The Dutch fleet sailed in a zigzag pattern against the bitter northwest wind, with great difficulty, towards the island of Taiwan.

It was an formidably large fleet, with fifty-three red-haired plywood ships, the largest build-up in Southeast Asia to date, and the Dutch had never used so many warships before.

At the initiative of two venerable Messrs. Pete Poznan and Mr. Van Rosmaren, they had watched the battle between Yan Changwu and Xu Xinsu, and had also gone to the Southeast Province to negotiate the ransom of the captured Dutch, and they knew quite a lot about the power of the Southeast Province.

They were staying on the flagship "Prometheus", standing with the commander "Sonk".

Sonck, originally from Amsterdam, was a particularly tall Dutchman with bright red hair and a red-haired lion that looked like a red-haired lion.

He was a lucky guy, he was originally the commander (governor) of the Holland Castle in Tainan, but when he returned to Batavia to take up his post, Yan Changwu's seizure of Tainan occurred, and he escaped.

But Taiwan was too important to the Dutch, because there was a road to the "land of silver" ----- the Wa Kingdom, and the Spaniards had a lot of silver in the Americas, and in the eyes of the Dutch, the Wa Kingdom was the source of wealth, and in order to get the silver, the Dutch simply did not preach in order to please the Wa people. (The Dutch were Protestant and did not recognize the pope, while the Spaniards and Portuguese offended the Japanese by royal decree for their belief in the pope)

Unexpectedly, the Southeast Mansion was born out of thin air, forcing all ships passing through the Fujian Sea and Taiwan to pay a transit fee of 2,000 silver dollars, which was really a bloody cut of flesh on the Dutch.

I also heard that the southeast province is developing well, especially the sugarcane there, the yield is high, the quality is super good, the British underwrote it, and made a lot of money, which made the Dutch look very red!

Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal have different operations in Asia, and Britain focuses on developing India, whose strength is no more than the east of the Strait of Malacca, and now it is friendly with the southeastern provinces and has expanded its power; France has not yet thrown its forces into Asia; The Netherlands ran all over Asia, focusing on the development of the Japanese and Batavia, the Spaniards occupied Luzon, and the Portuguese had a foothold in Macau in China.

White sugar is a big business, the British in India, the Dutch in Batavia both grow sugarcane, but the local natives are lazy and stupid, and they can't grow a single hair (this is inevitable, the Han people have a bonus to farming).

The Dutch want to rely on the local overseas Chinese, but the number is small (the Chinese would have had a climactic period in the South Seas, that is, in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, a large number of Han people who did not want to keep braids went to the South Seas, but our lovely Yan Da Shao rose and would not give these powers to the red hair), and it could not become a scale, and the southeast province was rich in white sugar, so that the southeast province actually became the sugar center of Asia.

The Dutch want to take the southeastern province!

Coupled with the advocacy of Pete Poznan and Mr. Van Rothmaren, they believe that the Southeastern Province must not be allowed to grow up, and that he must be strangled in infancy while he is still young!

The two gentlemen believe that although Yan Changwu of the Southeast Province is young, he is old and spicy, and his economic and military development is stable, and his strength has risen to a higher level every year, and the people of the Southeast Province are bowing to him, and his strength is constantly improving.

When his power reaches the Indian Ocean, all of Asia becomes his world!

Eventually, the Batavian authorities were persuaded to force the Dutch captains, who were busy as worker bees, to stop their business and assemble in Batavia, where they eventually made the trip.

……

With a bang, the waves swept across the open deck of a smaller boat on the right side of the front, and the whole boat was flooded with water!

Seeing this scene through the binoculars, Songk couldn't help but curse, "What the damn weather! ”

In winter, there are many winds and waves at sea, and then the wind direction is unfavorable, so it is a good time to attack in spring and summer when the southeast wind blows.

He looked at Pete Poznan with an unkind gaze and said, "During the Spring Festival of the Ming people, they will all gather together for the festival, so that we can annihilate them in one fell swoop?" ”

"Exactly!" Pete Poznan thinks he is a big dealer, so he took this initiative and took advantage of the Spring Festival to march.

However, he didn't expect that Batavia was like a leaky house, there were no secrets to keep, and the Ming people had already spread their nets.

"That's good!" Sonk clenched his fists.

He wants to annihilate the Mingren fleet in one fell swoop and attack Taiwan, and at that time, he will be the governor of Taiwan!

is doing a successful sailing and becoming a big boss with millions of taels of silver.

"Peng!" A beam of fireworks rose in the distance, and then a column of smoke rose!

The Dutch's heart sank, and immediately the commanders of the ships and the binoculars of the lookout posts looked north.

In the midst of the waves, they managed to spot a speedboat from the southeastern province, and the Vergate ship raised a pillar of smoke and kept a distance from the Dutch fleet, apparently leading the way for the fleet!

About eight Folgate Clippers were sent out on reconnaissance missions, and if they spotted an enemy, they relied on fireworks to signal the main fleet.

"Damn it!" Pete Poznan said in annoyance, it seems that the Southeast Province is prepared.

"Nothing!" Songke said stiffly: "Let's touch together, let's finish the fight early!" ”

……

The war is imminent, all living beings are in various states, some are nervous, some are open-minded, some are busy with work, and some are praying to Mazu.

In the main cabin of the flagship "Southeast", Yan Changwu was leisurely playing Chinese chess with Mr. David, speaking of which, there are quite a lot of chess and card games in the Southeast Fleet, in addition to the 54 playing cards, there are also Chinese chess, Western chess, Go, flying chess, backgammon, beast chess, army chess...... I can't imagine it.

He played chess, drank tea, ate snacks, and seemed to care little about the upcoming battle, although this battle may be related to the fate of the Southeast Province, his fate, and even the fortunes of China!

"You don't seem to be worried at all?" Mr. David asked.

"There's nothing to worry about, I'm going to win!" Yan Changwu said lightly: "The destiny of heaven is mine!" ”

Needless to say, Mr. David nodded, and he believed it was so.

Then he said, "The Dutch sent for me!" ”

"I know!"

"You know?"

"Of course you know, the person looking for you was arrested by us as soon as he left!" Yan Changwu said bluntly: "He confessed that you were not bought by him. ”

"You're spying on me?"

"Of course!" Yan Changwu said lightly: "The Intelligence Bureau monitors all the senior officials, you belong to the key surveillance objects, many people think that I shouldn't be too close to you (Mr. David took the initiative to pick up and said: "Red Hair Fan") Red Hair Fan, they are waiting for you to make a mistake, fortunately you don't!" ”

"Looks like you're going to make it!" Mr. David admired authenticity.

The ruler must not trust anyone, believing in others is equivalent to putting his fate in the hands of others, and others will not be polite to him!

Yan Changwu did a good job of this, he knew how to raise a dog for self-defense, and he would not be imprisoned and implicated, so that everyone could get by, and at the same time, he would be safe.

"I'm sure I'll make it!" Yan Changwu is not modest at all.

"Report!" An attendant officer appeared by the door.

"Say it!"

"We've discovered the Dutch fleet!"