Timor Island

With an area of 34,000 square kilometers, it is the largest and easternmost island in the Nusa Tenggara archipelago and one of the nearest islands according to the city of Myungyo. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe island is mountainous, with steep coasts, volcanoes, and frequent earthquakes.

The terrain alone is not good. However, the climate is good, with sufficient precipitation, which is suitable for the development of mountain agriculture. In addition, there are many rare wood species such as mahogany and green dragon wood on the island, as well as mineral resources such as gold, copper and oil.

This point is enough to arouse Daming's interest.

In 1520, Portugal landed on the island of Ivan because of sandalwood. Since then, this land has been involved in the fate of the colony. In 1613, the Dutch settled in Kupang.

So the competition began, and the two countries fought openly and secretly on the island of Timor. That means can be called all-encompassing.

It has lasted nearly 200 years.

The east and west sides now belong to Portugal and the Netherlands. But the struggle was not over, it was just a temporary truce when we were tired of fighting.

When the breath is relieved, the two sides have to fight!

Therefore, from a practical point of view, the Ming cabinet decided to help the weak Portugal first and jointly deal with the Netherlands.

But not long ago, Zhang Xiao and Liu Weiguo learned a shocking news, so they had a new idea.

It turned out that the Netherlands suddenly declared war on Portugal because of a trade dispute. So far, the entire port of Dili is blocked. Merchant ships from all over the world were also seized. If you see a merchant ship that is not in the right situation, you will immediately turn around and run.

This made the news spread ten, ten, hundred, and finally reached the home fleet of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the reasons for the war, there are three main ones.

The first is population.

Because of the influence of the gold rush, the population of Nanyang migrated to the Ming Dynasty on a large scale. Among them, Timor Island is the closest to Daming, and the impact is also the most obvious.

In the first month, thousands of people left important ports such as Kupang and Dili almost every day. Not only did the ordinary people run away, but even those governors and policemen took off their skins and happily took a boat to Daming to make a fortune.

Although the severe restrictions imposed by Portugal and the Netherlands have since reduced the scale of migration, they have not been able to stop the exodus.

In addition, due to the limited access of regular immigrants, underground transactions such as smuggling, immigration, and smuggling have flourished.

In addition, Timor Island is surrounded by the sea on all sides, and you can go to Daming by any boat. Therefore, even if Portugal and the Netherlands tried their best, they could not stop the outflow of people.

Of course, the Netherlands and Portugal also wanted to find trouble with the Ming Dynasty. But the naval battle between Daming and Lan Fangguo made them jealous.

Moreover, the relationship between the Netherlands and Portugal was also hostile, and they were afraid that the other party would stab them in the back, so they had to stop fighting.

Since they couldn't be unanimous with the outside world, the two sides began to fight again.

The demographic problem, which had been a headache for them before, has now become a means of struggle for them. At the same time, both sides declared that their subjects were free to move within their own jurisdictions.

Because they all saw the role of population, they wanted to use it to weaken each other. This has exacerbated the exodus from the island of Timor.

But in order to achieve their goals, they also gritted their teeth and persevered, hoping that the other party would collapse first.

In this matchup, the Dutch population outflow is the worst. Because the Dutch East India Company was in financial difficulties, it intensified its efforts to squeeze the local subjects. As a result, many people could not bear it and fled to East Timor in Portugal.

One in and one out, so that the outflow of people from Portugal has been alleviated.

Second, there is commercial interest.

The Dutch East India Company was crazy about money, and in the port of Kupang, it imposed heavy taxes on passing merchant ships, so that many merchant ships going to Daming chose to call at Dili in Portugal.

As a result, the commercial trade on the Kupang side is getting worse day by day. Even many Dutch merchant ships docked in Dili.

That scene was almost to the point of being crowded.

The port of Dili prospered every day, and merchant ships gathered, making a lot of money.

The Netherlands has long been red-eyed!

In the end, it was because the Ming Dynasty declared war on Britain.

This made the Netherlands breathe a sigh of relief!

After all, Daming has formed such an impregnable steel fleet, which makes it difficult not to be vigilant. And Kupang is so close to Daming, as a neighbor, how can you feel at ease? Moreover, Daming has been going back and forth with the Portuguese governor of East Timor, and the goods on both sides are directly duty-free. There are no restrictions on the movement of people.

Like Dili, there were many Chinese merchants. As a result of them, Portugal has not been adversely affected by the exodus of the population, but has developed vigorously.

Such a relationship made the Netherlands dare not do anything to Portugal.

But now, the Ming is about to compete with the British, and it doesn't have the energy to pay attention to Portugal in East Timor.

Don't miss the opportunity, lose it again!

The Netherlands, who had no worries, immediately showed their minions and began to concentrate on dealing with the fat and oily Portugal.

You must know that Portugal has always been weak on the borders of the South Seas.

Like before, almost the entire South Seas were Portuguese. But now, it has been squeezed by the Netherlands into the small land of Timor. And it's such a big place, and it's restless.

It is enough to see the uselessness of Portugal!

As a result, the Netherlands hardly took Portugal seriously.

This time, the main battle was the governor of the Dutch West Timor district, Nyfate, who dispatched more than 20 warships. Among them, there are two 1,000-ton ships, four 700-ton ships, and the rest are all under 500 tons.

Such a volume is more than the tonnage of the Ming Dynasty's home fleet.

And Van Nisfat didn't have the help of the Dutch East India Fleet, which shows his self-confidence.

It is for this reason that Liu Weiguo and Zhang Xiao discussed and prepared to have a good show where the snipe and the clam compete and the fisherman profits. When the Netherlands and Portugal were almost finished, they suddenly intervened and wiped out both sides.

Anyway, no matter who wins, they can't escape the palm of the Ming fleet.

At this time, on the deck of the Zhu Yuanzhang, Charlie stood at the bow of the ship, facing the fishy and hot sea breeze, looking at the sea in the distance in a daze.

If it weren't for that accident, he wouldn't have come to Daming, and he wouldn't have joined Daming. At this rate, he was still a Dutch captain.

But these are ifs, and now everything has changed. He has become a Ming man, a captain of the Ming Navy, and has a large official position.

Although Da Ming did not say it explicitly, when the home fleet went north to Shenwen Island instead of south to New Zealand, he guessed that Da Ming had another purpose. Especially when he heard that there was a war in Dili and the fleet was guarding outside the harbor, he immediately understood the purpose of the Ming Dynasty.

Obviously, the Ming artillery fire was not aimed at the British, but at the Dutch and Portuguese on the island of Timor.

Hearing this news, there was always an indescribable discomfort in his heart!

Shaking his head, he struggled to suppress the thought. After all, Da Ming treats him well, although it is not the mother country, but it is better than the mother country. Moreover, Daming's intelligence department is pervasive, and it is impossible to be unguarded against him.

Once he does something contrary to the interests of the Ming Dynasty, then the British crew is a lesson from the past!

Thinking of this, he pulled a note from his cuff. This was secretly handed to him by Brian yesterday, and the names of several Dutch crew members were written on it. The main thing is to connect them and send a message to the Dutch side.

These people were originally from his ship, and later joined the Ming Dynasty. But they like to steal, cheat, and slip, so they don't mix very well on the boat.

Usually no matter how careful they are, Charlie can tolerate and forgive. It's just that at this juncture, he can't be appeased.

So he held it in the palm of his hand and knocked on the iron door of the headquarters.