Chapter 662 The Dutch Problem
An armed force of a thousand people, more than a thousand immigrants, plus a large amount of supplies and equipment, this is the lineup that is about to leave the Sanya base camp for the Ambunas Islands. In order to ensure the delivery of personnel and materials at one time, the Ministry of Shipping needs to mobilize more than 30 transport ships under its command to undertake this task. This is also rare among the ocean-going fleets dispatched by the Ministry of Shipping since the Annan Civil War. scale.
However, this is not all the power that the Executive Committee plans to put into the local area. In addition to the army and immigration, the navy will also increase its investment in local maritime defense. The warships stationed in the Ambrosia Islands will add four more of the same class to the original two "Exploration-class" warships to ensure that when the local area is attacked from the sea, it will not have to retreat inland for passive defense. . After the local port terminal reconstruction and expansion project is completed, the Military Commission will most likely deploy one or two "exploration-class" warships with larger tonnage.
As for the "Majesty-class" warships used as flagships in various fleets, the requirements for port conditions and comprehensive supply and maintenance capabilities are much higher. Ampana Island is limited by objective conditions, and it is difficult to meet the requirements of the navy. According to the standards, the military can only deploy it to the Cam Ranh Bay military base in Annan, and then need to send it to the South China Sea to perform combat missions during the war.
In mid-August, news finally came from Fujian that the negotiations between the local government and the East India Company had broken down. As the Executive Committee had predicted in advance, the Dutch refused any form of compensation or commitment, and their attitude remained very tough. Although this may not be good news for the Fujian government, which does not want to continue the war, it is exactly the result that Haihan's side wants to obtain. Calculating the time, it was estimated that the ship from Daguang to Batavia to report the news had already set off for many days. Haihan also entrusted the Zhan family shipping company, which had trade relations with the East India Company, to bring a stern diplomatic letter. Proceed to Batavia and present it to the top brass of the East India Company.
Five days after the fleet of the Zhan Family Shipping Company set off, a huge fleet led by Roger also set sail from the Victory Port Military Terminal and the Immigration Terminal of Sanya at the same time. The two fleets will meet off the coast of Sanya, then conduct a simple sea formation and then head south together to the Ambrosia Islands. Due to the large scale of the fleet, it had to stop at Annan coastal ports for replenishment at least twice on the way. Calculating, it would take about twenty days of sailing to reach the Annan Islands. Prior to this, the Mushapai and Annan militia troops stationed locally still had to rely on themselves to organize defense.
Fortunately, at this time, the East India Company headquarters in Batavia was engaged in a fierce dispute of opinion, and the reason was that the military operations organized by the company suffered continuous setbacks outside.
In late June, a fleet originally sent out to search for and rescue a missing merchant ship ran into its owner in the Natuna Islands, and an armed conflict broke out. The fleet commanded by senior officers Spikes and Brouwer fought relatively smoothly at the beginning. They carried out landing operations despite the opponent's artillery fire and successfully broke through the opponent's coastal defense battery defense line. Just when they thought they could successfully annihilate this group of pirates of unknown origin and recapture Natuna Island, the ensuing battle situation took a turn for the worse, which was shocking.
The Dutch army, which had gained an advantage in the amphibious landing operation, was defeated by its opponents in a positional battle besieging the island town. Broward himself was killed during the raid on the town, which was one of the main reasons for the subsequent rout of the Dutch army. The fleet that finally fled the local area was unable to launch a second round of attacks and could only split into two groups at sea. One group was led by Van Longen and still headed north to Taiyuan Port. The remaining defeated generals gathered by Spikes returned to Batavia along the same route and reported the battle to the company.
Since entering the Far East, the East India Company's armed fleets have ended in victory in most conflicts. This is also the fundamental reason why the colonies under the company's jurisdiction have been able to expand rapidly in just over ten years. Even if they were defeated by the Ming army in Penghu during the Tianqi period, it was because the strength gap between the two sides was too great. After resisting for half a year, they almost ran out of ammunition and food before they had to choose to retreat. However, an armed force with a well-organized and well-trained lineup and commanded by senior officers was actually defeated by a group of pirates who appeared from nowhere on Natuna Island. The result can be described as a disastrous defeat. It was really unacceptable to the vast majority of the board of directors.
In Spikes' description, this group of pirates was described as a "well-trained army", equipped with more guns than even the armed fleet, and judging from the condition of the fortifications they built on the island, these guys It's not that I plan to rob and leave, but that I want to settle down there for a long time.
Such a description also caused an uproar in the board of directors. After the East India Company seized the island a few years ago, no outside force had ever had any idea of the local area. Even the Portuguese, who had never been so confrontational, did not The Natuna Islands were the object of contention. This is not because the Portuguese cannot capture this place. In fact, the local defense force is not very strong and can barely protect itself from pirate harassment. The real reason is that the port conditions of this place are limited, and even if they capture it, they cannot carry out large-scale attacks. Development and construction, and there is no natural danger to defend, so the strategic value is relatively limited.
However, this group of pirates of unknown origin did not seem to have such an awareness. Not only did they quietly capture the local ports and towns, but they also carried out large-scale projects. From Spikes' point of view, the local It takes at least thousands of laborers and more than a month to build the fortifications, and this amount of work is the objective reason why the local area has not had decent fortifications for many years.
It has to be said that Spikes's inference still has a certain factual basis, and it is also consistent with the time when Dutch merchant ships began to disappear on this waterway, so the credibility is quite high. But what the company's executives couldn't accept was that the armed fleet representing the company's combat effectiveness would actually be defeated by a group of pirates in combat, and there seemed to be quite a few loopholes in Spikes's description of the battle.
