Chapter 640 The situation worsens
"The Dutch are more bellicose than we had expected earlier, or they value this route and the supply points on it more than we expected." Wang Tom explained: "In terms of naval battles, we We haven't been able to invest too much troops in the South China Sea, so we can only try to strengthen the defense capabilities and self-sustainability of Ambrosia Island. We need to build warehouses, arsenals, and fortifications on the island, and we may even need to develop agriculture on the island. , so that this stronghold can continue to exist in the South China Sea. This comprehensive project requires not only the efforts of the military, but also the coordination of other departments.”
"But this is indeed not in line with our original intention. Our original purpose of sending troops to occupy Ambona Island was just to have an outpost position, not to turn it into a war zone with the Dutch." Tao Donglai Frowning, he said: "The things you just mentioned require a large number of local infrastructure projects to be completed first. However, technical personnel and construction materials in this area are now in short supply, and corresponding arrangements have been made for a long time. We need to temporarily squeeze out a If it is allocated to Ambona Island, it will definitely affect other places.”
"We can slow down the construction progress of the four southern ports in Annan for a while. Now that Da Nang has begun to take shape, it can temporarily meet our needs in business and trade, and allocate part of Annan's engineering strength and materials to Ambon Island. "In three to five months at the earliest and about half a year at the slower, we will be able to build a strong military stronghold on the island. Even if the Dutch launch a massive attack, we won't have to worry about losing this place easily." Wang Tom immediately threw it out. The military had already made a small calculation in advance.
"So you want to replicate a Victory Fort on Ampurna Island?" Gu Kai understood what he meant, but still had doubts about it: "With such a large amount of work, the island is not like us. There were still some construction machinery available when we first landed. Can the construction period you mentioned be completed on time? Also, have you calculated how much construction materials need to be transported from Sanya? "
"The island now has a population of more than 3,000, with young adults accounting for almost half. The human resources situation is much better than when we first arrived here." Wang Tom patiently explained: "And we don't have to follow the model of Fort Victory. Copy the past. The local area already has a certain construction foundation, which is much better than the poor situation when we came here. All we have to do is to strengthen and transform the existing foundation. The amount of work is not as exaggerated as when we built Victory Fort. ”
"Where will the cost of the renovation project come from?" Schneider, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke: "Are we going to ask the fiscal bureau to set up special additional funds to subsidize military expenditures? This is not a good habit."
Wang Tom responded: "The military has captured several Dutch merchant ships before. Coupled with this capture, it is actually enough to complete the project I just mentioned. However, this requires special approval from the Executive Committee. This part of the revenue will be allocated to the military for use. Of course, the corresponding accounts will be provided to the audit department for review and filing to prevent misappropriation of public funds and false reporting of expenses in the process. ”
"If the military can handle the expenses on its own, then I have nothing to say." Schneider readily expressed his attitude on behalf of the Ministry of Finance - in fact, this is a disguised support for the military.
There has never been a lack of precedent in the history of the development of the Haihan Militia in the form of fighting to support war. Most of the trophies captured by the Militia Army during the Annan battle in the past two years were discounted and included in the military's account in the name of military expenses. In the treasury, this has almost become a fixed pattern for the militia army to raise its own military expenses. Although the military has never made it clear, the purpose of selecting Ambrina Island as a supply point and trapping Dutch merchant ships here is probably not only to block the news that the ownership of this island has changed hands, but also to seize spoils of war from the Dutch. Subsidizing military expenditures is probably also part of the consideration.
Schneider has always had a good relationship with the military. His objection was not actually to stop the military's actions, but to take the initiative to raise the issue first and avoid letting others make a fuss about military spending. Tom Wang obviously understood his intentions very well, and the two of them cooperated quite well with each other's questions and answers.
