Chapter 721 Ma Dalan Country
If only the vacancy of the Governor-General left after Cohen's death caused internal strife among the East India Company's top brass, it would not be enough to shock Roger. After all, Cohen's illness was no secret to Heyhan, and the consequences that would arise from this would not be enough. Disputes over power and position are also changes that can be expected by the intelligence agencies. What surprised Roger was that the Mataram Sultanate, also located on Java Island, responded immediately and sent a large army to attack the area near Batavia.
This Green Church regime, founded in 1586, has risen rapidly in Southeast Asia. In the past 20 years since Laden Langsang came to power in 1613, it has expanded its territory several times through several wars. At present, the Matalan Kingdom has unified the central and eastern regions of Java and occupied eastern Sumatra and southern Kalimantan. In other words, Batavia and the surrounding areas occupied by the Dutch in West Java have become the only obstacle preventing the map of Mataram from being connected.
Judging from the area alone, the territory of the Matalan Kingdom is dozens of times that of the East India Company's area on Java Island. Naturally, the ruler of Matalan would not sit back and watch the existence of Batavia City as a thorn in his side in the territory he would control in the future. Therefore, in the two years of 1628 and 1629, Laden Langsang personally kissed twice. Led an army to attack Batavia.
However, Lang Sang soon discovered that the piece of fat in their eyes was actually a hard bone that could break teeth. The Dutch and their indigenous soldiers, under the command of Governor Cohen, tenaciously resisted the Matalan army. Although the difference in strength between the two sides was nearly ten times, the Dutch were able to withstand the opponent's human wave tactics by virtue of their more advanced armaments and fortifications. Although Lang Sang was able to withstand the combat losses of personnel, the maritime transport capacity under his command was unable to provide stable logistical supplies to the army. As a result, the two sieges failed to last until the defenders in the city ran out of ammunition and food. His own army had already suffered due to The supply of food and grass was insufficient and they had to retreat.
Of course, Madalan's two offensives were not without success. Although the city of Batavia was defended, the East India Company suffered huge losses. Almost all the various cash crop plantations near the city of Batavia were destroyed by the enemy, and the port facilities were also severely damaged. In order to avoid its sharp edge, Cohen had to order some ships to take refuge in other colonial strongholds and not engage in head-on combat with the Matalan fleet.
Moreover, in the original history, Cohen died suddenly of illness in Batavia during the second siege of the Matalan army at the age of 43. Although in this time and space he successfully survived due to the butterfly effect caused by the Haihan crossing operation, and the Matalan Kingdom has not launched wars in the past two years, there is no doubt that Lang Sang and his subjects He is always waiting for the next opportunity to start a war.
Judging from the speed of the Matalan country's troop dispatch this time, Roger believed that these Javanese natives were either always ready for war and never relaxed, or they wanted to seize this golden opportunity to catch the Dutch off guard. If it is the latter, then the horse and blue country may not be fully prepared for war, and it is difficult to say whether they can achieve the results they want. But if it is the former situation, then the city of Batavia, which is currently in civil strife, may really be captured.
As a third-party bystander, Haihan would of course hope that the two sides would fight as fiercely as possible. After all, no matter which side wins in the end, Haihan will still be Haihan’s leader in South Asia, especially the critical waterway of the Sunda Strait. Competitors for control. If it can consume its strength through war, both Roger and the Haihan Executive Committee will definitely be happy to see the result. However, there is still more than 600 nautical miles between Batavia and the southernmost Ambrosia Islands in Haihan's control area. It is also very difficult to obtain accurate information in the first time. From such a long distance, even if you want to watch the excitement, you can't see clearly.
Roger kept the person who brought the letter and interrogated him in detail for a long time. What he got was only fragmentary information with limited reference value. However, he still did not dare to neglect, and immediately went to the confidential room of the headquarters and personally sent a telegram to Sanya explaining the situation.
