Chapter 669 Defense Handover
During Van Longen's last trip to the Natuna Islands to participate in combat, he was extremely impressed by the defense measures of the island towns. The town is surrounded by waterways on both sides, and there is no hiding place on the road facing the port. It is indeed extremely difficult to directly attack the town after landing from the port. The backside of the town is not a weak point, but the place with the strongest defense. When the East India Company occupied this place, they considered that there was no depth of defense on the island, so they built a fortress on the westernmost side of the town against the mountains. As the last line of defense for Natuna Island. But last time Van Longen and others didn't even attack the town, let alone the last fortress.
It was just a group of pirates who occupied Natuna Island, which caused the East India Company to suffer a big loss. If they were replaced by the Haihan people, who are said to have excellent engineering and construction capabilities, they would have been given a few more months to slowly build fortifications. , it is hard for Van Longen to imagine that there will be no chance to take back the island from them in the future. To be honest, even if the Haihan people did not intervene in this matter, Fan Longgen still believed that his family would pay a high price for the next battle to seize the island. How did these pampered gentlemen in Batavia know how powerful the pirates on the island were, so they thought they could take it down by sending more troops there. No one believed them anyway, and they all thought it was due to improper command by a few of them. Van Longen didn't bother to say anything about the defeat, so he let the people behind him touch this hard nail.
Cohen could not guess what Fan Longen was thinking. He frowned and said, "If we really give them a few months as a buffer, it will indeed make it more difficult for us to recapture Natuna. So I ask you to continue fighting with the Haihan people." When negotiating, regardless of whether they have taken action, we cannot agree with their occupation of the area, and do not accept the restricted areas and time limits they have drawn. Remember, this is our bottom line!”
"Okay, Lord Governor, I will keep it in mind." Van Longen responded respectfully. He originally thought that the company might send a senior figure to lead the team, but judging from the current lineup, there is no doubt that he is the real core and person in charge of the mission.
Cohen said solemnly: "Remember, our purpose is not to reach some kind of peace agreement with them. It would be best if we can do it. If we can't do it, don't force it. The most important thing is to understand them from all levels. situation and find out their strength. I want to know why they were able to defeat our armed fleet. I don’t want Fujian’s unexplained defeat to happen again.”
Cohen didn't wait for Van Longen to reply, then turned to Van der Wegen and warned: "After arriving in Sanya, you must find an opportunity to see their warships and shipyards. You are an expert, and I think you should know what details are worth it." Pay attention. If possible, keep in touch with their military personnel, find out their military structure, command system, weapons and equipment, and collect all available intelligence, do you understand?
"Understood, Lord Governor!" Van der Wegen responded loudly.
"The performance of the two of you before this was not ideal, and the company's senior management also criticized you, but I suppressed these opinions. I hope you can seize this opportunity and perform well, and don't let me down again. "Cohen slowly leaned back on the chair, unable to hide the tired look on his face: "If things don't go well this time, just prepare to pack your bags and go back to your hometown."
Van der Wegen and Van Longen looked at each other, stood up silently, and bowed to Cohen to say goodbye. Seeing this, Su Keyi stood up and prepared to leave, but Cohen, who had closed his eyes and seemed to be recuperating, said at this moment: "Su Keyi stays, I have something to say to you."
After the two Dutchmen left, Cohen opened his eyes and said: "Do you know why I chose you to join the mission?"
"Because the Haihan people we are going to contact on this trip are actually Chinese, I can be an interpreter and help both parties communicate." Su Keyi responded.
Cohen nodded and said: "This is just one of the reasons. Think about it again."
Su Keyi thought for a while and then added: "The appearance and behavior of the villain should be the same as that of the local Chinese. There may be a chance to sneak into the folk and get more information."
"Yes, but it's not complete enough." Cohen stopped talking in circles and revealed the answer directly: "I hope that after you arrive there, you will carefully observe their social structure and immigration policy to see what we can learn from. If there is any loophole to take advantage of, after returning, organize some reliable people and try to immigrate to Sanya.”
