I

The castle in Palembang is very simple, built with rammed earth, and is still being reinforced.

The Netherlands has gathered more than 600 army troops and more than 3,000 Indian soldiers on the east coast of India. They gathered the Nanyang and Indian Ocean fleets and came over in a mighty manner, trying to capture Palembang by surprise.

However, they passed through the Strait of Malacca on the way. How could the Chinese army not receive the message?

"Boom boom boom!"

The ship-based guns continued to bombard the rammed earth castle, and even fired at the pier, but the pier was completely silent, and there was no panic escape at all.

Naval Commander Balthazar Burt immediately realized something was wrong and ordered: "Evacuate immediately, the Chinese are ready!"

More than thirty Dutch ships headed north carrying reinforcements and did not leave the Strait of Malacca. They bypassed Bangka Island and went to the southwest coast of Kalimantan Island. They docked in their own vassal state of Sukadana and forced the Sudan to immediately send food and fresh water supplies.

Only six hours after the Dutch fleet left Palembang, the Chinese fleet came to attack, but missed.

The Chinese fleet immediately pursued them and pursued them all the way to Sukadana. In the end, it was all in vain. The Dutch fleet had already left, and it was only known that it was heading southeast.

Balthazar Burt originally planned to dock at Semarang, let the reinforcements brought from India join the Matalan reinforcements, and then go together to support Batavia. Unexpectedly, when they arrived in Semarang, they were greeted by shelling.

The Datong Dragon Flag is planted at the top of the city, as well as a makeshift green flag.

The city of Semarang is very magical. There is a Zheng He Temple built in the city, which is completely Chinese Taoist style. In addition to worshiping Zheng He, it also worships Mazu. At the same time, there was a mosque and a Catholic church, but due to the uprising during this period, the Catholic church had been burned down. On the mountains outside the city, there is the Buddhist Borobudur Pagoda, and there are even remaining Hindu temples in the mountains further away.

The Han people have completely occupied the city, and the three major families, Zheng, Wang, and Ma, temporarily jointly rule Semarang.

Many Han people have changed their surnames. The surname Zheng claims to be a descendant of Zheng He, the surname Wang claims to be a descendant of Wang Jinghong (Zheng He's deputy eunuch), and the surname Ma does not need any explanation.

The city was in a mess, a large number of neighborhoods were burned down, no Europeans were left alive, and even a few Arabs were accidentally killed.

Zheng Yongshou was wearing a leather armor he got from nowhere, standing on the top of the city with his hand on the hilt of a knife, and shouted angrily: "Close the city gate quickly, people outside the city, go around the city and hide in the countryside to the south!"

Balthazar Burt looked depressed and scolded the Sultan of Horses and Blues countless times in his heart.

This puppet Sultan is really unable to hold up the wall. The Netherlands has helped suppress the rebellion, and in just two years, the rebels have grown bigger again.

If the Sudanese army of Madaram wants to support Batavia, it must pass through Semarang. If Semarang is not captured, there will be no reinforcements from Matalan. The Dutch's intention to gather troops is equivalent to bankruptcy - Balthazar Bert doesn't know it yet, but there are already rebels in Matalan.

"Go east!"

Balthazar Bert gave an order, and the Dutch fleet did not sail directly to Batavia, but went in the opposite direction.

About two hours after the Dutch fleet left, the Chinese fleet caught up.

The envoy landed in a small boat, revealed his identity, and was immediately invited into the city by Zheng Yongshou.

The messenger asked: "Which way are the Dutch going?"

Zheng Yongshou said: "To the east."

"Farewell!" The messenger turned and left.

Zheng Yongshou said quickly: "Your Excellency, please wait a moment. I will appoint myself as the governor. Semarang is willing to submit to the Celestial Empire. Please help me pass on the news."

"I know. You must guard the city and don't let the Dutch break the city." The messenger left in a hurry.

A smile finally appeared on Zheng Yongshou's face. The governor was telling the court that what he really wanted to do was become the Sudan. There are many city-state-type sultanates in Southeast Asia. He has no plans to expand his territory. He only needs to own Semarang and surrounding villages and towns, because the living space of the Han people is only so large.

Although the Han people in Semarang believe in Green Religion, they belong to the improved Green Religion. They still retain the tradition of ancestor worship, still insist on worshiping Zheng He, and at the same time retain the belief in Mazu. In addition, there are academies and free schools, and the teachings are Confucian. They even mixed Buddhism into it and believed in reincarnation.

What kind of religion is this?

The Chinese fleet did not continue the pursuit, but returned to the waters near Batavia. No matter where the Dutch fleet goes, they will come to support them, just wait and see.

But it was said that the Dutch fleet, after leaving Semarang, went straight to Surabaya Port (Surabaya).

Just hearing the name "Sishui", you know that there must be Han people here.

At the time of Zheng He's voyages to the West, based on the Javanese name, it was transliterated as "Sulu Mayi". More and more Han people are reproducing here. They feel that the place name is too difficult to pronounce, so they shorten it to "Sarimu". Because the port is connected to a river, the intellectuals among the Han people simply named the river Sishui and the city Sishui City and Sishui Port.

When the Dutch fleet sailed here, Balthazar Bert looked at the flag on the city head and fell into despair again.

The Javanese landowners, nobles, religious leaders and the Han people of Surabaya have joined forces to capture the city. Europeans and officials sent by the Sudan were slaughtered by the rebels. They couldn't stand the Sultan's rule, the taxes were too high, and they couldn't stand the Dutch preaching everywhere.

The Dutch fleet could only continue to go east and soon arrived in the waters of Bali.

If you can’t conquer Semarang and Surabaya Port, you can’t conquer the natives of Bali?

The Dutch fleet bombarded the royal city frantically. The Dutch army landed with Indian soldiers and captured the city in two hours. The Sultan fled in a hurry with the royal family and personal entourage.

