February 2, 1642 may have been an ordinary day in the long history of history, but now it has produced a different kind of wave in the time and space where the people are located.

To tell the truth, Shi Qinjie had imagined countless scenes in his mind about the battle between the Eastern Coast Republic and the Dutch, including the Dutch gathering a large fleet to steal the port late one night; Among them, the Dutch began to besiege New Huaxia Bay after capturing some Portuguese strongholds in East Africa; Among them were the Portuguese, who united with their old enemies, the Dutch, to carve up the new Chinese colony that he had worked so hard to build. But he never imagined that the battle would begin with an inconspicuous attack on a fishing boat, and that it would come so suddenly......

Whitewater was still instructing the recruits on the battery on how to better shell the enemy, and their training was still very poor, and the shells were hitting the site miserably. However, after the initial confusion, they were better off than before, and dozens of shells went down, but some of them hit the enemy ships, causing a certain amount of confusion to the Dutch.

Shi Qinjie looked at the sea in front of him, but his thoughts gradually drifted to other places. Why would the Dutch suddenly appear here, and they also attacked our fishing boats? They had rarely been seen in this area before, as they weren't on any shipping routes, so were they now turning their attention to the East Coasters? Could it be that the vigorous development of the people on the east coast in the new China region has become intolerable to them? Or do they feel that the stronghold of the East Coasters in this area of the sea has threatened the safety of their route from Cape Town to Batavia near the Sunda Strait?

What should I do about the Dutch attack on our fishing boat? Was this an isolated incident or the beginning of a series of frictions or conspiracies? Should I express my strong protest to the Dutch, or should I put up with it as if it didn't happen? Just as Shi Qinjie was thinking about gains and losses, there was a sudden burst of cheers around him. It turned out that an 18-pound shell hit the captain's cabin in the Dutchman's stern! However, this lucky shell apparently did not have much effect. The Dutch captain, dressed as flamboyantly as a rooster, still stood on the fence outside the bridge. Commanding with shouting.

The three Dutchmen ships made a difficult turn at the mouth of the bay, but they were not very lucky, and the wind was not very good, so that several ships looked so clumsy at the mouth of the bay. Under the command of the officers, they constantly adjusted the direction, angle and charge of the barrel, and all kinds of shells such as explosive shells, solid iron bullets, chain bullets, etc. Rained down around several Dutch ships. The sea was full of columns of water, and from time to time a few shells fell on the hull of the opposing ship, causing the Dutch sailors on board to scream and panic.

"Lao Bai, do you want to ...... Do you want everyone to stop first? These Dutch ships came very strangely, and it would be difficult to clean up if they were sunk if they were fought again, and in case of an international incident, it would ......" Shi Qinjie looked at it for a long time, and then found Bai Shui, who was directing the shooting, and said hesitantly.

"What? Stop it? Bai Shui turned his head in some surprise and looked at Shi Qinjie behind him with a worried expression. Then he asked, "Why stop for what?" These Dutch have attacked our fishing boats, and how can we stop if we don't beat them up? Old history. Although you are my boss, I also have to say that you cannot be merciful to the enemy, and you cannot look ahead! If there is any problem with this matter today, let's finish it first! ”

After saying that, Bai Shui inserted a red-hot iron chisel into the cannon door. With a "boom", a 24-pound solid iron ball flew over the surface of the sea hundreds of meters and plunged headlong into the side of the Dutch ship closest to Fort 3, and the splash of wood chips injured several gunners who were manipulating the guns nearby. However, the Dutch ship's bad luck was not over, as a chain bullet from Battery No. 1 hit the largest canvas of the midmast, tearing its already somewhat damaged canvas to pieces and losing most of its effectiveness.

The Dutch ship was the most fierce at that time, and of course the deepest into the bay at the moment, and was about a hundred meters southwest of the island where the No. 2 battery was located (the No. 2 battery had not yet been installed), and was battling the countercurrent and the southeast wind that flowed into the bay, making a difficult turn. However, it seemed that it would be difficult for it to complete this action for a while, so the East Coasters, who saw that they had a advantage to take advantage of, immediately concentrated more than half of their firepower and focused on it. The other two Dutch ships did not want to get into trouble, after all, it would be foolish to use their wooden hulls to bombard the semi-enclosed concrete batteries on both sides, but they were obviously a little hesitant at this time, not knowing whether they should abandon their companions and flee.

