I

Liu Hanyi agreed on a time for the start of the war and asked the Han people in Bacheng to contact each other half a month in advance. The purpose was to keep it as confidential as possible and leave room for adjustment.

As it turns out, plans always change.

The Chinese naval fleet was discovered in advance, which resulted in the attack time having to be advanced.

Xi Zuo, who was lurking in the city, discovered that the Dutch had blocked the port and prevented the remaining Chinese merchant ships from leaving the port, so he hurriedly ran to the countryside to report the news.

You have to act in advance, otherwise the Dutch will take action first.

Su Dingguo summoned several sons and more than thirty fellow villagers. Only he had a matchlock gun, the rest were all swords and spears, and they were all wearing civilian clothes, not even a decent piece of armor.

More than four hundred Javanese slaves were also gathered together. Su Dingguo lectured in native dialect: "The Emperor of China sent an army of 100,000 people. The Dutch are dead this time. Don't think about taking the opportunity to cause chaos. Some people stayed in the countryside. , protect our farm, and the rest will accompany the army to transport food and grass! Let’s go and wipe out the Yang family first!”

Dozens of Han people carried weapons, and more than two hundred Javanese slaves accompanied the army to transport food.

On the way, they met Su Dingguo's younger brother Su Dingbang, who also brought a similar army. In this way, troops continued to gather, not in the direction of Batavia, but in the direction of the Yang family plantation, which also belonged to the Han people.

The current Kapitan, whose surname is Yang, is the son of Yang Kun, the contractor of Batavia's city walls and canals.

Yang Kun is also over 60 years old, and his property is left to his son to take care of, while he retires in a newly built mansion in the countryside.

"kill!"

Tremendous shouts of killing came from afar. The rebel troops were completely incompetent in fighting, so they started shouting and charging from a distance of two miles. Not only did it give the Yang family time to react, it also made themselves so tired that they were already out of breath by the time they rushed to the wall of the Yang residence.

Yang Kun was lying on a rocking chair listening to a tune when he was suddenly startled by the shouts of killing and shouted hurriedly: "But the Wandan bandits are coming? Hurry up and gather troops to guard the courtyard wall. Let them snatch the sugar cane in the field!"

"Old man, what's wrong, he's a Han from the village!" The housekeeper rushed in crawling.

Yang Kun hurriedly went out to check, put up a ladder and lay on the wall, and saw two to three hundred people coming from the east. He quickly shouted: "Escape to the city!"

This old guy no longer cares about his property and lets a strong slave run away behind his back. Before he had run far, hundreds of people came from the north, blocking his escape to Bacheng, and frightened him almost out of his mind.

In order to save his life, the Javanese slave dropped Yang Kun and ran away. The old guy fell to pieces.

After finally getting up, the rebels were already approaching. Yang Kun could only ask loudly: "They are all Han Chinese who went to sea to seek revenge. Why did you come to kill me?"

The leading Han landowner said: "You old man, how much hard-earned money did you squeeze out of the villagers by contracting the city wall and canal? You brought many of the villagers out to sea, and you forced them to death! Now your son is doing it." He stole Kapitan and used him as a dog for the Dutch. Today I will avenge him!"

Yang Kun hurriedly defended: "The Dutch are rushing to build the city wall. They are also raising taxes in the past two years. The Yang family has nothing to do!"

"Kill this bitch!"

Suddenly someone shouted, and the rest of the Han people immediately rushed to kill them, spreading their anger against the Dutch on these losers of the Yang family.

Yang Kun turned around and ran away. Within a few steps, he was knocked down by a pole, then hit with a hoe, and stabbed into a sieve by more than ten spears. His second son and grandchildren were also beaten, and even his old wife was beaten until she was half alive, and then the rebels broke into the house and looted it.

With this "great victory", the rebel army's morale instantly increased and they headed towards the city with their heads held high.

There is chaos in the city.

Thousands of Javanese indigenous residents were incited, men, women, old and young, armed with sticks, and madly rushed towards the neighborhoods where the Han people were. There are also two thousand Javanese servants, armed with machetes and bows and arrows, charging as the vanguard.

