The Netherlands lost 15 warships at one time, and the changes brought about could be very large, or it could also be very small.
Because the Netherlands dominates the ocean not by large ships, but by more than 10,000 merchant ships.
Take the First Anglo-Dutch War as an example. The Netherlands sold off its European fleet until only 55 old warships were left. However, after repeated frictions with the United Kingdom, the Netherlands felt that war was inevitable, so it requisitioned a large number of armed merchant ships. Within half a year Soon it will be expanded to 226 ships.
Only in the past few years, the Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out...
The Netherlands, whose economy was paralyzed, once again dispatched hundreds of warships. This was under the condition that the commander of the Dutch Navy led a large number of warships on an expedition to Africa. Otherwise, the number of Dutch warships must be close to 200.
For the Netherlands, it doesn't matter if they lose a fleet, they can replace it with armed merchant ships every minute.
The real headache for the Netherlands was the shortage of personnel and the huge loss of commercial interests after losing the war. The Netherlands is not like a country, but more like a big company, and companies first consider profits when doing things.
Governor Vanderlin of Batavia immediately commandeered eight armed merchant ships.
He did not send any more troops to Taiwan, but wanted to stabilize the situation on Java Island and prevent the British and Banten Kingdom from sending troops.
The British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company competed very fiercely in Asia. The Dutch even massacred the British and killed all the British on an island.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
It was not who was shooting, but a merchant ship in Batavia Port. Suddenly, a crew member set off firecrackers on the deck.
Zheng Hua, the incense owner, waited for the firecrackers to finish setting off, then smiled and shouted to the shore: "Great victory, great victory, the imperial navy defeated the Dutch navy in the Sulu Sea! Long live your Majesty! Long live the Datong Navy!"
"Long live your Majesty, long live the Datong Navy!"
The Chinese businessmen on the dock shouted together with their waiters.
The Chinese coolies who settled here couldn't help but smile, but they were afraid of causing trouble and did not join in shouting long live.
Zheng Hua is Zheng Zhilong's confidant. Zheng Zhilong no longer goes to sea. He is busy building bridges and paving roads in his hometown, making crazy donations to schools, and wants all Zheng's descendants to pursue official careers.
However, the Zheng family's trading fleet is the largest in the country.
As for the incense master that Zheng Hua serves as, it is part of the regular configuration of the fleet. Its main responsibilities are: taking care of the Mazu shrine on the ship, worshiping Mazu and the compass, and paying tribute to the straits and islands along the way (straits and islands have spirits, so they can Bless the fleet).
To put it bluntly, the incense master specializes in offering incense and can be understood as the Minister of Rites in the fleet.
News about the war quickly spread to the shipyards.
Lin Changfu was still working in the shipyard at this time, but a few years later, his son had grown up and married a mixed-race woman.
A mixture of Han and Malay.
After finally staying up until dinner time, Lin Changfu said to Chen Dongshan: "The emperor won the battle, have you heard?"
"I heard that, please don't implicate us." Chen Dongshan said worriedly.
Several years ago, Chen Dongshan said that he would return to his roots and take his wife and children back to China to repair his ancestral graves.
But he did not leave after all, because he suffered a serious illness, and the treatment cost a lot of money. And because he was not religious, the Batavia colonial government increased the head tax for those who did not want to convert. Here, Europeans The tax rate is the lowest, followed by the Malays, and the Han people have the highest tax.
This situation is not a special case, it is the same throughout Southeast Asia.
The main reason is that the Han people are too capable. The colonists from Spain, the Netherlands and other countries must suppress the Han people through taxation.
Lin Changfu sighed and said: "Yes, I'm afraid that Hongmao will lose and take his anger out on us Tang people."
Chen Dongshan said with admiration: "I heard from businessmen who came to Batavia that after the emperor occupied Luzon Island, the Tang people in Luzon no longer paid heavy taxes. This time they are attacking Taiwan again. The Tang people in Taiwan are sure
We don’t have to pay heavy taxes. It would be great if the emperor sent troops one day to capture Bacheng, and we would all live a good life."
Lin Changfu grinned: "That's great."
His son Lin Yaozu suddenly interrupted: "Uncle Chen, my father said that the Tang Dynasty was very big, and Guangzhou City was bigger than Bacheng. Is he bragging?"
"Get out of here!" Lin Changfu yelled.
Chen Dongshan suddenly laughed and said disdainfully: "Compared with Guangzhou, Bacheng is nothing!"
Lin Yaozu asked again: "Next to Bacheng, Wandan and Madalan are the largest countries. Are Wandan and Madalan together as big as Tang?"
"The Tang Kingdom is bigger than the ten Wandan Kingdoms!" Chen Dongshan said.
Lin Yaozu said in disbelief: "How big is that? Can the emperor control it?"
Chen Dongshan said: "The emperor is a star in the sky and has descended to earth. He knows everything under the sun. Do you think he can take care of it?"
Lin Yaozu turned to his father and said, "Dad, I want to visit the Tang Dynasty."
Lin Changfu slapped his son on the back of the head: "Your wife has just given birth, work hard in the shipyard, don't think about all the things you have and don't have."
Lin Yaozu curled his lips, feeling unspeakably aggrieved.
He was born and raised in Batavia and has never set foot on Chinese soil. However, he has heard countless stories about China from his elders. He fantasizes about returning to his ancestral country and seeing the cities there.