The easterners quickly made a decision for them with artillery fire, and the 18-pound and 24-pound iron balls landed around the two hesitant Dutch ships that frightened them any longer, and began to sail out to sea. The Dutch ship, seeing that its two companions had abandoned him, was in disarray, and the sailors on deck cursed in the most vicious language, the sound of which was faintly audible even in the rumbling of cannons.

Without the "little partner" to share the firepower, the hapless Dutch ship rapidly increased its scars under the repeated ravages of more than two dozen long-barreled heavy guns. Although the artillery on the east coast on the batteries on both sides are basically rookies, and the artillery is also new, and the accuracy is not very high, it can't withstand the intensive fire bombardment. In particular, the guns of the people on the east coast had long barrels and fast discharge, and the occasional shell that landed on the hull of the ship could kill them. Not to mention those nasty chain bombs or something, the canvas on the ship was now shattered, the hull was also damaged in a few places, the whole ship began to be a little ineffective, and the Dutch gradually felt a bad feeling in their hearts, this is the rhythm of being sunk.

Finally, after the foremast was broken by another chain bullet, the Dutch armed merchant ship finally lost its strength under the continuous blows of the coastal defense heavy guns on the east coast, which were getting higher and higher. Their sailors raised a white flag on the top mast, announcing a humiliating surrender. There was a burst of cheers from the rookie east coast artillerymen on the batteries on both sides, and they quickly sent people to board the Dutch ships in small boats, and then took control of the whole ship in the first place. More than fifty Dutch sailors on board were escorted down in despair, and the army staff officers were ready for their interrogation.

Shi Qinjie sighed, ignored the cheers of the soldiers beside him, took his entourage onto the ship, and then returned to Xinhua Fort worriedly. Not long after he returned, the army staff officer in charge of the interrogation copied a copy of the interrogation record and handed it to him.

"The Dutch were really premeditated!" After reading it, Shi Qinjie sighed in his heart, things are really not so simple. Where are there so many isolated incidents in the world, which is clearly a sign that the attitude of the Dutch towards the East Coast is gradually changing. According to the information obtained from the interrogation, three armed Dutch merchant ships were traveling from Amsterdam to the Moluccas, passing through Cape Town to wait for the monsoon, accepting the request of the local governor de Young, and attacking enemy ships or strongholds along the way. In fact it was not the first time they had done so, whether it was ships from Europe to the East Indies or ships from the East Indies to Europe, these Dutch would attack the enemy's overseas forts, merchant houses, or ships at every opportunity. Previously, the main targets of their attacks were the Portuguese and the British, but now the East Coasters are fortunate enough to join the list.

"In the future, this route will not be smooth." Shi Qinjie lamented again, and said to himself: "I have long said that those crazy people will have trouble in Brazil all day long to provoke the Dutch, and they are still indifferent and continue to go their own way. Damn, now the retribution has come to me, this is fucked up! Why should I bear the bitter consequences of what these militarist madmen have provoked! ”

"No, we have to think of a way!" Shi Qinjie pondered for a while, then stood up suddenly, walked around the room twice, and then continued to mutter: "The strength of Xinhuaxia is weak, and there are only two ships stationed in the Second Fleet, which are completely insufficient. Moreover, the home port of the Second Fleet is in Fort River, and they can't stay here for a long time, so they always have to go to South Africa regularly, so will they always rely on batteries to passively defend here in the future? This doesn't work, I have to think of other tricks. The Dutch route either followed the southwest monsoon from Cape Town through the southern coast of Madagascar to the Sunda Strait, or they sailed close to the coastline of Africa, and finally entered the Spice Islands via the Strait of Malacca via Ceylon. Well, Madagascar can't be bypassed either way, in other words, they can stop by me to harass me while sailing. Moreover, ships coming from South Africa may often encounter these Dutch halfway, after all, everyone is on the same route, so will we have to increase the naval escort every time in the future? If the transport ship from South Africa was hijacked by the Dutch on the way, wouldn't the new Huaxia side be stuck? ”

"Damn, you have to be cautious about this." Shi Qinjie thought irritably, "Looks like I'm going to get around on the island of Mozambique to the west." Our Portuguese neighbors must have been plagued by these Dutch merchants (pirates) as well, having heard that even the island of Mozambique was besieged several times. We must have a common language in dealing with the Dutch pirates, so let's go and see if we can join forces with the Portuguese here. (To be continued......)