"What's going on?" Caron asked loudly while watching, "Where did so many warships come from?"
Yes, he happened to see at least a hundred large warships and more than two hundred other ships entering the Xiamen port in a mighty manner.
Looking at the flags, they are flying the military flags of the Ming Dynasty, and the shape of the ship, it looks like a unique blessing ship of the Ming Dynasty.
It wasn't that he couldn't recognize that this was a warship from the Ming Kingdom. The reason why he asked in surprise was because only half a year had passed and so many warships from the Ming Kingdom had arrived.
Thinking about it in Kalon, the Ming Dynasty was indeed vast and rich in resources, but shipbuilding took time. Especially for such a large fleet, it will take at least one or two years. And to form combat effectiveness, it may take even longer.
Therefore, he bet that he could make enough money within this time period.
Kalong is indeed a Kapitan who has been in the Japanese country for so many years, and he knows a lot about the Ming Dynasty. He understood without the need for anyone else to answer. He was probably transferred from the northern battlefield by the Ming Dynasty.
But the question is, if we are transferred from the northern battlefield, what will happen to the northern battlefield?
Hasn't the Ming Dynasty always paid more attention to the north and paid less attention to the southern coast?
At this time, he was a little confused.
"Your Majesty the Governor, what should we do?"
While he was thinking, one of his men asked him something.
The Ming Dynasty did not have a few more ships or dozens of ships, but hundreds of ships at once, which made them feel the pressure!
After hearing this, Kalon put down his telescope and turned to look at his men. Although they were surprised, they showed no sign of fear.
Think about it, as long as they don't give the Ming Dynasty fire ships a chance, and don't give the Ming Dynasty war ships a chance to get close, the world on this sea is their world!
As for the Portuguese warships, there were only five in total. Anyone who dared to pursue them out to sea would take advantage of this opportunity to destroy them.
So, with that in mind, Caron ordered the fleet to continue moving forward.
………………
On the Xiamen side, Fujian Navy Commander Zheng Chenggong stood on the pier, welcoming Denglai Navy into the port.
It can be clearly seen that after being attacked by the Dutch on New Year's Eve last year, he has become much more mature and stable.
If it were him before, he would have been overjoyed when he saw the reinforcements arriving. But at this time, although he was smiling, he was calm.
The layout of the port has already been ordered to welcome the Denglai navy.
Du Chen, the Portuguese governor of Haojing'ao, originally brought five sailing warships to obey Zheng Chenggong's command, but he had some objections in his heart. According to his understanding, Mingguo should be ecstatic. After all, the combat effectiveness of Western sail warships is not comparable to that of Ming warships.
Although the number of five ships is a bit small, they are the absolute core of the Ming Dynasty in dealing with Dutch warships.
However, when he came into contact with Zheng Chenggong, he immediately put away his disdainful thoughts. Because he discovered that this young Zheng Chenggong was not the kid from aristocratic family that he imagined, and he was in a high position because he had a good father.
Not only is he calm in doing things, but he also has well-organized arrangements for coastal defense. Under his deployment, the Dutch fleet really did not dare to harass the coast.
Therefore, Du Chen changed his view. However, if there are opinions, of course they are.
For example, he felt that Zheng Chenggong obviously lacked blood. Faced with such provocation from the Dutch, he actually stood still and did not even dare to go to sea for a decisive battle. He did not even make an appearance. Even after he arrived with the Portuguese fleet, he never mentioned going to sea to seek a decisive battle with the Dutch fleet.
Of course, Du Chen was actually happy to see this happen. Otherwise, he was afraid that his fleet would suffer losses. It's just that he can always find faults with Zheng Chenggong.
But at this moment, Du Chen stood behind Zheng Chenggong, dumbfounded.
He never expected that Mingguo's counterattack would come so quickly. It had only been half a year before a huge fleet arrived.
Only then did he realize that Zheng Chenggong probably knew that the imperial court would send a navy to help.
Seeing the huge fleet entering the port one after another, Du Chen couldn't help but feel lucky. The Ming Kingdom was indeed very powerful, and it was simply not comparable to other indigenous countries. The decision to choose to lead the fleet could not have been more correct. Otherwise, he would become an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and he would definitely not be able to stay in Haojing'ao any longer.
While he was thinking, he saw Zheng Chenggong take a few steps forward, clasping his hands into fists and loudly saying: "My nephew has met my fourth uncle!"
Before Zheng Hongkui got off the boat, he was very surprised when he saw his usually careless nephew saluting him. You know, in the past, his nephew even dared to make jokes about his father.
After thinking this way, and taking a closer look, he also felt the change in his nephew's temperament: mature and steady, as if he had the demeanor of his elder brother back then!
After understanding this, Zheng Hongkui was very pleased. He immediately laughed and led his men off the warship. Instead, he said to Zheng Chenggong: "We should treat each other with admiration after three days of separation. Fu Song... Cheng Chenggong has grown up!"