See the people there and learn everything about it.
Governor's Palace.
Vanderlin heard the cheers from the other side of the pier, and he clenched his fists in anger: "These damn Chinese!"
The adjutant asked: "Should we send someone to stop it?"
"Go," Vanderlin immediately warned, "be careful of inciting riots. There can be no chaos at this time, otherwise the British will take advantage of it. After this period of time has passed, we will deal with the Chinese. I will impose additional taxes on them."
Head tax and port tax!"
The adjutant immediately went out to deliver the order, and soon a group of Dutch soldiers came to the dock carrying matchlock guns and forbade anyone to make any noise.
Van der Linde continued to convene the parliament, and the theme was still the same: whether to let the garrison of Geranzea abandon the castle and surrender, and then return to Batavia.
We held meetings and discussed it for several days, but there was still no result. No one wanted to take the responsibility for losing Taiwan.
Then let's hold off. Anyway, the food in Relanze Castle can last for more than half a year. Even if they lose the war, the Chinese army will have to consume more food and grass to besiege the city.
The latest order Vanderlin received from headquarters was for him to establish a supply base at the Cape of Good Hope.
What the hell is this order? The Cape of Good Hope is obviously closer to Europe. The Dutch headquarters won’t send anyone there, and they have to let Batavia arrange the manpower.
The Dutch established a stronghold at the Cape of Good Hope, later called Cape Town.
The first group of pioneers were the Dutch, and the second group were all Asian immigrants. Because the place was so remote, Europeans did not want to go there, so they had no choice but to move the Asian natives to Cape Town - killing the native Africans.
Take their land and let the Javanese farm it.
Vanderlin wanted to scold his mother and felt that everything was not going well for him.
First he lost the Vietnamese market, then lost Taiwan, and his expansion in the Arabian Peninsula was not smooth. After being defeated by Myanmar last time, he tried to re-engage with Myanmar, but the king of Myanmar killed the envoy. The market share of trade with Japan also declined.
It is shrinking. Not only is the market being robbed by Chinese businessmen, but the Japanese shogunate has also set a cap on trade volume this year.
Now let yourself open up the Cape of Good Hope stronghold and open up your sister. Only the devil is willing to go to that poor place.
In the absence of the Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope is the only place that the east-west sea route must pass through. Once the Netherlands establishes a stronghold there, it will be equivalent to grabbing the maritime chokepoint between the east and the west, which is indeed a very powerful decision.
However, the Dutch's control of the Cape of Good Hope means that they are disgusting all European countries and want to play the character of Sea Teddy to the end.
Historically, after the British seized Cape Town by force, they immediately declared Cape Town a free port in order to avoid intensifying conflicts with other countries.
Unlike the Netherlands, they only eat alone and are unwilling to share the leftovers.
Counting countries, the Netherlands’ current enemies include: China, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Ottoman, Persia, Mughals, Burma, Vietnam, Nguyen, Banten, Matalan, Brunei, Sulu... unknown small countries and
The tribe is too lazy to say anything.
By the way, because the Netherlands controls North Sea trade, it also has bad relations with the three Nordic countries.
Van der Lyn announced the adjournment of the meeting and wrote another letter to the Dutch headquarters. He had already finished writing the letter of resignation, but he had to wait for the fleet to return to Europe before he could take the letter back. Now he wrote another letter, asking for permission to build the ship and at the same time requesting a postponement.
Establish the Cape of Good Hope stronghold.
After writing the letter, Vanderlin fell into deep thought.
Instead of thinking about how to break the situation, we were thinking about ways to make money. How to make a huge sum of money in Batavia, then pack up and return to the Netherlands to retire?
Tainan, Relanjia City.
Taiwan Governor Feuerberg, looking at the fleet approaching from the sea, completely fell into despair.
He recognized the Dutch warship among them, but it did not fly the East India Company flag. It was obviously captured by the Chinese navy!
"I think that since W.'s company has been defeated, there will be no reinforcements," Felberg said.
Danker asked directly: "Do you want to surrender?"
Felberg said: "Just hold on a little longer and wait until the food is finished."
Danker asked: "It takes too long and the Chinese army consumes too much rations. Will it be dangerous to surrender by then? What if the Chinese are angered and kill us all?"
Felberg fell silent for a moment.
Dankel didn't say anything. He had killed too many Han Chinese and natives, and his hatred was so deep that he didn't dare to surrender at this moment.
The castle is built on an island, so there is no way to escape, and no one dares to surrender, so we can only bite the bullet and buy time.
After a long time, Felberg said: "Send an envoy to contact us. If you are willing to let us go back to Batavia, we will agree to surrender and give up Geranze."
The so-called envoy is a Han Chinese living on an island.
When this person saw Li Dingguo, he immediately explained his intention.
Li Dingguo sneered: "Go back and tell the red-haired ghost that His Majesty has ordered that blood debts must be repaid with blood! Although the Datong army is short of food, they can still lay siege to the city."
There is no need to besiege the city at all, just leave the Taiwan fleet to patrol the nearby waters every day to prevent the Dutch from going out to buy food.
It is enough to station 2,000 Datong troops here in Chikan City.
Let the Dutch slowly consume the food on the island. After half a year, the food will be gone, and all the Dutch on the island will starve to death.