Chapter 2270
Fei Cexian rejected Su Keyi's proposal because there were actually other reasons. The Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands had a fierce war over the ownership of the Penghu Islands more than ten years ago, and it took a lot of effort to drive the colonists out of Penghu. Since then, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands has never been officially recognized. As far as Fei Cexian knows, the imperial court has never had any intention of reconciling with the Dutch.
And from his personal point of view, how could the mighty Heavenly Kingdom cooperate with these Western barbarians to deal with a small neighboring country ruled by the Han people. The conflict of interests between the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty is ultimately a conflict and dispute within the Han people. How can the Dutch take advantage of it and benefit from it?
Of course, the most important point is that Fei Cexian simply does not believe that the Dutch have the strength to challenge Haihan. In the two years since he was sent to Sanya as ambassador, he has already learned about the relationship between Haihan and the Dutch East India Company through various channels. Grudges can basically determine the disparity in strength between the two sides. In order to preserve their route to the north and their only colonial port, the Dutch could only show a deferential attitude and avoid giving Haihan a reason to cause trouble.
Fei Cexian believed that Su Keyi came to persuade him just to use the Ming Dynasty to deal with Haihan, and the East India Company would probably stand aside in order to avoid getting burned. In order to verify this, he deliberately pointed out the risks that the East India Company would face. Sure enough, Su Keyi immediately showed retreat. It was obvious that he did not have a long-term and comprehensive consideration of the prospects of cooperation.
Fei Cexian sneered secretly in his heart. If Su Keyi wanted to play such a trick, he might have underestimated himself. Judging from his fearful appearance, even if he really cooperated, Haihan would be scared away if he made the slightest move. I still want to fight Haihan, but I'm not afraid of risking my own family fortune.
Seeing that his persuasion to Fei Cexian was ineffective, Su Keyi could only sigh secretly and say goodbye to Fei Cexian with a forced smile. How could he not know the gap between the East India Company and Haihan? In recent years, Haihan's sphere of influence in the north has been continuously expanding, but the East India Company in the north could only act based on Haihan's face, and it was not enough to guard the port of Taiyuan. Wherever it falls, no progress has been made.
The East India Company is definitely not satisfied with this status quo. Due to the restrictions set by Haihan, all Dutch merchant ships and the Ming Dynasty are required to complete their trade activities only in the ports belonging to Haihan and cannot enter the Ming Dynasty on their own. The Taimuang Port, which has been painstakingly preserved, has therefore been difficult to develop. So far, it can only play the role of a small transit supply port.
Portugal, its main competitor, has now expanded its trade routes to the Daming Coast north of the Fujian Strait by relying on its alliance with Haihan, and has also established a relationship with North Korea. This cannot help but make Su Keyi feel envious. Jealousy and hate.
After watching the competition today, Su Keyi did not have a deep understanding of the military skills displayed by each team. What he was more concerned about was that Haihan had already controlled so many local armed forces in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. In the future, East India It is even more difficult for companies to bypass Haihan and directly carry out trade activities with Daming.
Now that Su Keyi could not find a partner willing to cooperate with the East India Company, he had to seriously consider another possibility: whether he should persuade the company's council to put aside past prejudices and grievances, actively seek cooperation from Haihan, and establish a more A strong partnership. Otherwise, in a few years, everything from the South China Sea to Liaodong will become the domain of Haihan and his allies, and the East India Company will really have nothing to play with.
Compared to the worried Su Keyi, Li Zhi, who was also watching this kind of martial arts competition for the first time, felt very comfortable at this time. After the game, he summoned this group of overseas-study officers and praised them for their outstanding performance today. In particular, Ando Shi, who won two third places for North Korea, was praised by Li Zhi and announced that he would be awarded generous rewards.
Although Andorite did not win the project as he requested, the gold content of these two third places was extremely high, and it also earned Li Zhen enough face, so Li Zhen planned to give Andorite according to the originally promised winning standards. Well deserved reward.
"Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. I will do my best to serve the country despite my humble position!" Andao Shi knew this and immediately knelt down on the ground and thanked Li Xie for the reward.
