Chapter 1251 Everyone has their own thoughts

In terms of force, Hai Han cannot be defeated, but it seems unrealistic to ask Johor to spend money to solve this big trouble. Although Tan Juren has not yet reported the specific amount of the claim, Ba Pong knows very well that this will definitely be an astronomical amount.

Figures, even if the Johor national treasury is drained, it cannot be compensated.

Papon's thoughts were similar to Hogg's. He also did not think that his value was great enough for the country to borrow money for him. The news of the Allied Forces' defeat at Star Island had probably become a conclusion in the country at this time, and the princes and ministers

What he is anxious about is definitely not how to redeem the defeated general, but whether Haihan will immediately launch revenge measures after suffering this defeat, and whether the British will abandon Johor and let go. Haihan is here

If you ask for ransom and compensation, you may not get an immediate response from Johor. The next attitude of Johor will largely depend on what the British think.

Ba Peng also knew that there was little point in going around in circles with the other party at this point, so he expressed his opinion very bluntly: "You may have misunderstood. The worth of me and my subordinates is probably far from reaching your expectations."

The price is so high, Johor is unable to repay the money your country demands. Even if your country threatens Johor with war, it still won’t get the money.”

"It doesn't matter if Johor can't get cash. You can issue IOUs, you can use physical mortgages, you can pay in installments. There are many ways, and we have plenty of patience and time." Tan Juren had already expected that the other party might complain, and immediately threw out a question.

A series of solutions, looking like they will not give up if they can't squeeze out the oil: "Also, I would like to remind you, don't have any expectations for the British. They can't be the savior of Johor, and Hogg's situation is neither.

How much better than you. The most important thing is that the British stronghold is thousands of miles away, and we are only separated from Johor by a very narrow strait!"

Tan Juren's words were more of a threat than a reminder, but Papong also understood that what the other party said was indeed the truth. The British were eloquent in inciting Johor to send troops. The main reason was not to get Johor to make a fortune together, but

This is because their base is far away on the Indian Peninsula, 1,500 nautical miles away. It is difficult to send a large number of manpower to directly attack Star Island. The joint attack is just to obtain supplies nearby and to defeat the accompanying troops. Of course, military assistance is the basis.

Reason, making a fortune from Johor is most likely one of the reasons why the British chose this cooperation plan.

It's a pity that the British were careless in the end. The five hundred mercenaries they sent did not change the trend of the war. They did not perform well during the battle. Like the Johor New Army, which had not been formed for a long time, it was also destroyed by the sea.

The Han army fought in a miserable state. If the British wanted to take revenge, how many people would have to be sent to fight to win the Star Island? Five hundred is definitely not enough, and one thousand is still not safe. If you add more, it will probably take

The manpower on the Indian side must be emptied. Having said that, if the British have such strong strength, they don't need to secretly find help from Johor. It may be more efficient to directly attack the Portuguese in Malacca City than to attack Sing Tao.

A little easier.

But Ba Peng had no other choice in his current situation. If he didn't cooperate with the Haihan people, he would have to do manual labor in a hard labor camp until the day he died. Tan Juren had already made this very clear to him. As

As a senior soldier, Papong is not afraid of dying in battle, but if he dies of exhaustion on a construction site as a prisoner of war, he will indeed feel unwilling and useless. Although he knows that even if he can escape and return to Johor, he will most likely

He would lose his status and even be punished by the king, but Ba Pong still wanted to try his best to fight for this extremely slim opportunity.

So under the word-for-word instructions of Roger and Tan Juren, the two coalition generals Hogg and Ba Pong each completed a letter. Their trusted personnel selected from the prisoners of war sent these two autographed letters back to Johor to ask for help.

In the few short days since Hogg and Papong lost contact, Johor had already been in chaos. According to the information available, the coalition operations on Star Island were undoubtedly in trouble, and the Haihan fleet cut off Johor.

The transportation channels across the strait make it difficult to transport supplies and personnel.

Johor is also quarreling over whether to send more troops to Sing Tao or carry out rescue operations. The main militant faction believes that the new troops entering Sing Tao are elite troops. If all of them are lost in Sing Tao, it will have a negative impact on Johor's military.

