Chapter 640 The situation worsens

"The Dutch are more belligerent than we had expected earlier, or they value this route and the supply points on the route more than we expected." Wang Tom explained: "In terms of naval battles, we have a short period of time.

We haven't been able to invest too much troops in the South China Sea, so we can only try to strengthen the defense capabilities and self-sustainability of Ampurna Island. We need to build warehouses, arsenals, fortifications on the island, and we may even need to develop agriculture on the island.

, so that this stronghold can continue to exist in the South China Sea. This kind of comprehensive project requires not only the efforts of the military, but also the coordination and cooperation of other departments."

"But this is indeed not in line with our original intention. Our original purpose of sending troops to occupy Ambona Island was just to have an outpost position, not to turn it into a war zone against the Dutch." Tao Donglai

Frowning, he said: "The things you just mentioned require a large number of infrastructure projects to be completed locally, but now technical personnel and construction materials in this area are in short supply, and corresponding arrangements have been made for a long time. We have to temporarily squeeze out a

If it is allocated to Ambona Island, it will definitely affect other places."

"We can slow down the construction progress of the four southern ports in Annan for a while. Now that Da Nang has begun to take shape, it can temporarily meet our needs in business and trade. We can first allocate part of Annan's engineering strength and materials to Ambon Island.

, In three to five months at the fastest, and about half a year at the slower, we will be able to build a strong military stronghold on the island. Even if the Dutch launch a large-scale attack, we don’t have to worry about losing this place easily." Wang Tom immediately threw it out.

The military had made a small calculation in advance.

"So you want to replicate a Victory Fort on Ampurna Island?" Gu Kai had understood what he meant, but he still had doubts about it: "With such a large amount of work, the island is not like us.

When we first landed, there were still some construction machinery available. Can the construction period you mentioned be completed on time? Also, how much construction materials will need to be transported from Sanya? Have you calculated it carefully? "

"The island now has a population of more than 3,000, with young adults accounting for almost half. The human resources situation is much better than when we first arrived here." Wang Tom explained patiently: "And we don't have to follow the model of Fort Victory.

Copy the past. The local area already has a certain construction foundation, which is much better than the situation when we came here with nothing. All we have to do is to reinforce and transform the existing foundation. The amount of work is not as exaggerated as when we built Victory Fort.

"

"Where will the cost of the renovation project come from?" Schneider, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke: "Are we going to ask the fiscal bureau to set up special additional funds to subsidize military expenses? This is not a good habit."

Wang Tom responded: "The military has captured several Dutch merchant ships before. Coupled with this capture, it is actually enough to complete the project I just mentioned. However, this requires special approval from the Executive Committee.

This part of the revenue will be allocated to the military for use. Of course, the corresponding accounts will be provided to the audit department for inspection and filing to prevent misappropriation of public funds and false reporting of expenses in the process."

"If the military can handle the expenses on its own, then I have nothing to say." Schneider readily expressed his attitude on behalf of the Ministry of Finance - in fact, this is a disguised support for the military.

There has never been a lack of precedent in the history of the development of the Haihan militia in the form of fighting to support war. Most of the trophies captured by the militia during the Annan battle in the past two years were discounted and included in the military's account in the name of military expenses.

In the treasury, this has almost become a fixed model for the militia army to raise its own military expenses. Although the military has not stated it clearly, the purpose of selecting Ambona Island as a supply point and trapping Dutch merchant ships here is probably not only

Just to block the news that the ownership of this island changed hands, seizing spoils of war from the Dutch to subsidize military expenditures was probably part of the consideration.

Schneider has always had a good relationship with the military. His objection is not actually to stop the military's actions, but to take the initiative to raise the issue first and avoid letting others make a fuss about military expenditures. Tom Wang is obviously also very fond of it.

Understanding his intentions, the two of them cooperated quite well with each other's questions and answers.

