November 13, 1649, Xinhua Port, thunderstorm.

After two days of urgent consultations, Shi Qinjie, the local supreme commander and captain of the New China Pioneer Team, decided to send some ships of the Second Fleet to Bandar Abbas, Persia, to make another "goodwill visit" with the two expedition ships of Captain Given. If they could—and that was the most important purpose of their trip—they would renegotiate a commercial agreement with the Safavid dynasty of Persia, which, of course, the Persians had the right to refuse, but that would probably push the mighty eastern fleet over the side of their enemies, the Portuguese. They should have a good choice.

However, when it came to choosing which ships to go to Bandar Abbas, Rear Admiral Guo Zili, who had recently been transferred to the command of the Second Fleet, had a difficult time. Gain's current Second Fleet of the Navy is really too shabby, the number of warships has not increased for many years, only one battleship, three fast cruisers, and one armed transport ship (this modified steam-powered ship is even doing transportation around the island of New China), a total of five large and small ships, which cannot be compared with the First Fleet on the mainland.

After thinking about it, Shi Qinjie and Guo Zili really couldn't afford to lose face, and they were embarrassed to send only one flagship, the "Free Trade", to Persia, so they finally gritted their teeth and sent the armed transport ship "Traveler" captured from the Netherlands to form a four-ship formation with two expedition ships to go to Bandar Abbas to show off their military might and start the first "gunboat diplomacy" in the history of the East Coast Republic.

It is said that since Guo Zili returned from escorting from Europe and was promoted to a naval lieutenant, he quickly went to Xinhua Port to take office. Commander of the Second Fleet. As for the former commander of the Second Fleet, Admiral Wang Tiehammer. was transferred back home. It is rumored that he will soon be promoted to Lieutenant Commander of the upcoming Third Fleet, and the former Second Fleet's flagship "Common Market" will also be transferred to the Third Fleet battle sequence (currently temporarily assigned to the First Fleet) as the flagship of the fleet.

It is said that Rear Admiral Li Yi, one of the three giants of the second-generation leadership collective of the East Coast Navy, is likely to succeed Lu Ming, who will become Minister of the Navy next year, as the most glorious commander of the First Fleet. At the same time, it also made Wang Tiehammer and Guo Zili envious, jealous and hateful.

After the departure of the two ships including the flagship "Free Trade", the remaining three fast cruisers, the "Chaoyong", "Zhenwu", and "Jingwu", will guard the gate under the leadership of Navy Captain Han Dezhi, deputy commander of the Second Fleet, to ensure the safety of the shipping routes between the ports of Xinhuaxia Island.

Nowadays, the shape of New Huaxia Island is quite subtle, and it is impossible to prevent it.

Since the Dutch had improved their relations with the East Coast, they had now largely abandoned the operation of the trading post in Tulare – because it was not profitable at all. At present, the trading station consists of only a few dozen European mercenaries, guarding a miniature masonry fortress (which served as a trading station and slave prison) and a dozen or so Baroque stone houses. According to the gossip, the Dutch East India Company is currently slashing non-profit projects, and it is likely that they will abandon the Tulare trading station on New Huaxia Island, that is. The dozens of mercenaries in the trading station are likely to be unemployed when their contracts expire.

However, they are not without a way out, and the New China Pioneer Team of the East Coast Republic is currently actively in contact with the Dutch East India Company. See if you can buy all the Dutchman's assets in Tulare for a bargain price, including a miniature fortress, twelve stone houses, hundreds of acres of arable land, more than a hundred head of livestock, and mercenary contracts. If the Dutch agree, it's almost a win-win for both sides. The Dutch disposed of the non-performing assets, and the people on the east coast obtained a preliminarily developed colonial base, and further consolidated their advantage on the west coast of New Huaxia Island (there are currently two strongholds on the west coast of Beidao Lobster Port and Mianhe Port).

Shi Qinjie has worked hard to operate in Xinhuaxia Island to this day, and has regarded the entire island as his own forbidden territory, almost inhibiting others. It is good to say that the Dutch are half-dead at the trading post in Turare, but the gradual expansion of the French on the island in recent years has made it difficult for him to sleep. After all, it's a formidable competitor! If they wished, they could move large numbers of French peasants to the world's fourth-largest island in a matter of minutes to compete with the people of the East Coast.