However, the base camp also has no effective solution to this situation. It can only immediately notify the Ministry of Shipping and ask the Ministry of Shipping to come forward to warn foreign merchant ships that have recently entered and exited the port not to go south to Batavia during this period to avoid Got caught up in the flames of war.
Haihan and the East India Company only reached an armistice agreement, but there was no formal diplomatic relationship. The only open exchange at present is probably the slave trade in Ambona Port. Therefore, there was no official news channel from the East India Company at the Sanya base camp. The Executive Committee could only urgently summon Hao Wanqing from the Ministry of Security to ask him if there was any other way to learn about the battle situation in Batavia.
Hao Wanqing got the news later than the Executive Committee. The telegram sent from the Port of Ambrosia was first sent to the General Office of the Executive Committee, and then copied to the Military Commission, Ministry of Security and other units. So when he rushed to Fort Victory to receive consultation from the executive committee, he actually had no information to provide to the executive committee for reference.
"At the moment, all I can say to you is one word - wait!" Hao Wanqing also had a helpless expression: "The Ministry of Security has indeed arranged intelligence personnel in Batavia, but if the local area has been attacked by Ma Lan, Surrounded by a large army, it may be difficult for our people to escape from the chaos. ”
"You mean, maybe we have to wait until the war is over before we know what happened in Batavia?" Yan Chujie asked with some dissatisfaction.
Hao Wanqing was unfazed by his tone and nodded calmly in response: "Although I don't want to admit it, the current situation is indeed the case. If Batavia City has been blocked, then we can only wait for the horse to hit the blue country. Retreat, or wait for Batavia to be defeated. In addition, I would like to remind Mr. Yan that it is best not to easily send armed forces to intervene before you know the situation in Batavia. The Matalan Kingdom is not a weakling regime. , this country’s territory is almost the same size as Annan, and it is more warlike than the Annan people.”
Yan Chujie shook his head slightly and said: "The military will not intervene in the war between the Dutch and the South Asian monkeys, but it must find a way to grasp the changes in the local situation. Besides, our military is not the only one who cares about the situation in Batavia." Shi Boss, you think so?”
Schneider responded with a smile: "You don't have to drag me down in a hurry. Even if you don't mention it, I will say it. If Batavia is captured by the Malta Blue Country, it will not only be the Dutch family that will be affected. The pattern of East-West trade may change as a result. Even if the Matalan country fails to succeed in the end, as long as the strength of the Dutch is weakened, the situation in South Asia may change again. This is of course true for us. It is an opportunity, but it is also a test. If the Dutch decline, then we will have the opportunity to intervene in the Java Sea trade circle, sell our industrial products locally, and gradually promote the trading system and finance led by us locally. System." "With all due respect, dealing with the Ma Dalan Country will probably be much more troublesome than Annan and Daming. Don't forget, that is a ***** Green Religion regime." Ning Qi also joined in. In this discussion: "I am not here to discuss the teachings of the Green Sect, but I just want to remind everyone that this kind of ***** regime rises very quickly and declines very quickly. In the original history, to this day By the end of the century, the country of Matalan had become a vassal of the Dutch. The country's real glory was only a short period of twenty or thirty years at this stage."
"You mean, Matalan is not a suitable regime to be an ally?" Tao Donglai asked.
"Judging from the history we know, this is an upstart who has been rich for no more than three generations." Ning Qi described it concisely and comprehensively: "From the first generation of Sultan Suta Wijaya Sennapati who established the regime to the succession of Mas Zoran, and now Rodon Langsang, who is leading the attack on Batavia, this country seems to be getting stronger and stronger, but in fact it has reached the apex of this regime. The following history. It basically went downhill all the way until it was split into two small countries without resistance by the Dutch in the 18th century. ”
Ning Qi did not continue. These people here are not novices. They have been sitting in the position of rulers for so many years. Naturally, they also understand the various taboos and things that need to be paid attention to in diplomacy. If a regime exists for too short a period of time and its leaders change too frequently, it will inevitably lead to a lack of continuity in its policies, which is the most troublesome thing for any diplomat.