After finishing speaking, he clasped his hands in his fists, his expression became serious, and he said seriously: "Commander Zheng Hongkui of the Denglai Navy has been ordered to report to General Zheng and assist General Zheng in destroying the Dutch!"
Zheng Chenggong had already received the relevant decree, and there was also a secret letter from Duke Xingguo. Therefore, Zheng Chenggong was not modest, but just returned the greeting with cupped fists: "In this way, we will kill the Dutch together to repay your Majesty's kindness. Report to the Ming Dynasty!"
Zheng Hongkui listened and was about to speak when he suddenly heard someone shouting: "The Dutch are coming!"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Chenggong and others immediately climbed up to a high point on the dock and looked towards the sea. They vaguely saw a fleet approaching.
Looking through the telescope again, one can indeed see clearly that it is the Dutch fleet, and the number of Dutch warships is even greater than what was previously known.
Seeing this situation, Zheng Chenggong immediately ordered: "Fourth uncle, can you fight?"
He obviously considered that the Denglai Navy had come all the way and might need to rest first, otherwise it would affect the Navy's combat effectiveness.
When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he curled his lips slightly and immediately replied: "Just in time! No problem, let's fight!"
Five warships in his navy were renovated, but the time was too short and the steam engines used on the warships were not enough. Otherwise, with the transformation speed of the two shipyards, there would definitely be more than five ships.
But even with only five steam paddle-wheel warships, he was still confident of fighting the Dutch fleet.
For no other reason than the fact that the steam paddle-wheel warship could avoid the influence of wind direction on the war to the greatest extent, and the rifled red barbarian cannon installed on the warship, he was confident enough to give the Dutch fleet a surprise.
Therefore, the Daming Navy quickly began to prepare for war.
What people never expected was that the Dutch fleet, which was approaching with great momentum, turned away again before it even got close.
This kind of anticlimactic action left even Du Chen speechless.
"Should we pursue him or not?" Zheng Hongkui did not make his own decision just because he was the commander-in-chief and Zheng Chenggong was the staff general. He just asked his nephew for instructions.
Zheng Zhilong looked at the departing Dutch fleet and immediately shook his head and said: "Forget it, they can escape but the monks can't escape the temple. Let the soldiers on Fourth Uncle's side rest first and get to know each other, and then choose the opportunity to attack the senior officers!"
His answer made Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but secretly praise it.
If it had been the previous Zheng Fusong, he would have ordered the pursuit in high spirits. It seems that he has matured a lot after a setback.
So, of course he had no objection and just did as Zheng Chenggong said.
………………
At sea, the Dutch fleet is on its way back to the Great Captain. Caron on the flagship had a gloomy look on his face.
Originally, he planned to fight, but when he got closer, he discovered that the huge fleet was actually the Zheng family's fleet. Moreover, it was discovered through the telescope that the flag indicated that the commander of this fleet was Zheng Hongkui.
After seeing this clearly, he changed his mind.
After all, the Zheng family has had influence in this sea area for many years, even from Japan to Nanyang. And this was what the Zheng brothers assisted Zheng Zhilong in defeating.
In Caron's mind, the Zheng brothers are definitely more powerful than the Zheng boys. Therefore, he had no confidence in rushing to fight offshore.
However, he was not afraid. After all, even when Zheng Zhilong was around, he would not dare to attack the senior officials. Not to mention, today's Zheng family fleet is no longer the Zheng family fleet in its heyday, and the leader is not that Zheng Yiguan!
This means that he is also in an invincible position, so naturally there is nothing to be afraid of.
But after Zheng Hongkui returns with his fleet, it may not be that easy to collect protection fees in this sea area.
Therefore, Caron decided to send people to Batavia for help, and use absolute strength to cripple the Zheng family fleet again!
He believed that if it were before last year, Batavia might have avoided this kind of war, because it would need to coordinate warships from other places and send them all to the leader's side to win.
However, since Batavia has been so soft on collecting protection fees in the past six months, he will definitely not be willing to give up such a large source of profit, and will definitely agree to his approach.
………………
After Kalon returned to the city of Jeranja in the south of Dazhan, he immediately summoned the affiliated natives, taxed them again, and asked for someone to build fortifications for the Dutch to expand the scope of the city of Jeranja.
When Zheng Zhilong established maritime hegemony, the Dutch had actually begun to collect taxes from the local people in terms of their income. If you don't obey, send troops to teach you a lesson, or kill them all. One of the famous ones is the Madou Agreement, which confirmed that the surrounding indigenous people would all submit to the Dutch.
Now that the Dutch army is gathering its troops, the corresponding fortifications must be expanded. As for the labor for the expansion, of course they are local indigenous people.
As for whether these natives would resist if he did so, he didn't have to think about it. Because there are so many troops gathered, it’s weird to fear that the natives will rebel!