The surprised expression on Su Keyi's face could not be concealed at all: "What does the Governor mean...to send people to lurk locally?"
"That's right." Cohen nodded and said: "During the meeting two days ago, Mr. Henke mentioned something that we have ignored in the past, which is intelligence channels. The Haihan people can send people to infiltrate Bada through various channels. Via, but we know nothing about their situation. It will be difficult for us to avoid competition with the Haihan people in the Far East in the future. If we still know nothing about their movements, we will suffer a big loss sooner or later. "
"But Mr. Henk never seems to allow Chinese people to enter his department..." Su Keyi obviously also knew something about the "eccentricities" of the East India Company's intelligence department, with a look of hesitation on his face.
"Maybe after you come back, I will form a new independent department, a department that exists for the Haihan people. In view of the Chinese identity of the Haihan people, this department will also be dominated by Chinese people. Do you understand what I mean? ?" Cohen interrupted Su Keyi.
"I understand, I understand!" Su Keyi was not a fool. Of course he understood that this was Cohen promising him an official position. If such a new department can really be established, then as the only Chinese executive who has been to Sanya, he will definitely become the head of this new department.
"In addition to what I just said, I also want to know the relationship between Haihan and Ming Dynasty, and how they coexisted on Qiongzhou Island." Cohen explained: "I don't believe that the Ming Empire would allow such a group of people They blatantly created another set of ruling institutions in their own territory. I want to know how they did it!”
In mid-August, the East India Company mission, consisting of two sailing ships, one large and one small, slowly sailed out of the port of Batavia and began to move north. Ten days after setting off, they arrived at the waters of the Natuna Islands. However, to be cautious, they did not get close to the islands. Instead, they chose to go around fifty nautical miles from the west.
There is no doubt that Van Longen's decision was quite wise, because at this time the fleet led by Roger was also approaching the port on the east side of the main island of Natuna. If they had not chosen to go around, they might have collided with this fleet. "Haihan Expeditionary Force". In order not to expose the truth on the island, Roger would definitely order the capture or sinking of these two ships. All these hundreds of crew members would be included in the list of missing persons, just like those captured on the island.
The situation was just as Cohen expected. Heihan had no intention of waiting for the Dutch to react before taking action. A few days after sending the diplomatic letter, Roger's fleet set off south from Port Victory. When the letter arrived in Batavia, the fleet had also arrived at Cam Ranh Bay south of Annan for its final rest and supplies. When the East India Company's mission headed north, the two sides happened to miss the Natuna Islands. The Haihan fleet heading south this time carried nearly 2,000 people, of whom the military and civilians accounted for roughly half. In addition, there are a large number of weapons, building materials, supplies, agricultural materials, etc. transported on the ship, which is completely a vast and large-scale immigration. In order to ensure safety, the Navy even used a "Dignity-class" battleship to go south with the fleet as a escort. Of course, due to port conditions, this large ship cannot stay locally for a long time, so after the newly arrived troops change defenses with the local garrison of Mushabe's troops, it will have to follow the fleet carrying Mushabe's troops. Let’s return to Annan’s Cam Ranh Bay base along the same route.
While the Dutch fleet was anxiously searching for suspicious targets on the nearby sea, Roger and Mushaba were conducting a defense handover at Ambona Port. The two men had the experience of fighting together before, but it dates back to the Annan Civil War. In the past two years, Mu Xiabai has been stationed in Annan, while Roger has been mostly in Tiandu Industrial Zone, so the two sides have basically no contact.
In order to avoid leaking the news as much as possible, the island has been under complete martial law since last night. All civilians are not allowed to step out of their homes without being notified. The entire port area is completely blocked, and non-military personnel are strictly prohibited from entering. After Roger's fleet arrived at the port, the first batch of landed infantry immediately took over the defense of the island town. Then the commanders of both sides met at the port and began to hand over command and supplies.
