According to Duman Mountain, the town customs port.
When the first ray of sunshine in the morning shone from the east, Admiral Michel Adrianson de Ruyter of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was wearing a thin Indian robe and rocking a Chinese-style Pu Shan walked into his headquarters at the town customs office - this was a Chinese-style government office built of bricks and wood, owned by the Customs Garrison Department of Dashun Haibingfu Town.
That's right, according to Duman Mountain, the Andeman Islands are now the sacred and indivisible territory of the Dashun Empire!
The Dashun Empire was not a lackey of the French and Dutch. They were fairly equal allies of France and the Netherlands, so they were able to get considerable benefits from the alliance. Capturing the Kaedu Man Mountain, which guarded the western exit of the Strait of Malacca, was one of the benefits gained by the Dashun Kingdom.
Of course, the French and the Dutch had their own plans for doing this - there was no problem in taking over the Antoine Mountains. In addition to the uncivilized natives, the people who were entrenched there were some pirates who believed in the Tianfang Sect. All passing maritime traders were a threat. To drive them away from Yinduman Mountain, we have to station troops there and carry out development.
France and the Netherlands don't have many people on this side of the Indian Ocean, and they don't have the energy to drive the indigenous people to build the insignificant Mount Fuji.
The Dashun Empire, which had lost Sichuan, was eager to expand its territory, and in the process of opening up its territory, the Dashun Kingdom also captured a lot of prisoners who were better able to adapt to the hot tropical environment, so they shipped a batch of them to the press. Working as a coolie in Dumanshan, he found a pretty good natural deep-water port (Port Blair, now called the Town Customs House), built a fort, dock, castle, and of course the commercial port operated by the Dutch India Trading Company - Dumanshan. It is right in the middle between Malacca and important trading points such as Local Governance (French), Shunfeng Fort (Subordinate), Ceylon (Dutch), and the mouth of the Hooghly River (Timur in India). It is also a good place for ships to replenish fresh water and food. place.
Relying on selling water and salted fish at high prices (there is no agriculture in the Duman Mountains, and fishing is the main source of food), Dashun's town customs and the Dutch Indian Trading Company have also made some money from the Duman Mountains in recent years.
However, the greatest value of the town customs is to block the Ming Dynasty's navy from entering India!
The harbor of the town customs is of extremely high value. It has a very narrow entrance (the narrowest point is less than two miles), a large and deep interior, and is surrounded by mountains. It is a natural shelter that can shield the sea wind. It is also a place where you can A good port for the garrison of the Grand Fleet.
As long as two forts are built at the entrance of the town's customs port, a dozen 12-pound bronze long guns are set up, and some capable ground troops are sent to guard it, the large fleet in the harbor can sleep peacefully.
Let alone a sneak attack, it would be very difficult for the enemy to take a peek - because the harbor is too deep. The deepest point is more than twenty miles away from the narrow exit of the harbor, and it is also winding. It is impossible to spy on the situation from outside the harbor.
Admiral Michel Adriansson de Ruyter, who is almost a legendary figure in history (historically, he made a surprise attack on the Thames during the Second Anglo-Dutch War), twenty-five days ago , led a large fleet quietly into the town customs port. At the same time that his large fleet entered the port, the town customs garrison department promulgated martial law.
All passing merchant ships are not allowed to leave...until the third day after the large fleet in the port leaves. Violators will be shot to death!
"Admiral, His Highness the Prince sent this!"
When one of Leut's adjutants saw his commander walking in, he immediately delivered an envelope - this was sent by Liu Zhiyong, the customs guard in Dashun. Liu Zhiyong was Liu Zongmin's concubine and did not inherit any title, so the Dutch called him "His Royal Highness."
Luyter took the envelope, tore open the seal, and took out the letter paper inside. The letter was written in Dutch, with only a short paragraph saying "Chili peppers have all arrived in Java" and signed "Batavia Board of Directors".
