April 15, 1639, Batavia Harbor, thirty miles east of the open sea.

Four Dutch armed merchant ships collided wantonly among dozens of paddle boats and continued to bombard them with artillery.

The soldiers of the Kingdom of Mataram on the paddle boat desperately attacked the Dutch armed merchant ships again and again, trying to get close to the Dutch warships so that the soldiers on board could climb up with help and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Dutch.

Armed sailors stood on both sides of the Dutch armed merchant ship, holding muskets and shooting at the natives on the nearby paddle boats. The artillery shells on the ship were also replaced with grape bullets, and they brutally fired at the paddle boats not far away.

In the boat.

The fierce battle had lasted for more than an hour. The navy of the Kingdom of Mataram finally could not bear the huge casualties. The remaining more than 20 paddle boats fled in all directions. The Dutch armed merchant ships pursued them separately and relentlessly.

, it is bound to sink all these small native boats in the sea that attempt to attack the Batavia port.

The Governor of Batavia, Anthony Van Demen, has issued a general mobilization order, conscripting almost all the young and middle-aged men in the city into civilian armed forces to assist the Dutch mercenaries in defending Batavia. Dutch merchant ships arriving at the port one after another, in addition to urgent needs

Except for the ships returning to the European mainland, all ships were stationed at the port, and some armed sailors were mobilized into the city to strengthen the defense force.

A dozen armed merchant ships gathered in the port of Batavia patrolled the coastal areas of the Kingdom of Matara continuously and sank any native ship they encountered without any reason.

The offensive and defensive battle of Batavia has been going on for a week. The eight thousand troops of the Kingdom of Matalan gathered in the east and west of the city. The momentum was very huge. The Dutch mercenaries in the city came out of the city and wanted to take advantage of the opponent's unstable foothold to launch an attack.

He made a tentative attack, but was counterattacked by the opponent's superior force and quickly retreated to the city.

The Mataram Kingdom army also took advantage of the Dutch army's retreat. Nearly a thousand native soldiers followed the Dutch and rushed toward the west gate of Batavia.

More than a dozen artillery pieces at the top of the city immediately began bombarding the charging troops of the Kingdom of Mataram. Dutch soldiers in the two affiliated forts outside the city also fired intensively to cover the retreating attacking troops.

After being attacked from all directions, the soldiers of the Kingdom of Matara quickly withdrew, leaving more than a hundred corpses under the city of Batavia.

In the following days, there was no further large-scale fighting between the two sides. The Dutch continued to strengthen defense facilities in the city, while the Mataram Kingdom army began to build a stable temporary camp and waited for the artillery from the rear to be transported to the city.

Governor Daiman and Colonel Peter Kurucs inspected a circle of city wall defenses, and then they stood on the west wall and quietly looked at the camp of the Kingdom of Mataram army outside.

"Colonel Kurucs, when do you think the natives will launch a large-scale siege?" Governor Daiman asked.

"The natives are waiting for their artillery." Colonel Peter Kurucs said softly: "I estimate that the natives will launch a large-scale siege within ten days at the latest. They have enough troops, and their morale seems to be high.

Very high.”

"Then we will face a severe challenge." Governor Daiman said: "How is the morale of our mercenaries and armed civilians?"

"A few days ago, we gave all the mercenaries a battlefield reward of twenty guilders each, and promised that if they repelled the attack of the natives, an additional reward of twenty guilders would be given to them." Colonel Peter Kurucs laughed.

He said: "Their morale is still relatively high now, and they hope to defeat these natives as soon as possible."

"Very good. After defeating the natives, we must hunt them down, capture their cities, destroy their villages and towns, and seize all their wealth." Governor Daiman said: "These damn natives, we must

Give them heavy losses so that they will never dare to invade Batavia again."

"I think our counterattack is best when they cannot attack for a long time and are in a stalemate with us outside the city." Colonel Peter Kurucs said: "Although they have gathered more than 8,000 people below the city, we estimate that

There are at least several thousand troops left behind in their country. We need to attract more of them to the city so that our navy can sneak attack their empty rear coastal towns."

"Then should we give them a little more hope in the initial offensive and defensive battle?" Governor Daiman asked.

"I think that in the initial defense, it is appropriate to show weakness to the natives." Colonel Peter Kurucs said: "After all, their attacking army this time is much stronger than ten years ago, and they may have many more

artillery."

"It's okay to show weakness appropriately, but don't make it self-defeating and let the natives attack the city." Governor Daiman reminded.

"We learned from some of Hanzhou's defensive methods in Dili City and built large sections of protective walls and isolation walls in the city. Even if the natives attack the city, we are confident that they will be eliminated near the city wall."

"Are the Ming people's troops recruited reliable?" Hearing Colonel Kuruc mention Hanzhou, Governor Daiman suddenly asked: "After all, there are at least thousands of Ming people in the city, and it is necessary for us to carry out some prevention and control on them."

"The Ming people we recruited all have family members in the city." Colonel Peter Kurucs said: "As for the large number of Ming people in the city, I don't think they will do anything inappropriate. You know,

When the natives invade, in addition to us being retaliated against, they will also be targeted by the natives for attacking and looting. I believe they should be very clear about this."

"Indeed, Ming people are willing to endure hardships and manage well, but they are cowardly in their dealings. They are our most ideal rulers." Governor Daiman nodded in approval of Colonel Peter Krutz's statement, and then suddenly thought of something, frowning and cursing in a low voice.

