Chapter 668: Peeling off the cocoon

Temporarily sending a mission to Sanya to negotiate with the Haihan people was itself an emergency measure to delay Haihan's military action against the Natuna Islands. The key to it lies in the word "quick". If it goes late,

, Haihan has already taken action, so the East India Company can only watch helplessly as the Haihan people take away the Natuna Islands. If you want to get them back by then, the difficulty level will probably have to rise a lot. Therefore, the board of directors

After deciding to adopt this method, intensive preparations for the trip began immediately that day.

The mission's team is still mainly composed of Van Longen and his fleet, but the nature of the mission this time is quite special, so Van Longen does not plan to take all the remaining merchant ships to Sanya, but only uses one large and one.

Two small sailing ships. Of course, there is another reason for doing this that is not too glorious, that is, when he fought on Natuna Island last time, almost all of his ships were decorated, and during his stay in Taiyuan Port, he only carried out

It is a temporary solution and can only be completely renovated after returning to Batavia. Currently, only two sailboats in better condition can be selected to perform this task.

Van Longen's main responsibility is to expand maritime trade for the East India Company. Although he is proficient in military affairs, he is not a professional soldier, so this mission must be equipped with an officer - not only for the security of the mission, but more importantly

Once you go to the local area, you can have a knowledgeable person responsible for observing and collecting military intelligence on the Haihan people. As for combat personnel, you don’t need too many combat personnel. Van Longen’s ship is originally an armed merchant ship, and it is also equipped with various weapons on a daily basis. The crew members are basically equipped with all kinds of weapons.

With certain combat capabilities, as long as they are not fighting professional navies, their ability to protect themselves at sea is still relatively strong.

The officer Governor Cohen selected for the mission fleet was a little beyond everyone's expectations. The officer who took up this position was not a local officer stationed in Batavia, but Van der Wegen, who had just returned from Damien Harbor as a defeated man.

Cohen's explanation for this is that Van der Wegen is currently the only senior officer who has had experience fighting the Haihan people on a frontal battlefield. By going to Sanya, he can more accurately identify military ships in the local port and obtain valuable military intelligence.

Of course, he didn't know that the opponents Spikes and Van Longen encountered in the Natuna Islands were also affiliated with the Haihan Militia, except that the Fujian side was a navy, while the Natuna Islands were an army in disguise.

Van der Wegen was naturally grateful for such an appointment. He originally thought that when he returned to Batavia to report on his duties this time, he would have to shed his skin even if he did not die, but he did not expect that instead of punishing him, Cohen would instead entrust him with an important task again.

Although this mission no longer required a desperate effort, Van der Wegen was more determined than when he fought in Fujian last time.

In addition, Cohen considered that the East India Company had never dealt with the Haihan people before, and it would be difficult to communicate smoothly with them by sending only two Dutch representatives, so it became necessary to appoint a Chinese as a special assistant to the mission.

Of course, there are many restrictions on this candidate. First of all, family members of Ming Shang or people with close relationships are not allowed, because these people are very likely to have inextricable interests with Haihan, and their credibility is not high.

When Cohen proposed the establishment of this position, he actually already had a candidate in mind. When Cohen took office in 1619, he appointed his Chinese friend Su Minggang as the Chinese manager of Batavia, Kapitan. After that, he successively held the position for more than ten years.

The Kapitan position has always been held by the Su family. When the East India Company carried out commercial activities on the coast of Fujian, the Su family also sent people to participate in it. If there is any Chinese in Batavia that makes Cohen trust, the Su family

The family will definitely do their part.

Due to this special relationship, many people in the Su family are working for the East India Company, and some of them have fixed positions in the company. Su Minggang's nephew, Su Keyi, who is now in his early thirties, is one of them. Early on

He joined the East India Company ten years ago. He started as a low-level dock cargo recorder and gradually rose to the current position of port supervisor. The three docks he is currently responsible for managing have more than ten merchant ships entering and exiting every day.