Although the opponents of this regime are also the opponents of Haihan, this does not mean that it is as simple as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". For the country of Matalan, which believes in green religion, the Haihan people are essentially the same as the Dutch. There is no difference, they are both inherently evil pagans. If Heyhan is trying to find anti-Dutch allies in South Asia, Matalan is not a suitable choice. In terms of diplomatic difficulty, it may be more difficult to deal with than the East India Company. At least the East India Company is headed by businessmen, and the basic spirit of contract is still in place. In the world of Green Religion, there are only believers and heretics, and everything else can be ignored.
After listening to Ning Qi's introduction, Schneider really wanted to back off: "If this is really the case you said, then we really need to think carefully about what kind of attitude we should use towards the Ma Dalan Country."
"The situation in Matalan Country can be discussed later. Let's get back to the topic first." Tao Donglai saw that he was getting distracted again and quickly brought the topic back: "Minister Hao, please Please briefly explain to the Executive Committee the current deployment of Ministry of Security personnel in Batavia.”
Hao Wanqing nodded and said: "Okay! But for confidentiality reasons, I will not disclose the specific personal information of the local intelligence personnel here..."
The Ministry of Security's dispatch of intelligence personnel to Batavia can be traced back to a few years ago. At that time, some merchant houses had been stationed there through the Zhan Family Shipping Company and other maritime merchants traveling between the Ming Dynasty and Batavia. The staff are intelligence officers whose identities are concealed. However, due to security considerations, the Ministry of Security did not station travelers locally, nor did it distribute artifacts such as radios to local intelligence agencies. The main activities of intelligence personnel in the local area have always been to quietly collect intelligence, and written reports were brought back regularly by local ships returning to the Ming Dynasty.
The Ministry of Security's intelligence collection work in Batavia did not have any outstanding achievements, but last year's Haihan Militia went south to seize the Ambrosia Islands. In the decision-making stage, the decision to start the war was based on the intelligence sent back from the local area in the early stage. Through this intelligence, the military speculated that the Dutch could not react too quickly, so they dared to continue to intercept Dutch ships docked in the port as pirates after seizing the island. It was not until two months later that the Dutch realized something was wrong. At this time The Haihan Militia had basically completed the cleanup of the local area, and even had enough energy to build some fortifications, which played a significant role in the subsequent battle against the Dutch armed counterattack.
Currently, the Ministry of Security has deployed two independent intelligence lines in Batavia. Even if one of them has an accident, the other line can still continue to operate. The leaders of these two lines have gradually established their own intelligence networks in the local area. As of now, there are eleven people working for the Haihan Security Department in Batavia, and there are also intelligence personnel recruited locally. There are more than 40 non-Haihan peripheral personnel. This group of people together formed Haihan's local intelligence network, transmitting various local intelligence to Sanya at an average frequency of once a month.
The intelligence that was delivered to Ambina Port a few days ago also came from the intelligence network of the Ministry of Security. However, the person responsible for delivering the message was only a peripheral person. When he left Batavia, the local port had not been blocked by the Matalan army, so he had no useful information to provide about the future direction of the war. The remaining intelligence personnel are basically in the city of Batavia. If the city is besieged, it will be difficult to transmit information.
"Can't we try information transmission methods like training carrier pigeons?" Bai Kesi asked: "At least it can be of great use in places where radio stations are not deployed."
"Yes, but the actual local conditions must be taken into consideration." Hao Wanqing explained: "The direct distance from Batavia to Port Ambrosia is more than 1,100 kilometers, and almost the entire journey is on the sea. This is a very difficult journey for homing pigeons. . In addition, the training of general carrier pigeons requires multiple repeated flights, and our local intelligence point is in the city of Batavia. Flying pigeons from time to time can easily cause doubts about the reliability of the information transmitted. Consider that using pigeons may not be as reliable as human transmission.”
(End of chapter)