May 22, 1639, Xinxiang Fort, Timor Island.

After nearly two months, the "Yangbo" once again docked at the Xinxiangbao wharf. Upon seeing this, the two wharf management staff immediately shouted loudly to more than thirty natives to come forward and prepare to unload the cargo.

After the ship was safely docked, Qi Tian couldn't wait to get off the ship. There were more than 60 wild buffaloes. During the five or six days of sailing, the smell of cattle had been tormenting everyone on the ship. Although, the sailors

Buckets of seawater are brought in from the sea every day for washing. But you can't stop these buffaloes from constantly excreting, and the smell of excrement and urine, as well as the odor of the buffaloes, makes it difficult for everyone to eat and sleep.

On the pier, taking a deep breath of fresh air, Qi Tiancai felt like he was alive again. Looking at the city wall of Xinxiang Fort in the distance, his face fell again. Returning to Jianye City from Xinxiang Fort, it was May 6th again.

God, I really want to leave all the wild buffalo in Xinxiangbao and let everyone return refreshed.

But as the general manager of the Hanzhou Civilian Government, he cannot act on his own impulse. There are still hundreds of thousands of acres of cultivated land in Hanzhou, which requires a large number of cattle to plow the land. In the future, Hanzhou meat products will also need to expand the beef cattle population.

This kind of wild buffalo can be slightly domesticated after being raised for a few months, and can also be hybridized with other breeds of cattle to improve and expand the cattle herd in Hanzhou. In this case, the wild buffalo on Niu Island must continue to be captured and expanded.

The amount of transshipment must not be allowed to fend for itself and turn into a pile of fertilizer on Niu Island.

Staying at Xinxiang Fort for two days, we left behind a dozen wild buffaloes and Chen Dalang who were not in good condition. Then, the "Yangbo" loaded with more than a hundred natives captured by Xinxiang Fort soldiers in the early stage, set sail, and sailed out slowly.

Cangxi River mouth, and then went straight to Jianye Port.

Just as everyone on board the "Yangbo" was excitedly maneuvering the ship, looking forward to returning home soon, a Dutch fleet consisting of four armed merchant ships appeared about thirty kilometers northeast of it.

, all with huge sails spread out, heading towards Jianye City more than ten kilometers apart.

Major Curtis Bellman felt a little dissatisfied with the order of Captain Duckman Barek, commander of the Batavia Fleet, to take the advance fleet to inspect Hanzhou Jianye Port and their Xinxiang Fort on the south side of Timor Island.

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You have to know how difficult it is to find and capture two Hanzhou ships on the sea. Even if they are discovered, can they be captured or sunk with only four armed merchant ships? Unless you are lucky and encounter them

An old broken ship that can't move fast, or a transport ship full of cargo.

However, as the new fleet commander, the orders issued by Colonel Duckman Barak must be strictly implemented. Patrolling the coast of Hanzhou may have the biggest effect of deterring and intimidating Hanzhou, so as to weaken the determination of the Hanzhou people to resist.

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For this reason, Major Curtis Bellman did not form four armed merchant ships in a tight cruising formation, but divided them into two squadrons on the left and right. They were about ten kilometers apart from each other and sailed quickly towards Jianye Port.

By the way, it definitely does not exist. Major Curtis Bellman's advance fleet went to the coast of Hanzhou, then turned back to Timor Island, and finally went to Dili Port. It took more than ten days and detoured thousands of miles.

In the past, it was a serious waste of maritime transport capacity.

But today's Dutch East India Company has suddenly become a little richer in shipping capacity. Because Ambon in the Spice Islands was destroyed by the Han people, and then there was a native riot, the acquisition of cloves was temporarily unable to proceed. In addition, Formosa

Two strongholds were attacked by Zheng Zhilong of the Ming Dynasty, and the results were not very optimistic. In order to ensure the safety of trading ships, travel to Japan and North Korea was also suspended.

If you think about it carefully, the current situation facing the Dutch East India Company is still very critical. It seems that enemies in the entire Far East are targeting the Dutch. The natives on Java Island, the Han people in the south, the Spanish in the Philippines, and the Ming Dynasty

Zheng Zhilong of China, and their old rivals in India, Ceylon and Malacca, the Portuguese, launched attacks on the East India Company almost at the same time.

And they seem to have no allies. As for the Kingdom of Johor, which has cooperated with them, it is because they have a common enemy - Portugal, that they have a closer relationship. If they are to bleed for the Dutch, defend them

Regarding the interests of the East India Company, those fanatical Johoreans would definitely be cautious and stay away.

As the situation worsens, the Governor of Batavia is also beginning to adjust a series of Far East policies. I heard that the Governor will send negotiators to the Philippines again to reiterate their willingness for a truce and peace, trying to stabilize the Spaniards and not add insult to injury.

In addition, the Governor also intends to support Prince Sawadeen of the Aceh Kingdom so that he can win among the many competitions for the position of Aceh Sultan, so as to ease the relationship with Aceh and jointly deal with the Portuguese.

As for Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka), the Dutch hoped that Rajsinghe II of the Kingdom of Kandy could organize an army to attack Colombo in the west of the island in order to weaken the power of the Portuguese. To this end, they transported some muskets and gunpowder, as well as some long swords.

Spear to the Kingdom of Kandy.

In the original time and space, the Dutch took advantage of the contract with the Kingdom of Kandy to enter eastern Ceylon in May 1639, and successively occupied important cities and fortresses such as Trincomalee, Migbwa, and Galle.

