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Sailing from Tainan to Batavia takes about 30-45 days one way, depending on luck.

With good luck and smooth sailing, it will be there in a month.

If you are unlucky, you may never get there in your lifetime.

The Dutch Taiwan rescue ship was quite lucky and arrived in Batavia in less than forty days.

"Thousands of people attacked Relanze?" Fandelin was so shocked that he almost jumped up.

The messenger said: "Your Majesty the Governor, there are really thousands of people."

Taiwan is the Netherlands' trade transit center in the Far East. Especially after the Vietnam trading post was abolished, it became the only transit point for Japan-Dutch trade.

If Taiwan is lost, Governor Fan Delin will 100% be removed from office.

Fandelin quickly asked: "Why did the Chinese emperor suddenly send troops?"

The informant said: "The Tang people there are dissatisfied with the management and have always had a tendency to riot. There have been several sporadic riots in recent years. Maybe the Chinese emperor had long had the intention to attack Relanje, so he sent troops to garrison in the north of Relanje. More than a month ago, more than 10,000 Tang people rioted and were defeated by our heroic Dutch army. But on the third day of the riot, the Chinese army appeared."

Vanderlin asked for some more details, then dismissed the messenger and ordered a company meeting to be held.

There is nothing to discuss, we have to fight if we don’t want to fight.

Otherwise, not only Governor Fandelin will get out, but most of the congressmen will also be held accountable.

The focus of their discussion was how many reinforcements to send.

It was impossible to send out all the Dutch fleet in Batavia, and the army had to leave some to defend the city. Because the Netherlands had enemies in Java, the British and Banten people were eyeing it. Once Batavia is empty, they may join forces to declare war on the Netherlands, and Batavia may be lost on the spot.

After repeated quarrels, the size of the Dutch reinforcements was as follows: 18 battleships, 1,600 army soldiers.

This is already the limit of what the Netherlands can dispatch. If they want to send more, then Batavia can declare that they don't want it.

Dutch reinforcements——

The commander-in-chief of the navy is Van der Laan. As soon as you hear the name, you will know that he is a noble. They are all from the old Fan family of Zhenghuang Banner in the Netherlands.

The battleship is called "Stubborn John". Like the "Hector", it is an armed merchant ship with a displacement of 650 tons. These two capital ships were both built in recent years. There was not even one over 500 tons before (there was actually a Batavia, which was a real capital ship, but it hit a rock and sank on its first trip to sea. , the crew even killed each other for food after landing).

The army is obviously not popular. The army commander is called Adop. The veteran of the lower class of the colony has been promoted. He has nothing to do with the nobility. In the Netherlands, he was just a bankrupt blacksmith.

Peter, the former Dutch army commander, had joined forces with the Pax army to attack Manila. This person has been transferred to India. If he is still in Batavia, he will definitely oppose troop reinforcements. He knew the terror of the Datong Army, but it actually captured the city in Typhoon Tianfeng, and its combat power crushed the Dutch Army.

Before Governor Fandelin of Batavia sent troops, Zhao Han of Nanjing had already received the news.

Calling the naval commander Gu Jianshan, Zhao Han asked: "When can a warship made of century-old oak be launched into the water?"

Gu Jianshan replied: "Next summer at the earliest and next winter at the latest."

"I can't wait any longer," Zhao Han said. "The Guangzhou and Fuzhou fleets will immediately reinforce Taiwan. I estimate that the Dutch will send reinforcements. Taiwan is extremely important, and the Dutch are reluctant to lose it. They will fight even if they don't care about the consequences. Also, let's The Fujian and Guangdong maritime merchants conveyed news to Britain, Spain and Southeast Asian countries. They said that China and the Netherlands were at war, and Batavia was empty of troops. Those who wanted to cause trouble quickly took advantage of the situation."

"I obey the decree!" Gu Jianshan said with cupped hands.

Just this year, the King of England was executed, and Cromwell, the Lord Protector, assumed sole power.

Cromwell has set his sights on the Netherlands. Although he controls the country, there is a large number of domestic opposition, and he must rely on war to divert internal conflicts.

The Netherlands was Britain's primary enemy.

The Netherlands first controlled trade in the North Sea (the northeastern waters of the Atlantic Ocean), which caused a significant decline in the profits of British maritime merchants. In the past few years, they took advantage of the British Civil War to make money by borrowing money and forcing the British nobles who could not repay their debts to hand over various business privileges. Even when the Netherlands expanded in the Americas, they went to the British North American colonies to cause trouble.

Not long ago, the British were bullied to their doorstep.

Dutch businessmen fished in British offshore fisheries, expelled British fishermen by force, and monopolized the fishing rights of several fisheries. This caused the price of British fishery to rise, and Dutch businessmen took the opportunity to sell fish caught in British fishing grounds to the British at a high price.

You know, just ten years ago, the United Kingdom provided money and people to help the Netherlands become independent.

Not to mention repaying a favor, at least don't add insult to injury.

The whole of England, from the nobility to the common people, hated the Dutch very much at this time. As long as Cromwell defeats the Netherlands and regains British interests, he will surely have overwhelming prestige and completely consolidate his rule.

