During the entire naval battle off Cirebon, Ye Hua almost never left the bow of the flagship Flying Tiger.
Ye Hua, a master of long-distance swimming who is less than 30 years old, is the most learned among the first batch of sailors brought out by Yin Feng from Yazhou. After his trip to Europe, he has become a disciple of the Dutch. He quickly grew into a famous naval officer of the Chinese Company. He was already well-versed in command, dispatch, and daily training. When dealing with his former teacher, the Dutch, he was completely at ease. Of course, the Chinese Company achieved a sudden strategic success against the Dutch. , and had a quantitative and qualitative advantage in the ship's cannons, which was also the reason for the victory in this battle.
Unlike the Ming Dynasty Navy, which only practiced for less than ten days a month, the Chinese navy soldiers' daily activities included drills and exercises, so they could fully demonstrate their combat effectiveness today.
When Li Lihua was carried to the Shanghai Star, Ye Hua came to see her off. Li Lihua had a gentle smile on her haggard face and saluted Ye Hua with the support of her maid.
Ye Hua quickly returned the gift: "Miss..."
Li Lihua stood up and stopped him and said: "You're welcome, Commander Ye, you deserve this. You are the savior of all Tang people in Java. I hope you can send someone to the sugar cane manor as soon as possible..."
After sending Li Lihua away, Ye Hua breathed a long sigh of relief and said to An Xiaosi and Lin Shuisheng: "Fortunately, Yan Siqi found the eldest lady. Our trip was not in vain."
An Xiaosi rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Let's go to the sugar cane manor to save people right now."
Ye Hua shook his head and said, "No, let's go to Batavia now."
"But, Madam asked us again and again before leaving..." An Xiaosi looked at Ye Hua very doubtfully.
Generally speaking, among all levels within the China Company, those who were born as sailors in the navy, infantry generals or merchant ship captains all regard Mai Wan'er as Captain Yin's "wife", while people like An Xiaosi, who is from Manila like Li Lihua, Chinese Catholics regard Li Lihua as a unique "ship owner's wife" in their hearts.
Ye Hua and Lin Shuisheng naturally understood who the "madam" he was referring to. Lin Shuisheng pointed in the direction of Cirebon and explained: "Director An, east of Cirebon, my sailor musketeers have approached the sugar cane manor. The Netherlands The fleet has been defeated, there is no threat to Cirebon, and the Sudanese guards have also left the city to rescue our sugar cane manor. Don't worry, nothing will happen to the sugar cane manor. Yan Siqi is still there to help defend,"
Ye Hua continued: "Our top priority is to completely subdue the Red Barbarians. They also have a main battleship, hundreds of defenders in Batavia City, and Huatian Company. We must take the Red Barbarians Losing the opportunity to protect the fleet, march directly to Batavia and force them to surrender. There is still one month left before the fleet return deadline set by the ship owner. We must deal with the red barbarians within one month,"
An Xiaosi nodded helplessly and said: "In that case, Brother Shuisheng and I will stay. After we have dealt with the enemies in Cirebon, the whole army will go straight to Batavia and cooperate with your fleet to surround the red-haired barbarians. "After all, he is still worried about the thousands of Chinese people in Cirebon.
In the following days, the situation in Java Island once again took a turn for the worse. News that the Dutch fleet was almost completely destroyed spread along the coastline to various ports on Java Island, and then spread throughout the interior of Java Island along the tropical jungle trails.
The Madalan rebels, Maduraan, and Dutch coalition forces that besieged Cirebon collapsed on the second day of the naval battle. The Dutch retreated directly to Batavia; the Maduraan army retreated eastward, intending to return to their own country; The rebels were even more torn apart, and the third prince fled to the interior of Java.
Half a month later, Yan Siqi, Lin Shuisheng and others brought 3,000 Chinese troops and more than 4,000 Madalan King troops to the city of Batavia. At this time, Ye Hua's fleet had been shelling Batavia for the fourth consecutive day. Hong Kong.
Van Layton, the commander of Batavia's city defense, was at the end of his rope.
Huatian Company's commercial building in the south of the city was first attacked by Yan Siqi's task force. He called in the sky-blasting cannon of the Sailor Musketeers and fired rounds of gunpowder packets weighing a hundred kilograms into the building, causing the ground to shake. Mountains shook, walls collapsed, and houses collapsed. To attack the Huatian Company headquarters, a large house that occupies an area of less than an acre, with a bombardment cannon used for sieges seems to be overkill.
The people in the Huatian Company headquarters surrendered, but Yuan Jin and Li Zhong disappeared the day before.
The city of Batavia is filled with mist and mist. Although the Dutch hiding in the castle are all outlaws, adventurers and thrill-seekers, when the enemy has an absolute advantage, no one wants to die in vain; especially these people People who came to Asia for adventure have already made a lot of money, and no one is willing to give up the wealth they have acquired to die. Therefore, during the meeting of the East India Company Committee, Major Van Layton, who provoked the Chinese Merchant House Incident, became the He was criticized by the public, and was scolded by congressmen, directors, and shareholders.
The only Chinese present was Li Jin, General Manager of Batavia Commercial Affairs of the East India Company, Jin Bo. When the Chinese Company was first established, Li Jin led the Dutch fleet to the Penghu Islands. Later, it was the Chinese Company that defeated the Dutch. The foundational battle: the Battle of Penghu.
