Java Island, Batavia Fortress.
When a Dutch East India Company caravel returned to the port of Batavia with the bad news that "a large number of Ming troops had successfully landed on Temasek Island and the Straits of Johor," the rulers of the city immediately fell into panic. Because they knew that the main force of the Dutch East India Fleet was ambushing at the mouth of the Klang River not far from Temasek Island.
They have no reason to watch a large number of Ming troops transported by hundreds of boats slowly land on Temasek Island and the north shore of the Johor Strait - the landing operation cannot be completed in a day or two! Because it is not only the lightly-armed infantry who are going ashore, but also a large number of baggage artillery. According to the reconnaissance of the Dutch caravel, the Ming Dynasty's landing force was busy for at least six days!
Six days!
It only took six days for God to create the world! Isn’t it enough for Rear Admiral Tropp’s fleet to sail from the mouth of the Klang River to Temasek Island? Moreover, the southwesterly wind has been blowing in the strait these days, and the wind direction is quite favorable. So Tropp's fleet didn't come, something must have happened.
Perhaps the main force of the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang Fleet also entered the Strait of Malacca and forced Tropp's fleet back... and might even have defeated Rear Admiral Tropp's fleet. After all, their numerical advantage was too terrifying. !
And once Tropp's fleet retreats, the Johor Castle will definitely not be saved.
The more than 10,000 to 20,000 native soldiers concentrated there have limited combat effectiveness and cannot hold the position for long. Moreover, the Dashun Army in Penang is too far from the Johor Castle. It may take 20 days (about 600 kilometers) to travel by land. The Johor fortress must have been lost by then.
Once the Johor Fortress and Temasek Island are lost, the southeast entrance of the Malacca Strait will be under the control of the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang Fleet.
Although there is still access to the Sunda Strait, how long can this strait remain open? The Ming Dynasty is not the United Kingdom or Portugal. This country is the Celestial Empire here in Nanyang! The reason why Westerners were able to gain a foothold here in Nanyang was simply to seize the opportunity of the decline of the Celestial Empire. But now the Chinese dynasty has been revived and has come back... Therefore, after the change of ownership in Johor, the feudal states in Nanyang will definitely quickly re-align with the Banten Sultanate, which has great conflicts with the East India Company. , will definitely defect to Daming.
By then, the Sunda Strait will also be locked! And Batavia will also become the graveyard where the Dutch East India Company is buried.
Knowing that the disaster was imminent, Governor Matsolco immediately issued an order for all white civilians in Batavia to retreat to the fortress. He also commandeered all sailing ships passing through Batavia. It seemed that he was preparing to escape.
On the 20th day of the seventh lunar month, another caravel sailing around the Makassar Strait brought new bad news - a huge Ming fleet had passed through the Makassar Strait and was heading to Java Island!
Needless to say, this must be coming to capture the island of Java! Now there is no news about Major General Tropp, and the Ming Dynasty's fleet is coming again menacingly. It seems that the Dutch East India Fleet may be defeated.
Governor Matsolco did not dare to wait any longer, and immediately issued an order to retreat. He wanted to evacuate the thousands of Westerners in Batavia before the Ming fleet blocked the Batavia harbor. Let’s bypass Sumatra in the Sunda Strait, retreat to Aceh, and then make plans...
Just as the Governor stood blankly in front of the window of his Governor's Office in Batavia Castle, watching the Westerners who had become refugees below hurriedly packing their luggage and preparing to board the ship and run away, one of his The secretary rushed to report in a panic - Ming Dynasty Consul Wei Qingmu urgently asked for an audience!
"Wei Qingmu?" Governor Matsolko thought: What is this guy doing? To bribe this governor? This Governor will not surrender! He was silent for a while, and finally sighed: "Invite him in..."
Wei Qingmu looked anxious and came sweating profusely. When he saw Matsolko, he even skipped greetings and asked straight to the point: "Governor, are you trying to escape?"
"Escape?" Matt Solko snorted, "This is not an escape, just a strategic shift! Consul Wei, just wait, our Dutch East India Company will definitely come back!"
This is a cruel statement, and Matt Solko himself does not believe it.