Therefore, starting this year, Cromwell spent money frantically to expand the British fleet.

Coincidentally, the Netherlands had just concluded an armistice with Spain, and in order to make up for its huge war expenses, it decided to sell large warships to replenish its finances.

Historically, it took only three years for the British naval warships to soar from 39 to 80. The Netherlands is selling ships like crazy, and its European fleet only has 55 warships left, and all of them are not that strong in combat effectiveness.

As a result, Britain used the warships sold by the Netherlands to defeat the Dutch navy. This was the first Anglo-Dutch War.

This is not the first time the Dutch have done this.

A few years ago, the Netherlands fought for independence and wanted to break away from Spanish rule.

The Spanish royal family's finances collapsed and they could only borrow money to organize the army to suppress it. Most of those loans were provided by Dutch businessmen - the Dutch lent money to Spain to suppress the Dutch War of Independence. The eight royal merchants felt ashamed when they saw it.

It really echoes what Marx said: if there is a 300% profit, the capitalist will sell the rope to hang himself.

…

The Dutch reinforcements did not dare to go along the eastern coast of Indochina for fear of being attacked along the way. Instead, we went straight to Tainan along the Kalimantan Island and via Luzon Island.

The Sultan of Brunei is Zhao Han's cheap father-in-law and has received news of the war between China and the Netherlands.

Although he was trembling with fear, he still had some backbone and did not dare to allow the Dutch fleet to dock for supplies. Even more than twenty offshore oars were gathered together, pretending to be ready for a decisive battle with the Netherlands.

The Dutch fleet fired a few shots, and the Brunei fleet was frightened and hid in the port.

Then, all the crew members abandoned the ship and fled, as did the Arab merchants on the shore, for fear that the Dutch would take the opportunity to land and plunder.

The old Sultan Abba was terminally ill and might die at any time. As a man grows older, he has to think about his children and grandchildren and cannot offend China easily, while the Netherlands can be offended.

I can't defeat you at sea. I just want to hold on to my royal city. You are awesome and take your time to besiege the city.

In the name of the Sultan, Abba even ordered no one to sell supplies to the Netherlands, otherwise he would be charged a high port tax in the future.

The Dutch reinforcements had no temper about this. They were in a hurry to go to Taiwan for rescue. How could they stop halfway and besiege the city.

After landing with arms, we could only find a few wells and load the fresh water on the boat ourselves. As for food, I couldn't bear the lack of vegetables and fruits, and the food they brought was more than enough.

Immediately, the Dutch fleet headed for Sulu.

This time, I was too lazy to dock. I didn’t dare to waste any more time and went straight to the Dutch island of Busuanga.

This island was assigned to the Netherlands through a post-war treaty a few years ago when China and the Netherlands joined forces to fight against Spain. Over the past few years, only more than 80 people have immigrated to the Netherlands, half of whom were army soldiers.

Dutch Army Commander Adop said to Navy Commander Van der Laan: "Your Excellency, I feel something is wrong. Both Brunei and Sudan seem to be on guard against us. They may have received orders from China in advance."

Vander Laan said: "These two countries are vassals of China. We have sent reinforcements. Of course they also know the news, so they must help China."

"Have you ever been to this island?" Adop asked.

Vanderlaan shook his head and said, "Not really."

Adop said: "I once passed by here by boat. The sea topography of Busuanga Island is very complicated. There are some reef islands around it, and there are large bays on the southeast, northwest and four sides, which can hide several fleets. China's navy, Will it be hiding there waiting for us to pass?"

"Even if the Chinese navy is ambushing, it will be near Luzon Island instead of coming here," Vanderlaan said with a smile. "If we don't come, and their fleet keeps ambushing, how much military expenditure will be wasted? You know, this There aren’t many indigenous people on the island, and they can’t grow much food, so all supplies have to be transported from outside.”

Adop hesitated to speak. He had been promoted from a low-level soldier, and he really didn't have much qualifications to speak in front of the nobleman Vanderlaan.

As for Vander Laan, he had been in Ceylon before and was used to bullying Sri Lankan and Indian natives. He admitted that for a big country like China, its army must not be provoked, but he did not take the Chinese navy seriously at all.

Vander Laan said: "Go at full speed and rest on Busuanga Island. Then use Busuanga Island as a base to first explore the situation on Luzon Island and be ready to fight the Chinese in Luzon at any time!"

This Sino-Dutch war is different from Zheng Chenggong’s recovery of Taiwan in history.

Zheng Chenggong had no foothold on the mainland, so he led his troops to fight in Taiwan. As for Zhao Han, not only did he win Vietnam, but he also had troops stationed in Luzon, and there were two vassal states, Brunei and Sulu in the middle.

Therefore, the reinforcements sent by the Netherlands did not dare to go directly to Taiwan. Their default battlefield was the waters of Luzon Island.

The Dutch fleet accelerated its sailing and sailed into the northeastern bay of Busuanga Island. There was a Dutch colonist's fort on the shore.

Adop climbed up to the observation tower himself and observed carefully with a telescope. Suddenly he shouted in horror: "Get out of the bay quickly. Our castle has been shelled. The Chinese must have occupied this place!"