Hong Kong, with a total of nearly a thousand employees of various ethnic groups, is considered a moderately powerful middle-level manager in the company. Of course, due to his Chinese identity, it is unlikely that he will be able to enter special fields such as military and intelligence.

The best way to get a job in the department is to compete for the next few Kapitan positions.

Henk, who was in charge of intelligence affairs, did not question this selection arrangement, because he also knew that the Su family was indeed one of the few Chinese families in Batavia that was worthy of the company's trust. He rejected this selection and would not do so for a while.

It was difficult to find a better replacement, and time waited for no one. The Governor gave him two days to prepare. Even if Henk had any ideas, he could only take the overall situation into consideration and swallow his dissatisfaction first.

The night before the mission's fleet set off, Cohen summoned Van Longen, Van der Wegen and Su Keyi to give them face-to-face instructions.

"There are some things that cannot be said publicly in the board meeting, so I can only communicate with you in this private setting." Cohen only said a few words before he began to cough. Van der Wegen was the closest and immediately stepped forward to help him rub his back to relieve the cough.

After a while, Cohen finally stopped coughing, nodded to Van der Wegen, and then continued: "My physical condition is already very bad. One day in this position will be lost. I originally planned to retire before the end of the year."

I left office and then returned to the Netherlands to recuperate, but now it seems I can’t leave.”

"Sir Governor, we all need your command. I hope you can take good care of your health and serve as a beacon for the company for a few more years." Van Longen lost no time in flattering him.

"This is probably very difficult to achieve. I just hope that the current troubles, especially the Haihan people, can be dealt with before leaving office." Cohen was not in the mood to joke with Van Longen, and quickly returned to the topic: "Gentlemen, although we

They responded in the shortest possible time, but I think they may have fallen far behind the Haihan people in terms of the progress of seizing the Natuna Islands."

"You mean, even if we rush to Sanya now, we might not be able to stop their actions in time?" Van Longen immediately understood what Cohen meant.

"They most likely asked someone to send this diplomatic letter after they were well prepared to go to war." Cohen said as he gently tapped the letter signed by Haihan Executive Committee on the table with his finger.

Letter. This letter is written in both Chinese and English. Cohen has read it over and over again, trying to figure out the meaning of the wording.

"If that's the case, then why do they use the words in the letter to anger us?" Van Longen asked in confusion. When he heard Cohen tell the contents of the letter at the meeting two days ago, Van Longen was also furious at the time.

I felt extremely humiliated.

"This is a warning and also a threat. The Haihan people want us to know that if we object to the ownership of the Natuna Islands, we must be prepared for a full-scale war with them." Cohen paused and emphasized.

Tone: "This battlefield is not only in the Natuna Islands, but may also include Fujian."

"Including Fujian..." Van Longen turned his head and looked at each other with Van der Wegen. Both of them saw the shock that could not be concealed in each other's eyes.

"Judging from the fighting situation described by Van der Wegen, Haihan's attack on our fleet in Fujian was not an accidental armed conflict, but a premeditated military action. I have been wondering why they did this.

And why should I let you go..." Cohen pointed to the letter on the table again: "It wasn't until I read this letter repeatedly that I figured out their purpose. Gentlemen, the Haihan people need to find a reasonable excuse to deal with this.

We do it, and that’s where it all comes from.”

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't quite understand what you mean..." Van der Wegen stammered in reply.

"I think the Haihan people have actually regarded us as competitors for a long time, and decided to start competing with us for maritime control in the Far East after they became fully fledged, but they need a reasonable reason that is acceptable to both insiders and outsiders to start.

War, after all, war is a very resource-consuming activity, and it may cause other external forces to be wary of them." Cohen said slowly: "But the problem is that there has never been direct trade or direct trade between them and us.

There is no reasonable excuse for falling out in diplomatic dealings. Under such circumstances, what do you think the Haihan people will do?"

"Obviously, combating piracy is an excellent entry point." Su Keyi, who had been silent until now, suddenly took over and said, "Whether it is in Fujian or the South China Sea, combating piracy is a high-sounding reason."

