out the places where pirates may exist in this sea area. This is actually a very risky approach for a fleet mainly composed of armed merchant ships. Van Longen was not worried that he would not be able to defeat a rabble like pirates, but that he could not afford the possible losses. The ships under his command were all ordered at local shipyards in the Netherlands. Once serious damage occurred, the local shipyards in Batavia would not be able to withstand the possible losses. If it can be repaired, people will have to be hired from the mainland to repair the ship. The loss caused by this delay will be huge. Therefore, he expressed his attitude to Brouwer tactfully and was unwilling to let the fleet take too big risks.
Brower probably could have anticipated Van Longen's little plan, and did not reveal it at the moment. He just turned to seek Spikes's opinion: "Mr. Spikes, what do you think?"
At this time, Spikes had calmed down from his previous excitement and returned to his professional state: "I think there is no need to think too much about the east and south. There are already company ships regularly patrolling in the south, and Borneo in the east ...We'd better not provoke them."
Neither Van Loongen nor Brouwer disagreed with Spikes' opinion. There were many foreign kingdoms on Borneo, among which the ruler of Sukadana was loyal to the foreign kingdom of Mataram on Java Island, and the Kingdom of Mataram could be said to be the most powerful kingdom during this period. The most troublesome enemy of the East India Company.
Not long ago, in 1628 and 1629, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mataram, **** Langsan, led an army to attack Batavia twice. If the East India Company's armament level had not been at a certain advantage, the city would have been lost long ago. Although the Kingdom of Mataram failed to completely defeat the East India Company, their sphere of influence expanded very rapidly during this period, unifying Central Java and East Java, and establishing ruling areas in eastern Sumatra and southern Kalimantan. . The area actually controlled by this kingdom was actually far larger than the colonists of the East India Company.
In the original history, it was not until the second half of the 17th century that the Kingdom of Mataram began to decline. Its ruler Amon Goulart II signed a slavish treaty with the East India Company and became a vassal of the East India Company. By the mid-18th century, the country was split into Yogyakarta and Solo by the East India Company, and could never regain its former glory.
Of course, those are situations that have not happened yet. The relationship between the two parties is still in a state of war to be serious. If the search and rescue fleet goes around the coast of Borneo, it will probably be regarded as the East India Company's attack on the Kingdom of Mataram. The provocation may even lead to another large-scale war between the two sides. This is a blame that the three of them cannot bear. Even if there were good reasons for going to Borneo, the Governor would never forgive such a low-level mistake.
After listening to what Spikes said, Brower responded calmly: "As you said, there is no need to go to the west. It is very close to the Portuguese, and you will bump into them if you are not careful. fleet.”
"Gentlemen, I suggest that we go to the Natuna Islands in the north first. After all, that is the place that really belongs to us. When we get there, it is too late to collect information before making further judgments. The person in charge there, Old Jansen, is a A serious and responsible person, he should have more complete shipping schedule records than Mr. Jonker." Hearing Brouwer's unkind tone, Van Longen quickly spoke up and put forward his own suggestions to prevent the two from quarreling.
Compared to Belitung Port near Batavia, Dutch captains returning from the north prefer to dock at the Natuna Islands because this is the first piece of the Netherlands they saw after their long voyage south from Damuan Port. Colonies, almost every Dutch merchant ship heading south would use the Natuna Islands as a must-stop supply point on this voyage. You will undoubtedly be able to get more detailed information there than at the first two stops.
"This is probably the safest approach at the moment." Brower said noncommittally, stood up and said, "Gentlemen, I need to return to my ship to see if all the supplies have been loaded on board."< br>
"This guy... just wants to fight!" Spikes complained angrily after Brower left: "He just hopes to achieve outstanding military exploits this time so that he can win the title of the next governor. Outperform me in competition.”
Governor Cohen planned to recommend one person between Spikes and Brouwer to the company's board of directors as the next governor. In fact, many people already knew this, and Van Longen was one of them. However, he didn't want to get involved in this kind of high-level power dispute. It would be fine if he made the right bet on this team. If he didn't, then the other party would suffer a bitter pill after taking power. I think that after Cohen took office as governor, he immediately sent several of his main competitors to explore remote and unknown seas. More than half of them did not return to Batavia alive.
Van Longen did not want his good maritime trade business to be suddenly interrupted and then be sent by the new governor to explore new routes in the ocean. Perhaps a navigator would like that kind of thing, but Van Longen was just a businessman, and he was only interested in commercial matters. Whether it was exploring or fighting, that was not what he wanted to do. Therefore, he could only pretend not to hear Spikes's complaints in order to maintain his neutral position. He now only hopes that after arriving on Natuna Island, he can find some clear clues locally to calm the differences between the two senior officers.
(End of chapter)