The strength will cause a huge blow. The opposition believes that Johor's maritime armed forces are far inferior to its opponents. Forcibly sending ships across the Johor Strait will only lead to death in vain. Even if a few ships can successfully reach the other side, it is very likely that Haihan will be killed in advance.

The precaution turned into a fueling tactic, causing more people to get trapped on Star Island in vain.

At this time, the British who should have stood up as the backbone were dumb. When Hogg went on the expedition, he only left a few liaison officers in Johor who were responsible for logistics matters. In addition, they were lucky enough not to be blocked in the strait by the Haihan warship.

The sailors and crew members of several British armed merchant ships. These people were under Hogg's orders in the East India Company. They had no authority themselves and had no intention of fighting against the Haihan people - they were just here to run errands.

They were a force that needed to go into battle, and they were not qualified to express their views on behalf of the East India Company.

Of course, this group of people also hopes to bring the troops led by Hogg back to Johor, but if they need to confront Haihan's armed fleet head-on, it is better to give up this idea as soon as possible. Therefore, the British official response to Johor was relatively vague.

Claiming that they need to continue to observe changes in the situation before making a decision. This actually means that they are not optimistic that the coalition forces will have the opportunity to escape from Star Island on their own.

However, the activities of the Haihan Fleet in the Johor Strait only lasted for four or five days, and suddenly disappeared without a trace one day. The Johor side carefully sent ships to operate in the Strait, and found that the other party had already evacuated the area.

.But at the same time, there is still no news about the coalition forces that entered Star Island, and the initial landing point has been destroyed, and there is no trace of the coalition forces at all.

The Johor Army managed to send several groups of people to the island for reconnaissance, but all of them never returned, as if there were some man-eating monsters hidden on the island. During this period, Johor had been unable to contact the coalition troops who entered Star Island.

Most of the time, the situation was over. At this time, someone finally returned to Johor from Sing Tao, and brought back personal letters from Hogg and Ba Pong, as well as a diplomatic letter from Haihan's highest officer in Sing Tao to the Johor royal family.

The most worrying situation in Johor became a reality. The contents of these two handwritten letters made it clear that the coalition forces were defeated. Except for some people who were killed or injured in the battle, almost all the remaining people were captured, including two coalition generals.

In the letter, the two pointed out that the failure of the coalition's operation was entirely due to the opponent's preparation. The coalition fell into the opponent's calculations from the moment it set out for the expedition, and there was a huge gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides. The defeat was just

An inevitable result.

Of course, this part is not the focus. Later, Haihan listed the claims and prisoner ransoms listed by the State of Johor and the British East India Company. This amount is probably large enough for the State of Johor to organize three or four new armies of the same size.

The required military expenditure has been spent, and the current Johor State certainly cannot afford this money.

However, the diplomatic letter submitted by Haihan pointed out that the money was not unilaterally borne by Johor, and the East India Company, the initiator, should also bear at least half of the share. Moreover, the letter also specifically stated that if this request was rejected, then Haihan would

Dispose of all prisoners of war on its own and retain the power to retaliate against the East India Company and the State of Johor.

It would be fine to dispose of the prisoners of war on their own. After all, the ransom and compensation demanded by Haihan were so large that the two families planned to give up the rescue after seeing it. However, the threat of war retaliation cannot be ignored. After all, Haihan’s strength and

Judging from past cases, if they want to use force against a certain country, they will not just talk about it. Haihan wants money and soldiers. As long as they think it is necessary, they will not take action.

What would be the fear?

Johor's senior officials would not think that Hai Han's army stationed in Star Island was small in scale. This threat was mostly just verbal. In 1633, Hai Han organized a multinational fleet to cruise the South China Sea, and later established the South China Sea Trade Alliance. The scene is still vivid.

At present, Haihan has a very strong appeal in the South China Sea. If Johor is to be crusaded, there will definitely be many people who follow suit and want to get a share of the pie. Especially Portugal, which has a history of genocide and annihilation with Johor.