"That's it." Cohen expressed his praise for Su Keyi's quick understanding of the spirit: "Since our policy in Fujian is to support the Shibazhi against the government, it is easy for the Haihan people to get the handle, and Hans has another

At this time, they chose to send troops to assist in the war, and the Haihan people were able to take advantage of the situation. I heard that it took a long time for Da Yuan Port to prepare for the war and assemble near Nanri Island before the war started. I think the Fujian government must have placed a large number of people in Da Yuan's army.

The spies have sent back the news a long time ago, so the Haihan people can just wait and see on Nanri Island for you to deliver it to their doorstep."

Van der Wegen's face turned pale. Although he had reflected a lot after the defeat, and even thought that it might have been leaked beforehand that led to his side being ambushed by the Haihan fleet, he never thought that the other party's behavior was so profound.

Purpose.

Cohen continued: "You don't have to feel upset. Even if Hans did not choose to send troops at that time, sooner or later the Haihan people would find other opportunities to fight against you. As for why, we will know after we sort out the timeline."

Cohen opened a notepad on the table and began to read from it: "The pirates occupied Natuna Island. Based on what we know, it probably happened in April of this year. The following May

, the Haihan delegation went to Fujian, and in the name of retaliating for the assassination of Shibazhi in Zhangzhou, they led the Ming army to capture Nanri Island. In June, Shibazhi sent people to ask Hans for help, and

At this time, Haihan seemed to have sent another reinforcement force to Fujian to replace the Haihan mission stationed there. At the end of June, the search and rescue fleet we sent from Batavia suffered a failure in the Natuna Islands. In mid-July,

The Haihan fleet defeated the fleet led by Mr. Van der Wegen in the waters of Nanri Island. Four days ago, a fiercely worded diplomatic letter from the Haihan people was sent to Batavia, warning us not to participate in the Fujian and Natuna Islands anymore.

affairs."

Cohen slowly closed his notepad, looked at the three people present and said: "Gentlemen, things have happened one after another in the past five months, and they are all related to us. If it is all a coincidence, I personally am skeptical.

. Although I don’t have any evidence to prove that the Haihan people were behind these events, at least they made very efficient use of the situation in these two places to achieve their goals. Now I want to hear your views."

"Seventy percent of the residents on the Natuna Islands are Chinese or of Chinese descent. When the pirates attacked the area in April, it was likely that fishermen on the islands or merchant ships that temporarily docked there took the opportunity to escape and move around.

The territory of the Haihan people. After the Haihan people learned the news about the local change of ownership, they may have already made plans for that place." Van Longen immediately expressed his thoughts: "In the name of revenge for the pirate invasion last year, go to

Expedition to the Natuna Islands, obviously this reason can easily be recognized by their so-called executive committee."

"But they will face two problems if they want to attack the Natuna Islands. One is the preparations for the expedition, and the other is how to deal with our accusations." Van der Wegen continued: "That place belongs to our East India Company, and they

If we directly occupy it, it will undoubtedly be no different from pirates, so they still need an excuse to drag us into the water, such as forcing us to collude with the pirates."

"But they didn't have any concrete evidence in their hands, so they needed to do some work in other places to substantiate this excuse, so they chose Fujian to start." Su Keyi also kept up with the pace: "They can use the Fujian government to suppress bandits.

In the name of the Communist Party of China, they dealt with Shibazhi openly and dragged Taiyuan Port into the water. Then the fact that the East India Company and the pirates colluded was established, and they could continue to use this as an excuse to take action in the South China Sea and warned us not to do so.

Close to that sea area. From April and May to now, it is estimated that the Haihan people have also been ready to attack Natuna Island. As the Governor just said, maybe our steps are too late. Now

The only thing I don’t quite understand is why the Haihan people’s deadline for demarcating the waters of the Natuna Islands is until the end of the year? Don’t they have the confidence to take down that group of pirates in one fell swoop?”

"I think they just need time to consolidate the island's defenses." Van Longen replied with a dark face.
Chapter completed!