One of the reasons why the military's various proposals are most likely to be blocked is the issue of military spending. As long as this issue can be properly resolved, other factors will not seem so important. Wang Tom's proposal was also approved by a majority in the next vote, and the executive committee will coordinate resources to assist the military in completing the engineering transformation tasks on Ambrosia Island as soon as possible.
Compared with the well-organized Haihan Executive Committee, the Dutch who suffered a defeat on Ambrosia Island were not so relaxed. Because they were worried that their opponents might still have ships intercepting them at sea, the fleet did not rush north or south after leaving the Port of Ambrosia. Instead, they sailed straight east for dozens of nautical miles before confirming that there were no pursuers.
For Van Longen, he was extremely lucky to be able to escape from the island, but when he thought about the two ships and a large amount of valuable cargo that were lost as a result, he really couldn't feel relaxed. Moreover, Brower, one of the three commanders of the fleet, died in the battle. This was not only a heavy loss of personnel, but also had a certain negative impact on the reputation of the East India Company - a dignified senior Dutch military attaché and governor-general. One of the candidates for the heir died so quietly at the hands of a group of unidentified pirates. Governor Cohen was afraid that he would become very angry when he heard the news.
"Mr. Spikes, what should we do now?" Van Longen was at a loss about the way forward, so he could only ask Spikes for his opinion first.
Spikes' condition was no better than him. He looked up at him, shook his head and said, "We probably can't fight back."
Fan Longgen thought to himself that if you still want to fight back in this situation, you really think your life is too long, don't you? If I hadn't applied to board the ship in advance to make preparations for evacuation, this group of people might have been blocked at the port and unable to escape.
"Go back to Batavia. This matter must be reported in detail to the company as soon as possible." Although Spikes was in a heavy heart, he could still distinguish the priorities. Compared with other things, the most important thing is to let the company's senior management know exactly what is happening now, and then they can further consider response strategies and even corresponding retaliatory measures.
"But what to do with these shipments of goods?" Van Longen immediately objected: "There are still a lot of goods on these ships that need to be sold to Japan, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty. Have we wasted these many days in vain? We should go north! ”
"Is the current situation suitable for worrying about these things?" Spikes' voice rose a lot: "When such a big thing happens, the company's interests must be the first priority!" Van Longen was not willing to admit defeat, and he immediately thought of another path: "Even if we don't consider the cargo on our ship, we must also consider that the ships in Damuan Port will continue to send ships south without knowing the truth, and they will probably fall into a trap here on Ambon Island! We must We need to inform Damuan Port and let the local fleet organize a fleet to avoid this sea area in the route arrangement.”
In fact, both of their reasons were very good, and no one could convince the other. In the end, they decided to split the fleet into two. Spikes took the two ships south and reported the battle situation to the company's board of directors. Van Longen will lead the other three ships to continue north to Taiyuan Port - this way, he can at least get back part of his capital and avoid losing all his money.
Van Longen's fleet was trembling with fear along the way, and it was already twenty days before they arrived at Taiyuan Port. The first news he got after landing here was that Shibazhi was defeated miserably on Nanri Island last month and had lost its last stronghold near the Fujian coast. It was not the old rival Fujian Navy that defeated them, but a Haihan armed force that went to Fujian from Qiongzhou Island.
This news also surprised Van Longen. The Dutch have always not wanted the Fujian waters to be monopolized by the Ming Dynasty government or one of the Eighteen Zhizhi, because that would make their "outsiders" face a higher threshold for local trade. Although the Dutch did not directly intervene in the protracted war between the two sides along the Fujian coast, they privately gave the Shibazhi a certain amount of support so that they could maintain pressure on the Fujian government.
It is no secret that the Haihan people support Xu Xinsu in the military field, but the Dutch never thought that the Haihan armed forces in Qiongzhou Island could march into Fujian so quickly and use force to attack Shibazhi with the cooperation of the government. In recent years, after Xu Xinsu received support from the Haihan people, her trade contacts with the Dutch have become less and less. Now the two sides have openly come together and cracked down on Shiba Zhi, who exists as a middleman for the Dutch. This makes Van Longen feel bad. My hunch is that the Dutch are likely to be squeezed out of the Ming Dynasty trade circle.