One of the reasons why the military's various proposals are most likely to be blocked is the issue of military expenditures. As long as this issue can be properly resolved, other factors will not seem so important. Wang Tom's proposal will be voted on in the next

China also passed it with a majority vote, and the executive committee will unify and coordinate resources to assist the military in completing the engineering transformation tasks on Ampurna Island as soon as possible.

Compared with the well-organized Haihan Executive Committee, the Dutch, who suffered a defeat on Amborna Island, did not have it so easy. Because they were worried that their opponents would still have ships to intercept them at sea, the fleet sailed out of Amburina Port and did not

Instead of rushing north or south, we drove straight east for dozens of nautical miles before we were sure that no pursuers were chasing us.

For Van Longen, he was extremely lucky to be able to escape from the island, but when he thought about the two ships and a large amount of valuable cargo that were lost as a result, he really couldn't feel relaxed. Moreover, the fleet

Brower, one of the three commanders, was killed in battle. This was not only a heavy loss of personnel, but also had a certain negative impact on the reputation of the East India Company - a dignified senior Dutch military attaché and the successor to the post of Governor-General.

One, he died so quietly at the hands of a group of unidentified pirates. Governor Cohen was afraid that he would become seriously ill when he heard the news.

"Mr. Spikes, what should we do now?" Van Longen was at a loss about the way forward, so he could only ask Spikes for his opinion first.

Spikes' condition was no better than him. He looked up at him, shook his head and said, "We probably won't be able to fight back."

Fan Longen thought to himself that you still want to fight back in this situation. You really think your life is too long, don't you? If I hadn't applied to board the ship in advance to prepare for evacuation, maybe all these people would have been blocked at the port and unable to escape.

"Go back to Batavia. This matter must be reported to the company in detail as soon as possible." Although Spikes felt heavy, he could still distinguish the priorities. Compared with other things, the most important thing is to let the company's senior management

We all know exactly what happened now, and then we can further consider response strategies and even corresponding retaliatory measures.

"But what to do with these shipments of goods?" Van Longen immediately objected: "There are still a lot of goods on these ships that need to be sold to Japan, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty. Have we wasted these many days in vain? We should go north!

"

"Is the current situation suitable for worrying about these things?" Spikes' voice rose a lot: "When such a big thing happens, the company's interests must be the first priority!"

Van Longen was not willing to admit defeat. He immediately thought of another path: "Even if we don't consider the cargo on our ship, we must also consider that the ships in Damuan Port will continue to send ships south without knowing the truth, and they are likely to

We will also throw ourselves into a trap here on Ambona Island! We must inform Damian Port and let the local organization organize a fleet to avoid this sea area in the route arrangement."

The reasons for both of them were actually very good. No one could convince the other. In the end, it was decided that the fleet would be divided into two. Spikes would take two ships south and report the situation to the company's board of directors. Van Longen would lead the other three ships.

The ship continued north to Taiyuan Port - in this way, at least part of the capital could be recovered, so as not to lose everything.

Van Longen's fleet was trembling all the way, and it was already twenty days after they arrived at Taiyuan Port. And the first news he got after landing here was that Shibazhi was defeated at Nanri Island last month and had been lost.

The last stronghold near the coast of Fujian. What defeated them was not the old rival Fujian Navy, but a Haihan armed force that went to Fujian from Qiongzhou Island.

This news also surprised Van Longen. The Dutch have always not wanted the Fujian waters to be monopolized by the Ming Dynasty government or one of the Eighteen Zhizhi, because that would make their "outsiders" face a higher threshold for local trade.

Although the Dutch did not directly intervene in the protracted war between the two sides on the coast of Fujian, they privately provided certain support to the Shibazhi so that they could maintain pressure on the Fujian government.

It is no secret that the Haihan people support Xu Xinsu in the military field, but the Dutch never thought that the Haihan armed forces in Qiongzhou Island could march into Fujian so quickly and use force to attack Shibazhi with the cooperation of the government. In recent years

After Xu Xinsu received support from the Haihan people, her trade with the Dutch had become less and less, and now the two sides openly came together and attacked Shiba Zhi, which existed as a middleman for the Dutch. This gave Van Longen a bad feeling.