Li Xie was also very satisfied with Andao Shi's humble attitude, and encouraged him: "There will be several competitions tomorrow, and you should do what you did today, try your best to get a few more decent rankings!"< br>
Everyone exchanged glances with each other and could only respond first. Tomorrow's test items are all naval subjects, and this is much more difficult for them than today.
The Korean navy has always been weak. Although it had repelled the invading Japanese navy at sea decades ago, the "Myeongryang Victory" that the Koreans boasted was just one battle in the entire campaign. After the Korean naval commander Yi Sun-shin commanded the fleet to fight the battle, he took the initiative to retreat. In the end, the Japanese army occupied the naval base. The North Korean army's victory in the Myeongryang Strait could at best delay the Japanese offensive, but it did not change the direction of the war.
And this naval battle, which was recorded in the history books of Korea as a glorious achievement, seemed to the generals of the Haihan Army to be just a peck between rookies. The total force commanded by Yi Sun-shin in this battle was only twelve wooden house ships, which was far less powerful than any of Haihan's fleets deployed overseas. He was able to defeat his opponents on the one hand by taking advantage of the terrain, and on the other hand It is indeed caused by the opponent being too weak.
Moreover, almost forty years had passed since the Battle of Myeongryang. During this period, the North Korean Navy had almost no development. The main warships of the Navy were still old wooden house ships, and the weapons on board were also outdated. In last year's anti-Qing campaign, the Haihan Army was worried that such cumbersome warships would hold them back on the battlefield, so they simply arranged for the North Korean Navy to be responsible for logistics and transportation matters, instead of letting them directly participate in the battle. .
At this time, there were basically few people from top to bottom in the North Korean Navy who had actually participated in naval battles. They reluctantly selected a few officers from the Navy and sent them to study abroad, and they had to learn everything from scratch. Moreover, everything they are learning now is based on the ship configuration of the Haihan Navy. When they return home after completing their studies, it is difficult to say how much skills they will have that can be put to use in their own navy.
If there is a certain gap between the army's training program and other competitors in the initial stage, then the situation of the navy will only be more severe, and the gap will only increase exponentially. If he wants to perform like he did today, Li Xie will most likely be disappointed. However, these officers do not dare to tell the truth now, so they can only agree first, and they all complain in their hearts.
Andao Shi doesn't care. He was born as an Orion, and he is not good at sea skills. Therefore, he does not need to compete in several events tomorrow. He only needs to stand on the sidelines and cheer for his teammates. However, judging from his daily training results, he also knew that it would be difficult for him to perform well tomorrow.
As for Xu Jiajun and Annanjun, only if they can win in all projects can they be satisfied with the results. Both companies have invested a lot of effort in the construction of maritime armed forces. One started as a navy, and the other has been catching up in recent years. Today's naval project competition will basically be a situation where the two powers compete for hegemony. .
Zhang Jinbao returned to the inn, and while eating, he boasted to the students about all the things he had seen at Luhuitou Base today. His description was not limited to the competition on the field, but also devoted a lot of space to introducing the lineup of guests attending today's event, as well as various people's different views on the competition. The students did not have the opportunity to enter Luhuitou Base to observe the martial arts competition, so they had to understand today's situation through Zhang Jinbao's description. Zhang Jinbao was also very eloquent and described the scene very vividly, allowing students who were not able to attend the scene to have an immersive experience.
Especially after the game ended in the morning, the military sent out snipers to conduct a shooting demonstration. Zhang Jinbao spoke in great detail. This is probably because throughout the whole day, the Haihan Army only really showed its face in this short section. Zhang Jinbao must have spent more time talking about his own army.
Most of his students were teenagers of seventeen or eighteen years old. They were in their prime of life, and when they heard him describe the outstanding performance of the snipers, they were all shouting and excited. On the contrary, they don't care so much about the results of other teams. After all, these foreign soldiers came to Haihan to study. In their eyes, they are just like studying at Qiongxi Academy. Even if they do well in the exam, is their knowledge still valuable? Can he be greater than the masters of the academy?