He said: "Damn it! Why is Hanzhou so unruly!?"

Colonel Peter Kurucs was shocked. He pretended to observe the military camp of the Kingdom of Mataram carefully and did not respond to Governor Dyman's whisper. Within a few months after the war with Hanzhou, the powerful Dutch East India Company actually

I felt a little helpless towards this seemingly weak opponent, and I also suffered a huge loss.

Since the beginning of the war, the Dutch East India Company's military operations against Hanzhou have failed to achieve almost any goal. Even in Dili City, which has been blocked, the Hanzhou people there still seem to be holding on tenaciously, and there is no sign of collapse after the blockade.

On the contrary, the current situation of the Netherlands seems to be a bit embarrassing. The Spanish are threatening their Formosa stronghold, Zheng Zhilong covets their Japanese and Korean trade routes, the Portuguese are eyeing the Dutch merchant ships passing here in the Strait of Malacca, and the soil of Java Island.

The Human Kingdom also sent a large army to attack Batavia.

The Dutch did not believe that all of this could be connected by the Han people, but they were more or less related to the war that took place in Han. The Dutch seemed to have chosen a very difficult opponent.

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Masanobu Sudo stood on the bow of the boat and looked at the huge camp on the island. He was surprised and delighted. He hadn't inspected this island for several years, but there was such a large camp on a high slope not far from the coast. So.

The Ryukyu natives on the island should be living a pretty good life, and they can collect some taxes to the feudal lord.

"We are going to go ashore and see what these barbarians on the island do for a living." Sudou Masanobu turned around with a smile and looked at a Ryukyu official behind him, but saw that the other party also looked quite surprised. He couldn't help but shake his head, Ryukyu, a small country, obviously

They also don’t often patrol their own territory.

Sudo Masanobu was a mid-level samurai from the Satsuma Domain of Japan. He and many mid-level and lower-level samurai were ordered by the feudal lord to station on Ryukyu Island (today's Okinawa Island, Japan) to supervise the Ryukyu royal family and its various internal affairs, and to collect various taxes and fees compulsorily.

In 1609, the Satsuma clan "entered the country with three thousand strong soldiers, captured the king, moved his royal weapons, and plundered them." The Satsuma clan army captured the Ryukyu King Shonin and more than a hundred people to Kagoshima for three years and five years.

For months, he forced King Shangning to admit humiliatingly paying "tribute" to him. At the same time, he also forcibly ceded the five northern Ryukyu Islands.

Since then, the Satsuma Domain has gradually begun to infiltrate the Ryukyu Kingdom. Samurai sent by the Satsuma Domain have participated in the internal affairs and the army. Even the trade and tax revenue of the Ryukyu Kingdom, they have to take half of it as tribute to the Satsuma Domain.

“protection costs”.

This time, Sudo Masanobu led several Ryukyu officials and more than 70 Satsuma Domain soldiers to inspect the small islands south of Ryukyu Island to collect "offerings" and taxes from the tribes on the islands. Generally, such inspections are carried out every two or three years, or even

It is only organized once every four or five years.

Last year (1638), the shogunate issued a lock-down order, prohibiting foreign trade between the vassals, strictly prohibiting Western barbarians from coming to Japan, and only allowing the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch to go to Nagasaki for trade. Without foreign trade income, the Satsuma domain was in financial distress.

Nervous. Therefore, in order to make up for the losses, they increased the pressure on the Ryukyu Kingdom. They ordered the warriors and officials at all levels of the Ryukyu Kingdom to "guide" and "help" the Ryukyu Kingdom collect taxes and tribal offerings from various places as much as possible.

The closer they got to the camp on the island, the more suspicious Sudou Masanobu and other Satsuma clan warriors became. This camp was well-organized and well-equipped with defense facilities, including high towers, watchtowers, and bastion forts. It was not an island native tribe at all.

The construction can be completed. Could it be that some foreign force has occupied this island?

"They look like Japanese." On the tower of the camp, Zhang Wenqi said with a smile to Li Fade, the commander of the 2nd Marine Corps: "There may be officials from Ryukyu among them."

"There are less than a hundred people and only two or three muskets. Shall we catch them all?" Li Fade said.

"It's easier to catch these people, but the few boats on the shore will probably run away."

"Are you worried that it will attract more Japanese or people from the Ryukyu Kingdom?"

"After all, this is the territory of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and it is very close to Japan."

"Afraid of a bird!" Li Fade said disdainfully: "We have more than two hundred Marines here, as well as artillery, and the camp's defense is not weak. It's not a big problem to deal with thousands of them!"

"Of course!" Zhang Wenqi said with a smile: "However, this place is also very close to the Ming Dynasty. Why don't we pretend to be the Ming Dynasty and scare these Japanese and Ryukyu natives?"

"Are they afraid of Ming Dynasty?" Li Fade was a little unsure.

"At least the name of the Ming Dynasty is more useful than our Hanzhou." Zhang Wenqi said: "I heard that the Ryukyu Kingdom is a tributary of the Ming Dynasty."

Sudo Masanobu and other Samurai warriors from the Satsuma Domain heard a haughty Akito-like soldier coming out from the opposite side to tell them that Zheng Zhilong, the governor of Fujian Province in the Ming Dynasty, had been ordered to stop on the island and allow all visitors to disarm before entering the camp.
Chapter completed!