, that is, the Dutch are likely to be excluded from the Ming Dynasty trade circle.

During this period, Zheng Zhilong was working hard to seize Nanri Island from his opponents, and sent an envoy to Damuan Port, hoping to purchase some powerful artillery from the Dutch. But his request was destined to be met with disgrace.

was rejected. Originally, Van Longen's fleet shipped several artillery pieces this time and planned to sell them to Shibazhi or Ryukyu further north at Dayuan Port. However, they were all destroyed by the opponent's artillery fire on the battlefield when they were on Ambon Island.

Zheng Zhilong now wanted to buy cannons, unless the Dutch were willing to unload the cannons on the walls of the city of Relanja and sell them to him as merchandise, but this was obviously unlikely.

After Van Longen heard the news on the dock, he immediately went to the local East India Company office to see the person in charge. Since the East India Company established an administrative agency in Taiwan in 1624, the position of Governor has been appointed.

Responsible for the administrative affairs of the entire island. The current chief executive is the fourth in this position, named Hans Putmans.

Hans only joined the East India Company as a merchant in 1624. In 1626, he was promoted to the position of chief merchant and court judge, and concurrently served as the manager of Chinese affairs in Batavia. In 1627, he was promoted to the chairman of the city council. In 1629, he was promoted from his predecessor Peter Ru

Izzy (Pieter Nuyts) took over this position, which can be described as a rocket-like promotion speed. It is said that Hans's family background is quite deep, which allowed him to serve as a high-ranking local official only five years after joining the East India Company. After his rocket-like promotion

Behind his promotion, there is also a large group of colleagues who were used as stepping stones to step on.

However, Hans's predecessor did not step down from this position because he wanted to make room for him, but there were deeds worth mentioning. Peter Ruiz became the chief minister in 1627, and in July of the same year, he went to Japan to meet with the shogunate.

Peace talks were held on trade issues between the two sides, but failed due to the obstruction of Hamada Yabei. Peter therefore harbored a grudge against Hamada, and arrested Hamada in retaliation when he came to Taiwan the next year. Although he soon

He released the people, but Hamada also took violent measures to retaliate, taking Peter and his son hostage, and later took him directly to Japan and imprisoned him, and closed the Dutch business store in Hirado, Japan.

In order to appease the anger of the Japanese shogunate, the East India Company sent Hans to Taiwan to take over Peter's position. After the unlucky Peter returned to Taiwan, he was extradited to Japan and imprisoned for four years. He was not released until 1636. Since then, he has been

Deported back to the Netherlands.

Hans was much more powerful than his predecessor. In the original history, during his tenure, this guy conquered most of the aboriginal tribes on the island of Taiwan and gained the allegiance of some tribal leaders. Starting in 1624, he became the leader of Da Yuan.

The city of Geranje, a Dutch colonial stronghold built near the port, was also completed during his term. Of course, at this time and space, he probably had little chance of completing his original term.

"Mr. Hans, first of all I have to tell you some bad news." After a few words with Hans, Van Longen quickly got to the point and told Hans about the battle that took place on Ambrosia Island in the future.

After hearing this, Hans also looked shocked: "Then this means that not even one of the five merchant ships that set off from here to go south in the past two months reached Batavia, and they all had an accident on Natuna Island?

"

"It seems like this so far. We found three sabotaged company merchant ships in the local port, but unfortunately we didn't find our crew members." Van Longen paused and said: "Perhaps they have all been killed. That group of pirates was quite serious.

The cruelty!"

"May God bless them!" Hans raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on his chest, and then continued: "Then this means that we have lost another reliable supply point on our journey south. Doesn't the company have any idea about this?

Is there a better way to handle it?”

Van Longen responded: "I personally think it is very difficult. The pirates on that island are not ordinary goods. They are even better armed than Shiba Zhi. They may have received assistance from the Portuguese, and may even have purchased them from the Haihan people."

arms."
Chapter completed!