Thousands of Han residents, also joined by craftsmen and merchants, took up arms and built fortifications at the street entrances using furniture and door panels.

The Arabs and Indians in nearby communities were confused and panicked, thinking that the Banten army was coming to attack the city again.

"Take up arms and come out to defend the city!" Indian and Arab leaders ordered.

No matter which ethnic group they are, as long as they have settled in Batavia for a long time, they must have personally participated in the war.

Because in the past few decades, Banten and Mata Blue Army often came to besiege Batavia.

The Dutch defenders did not have enough troops and they resorted to defensive counterattacks every time.

The combat process is as follows: the Dutch army defends the castle, and residents of all ethnic groups defend the city. The Dutch navy attacked enemy ports and burned as many enemy grain depots as possible. When the enemy army was low on food and morale was low, the Dutch defenders fought out and won.

One of the most thrilling times was when Ma Dalan dispatched 100,000 troops to besiege the city. Even though a large amount of food and grass was burned, they did not retreat. Instead, they went all out to attack the city frantically.

At that time, the walls of the residential area were breached in many places, and people of all ethnic groups evacuated to areas close to the castle. The Han and Indians were the most courageous, forming a coalition to help the Dutch defend the city, and even started bloody street battles.

Just when the Dutch castle was in danger, cholera suddenly broke out in the army. Due to the large number of casualties and the epidemic, Sultan Matalan had no choice but to withdraw his troops. Batavia finally escaped, but the Dutch governor also fell ill and died.

As long as they are connected in advance and are not caught off guard, the Han residents will not be lambs to be slaughtered.

It is said that Han people are prohibited from holding weapons, but at this moment, there are many Han people holding broadswords and spears. There was a Han street chief on each street. Under the leadership of the street chief, women and children went into battle carrying sticks.

The two sides fought back and forth across the barricade built with furniture. The Javanese servants armed with bows and arrows were unable to break through for a while.

Governor Rainiers stood on the castle, observing the battle with a telescope, and complained helplessly: "These Javanese soldiers are really useless, they can't even defeat Chinese civilians."

The army commander asked, "Would you like some help?"

"Fire some shots," Rainiers said.

The main forts of these European colonial castles, Batavia, Malacca, Manila, and Geranje, were not aimed at the sea, but were invariably aimed at Han Chinese settlements.

"Boom boom boom!"

More than 20 artillery shells fell in the Han neighborhood. Many roofs collapsed, but there were no casualties among the Han people. However, local chaos was caused, and the timid Han people were running like headless flies.

"Boom boom boom!"

Cannon fire sounded again, but a naval battle broke out a few miles away.

Rainiers said: "Leave two hundred men to defend the castle, and the rest will attack the Chinese in the city."

Clapp asked: "Won't you stick to the castle?"

Rainiers said: "From Geranze to Malacca, as well as Manila, which was lost by the Spaniards, they were all besieged and captured by the Chinese army. We are more than a year's voyage from the mainland. However, it only takes a month for China to send troops to the mainland. It only takes ten days to come to Batavia with smooth sailing. The longer the war drags on, the worse it will be for us. In the end, we will definitely be surrounded until we run out of ammunition and food. So, I want to go out of the city for a decisive battle!"

"Wait until the Navy is finished?" Clapp asked.

Rainiers asked, "Do you think the Navy can win?"

Clap fell silent for a moment.

The Dutch warships in Asia only had 60 at their peak, and that was a hundred years later. At its peak, the Dutch Asia Fleet at this time had only more than 40 warships, half of which were distributed in the Indian Ocean. If we really want to fight a big war, we have to temporarily recruit merchant ships.

After many battles with the Datong Navy, the Dutch Asian Fleet is no longer at its peak.

In addition, let’s talk about the income and expenditure of the Dutch East India Company (all over Asia). In the past ten years, the total expenditure was about 7 million taels of silver (an average of 700,000 taels per year), and the total income was 9.6 million taels (an average of 960,000 taels per year). In other words, the annual net profit in Asia is 260,000 taels of silver.

The annual income has not exceeded one million because corruption has become increasingly serious. From the governor to senior staff, everyone is frantically making money.