"Tomorrow is the naval test. I think it will be more interesting than today's test. I have to rest early today to refresh myself. You should also go to bed early!" Zhang Jinbao stopped after finishing his meal. He dropped the topic.
He sat under the sun for a whole day today. Although he didn't move much, the school stadium bleachers didn't even have an awning. He probably sweated two or three pounds during the day. By this time in the evening, he was really tired. .
The next morning, Zhang Jinbao also got up early, had breakfast and then went out. Today's competition was not held at Luhuitou Base because it was a naval event. Instead, it was held at the Naval Base on the east coast of Victory Port.
Zhang Jinbao came out of the inn and walked east to the port area at the mouth of the Tiandu River. In addition to the restricted area where several large steel ships are parked, there is also a small military-only dock for the Port of Victory and the naval base on the other side. transport personnel and materials between them. Guests going to watch the competition today must board the ship from here.
When Zhang Jinbao arrived, there were already some guests on the pier who had arrived earlier than him. When he saw some of them he had just met yesterday, he took the initiative to say hello.
Not long after, a naval officer came out to preside over the ceremony and asked everyone to line up and present their invitation letters. After verification, they could board the ship.
Due to the large number of guests, the military specially prepared several ferry boats to pick up and drop off guests here. Although a boat can hold twenty or thirty people, the distance from here to the other shore is less than a mile, and a few boats going back and forth is enough.
Compared with the army base on the Luhuitou Peninsula, the naval base on the east coast of Victory Harbor does not have such a strong sense of mystery. Ships entering and exiting Victory Port will pass by the naval base. Although ordinary people have almost no chance to set foot on the naval base, they can have an unobstructed view of most areas of the base from the ship.
When Haihan first established its foothold in Sanya, this area was actually used as a military base. At that time, the army and navy had not been separated, so it was considered a comprehensive military base. In addition to camps, weapons depots and various training facilities, there is also a very conspicuous row of coastal defense forts on the coast near the entrance of Victory Harbor. They form a crossfire with the coastal defense forts on the slopes of the Yulin Peninsula on the other side to defend Victory Harbor. , the waterway in and out of Victory Port can be completely blocked in wartime.
In 1635, the Spanish fleet made a surprise attack on the port of Sanya. As a result, it lost a handful of rice and suffered heavy losses from the attack of the coastal defense fort. That battle became the only actual combat case since the fort was built. With the Spaniards' heavy losses ahead of them, no one would dare to challenge this dangerous sea passage again.
To the enemy, this is a sea moat that is difficult to breach, but to the Haihan people and businessmen from various countries, this conspicuous coastal defense fort is a symbol of security. With such a powerful fort guarding the sea passage in and out of Victory Port, there is no need to worry about the safety of this place.
Naturally, this was Zhang Jinbao's first time entering this military restricted area, so he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
At this time, the sailors on the ship introduced: "Everyone, these warships docked on the opposite shore belong to the First Fleet of the Navy stationed in Victory Port."
As the maritime armed force that defends Sanya, the First Fleet of the Navy is also quite luxurious. In addition to the two majesty-class warships, there are eight expedition-class and sixteen exploration-class warships, as well as several other ships. In addition, the experimental ship Black Shark of the next generation warship is now deployed at this base.
However, these ships are not fixedly deployed here for a long time. They will still rotate with fleets overseas from time to time to ensure that the fleet will not decline in combat effectiveness due to staying in the comfort zone of Sanya. In addition, during large-scale military operations, some warships of the First Fleet will also be transferred out of here depending on mission requirements and participate in overseas combat operations.
Zhang Jinbao also often saw the naval fleet stationed in Danzhou Port in Danzhou, but the size of that fleet was indeed relatively smaller, and the number of warships was obviously not comparable to that here.
"It would be great if I could be lucky enough to board these warships today!" Someone sighed at that moment. It was a rare opportunity to come to the naval base, and he was definitely not the only one who thought so.
(End of chapter)