Enemies with great hatred will definitely rush to take action. By then, this war may not be a one-on-one battle between Haihan and Johor, but will evolve into a tragedy in which multiple countries send troops to carve up Johor. Naturally, Johor’s top management must try their best to avoid this.

situation.

Although the British are also facing similar problems, they are obviously not as urgent as Johor. After all, the East India Company's sphere of influence has not actually entered the Strait of Malacca. If Haihan really wants to cause trouble for them, it will not be effective so quickly.

In addition, none of the British people staying in Johor could shoulder the relevant responsibilities, so they had no clear attitude towards the conditions offered by Haihan. On the one hand, they could only send people back to their strongholds in the Indian Peninsula to report and ask for instructions;

It is recommended that Johor delay time through negotiation and slowly find ways to alleviate conflicts during the bargaining process.

It was originally the British idea to send troops to Star Island. After the defeat, the Johor high-level officials were at a loss and could only regard the British instructions as a life-saving straw. So at the initiative of the Johor State, Johor, Haihan and

The three parties of the British East India Company each sent representatives to meet and negotiate on the coast of Sing Tao, south of the Strait of Johor.

The ostensible purpose of this negotiation was of course to discuss the issue of the disposal of prisoners of war. However, both the defeated families had made up their minds not to accept the ransom offer previously proposed by Haihan. However, Roger had no intention of bargaining with them and directly offered another option.

kind of solution.

"As far as I know, both companies have certain difficulties in financial turnover. They may not be able to pay the ransom and compensation, so out of goodwill, I suggest that you consider pledging the ransom and compensation in kind." Roger was very generous.

He said: "All kinds of valuable goods will do. As for the specific price, we can slowly negotiate it based on the market price. We can also work out a payment schedule and give you a period of time to pay the fee in installments."

"Forgive me, but even so, our country does not have enough supplies to pay for the amount offered by your country." This time, the person negotiating on behalf of Johor was an official of Chinese descent who could speak Chinese. In terms of language, he was similar to Roger.

There was no obstacle. After hearing Roger's plan, he still said he couldn't accept it.

The British position has not changed since the beginning - he needs to ask the company for instructions before he can make a decision. Asking the company for instructions means that the ship delivering the message will have to go back and forth between Star Island and the west coast of the Indian Peninsula, with a total round trip of more than three days.

Thousands of nautical miles, the time required is naturally quite long. However, this cannot be blamed on the merchant captain who acted as a temporary negotiator for shirking his responsibilities. He is simply not qualified to make any commitments to Haihan on behalf of the East India Company. Let alone arbitrarily

If he decides on such a big matter, if he makes his own decisions here, he will most likely be treated as a war criminal for betraying the company's interests after he returns.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have anything, you can give it to someone else." Roger would not be blocked by the other party's excuses, and now he gave a more explicit solution - Johor would provide young and strong labor force and let them use their labor to pay off the debt, or

He simply acted as a slave and handed over his ownership to Haihan.

"Johor actually doesn't need much labor force. It's better to leave the people to us and everyone can get what they need. Especially your army, it can actually be disbanded. From now on, we, Haihan, can provide military protection." Roger.

He pointed out to the Johor officials unceremoniously: "Isn't this a reasonable idea?"

The official was not stupid, and immediately retorted: "Exchanging young and strong labor for prisoners of war? Then why do we need to exchange, let the prisoners of war serve as labor force here, at worst we can retrain an army." As for disbanding the army.

To be honest, it was so ridiculous that he didn't bother to refute it and pretended he didn't hear it.

"It costs a lot of money to retrain an army. I don't need to remind you about this, right?" Roger immediately pointed out the key: "You give me ordinary people, and I will give you a well-trained and combat-experienced army."

army, isn’t this deal a good deal? If you feel it’s inappropriate, you can use the money to redeem them!”

The Johor official thought, "Why are you here grinding my teeth with you when I can get the money?" However, this business of exchanging people for people feels wrong no matter how much I think about it, but I can't see what Haihan's plan is.

While they were still calculating the pros and cons, Roger had already turned his head to lobby the British.
Chapter completed!