During this period, Zheng Zhilong was working hard to seize Nanri Island from his opponents. He also sent an envoy to Damuan Port, hoping to purchase some powerful artillery from the Dutch. But his request was destined to be rejected. Originally, Van Longen's fleet shipped several artillery pieces this time and planned to sell them to Shibazhi or Ryukyu further north at Dayuan Port, but when they arrived at Ambona Island, they all Destroyed by enemy fire on the battlefield. Zheng Zhilong now wants to buy cannons, unless the Dutch are willing to remove the cannons from the walls of the city of Jelanja and sell them to him as merchandise, but this is obviously unlikely.
After Van Longen heard the news on the dock, he immediately went to the local East India Company office to see the person in charge. Since the East India Company established an administrative agency in Taiwan in 1624, it has appointed the position of Governor to be responsible for the administrative affairs of the entire island. The current chief executive is the fourth in this position, named Hans Putmans.
Hans only joined the East India Company as a merchant in 1624. In 1626, he was promoted to the position of merchant merchant and court judge. He also served as manager of Chinese affairs in Batavia. In 1627, he was promoted to chairman of the city council. In 1629, he was promoted from his predecessor Peter Ru Pieter Nuyts took over this position, which can be described as a rocket-like promotion speed. It is said that Hans's family background was quite deep, which enabled him to serve as a high-ranking local official only five years after joining the East India Company. Behind his rocket-like promotion, there are also a large group of colleagues who were used as stepping stones to step on him.
However, Hans's predecessor did not step down from this position because he wanted to make room for him, but he had deeds worth mentioning. Peter Ruiz became the chief minister in 1627. In July of the same year, he went to Japan to hold peace talks with the shogunate on trade issues between the two sides, but failed due to the obstruction of Hamada Yabei. Peter therefore harbored a grudge against Hamada, and when Hamada came to Taiwan the next year, he was arrested in retaliation. Although he was released soon, Hamada also took violent measures to retaliate. He took Peter and his son hostage, and later took him directly to Japan and imprisoned him. He also closed the Dutch business store in Hirado, Japan.
In order to appease the anger of the Japanese shogunate, the East India Company sent Hans to Taiwan to take over Peter's position. After the unlucky Peter returned to Taiwan, he was extradited to Japan and imprisoned for four years until he was released in 1636. Deported back to the Netherlands.
Hans was much more powerful than his predecessor. In the original history, during his tenure, this guy conquered most of the indigenous tribes on Taiwan Island and gained the allegiance of some tribal leaders. The Dutch colonial stronghold of Geranje, which was built near Damuan Port starting in 1624, was also completed during his term. Of course, at this time and space, he probably had little chance to complete his original term.
"Mr. Hans, first of all I have to tell you some bad news." After a few words with Hans, Van Longen quickly got to the point and told Hans about the battle that took place on Ambrosia Island in the future.
Hans also looked shocked after hearing this: "Then this means that not even one of the five merchant ships that set out from here to go south in the past two months reached Batavia, and they all had an accident on Natuna Island? ”
"It seems like this so far. We found three sabotaged company merchant ships in the local port. Unfortunately, our crew members were not found." Van Longen paused and said, "Perhaps they have all been killed. Those pirates were quite The cruelty!”
"May God bless them!" Hans raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on his chest, and then continued: "Then this means that we have lost another reliable supply point on our journey south. Doesn't the company have any idea about this? A better way to deal with it? ”
Van Longen responded: "I personally think it is very difficult. The pirates on that island are not ordinary goods. They are even better armed than Shiba Zhi. They may have received assistance from the Portuguese, and may even have purchased them from the Haihan people." Weapons.”
(End of chapter)