This is a letter in code. Chili refers to Li Jicheng's fleet, Java refers to Phuket, and Batavia's board of directors refers to Li Jicheng's code name!
Leut took a deep breath, and his whole body seemed to be full of energy. He turned to the officers in the headquarters and shouted loudly: "Order all captains to gather at the headquarters... We are about to set off. ! God will bless the Dutch!"
"God bless the Netherlands!"
The staff officers and adjutants of the Dutch Indian Fleet in the headquarters also shouted together, and everyone seemed eager to try.
Now is the time to avenge the naval battle of Malacca!
That terrible naval battle was regarded as a great shame by the entire Dutch navy, no, it should be regarded by all Dutch sailors! Since then, every truly passionate Dutch sailor has been holding his breath and trying to regain his place.
But it is not easy to regain the ground. First of all, the Battle of Malacca completely changed the rules of naval warfare. Even the Dutch, a sea coachman, had to think hard about how to rebuild their navy?
Secondly, the Ming Empire can continue to provide huge profits to the capitalists in Amsterdam... Since there is still so much money to be made, the magnanimous Dutch temporarily decided to tolerate the Chinese.
But the Dutch people's tolerance had a limit. When the news of the establishment of the Batavia Republic reached the Netherlands, everyone knew that there would be a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands.
The question is just how to fight this battle? When will it be fought? Who will be Holland’s friend?
The bell rang to summon the captain.
To avoid the scorching heat, they lived ashore (the navy was supposed to live on board as a rule, but it was too hot here in Duman Mountain. In order to preserve the physical strength of the officers and soldiers, Leut allowed everyone to go ashore in batches, but they could only live in clean military camps) When the captains of the Netherlands, France, Portugal and other countries heard the bell, they all put on military uniforms of various colors and rushed to Luyter's headquarters.
Admiral Leut, who is tall and fat and looks like a door panel, also changed into a Dutch navy uniform. He sat down with a smile in a Western-style conference room and looked at the inquiring eyes of a large group of captains under his command. Signaling everyone to sit down.
"According to the orders issued by the King of France, the Grand Council of the Netherlands, and the King of Portugal, from today on, the naval ships and merchant ships of the Ming Empire and all its vassal states are the legal targets of attack by this combined fleet! But Batavia Republic ships are not included..."
In this era, the declaration of war between countries is "get on the bus first, pay later". This is because of the limitations of communication means. If we pursue declaration of war like later generations, it will take a year or two to travel farther. .....Maybe we won’t be able to fight.
Luyter gave the order, and there was a burst of cheers.
“God bless the Netherlands!”
"God bless France..."
“God bless Portugal!”
"Kill the Guangming people..."
"Victory belongs to us!"
Everyone was very excited, but Admiral Leut's expression had darkened, and he said coldly: "Before the war at sea begins, I must remind you... Although the Grand Combined Fleet is large in size, its strength is Very limited, with less than 20 new bombardment warships, and the rest are armed merchant ships.
Therefore, our task is not to annihilate the main naval force of the Ming Dynasty, but to attract them to the Malacca area. This is the grand strategy chosen by the King of France, the Chancellor of the Netherlands, and the Regent of Portugal after careful consideration! It is also the only way for us to win this war that will determine world dominance for hundreds of years to come!
The task our Grand Combined Fleet will undertake will be a very arduous task, but we must complete it!
France, the Netherlands, and Portugal hope that you and all the soldiers of the Grand Combined Fleet will fulfill your duties and fight hard...May God bless us! "
It turned out that the French and Dutch had set up a complete package for the Ming Empire to lure the enemy southward - once the Ming Dynasty fleet in Guangzhou Bay took advantage of the monsoon in the 26th year of Hongxing to go south to Malacca, they would have to at least bring it to the Nanyang and Little Western areas. It is possible to return north only in the spring of the 27th year of Hongxing... By the time they cross the Pacific again and reach the west coast of North America, it will be around the time of the 28th year of Hongxing.