"This is the list of supplies left on the island. They are all piled up in the warehouse of the camp. Send someone to check them as soon as possible." After the two sides met and exchanged a few words, Mu Xiabai got down to business and took out the list of supplies and handed it to Luo Jay.
Roger took it and looked at it, then handed it to the adjutant beside him for him to handle. After four months of garrisoning on the island, there were actually very few military supplies left. The rest were mainly unused military rations and more than a thousand kilograms of gunpowder. As for weapons, since the standard weapons installed by the Annan militia are different from those at the base camp, there is no need to stay on the island. They will all be shipped out.
"When I was about to leave, I heard that the Military Commission had already drawn up a reward for you. I guess you should have gotten the news by this time, right?" Roger asked with a smile.
"Well, I was notified by telegram and I was given a long paid leave. As for the promotion, I have to wait until I return to Victory Port to report on my work." Although Mu Xiabai has a calm personality, he can't hide his face. of joy. Capturing the Ambrosia Islands and repelling a counterattack by the opponent was undoubtedly a great achievement. However, at this time, he did not know that among the opponent's dead list, there was also a senior officer who would have served as the governor of the East India Company in history. Otherwise, the commendation order issued by the Military Commission would probably have been longer.
"How is the situation on the island?" Roger thought for a while and added: "I am talking about the situation among the people."
"The mood of the civilians on the island has basically stabilized now. After all, we haven't done anything outrageous in the past few months. To be honest, we are probably the most moral pirates in history." Mu Xiabai laughed at himself. Said: "Although it can't be said that we don't take advantage of the people, we really haven't done anything that violates discipline. Apart from complaining about the curfew we have been enforcing, the people on the island have nothing else."
"How are the food reserves on the island?" Roger continued to ask.
"With your two thousand people, we should be able to sustain it for two or three months." Mu Xiabai said, raising his finger and pointing to several Dutch sailing ships docked on the shore in the port area: "These few self-indulgent sailing ships have thrown themselves into the trap." There are a lot of supplies on the ship, and we have unloaded them for our own use. By the way, there are still dozens of prisoners detained on the island. Later, you can ask the fleet to release a ship specifically to transport the prisoners.”
"Don't worry, this has been prepared for a long time." Roger responded with a smile: "The shipyard specially modified a ship, added iron bars to the deck hatch cover, and added a whole row of shackles in the cabin to ensure that these prisoners only have Able to squat in the cabin honestly. ”
"That's good. I don't want to cause any more trouble on the way back." Mu Xiabai was not afraid of fighting, but escorting prisoners over long distances was indeed a troublesome matter.
"These forts...what a pity." Roger looked around at the remains of the forts on the pier and couldn't help but sigh.
After the Dutch landed and captured the port that day, the militia troops blew up the artillery and forts that could not be retreated. From the remaining ruins of the fort, it is not difficult to imagine the intensity of the battle that day.
"How are we going to build the new fortifications?" Mu Xiabai didn't want to talk about the fighting situation that day, so he simply opened another topic.
"Three-dimensional defense requires both sea and land." Roger explained: "The biggest problem with the last defense was that it only had coastal defense artillery to deal with ships, but no defense means to prevent infantry assaults. So the new The fortifications will be based on this aspect, adding defensive methods such as trenches and barbed wire, and increasing the number of musketeers deployed. However, I personally would like to build a bastion like Victory Fort, but on this island. The conditions are limited and it probably won’t be possible to repair.”
"It can be repaired, but the construction period will take a long, long time. Maybe it won't be completed by the time you leave office." Mu Xiabai patted Roger on the shoulder and said, "After I leave, this place will be left to you, Holland. People will definitely come again, don’t let them down, beat them hard!”
Roger grinned and said: "Don't worry, I will make them give up the fight for this place completely."
(End of chapter)