At present, the French have basically greatly expanded the colony of Fort Dovan (later Tauranaru). When the French first arrived in 1643, they simply built a stone fortress on the cliff face of the headland as a base for the expedition. From this time on, the French began to colonize the island of New China: they built coastal defense forts on the headland, they opened up arable land in the interior of the port, and they built docks on the shore. And that's not all, they later seduced some French immigrant technicians from the towns on the east bank to defect, bringing many drawings of hydraulic machinery to Fort Dován. Although there is no evidence from the people on the east coast of this incident, Shi Qinjie and others unanimously believe that the French did it, and this is also the beginning of the deterioration of relations between the east and the French on Xinhua Island.

In 1645 and 1646, the East Coast instructed the co-opted pirates of St. Mary's to attack the French colony of Fort Dovon twice, but both were repulsed, which undoubtedly further deteriorated relations between the two countries. Stimulated by this, the French government not only sent many additional army units from the country, but also relocated a considerable number of landless peasants to work here. Later, the Mazarin government sent more than 2,000 Protestants, who had been outcast, in France to the west of Fort Dovin for two consecutive years.

It is located near the Manani Pasi River and on the north shore of the Andrea Bay Lagoon Lake, with mountains in the background, and is a rare coastal plain or low hilly area. The open side facing the sea has a typical subtropical monsoon climate, which is much milder than the northern core occupied by people on the east coast: cooler and cooler, with less rain (but still no less than 1,500 mm per year), it is indeed a very good base – at least there are fewer mosquitoes here than in the north, and people are much less likely to get malaria.

The French built on the town of Saint-Louis, enslaving a large number of natives to dig up the mountains and build forts and houses for them, as well as using seeds bought from the Portuguese to grow rice and corn along the river, as well as some tropical fruits. It seems that they wanted to unite these two strongholds (Saint-Louis and Fort Dorvin) and turn them into a supply base for French ships.

At present, a considerable number of French merchants were already planning to "venturalize" in the East, and they were extremely jealous of the trade profits made by the Dutch, English, Portuguese, and even Danes in the East, and they were clamoring for the Mazaran government to give the merchants concessions and monopoly on trade, so that they would have ample incentive to sail to the East. In this context, the strongholds of Fort Dovon and Saint-Louis were just the right place to provide shelter and supplies for these French ships, and their strategic position was still quite important.

Shi Qinjie knew what the French wanted, but he could not tolerate the French colonization of the island, who had long regarded the entire island as the property of the East Coast. After secretly instigating the pirates to attack the French and returning, Shi Qinjie first ordered the severance of trade ties with the two French colonial strongholds, and then wooed the Portuguese to join the trade blockade alliance against the French, but unfortunately the Portuguese did not cooperate with this, which made Shi Qinjie more annoyed.

The tension between the two sides was further escalated a few months earlier, when Stinger received reports that two French ships had suddenly sailed into the Gulf of Antongir and disembarked near the city of Maluantsetra, opposite the island of Mangabe, where they exchanged views with the natives and reportedly signed a trade agreement. According to this agreement, French ships were allowed to dock at the port at will, which undoubtedly posed a serious threat to the rule of the people on the east coast of New Huaxia Island, and Shi Qinjie himself regarded it as an outright provocative signal from the French.

In order to respond to the provocation of the French, Shi Qinjie has recently wondered whether to also push the stronghold of the East Coast under the noses of the French, and retaliate with a tooth for a tooth, so that the French can also taste this taste. He even chose the location, not far from the northeast of Fort Dovon of the French, near the mouth of Lake Mananivo in later generations, and it was only a few dozen kilometers away from Fort Dovon in a straight line. It just so happened that the growth of coffee trees introduced by the people on the east coast was not very good in the northern region, and experts from the Ministry of Agriculture also proposed to move the planting site to the mountainous area in the southeast of Xinhuaxia Island (the main coffee producing area of Madagascar in later generations was here, and the altitude, climate, and soil here were all suitable for the growth of coffee trees), which made Shi Qinjie suddenly make up his mind to kill two birds with one stone.

He planned to move hundreds of Ming immigrants to this place by early next year at the latest, and then drive a large number of island Eight Banner tribes to build docks, castles, and forts. After this qiē is done, he will continue to move a group of new immigrants to the inland mountainous areas here, open up coffee plantations, develop the economy, and completely take root here, and fight against the French.

He didn't believe it, with the attention of the people on the east coast to Xinhuaxia Island, and the endless supply of fresh population every year, it was still impossible to break the two French colonial strongholds! In his opinion, when the international situation changes in the future, these two French colonies will sooner or later fall into his hands. The French are now making great efforts to develop cities, farmlands, and ports, and in the future they will only make wedding dresses for the people of the East Coast. (To be continued......)