Chapter 3467
The fierce reaction of the Portuguese was basically expected by Takahashi Minami.
When the plan to march into Ceylon was originally formulated, the Special Warfare Division did not expect that this operation could be concealed and completely undetected by the Portuguese.
Qian Tiandun's plan was to build armed strongholds and ports locally and cook the raw rice into cooked rice as soon as possible before the Portuguese discovered it. In this way, even if the Portuguese understood Haihan's intentions, they would not dare to risk using force to force the vanguard to withdraw from the area.
This has extremely high requirements for the progress of infrastructure construction in the early stage of landing, and the required buffer period is also relatively long, which is really difficult to achieve.
Therefore, Qian Tiandun's plan was to make two preparations. He not only regarded the construction of infrastructure projects as the first priority after landing, but also allocated enough troops to the vanguard to deal with possible battles.
If the Portuguese did not discover the movements of the special operations division in time, they would seize the time to build infrastructure; if they were discovered early by the Portuguese and tried to hinder the special operations division's actions on Ceylon Island, they could only use their strength to persuade them to retreat. The other party.
"Mr. Dalot, the Island of Ceylon is not your country's territory, and our ministry does not need to seek your country's consent to enter the Island of Ceylon. Allowing your two ships to enter the harbor to escape the wind and rain is based on the alliance between our two countries. I hope you will You can also respect this relationship like me.”
Gao Qiaonan's response was neither humble nor condescending, but he did not explain to the other party why Haihan sent troops here and carried out large-scale construction and infrastructure construction here.
The Portuguese Dalot sitting opposite him was obviously not satisfied with this response and immediately retorted: "Dear General, our country has entered the island of Ceylon and built the Colombo Port as early as a century ago. Operating more than 80% of the foreign trade here”
“Today, there are more than 5,000 Portuguese living on the Island of Ceylon for a long time. When our country’s former king, His Majesty John IV, was in office, he had long declared that the Island of Ceylon was a colony of the country. How can your country unilaterally deny this? Fact? ”
After patiently listening to the translation, Takahashi Nan responded with a sneer: "If Portugal is the ruler of Ceylon, what about the war between your country and the Kingdom of Kandy that has lasted for nearly a hundred years? As far as I know, the city of Colombo was There were not only one or two sieges!”
"Also, the current situation on the island should be that the Netherlands has the upper hand, right? I heard that your country can't even defend Colombo. I wonder if the Dutch recognize your country's right to govern the island of Ceylon?"
Dalot was blushing and angry, but he couldn't deny what Takahashi Nan said. He realized that the General Haihan in front of him was no ordinary person. He knew more about the situation in Ceylon than even most of the Portuguese living on the island.
Kandy is a kingdom established by the indigenous people of Ceylon. Since the middle of the last century, it has been engaged in a long-term war with the Portuguese colonists.
Although Portugal established a foothold on the island of Ceylon with its weapon superiority, it was never able to annihilate the Kingdom of Kandy due to its limited military strength. The two sides have won and lost each other's wars, and they have fought back and forth over the past hundred years.
The Dutch intervention took place nearly twenty years ago. Rajsinghe II of the Kingdom of Kandy invited the Dutch fleet to station in the Trincomalee area on the east coast of Ceylon, preparing to join forces to expel the Portuguese. The Kingdom of Kandy wanted to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf, and the Dutch also took advantage of the strategy and established a stronghold on the island of Ceylon, and began to compete with the Portuguese colonial armed forces for territory on the island. In 1652, the Dutch even captured the city of Colombo. It was not until a few months later that Portugal brought reinforcements from Goa on the Indian Peninsula to recapture this important city.
Of course, the Dutch worked so hard not really wanting to help their allies get rid of Portuguese colonial rule. The territory they seized from Portugal was not returned to the Kingdom of Kandy as promised. But when Rajsinhe II realized this, the Netherlands also established a firm foothold on the island of Ceylon, and the so-called foreign reinforcements eventually turned into luring the wolf into the house.
The king still seemed unaware of the nature of the problem. It is said that he later sent people to contact the British in the Chennai area on the east coast of India, hoping to attract another foreign reinforcement. However, the British were not optimistic about the prospect of going to war with Portugal and the Netherlands at the same time. The Kingdom of Kandy's request for help failed to receive a positive answer from the British.
But in any case, Portugal is definitely not the only one in Ceylon at present, and even the strength ranking is about to slip from the first place. Dalot claims that Ceylon is Portugal's territory, which is objectively bragging.
His rhetoric may be able to be defended by people who are unaware of it, but Haihan had already had an in-depth understanding of the situation in Ceylon before sending troops, so how could it be so easy to fool him?
Seeing that he could not gain the upper hand, Dalot could only say that he would report Haihan's unreported behavior, and diplomats would come forward to negotiate with Haihan's executive committee. After all, he is just a businessman, and the weight of his words is far from representing the Kingdom of Portugal.
Takahashi Nan showed no concern about this. The Portuguese wanted to go and complain, and it would take several months to get to Sanya from here. The executive committee has moved its office to Hangzhou, and it will take more than half a month to get from Sanya to Hangzhou.
The Executive Committee will naturally use various means to slow down the pace and buy more time for the special warfare division. By the time Portugal reaches its end of diplomatic channels, the special operations division should also have a firm foothold on Ceylon.
If the Portuguese were to take a risk and bring out their armed forces to attack Hambantota, the Kingdom of Kandy and the Dutch would probably be happy to see it happen.
Takahashi Minami knew that these forces were in a mutually restrictive situation, so he was not worried about Portugal having the courage to break up.
After the weather improved, Dalot took his two boats and left in anger. It goes without saying that he must have rushed to Colombo immediately to inform the colonial authorities of the relevant news.
The action teams dispatched by Gao Qiaonan to the inland areas finally began to yield results, and some indigenous people were brought back one after another to supplement the construction sites.
But the current scope of exploration is nearly a hundred miles away from Hambantota. Going further north is the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Kandy.
Although Takahashi Minami is not afraid of the indigenous kingdom, he does not want to actively provoke them in this current stage of construction. But he didn't expect that the Kingdom of Kandy had already received the news, and even took the initiative to send people to find him.
However, the attitude of the Kingdom of Kandy was different from that of the Portuguese. The envoy's intention was not to cause trouble for the special forces division, but to express his willingness to form an alliance with the Navy and Han Army to deal with Portugal and the Netherlands together.