Belinda smiled softly: "Idi, they were called out by Lieutenant Colonel Villa, and I heard that they were going to help Lieutenant Colonel Villa with something, so now there are only two of us left in the house." ”

Putmans frowned: "What is Villa busy with these days, and he is always missing?" ”

Belinda said with some disgust: "In a few months, you will be stepping down and returning to China, and Lieutenant Colonel Villa, as your adjutant, will also return to China together, so naturally you have to deal with some personal matters, are you so unkind?" ”

"Oh...... Of course not...... I'm not that unkind. Putmans shrugged helplessly, picked up his teacup and took a sip of black tea.

"That's right, Putmans...... Do you think we should buy a house in Amsterdam after returning home this time? ”

"No...... I think it's better to go back to my hometown of Rotterdam and settle down, after all, it's my hometown ......! ”

"No...... Amsterdam is the heart of the Netherlands, Rotterdam is so barren that there is almost nothing left, and the environment in Rotterdam is not ...... for Erin! ”

The two of them were talking about unnutritious words, when suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside, and soon a burly soldier in a red and blue military uniform walked in briskly from outside.

"Huh...... It's Lieutenant Colonel Villa. ”

"Villa, aren't you taking care of your personal affairs, how come you have time to come?"

"Your Excellency the Governor, I have just received some bad news." Lieutenant Colonel Villa's expression was a little grim, and he took a note from his pocket and handed it to Putmans.

When Putmans took the note and read it, he immediately jumped up and asked excitedly, "Is the information true?" It says that Keelung City was occupied by the Ming people, and the Spaniards were either killed or captured, and they have been completely wiped out, who did this? ”

Lieutenant Colonel Villa said solemnly: "The situation is true, this is the information provided by the Han people we planted in Keelung, and I paid him ten silver coins for this. According to him, this was done by the Ming Army's Zuo Shilang, the governor of Yingtian, that is, Wang Yue, the master of the starting point city, with his Tiance army, and he also saw many strange white ships in Keelung, which according to his description were similar to the strange ships that roamed the sea near the city of Geranza these days. ”

"The starting point city, the Tiance Army, is it the starting point city that Mr. Schohzin mentioned?"

A few months earlier, Schauzin, the commercial counsellor of the Start City, had made a transfer to Batavia from here, and he had introduced Putmans to the Start City, and of course it was mainly the goods of the Start City.

Lieutenant Colonel Villa said, "Yes, Your Excellency the Governor, we may be in trouble, that strange white ship is roaming the waters of the city of Geranza, and it is likely that it is scouting us and trying to disadvantage us. ”

"Does Wang Yue want to dominate Taiwan?" Putmans roared, "Hmph, we have two thousand eight hundred good soldiers, twenty-one warships and the impregnable city of Geranza, this is not the city of Keelung for the Spaniards. ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, since they were able to defeat the Spanish fleet in Keelung and have the ability to capture Keelung City, this shows that their force is much higher than that of the Spaniards on the island of Taiwan." Lieutenant Colonel Villa reminded: "Don't forget, their leader, Wang Yue, is a high-ranking official of the Ming government, and behind him is a huge country. ”

Putmans was shocked when he heard this, yes! Daming is really a desperate country, this country is too big, the territory is almost equal to Europe, and the population is too large, even more than the whole of Europe.

Putmans then called in the garrison commander, Colonel Krul, a German veteran who commanded about 2,800 soldiers serving in Taiwan, an army of mostly Europeans and a mix of Arches, blacks, and Japanese from the East Indies.

"I must tell you now that we are likely to have a fighting ...... here soon." "How sure are you of the guards?" ”

"Lord Governor, it depends on who the enemy is...... Krull said confidently, "If it is a Chinese, whether he is an official or a Daming army, I am sure to deal with it - one soldier under my command can fight twenty-five Chinese." ”

"I'm glad you have so much confidence. However, the opponent is likely to be a stronger enemy than the Spaniards......! ”

"Then I need to strengthen the fortifications, and I need to recruit everyone who can use weapons."

"Summoning the men, you start with a small scale - the sailors must be at my command, and I authorize you to strengthen the existing defenses at once, and first use the conditions at hand to strengthen the defenses of the fortifications. Double posts every night! I don't want to be caught off guard by then. ”

"Yes, Lord Governor!"

In order to prevent a possible attack by the Chinese, from now on the city of Geranza should strengthen the fortress, build fortifications, prepare ammunition and food, and make preparations for long-term defense, so that the Chinese will retreat in the face of difficulties.

It is not yet known whether the Chinese military action on the island of Taiwan was an act of the state or a unilateral action of the starting point. Since their leader, Wang Yue, was a high-ranking official in the Ming government, Putmans planned to go to Tamsui to meet with Wang Yue in person, hoping to get Wang Yue's accurate attitude.

Putmans then wrote to the Batavians, hoping for military assistance, and stating the current situation, believing that the Chinese had seriously harmed Dutch trade interests, and wished to draw attention.

One sentence is emphatically emphasized: "It is possible that the national policy of the Ming Dynasty has changed dramatically, and it is certain that they are marching towards the sea." It is a large country, and the resources and energy contained are far from being comparable to those of the Netherlands. We have to pay close attention to it, otherwise we may lose big games in the future, even Batavia. ”

On the one hand, Wang Yue paid attention to the progress of the Qing army's sneak attack on the Jingshi in Tamsui, and on the other hand, put forward a number of guiding opinions on the layout of the Tamsui settlement.

After the Spanish power was cleared, the defense of northern Taiwan was mainly aimed at the indigenous people in the mountainous areas.

According to the plan, the security forces will sort out the natives in the vicinity, so there will be no large-scale fighting in the future. At the same time, the security forces will also select some security personnel from the immigrants to use as militia, so the city of Tamsui will not build tall walls, which will leave room for future expansion of the city.

The layout of Tamsui was based on the urban layout of Taipei in later generations, planning roads and roughly dividing areas. A five-storey masonry town hall will be built in the central area, which will serve as an administrative body, as well as a fortress, shelter and warehouse, with other settlements scattered between the areas.