Now, because the black guards of Hanzhou leaked the information about the landing location in advance, the Dutch have not been able to successfully land in Ceylon.

Regarding Hanzhou in the south, Governor Daiman's will is also very clear. He must intensify the attack on Hanzhou's maritime transportation within this year to force it to surrender and be included in the colonial system of the East India Company.

However, when it comes to Hanzhou, the entire Batavia fleet seems to have nowhere to focus. All the strongholds are built like turtle shells. Even though their ships know that they are defeated, they are all hiding near unknown overseas islands.

It will not meet the Dutch fleet. But when the Dutch are not paying attention, it will suddenly jump out and bite you hard.

If they really want to force the Hanzhou people to surrender, they can only mobilize the greatest resources of the Dutch and use countless armed forces to directly attack their homeland and land in their Jianye City. But the Dutch do not dare to bear the consequences of failure. Hanzhou

It is said that there are 20,000 to 30,000 people, so the armed force that can be used for resistance is at least 7,000 to 8,000 people. Moreover, they can also produce their own artillery and muskets. With the force controlled by Batavia, they may be able to capture Jianye City.

It's difficult to do.

It has been four days since the Dutch armed merchant ships "Grey Deer" and "Warrior" left the coast of Timor Island and sailed towards Hanzhou. It is estimated that it will take at most two days before they can see the coastline of Hanzhou. Once there, Curtis

Major Bellman decided to go around Jianye Port first in the hope of encountering Hanzhou ships that might pass by, and then go to a nearby large island (Bathurst Island) to repair a temporary camp once established by the Dutch, and communicate with

Two other armed merchant ships met here.

"A large ship was found in the southeast!" The lookout on the ship suddenly shouted: "Suspected... Portuguese merchant ship!"

Major Curtis Bellman heard the call and immediately looked southeast with a monocular. Sure enough, a Portuguese-shaped merchant ship was sailing towards Hanzhou with its sails full. The other party seemed to have spotted the two of them.

There were many people running around on the deck of a warship, trying to adjust the sails and use the wind to get rid of them.

"Send a signal to the Gray Deer and let's catch up together!" Major Curtis Bellman ordered.

"Sir, the opposite side is obviously an armed merchant ship of the Dutch. For safety reasons, I suggest that all the wild buffalo on the ship be thrown into the sea to reduce the weight of the ship." Major Conrad Costa, a former Portuguese naval officer, said with a grimace.

Qi Tian said: "Otherwise, we may not be able to get rid of them."

"It doesn't have to be like this!" Qi Tian was also looking at the two Dutch armed merchant ships that were outflanking each other behind him. They were still about two kilometers away. Even if we were slower and looked at the sky, we could drag it out until night no matter what.

Escape. The fifty or so wild buffaloes on the ship were finally transported here from Niudao. They are about to arrive at Jianye Port. It is such a waste to throw them into the sea. If you want to throw things into the sea, it is better to throw them into the sea.

More than a hundred natives were thrown in!

"Go and command the ship to retreat quickly, Major Costa. I believe that with your professional ability, you will be able to postpone it until night." Qi Tian encouraged.

Major Conrad Costa was quite helpless. Of course, his professional ability was beyond doubt, but the abilities of the sailors on the ship were uneven. Many of them were just fishermen on fishing boats a few months ago. But after seeing all the sailors on board,

With encouraging eyes, Tian had no choice but to return to the command platform and control the former Portuguese merchant ship to flee desperately towards Hanzhou.

Qitian stood on the stern of the ship, constantly paying attention to the two Dutch armed merchant ships behind him, and looking at the sky from time to time, hoping that the bright sun would set early, or there would be a heavy rain, so that the "Yangbo"

"You can hide your whereabouts and escape into the depths of the sea.

I don’t know if anyone has proposed Murphy’s Law at this time, but the reality is that the two Dutch armed merchant ships coming behind are getting closer and closer to the "Yanbo", and you can see the ship on the ship with the naked eye.

The ferocious face of a Dutch sailor.

"Push the wild buffalo into the sea!" Qi Tiantian ordered urgently. The Dutch are indeed worthy of being sea coachmen. Their skillful sailing skills allow their ships to make better use of the wind and maximize their speed.

Opponent is one step ahead.

More than a dozen country soldiers and sailors drove and cooperated with the natives on the ship to drag out the wild buffalo from the bottom of the ship and push it into the sea.

"Oh, God, what are they throwing on that ship?" The sailors on the Dutch armed merchant ship "Warrior" who caught up to the front couldn't help but exclaimed: "They seem to be throwing cattle into the sea!"

"Are the Portuguese transporting cattle to Hanzhou?"

"You idiot, didn't you see that there are many famous sailors on the ship?" A Dutch officer said excitedly: "That ship belongs to Hanzhou!"

"Rush over and intercept them!" The officers and sailors on the Dutch armed merchant ship suddenly became excited.

Since the war with Hanzhou began for more than half a year, they have not captured a Hanzhou ship or a Hanzhou soldier. On the contrary, they have been captured by the Hanzhou people many times. Dili City, Ambon, and merchant ships were intercepted and killed. Conservative estimates

, more than a thousand Dutch people were captured by Hanzhou. Even excluding the natives, there were seven to eight hundred company employees, mercenaries, sailors and civilians.
Chapter completed!