I

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 its European fleet to only 55 old warships. However, after repeated frictions with Britain, the Netherlands felt that war was inevitable, so it requisitioned a large number of armed merchant ships, expanding to 226 ships in less than half a year.

Only a few years had passed since the Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out.

The Netherlands, whose economy was paralyzed, once again dispatched hundreds of warships. This is still under the condition that the commander of the Dutch Navy leads 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 lack 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 requisitioned eight armed merchant ships.

He did not send troops to Taiwan again, 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 wasn't 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 follow the chants.

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 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 making tributes 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 shipyard.

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 mix of Han and Malay.

After finally staying up until meal time, Lin Changfu said to Chen Dongshan: "The emperor won the battle, have you heard?"

"I heard, 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 didn't leave after all, because he got seriously ill and spent a lot of money on treatment. And because he was not religious, the Batavia colonial government increased the head tax on those who did not want to convert. Here, Europeans have the lowest taxes, followed by Malay natives, while Han Chinese have the highest taxes.

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, "Yeah, I'm just 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 who 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 Tang Kingdom."

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 the things you have and don't have."

Lin Yaozu pouted, feeling unspeakably aggrieved.

He was born and raised in Batavia and has never set foot on Chinese soil, but he has heard countless stories about China from his elders. He fantasizes about returning to his ancestral country, seeing the cities there, seeing the people there, and learning 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," Van der Linde 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 a parliament, still with the same theme: whether to let the garrison of Geranzea abandon the castle and surrender, and then return to Batavia.

Meetings and discussions were held for several days, but no result was achieved. No one wanted to take the responsibility for losing Taiwan.

Then just hold off. Anyway, the food in Geranze Castle can last for more than half a year. Even if the war is lost, the Chinese army must consume more food and fodder 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.

This damn order, the Cape of Good Hope is obviously closer to Europe, the Dutch headquarters will not send anyone there, and must 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 Dutch, and the second group were all Asian immigrants. Because the place was so remote, Europeans were unwilling to go there, so they had no choice but to move the Asian natives to Cape Town - kill the native African natives, seize their land, and then let the Javanese cultivate it.

Vanderlin wanted to scold his mother and felt that everything was not going well for him.

First it lost the Vietnam market, then lost Taiwan, and its expansion in the Arabian Peninsula was not smooth either. After being defeated by Burma last time, he tried to reconnect with Burma, but the king of Burma killed the envoy. The market share of trade with Japan is also shrinking. Not only is the market being robbed by Chinese businessmen, but the Japanese shogunate has also set a trade volume limit 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 a must-pass point for the east-west sea route. Once the Netherlands establishes a stronghold there, it will be equivalent to seizing the maritime chokepoint between the East and the West. This is indeed a very powerful decision.

However, the Dutch's control of the Cape of Good Hope means that all European countries, which disgust all European countries, must play out the character of Sea Teddy to the end.

Historically, after the British captured Cape Town by force, in order to avoid intensifying conflicts with other countries, they immediately declared Cape Town a free port. Unlike the Netherlands, which eats alone and is unwilling to share the scraps.

Counting countries, the Netherlands’ current enemies include: China, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Ottoman, Persia, Mughals, Burma, Vietnam, Nguyen, Banten, Matalan, Brunei, Sulu... unknown small countries I'm too lazy to talk to the tribe.

By the way, because the Netherlands controls the North Sea trade, it also has bad relations with the three Nordic countries.

Vanderlyn adjourned the meeting and wrote to the Dutch headquarters again. He has finished writing his resignation letter, but he has to wait for the fleet to return to Europe before he can take the letter back. Now I am writing another letter, asking for permission to build the ship, and at the same time requesting a postponement of the establishment of the Cape of Good Hope stronghold.

After writing the letter, Vanderlin fell into deep thought.

Not thinking about how to break the situation, but 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 the company has suffered a defeat and 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 either. 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 siege 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.

For the rest, do whatever you have to do and let the Dutch slowly consume food on the island. After more than half a year, the food was gone, and all the Dutch on the island starved to death.