Chapter 666: Step on the door

First defeat the opponent on the battlefield, and then make various demands for war compensation from the opponent in terms of money, land, political conditions, etc. This is what every powerful country will do in the stage of foreign expansion. The East India Company's own expansion process in the Far East

Many people in China have done this kind of thing. But this time the situation is different from the past. The East India Company is no longer the victor who takes the initiative, but becomes the target of blackmail and blackmail after defeat. This bold and reckless act has no

The opponent he is worried about is Haihan, who has only emerged from the South China Sea in recent years.

Fortunately, Hans Putmans, who was in power in Damuan Port, did not make the same mistake again and again in his attitude towards Haihan. During the negotiations, he rejected all the demands for war compensation made by the Ming envoy on behalf of Haihan, and tried his best to safeguard the East Indies.

The only remaining dignity of the company, and his own career future - if he was foolish enough to accept the conditions proposed by Haihan, then the removal document signed by Governor Cohen would probably be on its way to Taiyuan Port by this time.

Although the Haihan people's threats had no actual effect, Cohen had truly felt the deep hostility displayed by this method. The Haihan people never took the initiative to send an envoy to Batavia to contact the East India Company.

The two sides have not established any direct trade relations. Cohen once thought that this was because the Haihan people felt that they were not strong enough, so they used this low-key attitude to avoid attracting the attention of the behemoth East India Company. However, this guess seemed to be only partially correct.

They may have had such a plan in the past few years, but as their wings grew, they were probably no longer satisfied with being a group of low-key businessmen on Qiongzhou Island.

Although there were various rumors that Haihan sent troops to Annan to assist in countering the rebellion as early as two or three years ago, no one realized what this really meant. Looking back at this time, people with a discerning eye will find that this

How difficult is it to send troops to cross-border wars? Haihan is now able to organize a fleet to go on an expedition to Fujian. This is not an ability that suddenly descends from the sky, but a true manifestation of their war strength. In addition, the Haihan fleet that went on an expedition to Fujian also has the entire

Fujian serves as their rear supply camp, but the poor Dutch fleet can only rely on Damuan Port, a small town with a population of only tens of thousands, which has only been opened for a few years to maintain operations. This further widens the gap between the two sides.

The strength gap between them.

After hearing Cohen describe his views on the current situation and Haihan's strength one by one, the company executives present finally realized that what they were facing this time was not the indigenous tribes on the Southeast Asian islands, but the and

Like the East India Company, it started out as a maritime trade company, has an independent armed force, a financial system, and is a group of people full of ambitions for external expansion. The scary thing about Haihan is that they not only have ambitions, but they also have people with them.

With comparable strength, their performance in trade and armed forces is no less than that of the East India Company. Coupled with the huge population base and commodity sales market of the Ming Empire, their development speed will only be faster than those who attended the meeting imagined.

quick.

"I think this armed conflict in Fujian is just a prelude, a warning given to us by the Haihan people, with the intention of telling us not to interfere in Fujian affairs, but I don't think they will really stop there. When they can stretch out their hands

When we go further afield, we will have more conflicts of interest." Cohen ended his speech in as calm a tone as possible: "Gentlemen, I don't know when the real war will break out.

, but I suggest that we should pay attention to it from now on and start making relevant preparations."

"What about the Natuna Islands?" someone asked immediately. The focus of debate during this period has been the Natuna Islands, but Cohen's speech today seemed to consciously shift everyone's attention away from the Natuna Islands.

The Na Islands were transferred to the Haihan people.

"Natuna Island is still the first target we need to solve now." Cohen re-examined his opinion: "If we can't even guarantee the safety of the route to the north, then how can we send a fleet to the north to fight the Haihan people?

If one day we really have to go to Sanya to attack the home base of the Haihan people, then an advance base located in the South China Sea is also a necessary configuration. We must first recapture the Natuna Islands before we can consider our next move."

Cohen's eyes turned to Anthony van Diemen, who was sitting on the left, who was also one of the successors he had high hopes for. Originally, there were also Jacques Spikes and Hendrik Brouwer on this list.

But because their performance on Natuna Island was disgraceful last time, and Brower even lost his life on the island, the importance of these two people in Cohen's mind was naturally greatly reduced. Spikes

Although he returned to Batavia alive, the company will definitely not use him again in the near future, not to mention that he is still burdened with some crimes that have not been cleared in time.

"Mr. Van Diemen, although the letter of appointment from Amsterdam may not be sent until next year, I have decided to grant you the authority of the admiral in advance and be fully responsible for the operational preparations and combat command to retake the Natuna Islands. Are you willing to accept this?

Appointment?" Cohen asked slowly.

Van Diemen immediately stood up, straightened his back and responded: "I am honored to have the trust of the Governor, and I will do my best to complete the mission!"

Cohen nodded slightly and said, "Does anyone object to my appointment?"

He announced the appointment first and only asked for everyone's opinions at this time. Obviously he didn't want to hear any objections. Everyone in the meeting also wisely congratulated Van Diemen and promised to cooperate with him as much as possible in his preparations.

Work will not hinder the company's battle plan.

As for Damuan Port, Cohen said that in addition to urging the local area to continue to intensify the construction of city fortifications, he also warned Hans to restrain himself and not to intervene in the armed conflict between the Ming Dynasty and Shibazhi again, so as not to give the eager Haihan people more trouble.

We can take advantage of this opportunity. As for Hans's request in the letter for Batavia to send armed ships and personnel to strengthen the defense strength of Taiyuan Port, Cohen simply ignored it-without first resolving the matter on Natuna Island,

How dare you safely send people and ships to the senior officials?

There is another thing that Cohen has not forgotten, and that is to help Spikes clear his name. Thanks to the return of Van Longen, the Battle of Natuna Island finally has the testimony of a second commander, and this is what confirms what Spikes said.