And the expenditure remains high. First, there are wars everywhere, and military expenditures are rising; second, the structure is bloated, and the number of employees is increasing; third, the company's debt ratio is high, and the amount of interest that needs to be repaid is terrifying - the goods are sold, and the money is credited to the account. , before the net profit is calculated, dividends must be distributed to major shareholders first, and debt repayment is the next step.

Historically, when the first Anglo-Dutch War broke out, and in the following years, due to the frantic building of warships in the Netherlands after the defeat, the income and expenditure could almost cancel each other out. The total profit in ten years was only 590,000 taels of silver, and the average annual net profit was 59,000 taels. Two (all over Asia).

What’s even more funny is that from 1689 to 1790, the Dutch East India Company lost money every year.

At its peak, the average annual loss was 2.6 million taels of silver.

In the last ten years since the company went bankrupt, it suffered an average annual loss of 1.29 million taels of silver.

Why can a company continue to lose money for a hundred years before going bankrupt?

Because it is the company that loses money, and it is the major shareholders that make money. No matter how much the loss is, the major shareholders can distribute dividends before the accounts are settled, and the company executives can also enrich themselves crazily!

Who will pay for the losses?

Common people of all ethnic groups in the colony, as well as countless small shareholders of the company, the Dutch who purchased corporate bonds, and the swindlers who loaned money to the company. In the end, the whole Dutch people came to take over, because the company was "forced" to be nationalized.

This is the Netherlands where merchants rule the country!

Under the concept of putting profit first, the Dutch Asia Fleet, which suffered successive defeats, built ships at an alarmingly slow speed. Currently, half of the more than 20 Dutch warships fighting the Datong Navy are converted merchant ships, and they are the kind of quick-build ships whose wood materials do not meet the standards of warships at all.

Just over ten minutes into the battle, two Dutch warships were teetering on the edge.

Naval Commander Balthazar Burt decisively chose to break out of the encirclement, and he broke out in the direction where the Datong Navy was coming (so it was smooth sailing). After sinking three warships, the Dutch navy successfully broke out from the northwest, leaving two incapacitated warships waiting to be captured.

Balthazar Burt's intention was to break out to the Bay of Bengal first, rendezvous with the Indian Ocean Fleet, and then fight back. Or, attack Chinese ports and destroy China's port grain storage stations.

The Datong Navy did not pursue immediately, but first escorted the army to land and unloaded the grain and grass they brought.

City direction.

The governor left two to three hundred men to defend the castle. The army commander led the Dutch soldiers and quickly headed towards the Han neighborhoods.

"Why haven't the servants set fire to the house?" Clapp was furious.

But the Javanese soldiers were reluctant to burn down the house, burning a large area so that they could not rob it.

While urging the native soldiers to burn down the houses, Clapp led the troops to climb the city wall, hoping to fight directly along the city wall to the Han neighborhoods.

"Run quickly, the red-haired ghost is coming!"

The Han people standing on guard at the city wall were so frightened that they ran back and shouted.

The city gate was quickly opened, and thousands of Han people swarmed out and fled towards the countryside.

Javanese residents and Javanese soldiers took the opportunity to break through the barricades and chased the Han people behind them. After chasing them, they stopped chasing them, and instead rushed into the Han people's houses and took away everything they thought was valuable.

There were only a dozen Dutch cavalry who left the city and ran along the city wall, and soon caught up with the Han people.

The heroic and fearless Han people in street fighting became a mess outside the city. Thousands of people armed with various weapons were actually chased by more than a dozen Dutch cavalry. If they ran slowly, they were killed by the Dutch cavalry. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of people were killed, and hundreds more were squeezed into the moat.

"Dang-dang-dang!"

The castle bell rang, indicating that the Datong army was about to land, and the Dutch governor ordered the army to be summoned.

The Indians and Arabs in the city were confused and at a loss throughout.

The Dutch's goal has been achieved. They don't necessarily have to kill all the Han people, just drive them out of the city. A castle and a city. Defend for a period of time and then look for an opportunity to leave the city for a decisive battle.

This is a common tactic used by the Netherlands to defend Batavia. They first defend the city, then the navy attacks the port grain station, and then kills them when the enemy is low on food and grass.