Chapter 3472
If in peacetime, Haihan wanted to negotiate with Portugal to allow him to intervene within its sphere of influence, then the process would probably not go smoothly.
Even if Haihan clearly has the upper hand in terms of military strength, Portugal will certainly not give in easily and will probably use various tactics to evade the situation and delay the negotiation process as much as possible. Even if Haihan cannot withstand the pressure in the end, he will definitely come up with more favorable terms of exchange, and it is absolutely impossible to agree to it in one fell swoop.
However, the city of Colombo was in danger at this time, and the Portuguese had to put down their dignity and ask Haihan for help. Although the series of requests made by Takahashi Minami were a bit like a lion's mouth, Consicao really couldn't bargain slowly at this time and could only agree to them all.
His mission on this trip was to invite Haihan to stop the Dutch, and he had to do it quickly, and he could do it at any cost.
As long as the city of Colombo can be saved first, everything else is easy to talk about. Even if he knew that he was being robbed by the Haihan people, he could only hold his nose and admit it at the moment.
After receiving Qian Tiandun's call back instructions, Gao Qiaonan immediately summoned his officers to study how to take "mediation" actions.
According to the information provided by Consicao, there are currently about a thousand Dutch armed personnel fighting outside Colombo. This may seem like a small number, but the actual main force in the battle is the multinational servant army under his command, with a strength of about four. More than a thousand people.
In the sea battle before the siege, the Portuguese had lost more than ten warships, leaving only a few ships that could still move. They could only temporarily escape from Colombo Port to preserve their strength, so now the waters off Colombo are in a state of being invaded by the Dutch. The state of the blockade by armed ships.
Before Consicao left Colombo, the Dutch had already begun to use artillery positions set up outside the city to bombard the defenses above and below the city wall.
The strength of Colombo's defenders was only about a quarter of that of the attackers, and more than half of the combat personnel were servants drawn from various colonies. Their military quality was far inferior to that of the professional army.
Conceicao admitted that as long as the Dutch had enough ammunition, it was almost only a matter of time before the city was broken.
"Qian Shaobao, tell me what you think."
Gao Qiaonan named Qian Shaobao in front of everyone. Since Qian Tiandun approved him to come to the front line, Gao Qiaonan will also create some opportunities for Qian Shaobao to show his face in due course.
Qian Shaobao said: "Judging from the number of troops dispatched by the Dutch, they should have made very complete pre-war preparations and are bound to win Colombo. If we want to mediate this matter, it may not be effective if we only rely on negotiation and persuasion."
"They don't have to break up with us. As long as they delay the negotiation process for a little bit, the other end may have already broken through the city of Colombo."
The officers participating in the meeting all agreed with Qian Shaobao's views. If they put themselves in the shoes of a special operations division and reached a critical stage in attacking a certain city, and a third party suddenly came and asked the special operations division to stop attacking and evacuate the battlefield, it would probably only be ignored. Just ignore it.
Although the Dutch did not dare to fight with Haihan openly and openly, they were definitely not so humble that they would obey orders just because Haihan asked them to cease fighting. If you want to prevent the Dutch from attacking the city of Colombo, you really can't expect to achieve your goal through negotiation.
Takahashi Nandao: "Since we came to the south, we haven't really fought against any country on the battlefield. The forces here, big and small, probably don't know much about the strength of our special operations divisions. I deliberately put this This action to mediate the war in Portugal and the Netherlands is the beginning of our special operations division's prestige in this area!" "The Dutch will listen to our advice. If they ignore our advice, then we will decisively punish them and give the surrounding countries a slap in the face! Model! ”
If we can avoid fighting, resolve this matter through negotiation, and save military expenses for infrastructure development, it will certainly be conducive to the long-term development of the special operations division in the local area. But if this action can be used to intimidate neighboring countries and make competitors from Europe more honest, Takahashi Minami will not hesitate to fight with his sword.
However, organizing troops to attack will inevitably affect various infrastructure projects currently in progress. If this is borne by the vanguard troops themselves, Gaoqiao Nan will suffer a big loss.
So he immediately informed Conceicao that the Portuguese side needed to make certain financial compensation for sending troops to Haihan and provide Hambantota with a labor force of no less than 3,000 people afterwards.
Of course, Consicario could refuse such additional conditions, but Takahashi Minami made it very clear that if the conditions were not in place, Haihan's speed of dispatching troops would also be affected.
As for whether the impact would be three or two days or ten and a half months, Takahashi Minami did not elaborate further. He believed that with Consicario's ability to do things, he should be able to understand his intentions.
Sure enough, Conceicao immediately expressed dissatisfaction with this, believing that Takahashi Minami was deliberately causing trouble and delaying the fulfillment of his commitments by proposing these additional conditions after the two parties had signed a written agreement.
"How can everything in the world be perfect? I suggest you recognize the reality. If our country does not send troops to mediate, your country is likely to lose the city of Colombo. Which is the loss your country will suffer by then or the price it needs to pay now? Which one is higher? I believe it will not be difficult for you to make a judgment. ”
Takahashi Minami's words were like the devil's whisper. Consicario knew that there was a pit ahead, but he couldn't resist and could only step straight into it.
Otherwise, what else can be done? Are you watching the city of Colombo, which has been in business for a hundred years, being snatched away by the Dutch?
So at Minami Takahashi's insistence, two additional supplementary agreements were immediately reached. However, this time Conceicao made a very cautious request. These two supplementary agreements can only take effect on the premise of preventing the Netherlands from conquering the city of Colombo.
This means that Haihan cannot take the benefits in vain. If Colombo City cannot be saved, Portugal will not pay for it in vain.
The vanguard force led by Takahashi Minami was always in a state of combat readiness, so it started very quickly. On the third day after Conceicao arrived at Hambantota, the troops were ready for the expedition.
In order to ensure that there were enough troops to deter the Dutch, Takahashi Nan only left about 500 troops stationed in Hambantota, and all the rest of the troops were dispatched.
The second batch of troops transferred from Phuket is already on the way and will arrive in Hambantota soon. There is no need to worry about being stolen after the main force is exhausted.
Naturally, Qian Shaobao would not miss such an opportunity and went to Colombo with Gao Qiaonan.
Although Consicario was eager to return home, at the request of Takahashi Minami, he could only go with the fleet of the special warfare division.
Takahashi Minami's move also had the intention of ensuring the bottom line. If the Portuguese planned to play any tricks, they couldn't let Consicao escape alive.