For example, Spikes claimed that the equipment level of this group of pirates was quite high, even surpassing his own armed force. However, as far as the East India Company knew, no pirate group in the Far East had such a level of armed force. Even the Eighteen Zhizhi on the coast of the Ming Dynasty, known as the number one in the Far East, only had more ships and more people, and the level of weapons and equipment alone was far inferior to the armed forces of the East India Company. As for the pirates in South Asia, they are far less armed than the Shibazhi. It is often a group of ragged pirates who dare to go to sea to rob with a pile of scrap metal. It is said that the South Asian pirates, who are generally low in strength, have the ability to defeat the East Indies. The company's armed forces and company executives are determined not to believe it.
Of course, Spikes later added another important piece of information, that is, he believed that this group of pirates should be the same group that attacked Qiongzhou Island of the Ming Dynasty last year, that is, an armed force formed by the remnants of Annan's previous dynasty. Many of these people were soldiers before changing careers. Their military quality is far beyond that of ordinary pirates, and they also have certain channels to obtain a large number of standard weapons. After this group was expelled from Qiongzhou Island by the coalition forces of Haihan and Ming Dynasty last year, they probably chose to go south to find another place to stay, and the Natuna Islands unfortunately fell into their plan. As for the weapons they possess, it can easily be explained on the basis of this inference. As we all know, the Portuguese and the Haihan people entrenched on Qiongzhou Island are both famous arms dealers. The weapons they recently sold to Annan and the Ming Dynasty are not a small amount, and it is reasonable for some of them to flow into the hands of pirates - maybe They sold them directly to pirates. After all, this kind of thing was not new. A considerable part of the standard weapons in Shibazhi's hands were provided by the East India Company.
However, this inference only comes from Spikes' personal thoughts, and there is no substantial evidence to prove its authenticity. The soldiers did not even capture a prisoner from the island to obtain a confession. Therefore, most people on the company's board of directors are still skeptical about this statement. However, what they don't know is that Spikes accidentally made an inference that is infinitely close to the truth.
A considerable number of the members of the local armed force led by Mu Xiabai had indeed participated in Operation Prairie Fire the previous year, and at that time they were also acting as pirates from Annan. It is worth mentioning that when this experience of playing pirates was applied to the Ambrosia Islands again after the war, the acting skills of the combatants were generally improved. At that time, among the first batch of Dutchmen captured on the island, almost no one doubted whether this group of pirates who suddenly appeared had other unknown true identities.
Even if this combat capability could be reasonably explained, Spikes still could not explain to the board of directors why the pirates would choose a place like the Natuna Islands isolated in the South China Sea as a long-term base. You must know that the local area cannot even produce its own food, and to a certain extent, it must rely on transporting supplies from outside. The East India Company was able to maintain this supply point because its fleets plied this route all year round. On the one hand, it transported food and living supplies to the island from the outside, and on the other hand, it replenished fresh water, fruits and vegetables locally.
The island has always maintained a population of three to four thousand people, which is precisely because the island's self-production level and external supply capacity are limited and cannot support more people to settle for a long time. If this group of pirates really wants to choose Natuna Island as their base, they will inevitably face the same problem - unless they have the ability to carry out large-scale remote supply, or to cultivate a large amount of farmland on the island to grow food crops. . But if they deliberately organized large-scale farming to maintain their livelihood, why would these people become pirates?
Another thing that Spikes can't explain is that based on the situation he said, the pirate force occupying the local area is at least about 500 to 800 people. With so many people and materials coming across the sea, where is their fleet? ? If it was hidden on the coast of a nearby island, why was it not attacked from the sea when the Dutch fleet was docked for operations?
Spikes could only guess that this fleet might have just gone out to sea to catch new prey, but this explanation brought up a new problem: if the pirates who stayed on the island to look after the pirates while the main force went out to plunder, They are all so powerful, so how powerful will this pirate force be? This is obviously too mysterious, and the people on the board of directors are not willing to believe that a little-known pirate can be so powerful. If even pirates could manage such an army, what on earth had the East India Company been doing all these years?
Even Governor Cohen, who has always had great trust in Spikes, can no longer turn a blind eye to the various loopholes and contradictions in his description under such circumstances. When Governor Cohen sternly questioned Spikes about whether he had lied about military information, Spikes could only cry out that he was wronged and claimed that someone could testify for him. Van Longen took the remaining merchant ships northward. At Damuan, after he comes back, the board of directors can ask him to see if the situation mentioned is consistent with his description.
However, according to the itinerary, Van Longen will probably have to wait until the end of August or early September to return to Batavia, and this will only happen if the road goes smoothly. After much discussion, the board of directors decided not to impose punitive measures on Spikes for the time being. However, in view of the many doubts in his description, Governor Cohen announced that he would be placed under house arrest until Van Longen returned to Batavia and confirmed that his statement was true. .
Although it was not clear what the situation was in the Natuna Islands in the end, this defeat still attracted great attention from the East India Company's board of directors. There is a very important piece of information in Spikes' description, that is, several of the company's previously missing sailboats actually appeared in the local harbor - of course, even the people and cargo on board had disappeared, and only one person was left. It's just an empty shell with the rudder removed and unable to sail. It is obvious that the missing sailboats before this were all caused by this group of people, but there is no need to search the world for their whereabouts.
A few sailboats are not a big deal, but pirates have begun to threaten the safety of the South China Sea waterways, and their strength cannot be underestimated, which has to attract the attention of the board of directors. There is no doubt that this cancer must be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise the company's maritime trade in Northeast Asia will be greatly affected in the future. But how to start has become a problem that everyone is arguing about.
Some people think that they should wait for Van Longen to come back and confirm that Spikes' statement is true before formulating a corresponding battle plan, while others think that they must take action as soon as possible, otherwise it will be more difficult to eradicate the pirates on the island once they have taken root.
(End of chapter)