The strongest evidence of whether the situation mentioned is true. To this end, the company's board of directors held a two-day hearing and conducted a detailed cross-examination of Van Longen to confirm that the situation he said was completely consistent with what Spikes said.

At this time, as a captain who had been sailing on the sea for a long time, Van Longen's logbook came in handy. In this log, Van Longen described in detail the entire process of the armed battle on Natuna Island at that time, and this was also

It became a powerful evidence to save Spikes from crimes such as fear of war, command failure, and desertion on the battlefield.

However, even if he is cleared of these unfounded charges, Spikes still cannot get the opportunity to be reactivated immediately. Even if he does not have those charges, the fiasco of Natuna Island is still an indisputable fact.

Brouwer had already died in battle, and he could not be held accountable. He could only bear the blame. As for Van Longen, he was only the commander of the merchant fleet. It was not easy to participate in military operations.

No one will hold him accountable for his command.

After Van Diemen took over the position of commander of the East India Company's maritime arm, he began to prepare for the attack on Natuna Island. In view of the previous failure experience, the East India Company wanted to regain the Natuna Islands.

The preparations must be more complete than before. The force dispatched last time was obviously not enough to shake the opponent's defensive position deployed on the island. Considering that all the opponent's ships were nowhere to be seen, it was possible to garrison the island.

It is not the main force, so when you go out again, you must take into account the possibility of running into the opponent's main force. The small number of troops dispatched last time is obviously not safe enough.

Van Diemen made an estimate based on the previous battle situation and believed that at least three thousand troops would be needed to ensure that he could suppress the opponent with firepower and take the initiative in the battle on the island. However, it was difficult to mobilize as many troops as he needed.

Military strength was no easy task for the East India Company.

The East India Company has nearly 10,000 armed personnel throughout the Far East, which is definitely a very intimidating number. However, these personnel are dispersed in dozens of the company's colonies and cannot be quickly gathered in a short period of time.

The root cause of this shortcoming is that the colonies are too scattered and there is no way to deploy troops concentratedly. Similar to before the fall of Natuna Island, there was a group of armed personnel and trained indigenous soldiers on the island, but it is obvious that this symbolic defense

Strength is not enough to stop the opponent's attack.

The area around Batavia is a key defense area for the East India Company. More than 3,000 armed personnel are stationed in the city of Batavia alone. However, it is obviously not very scientific to send all these soldiers out to fight, so it must be

Soldiers had to be mobilized from various places to gather the strength required for this dispatch. The time and transportation required for such mobilization, as well as the intermediate coordination process, were a huge trouble in this era.

Just as Governor Cohen expected, a week after Van Longen returned to Batavia with the news of the defeat of Damuan Port, a certain maritime merchant who often traveled between the Ming Dynasty and Batavia also brought information about the Haihan people.

Diplomatic correspondence.

The letter was marked as being personally delivered to Governor Peterson Cohen and signed to the Haihan Executive Committee. After the port officials received the letter, they immediately sent it to the city and delivered it to the Governor's Mansion.

After confirming the source of the letter, Cohen personally opened the envelope and checked the contents of the letter. Some of his bad premonitions became reality after reading the letter. Soon Cohen ordered an interim meeting of the board of directors.

meeting and presented this diplomatic letter from the Haihan Executive Committee to the directors.

"Gentlemen, the Haihan people have made two demands to us in this letter." Cohen raised the letter paper with his hand and signaled to the people present: "The first condition is to promise them that they will not take any more measures in the Fujian Strait.

We will no longer engage in any form of military operations, maintain any cooperative relationship with the Shibazhi in any field, and will no longer carry out any actions against the Ming Dynasty."

"These are obviously three conditions!" A director immediately muttered with dissatisfaction.

"Although it is very harsh, I suggest you listen to the next point before commenting." Cohen glanced at the person who interrupted him. The person immediately sat upright and returned his eyes to the table in front of him, as if he wanted to see the table.

Flowers come.

"The second condition they put forward is..." Cohen paused, adjusted his breathing, and then continued: "They learned that the pirates who attacked Qiongzhou Island last year have now fled to the Ambunas Islands in the South China Sea, which is our

The so-called Natuna Islands were entrenched, so they decided to attack this island and wipe out the pirates on the island as revenge for the pirates who sacked Qiongzhou Island last year..."

At this point, Cohen stopped again, looked around at everyone present, and then said: "Gentlemen, here's the point! The Haihan people require us not to support local pirates in any form, and not to send military personnel to the area in the near future.

land, otherwise they will regard us as a pirate alliance and reserve the right to go to war with us."

"What! These arrogant guys!" "Are they giving us orders?" "The Haihan people are going to attack the Natuna Islands? These guys have stretched their hands too far!"

As soon as Cohen finished speaking, there was a loud noise in the conference room. Even the most obtuse person has already realized the sinister intention of the second request made by the Haihan people - these people have actually

Focusing on the Natuna Islands, and trying to take away the local ownership rights from the East India Company in such a shameless way!

Of course, the current ownership of this place does not belong to the East India Company, but to a group of pirates of unknown origin. However, this status quo does not prevent the directors from still treating the Natuna Islands as the company's property.

, and became furious at the Haihan people's shameless demands.

Cohen's expression was very calm. He raised the letter in his hand and said again: "Quiet, I haven't finished speaking yet..."

After everyone calmed down, Cohen continued: "The Haihan people gave a clear restriction period in this letter, which starts in August and ends at the end of the year. During these four months, all products bearing the imprint of the East India Company will

Any armed sailboat approaching the island will be regarded as unfriendly and may be attacked depending on the situation. Gentlemen, the soles of the Haihan people have stepped on our faces!"
Chapter completed!