After some burning, killing and looting, they obtained some fresh water and food, and the Dutch fleet circled from the south coast of Java to Batavia.

On the way, they had to pass through the waters of the Banten Kingdom. The Banten navy did not dare to resist and allowed the Dutch fleet to pass by in a swaggering manner. However, the Dutch reinforcements did not dare to land near Batavia. The fleet sailed close to the coast, allowing the army to land dozens of miles in advance, and went all the way on foot to support the governor.

"Sir, the Wandan bandits are burning and killing people everywhere in the countryside!"

Outside Batavia, Liu Hanyi received unexpected news.

The Wandan Kingdom, which had been adopted as a vassal state by China, not only did not send troops to help, but instead took the opportunity to plunder Han farms. This was often done in the past. Han landowners provided food for the Netherlands, and it was normal for the Banten Kingdom to plunder Han farms, but it is different now.

There is no way to hold people accountable afterwards. Even if China pursues the case, Sultan Banten can still blame the thieves and say that those who robbed Han farms were not regular troops.

The war was fought in a chaotic manner, and the Dutch vassals were fighting a civil war everywhere. But Wandan, a vassal state of China, came to take advantage of the situation and rob the Han manor, not knowing how to write the word "death" at all.

After Liu Hanyi discussed with Tie Hong, he said to Zhang Xianzhong: "Take people to drive away the Wandan bandits!"

Zhang Xianzhong immediately led his troops and rushed there. After marching about twenty miles, he saw large areas of farmland burned down and some Wandan bandits driving livestock.

"kill!"

These Wandan bandits, in groups of thirty or fifty, were scattered throughout the countryside robbing things.

Since all the Han people were helping to siege the city, the only ones left were the old, weak, women, children and slaves. They were no match for the Wandan bandits, so they had no choice but to escape. This made the bandits even more unscrupulous, and they didn't even bother to assign people to guard the area.

Zhang Xianzhong gave an order, and four hundred ronin drew their swords and rushed out, running as fast as they could.

The local Han rebels under his command also rushed and fought frantically in order to protect their homeland, and did not lag behind those rogues.

Only the peasants and soldiers brought by Zhang Xianzhong from Taiwan, in groups of five and in teams of ten, always maintained an organized structure and were not as chaotic as other rebel armies.

The same is true when fighting a war. The prodigies and the local Han people relied on their bravery, while the Taiwanese peasants and soldiers knew how to cooperate with each other.

Zhang Xianzhong was too lazy to do anything himself, and more than twenty bandits were killed in front of him. He simply divided his troops into three more teams, one heading west, one heading south, and one heading east, chasing and killing the bandits who had scattered and looted.

"A hero's end, grandpa, what kind of bastard am I fighting with?" Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but sigh.

After two full days of pursuit, all the troops returned to their troops and gathered. Two local Han people were killed, and no one else was killed. As for those Wandan bandits, more than two hundred were killed, and the rest abandoned the looted property and ran away.

Zhang Xianzhong withdrew his troops and rushed back to Batavia, continuing the siege.

The food in the city is getting less and less, and it will bottom out in a few days. But the Dutch castle refused to give out even a grain of rice.

Suddenly, smoke erupted from the west, and the sentries spotted Dutch reinforcements coming on foot.

Tie Hong ordered: "The Johor soldiers continue to be stationed in the south of the city. All the Datong troops moved to the southwest of the city. Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang led the rebels to the west of the city. Remember, do not let the enemy's reinforcements enter the city. If there are many reinforcements, lead them to the southwest of the city. , I will lead my troops to intercept and surround them."

Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang were happy, finally having a decent battle.

Governor Rainiers, after seeing the smoke, also realized that Indian reinforcements were coming. He was very confused about this, whether he should continue to hold on or cooperate with friendly forces to go out of the city to fight.

Commander Clapp was called to discuss, and Clapp said: "With three hundred troops left, we can defend the castle. The remaining troops will lead the militia out of the city to fight. The number of enemies is not very large, and we may be able to win with reinforcements. Once defeated, Retreat to the castle immediately. Even if you don't go out to fight, the food in the city will not be enough. Those Javanese, Indians and Arabs will give up sooner or later. It is better to let them go out of the city to fight with the Chinese and cause more casualties to the Chinese army. .”

"Okay, let's fight like this. I'll stay and guard the castle." Rainiers immediately agreed.

Even if all the troops outside were killed, he could lead three hundred soldiers to defend the castle for a year or two until the food ran out.

Troops were being mobilized inside and outside the city.

The hot air balloon rose again to observe the movements of the Dutch army.

Zhang Xianzhong, who originally led troops to the west of the city, saw movement in the city and immediately ran to find Tie Hong himself: "General Tie, if we can't fight during the day, we can attack and capture the city tonight."

Tie Hong didn't understand: "Why capture the city tonight?"

Zhang Xianzhong explained: "When the enemy's reinforcements arrived, they were thinking about how to cooperate with each other in fighting. They thought that our goal was to bring reinforcements. They certainly didn't expect that we would attack and capture the city at night. The city wall tonight must be the loosest!"

Tie Hong scratched his head, and after a long time he finally cleared his mind, nodded and said, "Then we will seize the city tonight."

Zhang Xianzhong continued: "We can first make a fuss in the west of the city and pretend that we are fighting enemy reinforcements in the west of the city. The attention of the defenders in the city has been attracted to the west of the city, and they may even go out of the city to help. At this time, we quietly ambush the troops It’s in the east of the city. The east part of the city is the most difficult to attack, with the most gates, enemy towers, and forts. You’d never expect us to attack the city from there!”

Tie Hong said sincerely: "You are still good at fighting, and you are worthy of being a bandit leader."