Chapter 3470
As both old colonial countries, the struggle between Portugal and the Netherlands has been protracted. It has not only been fought on the European battlefield for decades, but also extended the battlefield to colonies around the world.
But in East Asia, where the Haihan family is dominant, the two families have been relatively honest in recent years, and there have been basically no large-scale armed conflicts.
After all, there is the giant Haihan weighing on his head. The fight between them is likely to become a flaw in Haihan's eyes. He may even follow in the footsteps of Spain and be expelled from the most prosperous trade circle in East Asia. .
But when it comes to the Indian Ocean, it is not Haihan's sphere of influence. The rules of the game here are simple. Whoever can defeat the competition will control the international trade in this region.
The island of Ceylon, which is rich in gems, is definitely a piece of attractive fat for these Western colonists.
The territory is not too large and needs to be connected to the outside world through shipping. The ruler is an indigenous government that is still in the era of cold weapons... This place seems to have all the conditions that are extremely suitable for turning it into a colony of your own.
But the only thing they didn't expect was that this attractive-looking piece of fat was actually bone-in meat that was not easy to swallow, and the hardness of the bones was quite tooth-piercing. So much so that it took the Portuguese a full century, but they failed to take down all of Ceylon, and they are still at war with the Kingdom of Kandy to this day.
As a latecomer, the Dutch believed that their military strength was stronger than that of Portugal. Their intention was to expel the Portuguese while suppressing the Kingdom of Kandy, thereby achieving control of the island's gemstone industry.
Therefore, the city of Colombo built by the Portuguese on the island of Ceylon became the target of the Dutch. The offensive and defensive battles between the two sides against the city of Colombo have lasted for several rounds, with each side winning or losing, but Portugal is currently in a relatively passive state.
However, although the Netherlands has superior strength, it cannot be said to be a sure win over its opponents. It can only use offensives again and again to consume Portugal.
The appearance of the Haihan Army on Ceylon Island will undoubtedly make the Dutch even more anxious. For them, if they cannot defeat the Portuguese as soon as possible, the situation on the island will only become more and more complicated in the future, and they may lose the advantageous position they have finally won.
This is not a question of whether the Dutch can defeat the special operations division on their own. The worst situation is for Haihan and Portugal to unite, and the Netherlands will inevitably be squeezed out of Ceylon.
Therefore, the Dutch planned to take advantage of Haihan's unstable foothold to kill Portugal, their old rival, and not give these two families a chance to join forces to deal with them. As long as the city of Colombo can be captured, Portugal will be defeated, and then it can take advantage of the victory to drive it out of Ceylon.
From the perspective of a special operations division, Takahashi Nan was happy to see the outcome of the battle between Portugal and the Netherlands.
The more intense the fight between these two families is in Colombo, the less time they have to take into account the special operations division's actions in Hambantota, leaving more buffer time for the huge infrastructure projects here.
No matter who wins in the end, this battle will definitely consume a lot of money, and it will be difficult to turn the guns to deal with the special operations divisions on the island in the short term.
But when Qian Shaobao learned the news, he was slightly disappointed.
He applied to join the vanguard to come to Ceylon, of course with the intention of making military exploits in action. But now the Kingdom of Kandy has taken the initiative to seek cooperation, and the Portuguese and Dutch families are fighting fiercely. The special warfare division has no opponent on the island of Ceylon. Naturally, this military exploit cannot be mentioned.
However, Gaoqiao Nan's plan to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight had not lasted for a few days, when the situation on Ceylon Island changed again. The Portuguese once again sent people to Hambantota to ask for an audience. The person who came was no longer Dalot, the businessman who had clamored to Gaoqiao Nan last time, asking Haihan to withdraw from the island of Ceylon. Instead, it was a man named Kang. Major of Sikao.
In other words, this is a serious official visit on behalf of Portugal.
Conceicao's purpose of coming was very clear, that is, he hoped that Haihan could fulfill his obligations as an ally and send troops to Colombo to help Portugal repel foreign enemies.
It must be said that in just a few days, the Portuguese's attitude made a 180-degree U-turn, which was somewhat beyond the expectations of Minami Takahashi and the officers present.
Gao Qiaonan originally thought that the Portuguese were very wary of the arrival of the Haihan Army and would try every means to prevent the Haihan Army's military operations on the island. Such a change in attitude is obviously closely related to Portugal's current situation.
Takahashi Minami did not respond positively to Consicario's request, but raised a question of concern to him: "I heard that your country and the Netherlands are at war in Colombo City. I wonder what the current situation is like?"
The reconnaissance ship sent out by Takahashi Minami can only operate in the waters near Colombo. The only known situation is that the Dutch fleet is besieging Colombo Port and has completed a landing operation. As for the actual situation on the battlefield, the Portuguese's own statement must be more valuable as a reference.
Conceicao's attitude was very correct, and he planned to fool this. He admitted that the Dutch offensive was fierce and the current situation of the Colombo defenders was extremely bad. But he actually went to sea from a fishing port sixty miles north of Colombo, went southwest to bypass the blockade of the Dutch fleet, and then came to Hambantota for help.
Takahashi Minami pondered: "As far as I know, this is not the first time that the Netherlands has attacked Colombo. Didn't your country always move reinforcements from the Goa colony before? Why didn't you follow the usual practice this time?"
The Goa region, located on the west coast of the Indian peninsula, is Portugal's largest colony in Asia. There is even a naval base there and is one of Portugal's most important overseas military bases.
Until now, Colombo, Malacca, Macau and other Portuguese colonies are still administratively managed by the Goa Colony. Of course, Macau is a special case. Its ownership has changed from Ming Dynasty to Haihan, and Portugal currently only has the authority to settle and trade locally.
When Colombo was attacked by foreign enemies, it was natural to ask for help from Goa.
Conceicao looked helpless: "Of course we also sent a messenger to Goa for help, but the round-trip voyage between the two places is more than 4,000 miles, plus the preparation time required before the expedition, it will take half a day for the reinforcements to reach Colombo. It’s been many months, I’m afraid I can’t make it in time.”
Takahashi Minami nodded slightly. It was reasonable to say that if the situation in Colombo was critical, then it would be too late for the reinforcements to come all the way from Goa to collect the bodies of the defenders in the city.
It seemed that the only way out for the Colombo defenders was to seek help from the Haihan Army stationed in Hambantota.
Takahashi Nandao: "You may have forgotten that although our country and the Netherlands are not allies, they have signed a diplomatic agreement, which does not mean that we can use force."
"If you want to send troops, you must first obtain the consent of our Executive Committee. This requires your diplomats to submit a formal written application to the Executive Committee. It is useless for you to negotiate with me here."