After the war, he followed the released Dutch prisoners back to Java. However, after Yin Feng and Li Jin talked for a long night, he had become Yin Feng's deepest hidden stake in the Dutch East India Company.
In the past ten years, China United Company has never contacted him. Every year, some Chinese businessmen bring him a letter from his hometown in Fujian, usually a letter of greetings from his family. He has never provided information to Yin Feng, only When the agreed code appears in the letter from home, Li Jin's identity as a hidden spy will be officially activated. In fact, only Yin Feng knows his true identity.
When Yuan Jin and Li Zhong secretly returned to Taiwan, because of his initiative to report the news, Yin Feng did not go to Hangzhou to attend the shareholders' meeting and avoided a crisis. After that, he remained silent for more than a year. Starting this year, he took the initiative to report information irregularly. Send various intelligence to Taiwan.
The Dutch had great trust in him because he was the first Chinese Protestant and had been to Europe and worked for the East India Company. He was already a formally naturalized Dutch citizen. Some confidential planning also let him know that the Dutch, as Protestants , there was not much racial or religious discrimination against the colonial natives. Compared to the Spanish, the Dutch were relatively mild colonists (of course, this did not prevent the Dutch from showing cruelty and bloodlust when suppressing the native resistance)
Li Jin looked at the noisy Dutch people in the corner and shook his head helplessly. The Chinese who made a living overseas during the Ming Dynasty were basically people from the bottom of society, even illiterate. Apart from the traditional folk customs they had heard and witnessed, , there is basically no Confucian traditional culture, so they have no resistance to Western religion, culture, and technology. Although Li Jin has lived among the Dutch for more than ten years, his living customs have basically assimilated with the Dutch, but in Deep down, he still thinks that he is a Tang man.
"The Chinese outside the city have sent letters of surrender to ensure the safety of our lives and property. The demands are to expel Huatian Company, lift restrictions on Chinese residence, and help them open business routes between China and Europe. Uncle Jin, what do you think? ,"
Suddenly, the chairman of the Batavia Committee of the East India Company asked Li Jin: "Uncle Jin, you are in charge of trade with the Chinese Company. What do you think we should do?"
Li Jin thought for a while and said carefully: "How long can our army last? Can we wait for reinforcements from Europe?"
Major Van Leyden smiled bitterly: "The courier to Europe for help was just sent yesterday. If Europe can send reinforcements, it will have to be two years later, and it will be twenty months at the fastest. Besides, the current domestic situation we all know I also know that the financial crisis and economic difficulties, our war with the Spanish in America has not stopped, and it is still unknown whether Europe can send reinforcements. Oh, it must be a reinforcement of a certain scale, otherwise it will not be able to deal with the China United Company. of,"
He looked around and saw everyone's faces full of frustration. He continued to undermine everyone's confidence: "There are more than 900 defenders in the city, including the indigenous alliance troops. The battleship Mogami is still in Malacca, and the other ships in the fleet are It was sunk in the port the day before yesterday. Based on the food in the city, we can probably defend it for about six months."
The Governor of the East India Company in Batavia lamented: "With our connivance, the Chinese Company has become the maritime hegemon of East Asia. What should we do now, surrender?"
Van Leyden sneered and said: "We in the United Provinces are the sea coachmen of the world. The problem is that we cannot leave the rest of the world and focus on the East Asian region."
After all, the Netherlands is a small country with a population of more than one million. In this era of global expansion, the Netherlands has almost reached the limit that its population can support.
One of the commissioners stood up and said, "Let's surrender. Since they didn't come to capture Batavia, we can negotiate."
"No, if we introduce China United Company to Europe, it will take away our business," someone objected loudly.
The committee member who supported surrender said coldly: "We will not cooperate with the Chinese company. That doesn't matter. The British and French are waiting at the door to sign an agreement with the Chinese."
…
Outside the port of Batavia, more than a dozen gunboats were firing at the castle fort. Under five consecutive days of bombardment, the two forts to the west and north of Batavia were almost in ruins. Hundreds of guns from the Chinese fleet Under the attack of artillery, especially Thunderbolt rockets and explosive howitzers, nearly half of the city of Batavia was in ruins.
On the Flying Tiger, the Chinese Jesuit missionary You Wenhui and the Dutch Protestant pastor Ruth were looking at the smoke-filled Batavia on the bow. The Dutch pastor Ruth rubbed his hands anxiously and said to You Wenhui in Latin: " You must persuade General Ye to stop the bombardment...at least, stop bombarding the church,"
You Wenhui smiled bitterly: "I am just a translator. General Ye does not believe in God. He believes in the Chinese goddess of the sea."
Ruth wiped her sweat and said, "The East India Company is willing to make a truce with the China Company, but you must also show your sincerity for the truce."
You Wenhui shrugged his shoulders in a very European way: "Why didn't you think about it carefully when you attacked the Chinese Commercial House? The power that Chinese companies can mobilize in East Asia is simply not something that you Dutch people can fight against. With the whole world Judging from the scope, you Dutch are indeed very powerful, but can you still move all the United Provinces here?"
The Protestant pastor Ruth wiped her sweat and was speechless.
You Wenhui sneered and said: "The big owner of the China Company, President Yin Feng, once said that no matter what time, it is strength that can ultimately take the initiative in this world. Strength determines everything. I know you definitely want to talk about peace." However, General Ye Hua came under the orders of Captain Yin, and the order he received was: Unless the Dutch East India Company unconditionally agrees to all our conditions, Batavia will be captured."