Because after losing Batavia, the Spice Islands east of Batavia will definitely be lost! That is the most important source of profit for the East India Company... Without the spices from the Spice Islands, it is doubtful whether the East India Company can still exist. How can it come back?
"Since we are going to come back, why are we leaving now?" Wei Qingmu said with a smile, "How troublesome is it to come and go? Why not just stay in Batavia."
Leave? As a prisoner? still......
Matt Solko looked at Wei Qingmu with a livid face, waiting for his next words.
Wei Qingmu said: "Ten days ago, your East India Fleet had a fierce battle with the escort formation of our Nanyang Landing Fleet in the southeast of the Malacca Strait, less than 100 miles away from Temasek Island... This battle Both sides suffered losses, with more than ten warships damaged or seriously injured. After the battle, the East India Fleet had withdrawn from the Strait of Malacca!
So the days of fighting and killing here in Nanyang are almost over, and everyone can enjoy peace again, do business together, and make a fortune together. Mr. Governor, if you take the Westerners from Batavia away now, you will miss the opportunity to make a fortune! "
History has it that there was no clear winner in the Ming Dynasty Homer's Battle of Rokko. Although the Ming Dynasty fleet was the first to evacuate, they completed the task of blocking the Dutch fleet from continuing to advance eastward and protected the safety of the landing fleet.
After the battle, the Dutch abandoned the anchorage at the mouth of the Klang River and retreated to Penang Island to rest, which meant they withdrew from the Strait of Malacca.
As for the losses on both sides, they were very heavy!
The eleven warships of the Ming army that participated in the war were either sunk or severely damaged. In the end, only four ships returned to the Temasek anchorage: the flagship Wuhanfu, the flying-class Jiangbei, and the military-class Dongshengwei and Yulinwei. The remaining seven warships were either damaged or stranded. Even the four warships that returned to the anchorage were all riddled with holes, scorched black everywhere, and almost scrapped.
The Dutch suffered even greater losses. Among the thirty-two ships, only twenty-one arrived at Penang Island in the end. As many as eleven ships were damaged or ran aground, including the 950-ton battleship Seven Provincial Congress. Among the twenty-one warships that arrived in Penang, eight were seriously damaged and difficult to repair, including the Sealand Provincial Council...
In addition, naval officers and soldiers on both sides also suffered heavy casualties. The number of people killed, seriously injured, captured, and missing on the Ming side exceeded 1,100!
Although the Dutch withdrew from the battlefield late and had the opportunity to salvage the officers and soldiers who fell into the water, they lost more than 1,300 people!
The Dutch East India Fleet, which suffered heavy losses, suffered another blow after retreating to Penang. The Dashun reinforcements that should have arrived there long ago were nowhere to be found... and the land on the west coast of the Malacca Peninsula opposite Penang had already It was occupied by the Ming army moving south.
In desperation, the Dutch East India Fleet had no choice but to continue to retreat along the coastline of the Malacca Peninsula, all the way back to Myanmar to find a place to repair ships.
However, Wei Qingmu did not know the whereabouts of the Dutch East India Fleet at this time. He only knew that the Ming Navy had won the sea control of the Nanyang Islands! Therefore, he must complete another important mission assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - to ask the Dutch colonists to stay!
Why stay?
Of course we stay and colonize together!
This matter must be unbelievable in the eyes of future generations. After defeating the colonists, is it ridiculous to not drive them away quickly and ask them to stay and continue colonization?
But Zhu Cixiang, who was far away in Yingtian Mansion, had his own economic and colonial accounts.
Economically, the establishment of the Twelve Principalities on the Malacca Peninsula and the island of Sumatra required massive investments, which in turn required large amounts of trade to pay off. Therefore, he did not want the sea coachmen to leave Nanyang. Instead, he hoped that they would stay and preferably participate in the construction of the Twelve Principalities of Nanyang.
On the issue of colonization, the Western colonists in Nanyang are actually not real colonists, because they will not colonize a few people in Nanyang. It is more appropriate to say that they are investors and profiteers!
The twelve principalities of the Ming Dynasty and other principalities to be established are the real colonizers...
