Although the negotiations between the Spanish king and Yu Bowen had not yet reached a final agreement, the Dutch in Batavia in the Far East had done something almost unbelievable.

The Australian Navy was invited to work with the Dutch to form a joint fleet to maintain the safety of merchant ships from Batavia to Daming and Guangzhou.

Judging from the current situation, the merchant ships of the Australians are obviously not as many as those of the Netherlands, and with the weapons and speed of the ships, even if they encounter pirates, they can basically abuse each other, and there is no need to worry about safety at all.

But the Dutch invited at this time, and the discerning people knew at a glance that the significance of it was extraordinary, and the Australians' recent claim to the Netherlands for sovereignty over Dayuan Island had already been known to the surrounding British and Spaniards.

Obviously, this was a response to the recent public statements made by the Governor of Manila, as if to tell the Spaniards that the Dutch would give up some of their interests in exchange, and even that they would have more chips in their hands.

Although Australia's navy is strong enough, if a joint fleet is established, it can directly monopolize the right to speak in the sea area, and even directly formulate rules that are in line with Australia's interests.

However, whether the Dutch are sincere or not, Australia still needs to be verified, after all, the Netherlands during this period was almost the hegemon in East Asia, and even the Spanish merchant ships and warships did not dare to directly go to war with it.

First, Australia's navy is indeed strong enough, and even just a giant ship can block the entire Batavia Viceroyalty fleet directly in the harbor, and it is only a matter of time before a navy with such strength wants to become the hegemon of the sea in Southeast Asia.

The reason why the Australians are not seizing control of the sea is that according to the analysis, it is likely that the scarcity of shipbuilding talents in the other party's country is related to the scarcity of various raw materials.

The shrewd Dutch basically analyzed the problem from the number of European immigrants and the type of work, and I have to say that the other party is indeed shrewd enough.

In addition to throwing a decoy, the Dutch even made a practical concession, declaring that Dayuan Island would become a shared colony between the Netherlands and Australia, and that merchant ships and warships from both countries could dock at any of the island's docks for replenishment and rest.

This announcement directly caused the Spaniards to vomit blood a little, and the Governor of Manila even scolded the Dutch for being shameless in the Governor's Palace.

Manila was able to offer far less than the Dutch's overtures, and there was nothing but the possibility of providing a colony on Luzon to Australia, and even the Governor of Manila himself wondered if Australia would be interested in the colony.

Luzon's geographical location is not critical to Australia, and with the range of Australia's powerful artillery, even if you walk in the waters of any country in Southeast Asia, you will not encounter a threat. The only flaw is that the number of warships in the Australian Navy is not large, and there are only six naval ships in service in the country plus the Sea Blue.

The Sea Blue's home port is based in Manchester City, and its main patrol mission is to secure the homeland and respond to emergencies, while the rest of the maneuverable sail warships serve as alternate ships for Christmas Island and Hong Kong Municipality.

Therefore, if Australia wants to form a joint fleet with the Dutch, in fact, there are not many ships that can be provided, and it is almost impossible to obtain new ships to participate in this game of makers in Southeast Asian waters, so it can only be drawn from Christmas Island and the Hong Kong concession.

The Dutch in Batavia may have seen this, so they warmly invited the Australians to participate, and at the same time knew that even if a combined fleet was formed, the main force would be dominated by the main force of Batavia, and the Australians could only act as a foil.

But this foil is different from others, he has the absolute strength to defeat any opponent who resists, and even because of his participation, he can also make the Spaniards and British who are ready to move more honest, even the Zheng Zhilong group of the Ming Dynasty does not dare to act recklessly.

The formation of a combined fleet King Hammer is definitely interested, and even if Congress does not agree, he will use his connections to try to get it passed. But he will never let the Australian Navy become a foil for the Dutch, and the dominance must be in his own hands.

In the governor's palace in Batavia, Wang Tiehammer was invited to participate in the formation of a joint fleet, and the admirals of the two sides sat together and talked. Governor Van Dimen and other dignitaries also sat in it.

"General Risson, our government is very interested in forming a combined fleet, but if we can't coordinate operations well, this will seriously affect our cooperation, and it will not be of much significance to the formation of a combined fleet, so I think we must be clear about who is the commander of this combined fleet before it is formed." Wang Tieqi looked at the other party with a serious face and said.

"Yes, General Wang, I agree with you, but I think that the Dutch have a large number of ships, and the commander should be selected from our side, and the deputy commander should be an Australian naval officer, what do you think?"

The supreme commander of the navy in Batavia is also holding on to his command, which is quite important for the future of the combined fleet, and it is foreseeable that once the combined fleet is formed, the order of the whole of Southeast Asia will be re-established, and those countries and individuals who do not comply will be severely punished.

"Hehe, I think it's unfair to rely on the number of ships alone to determine the ownership of command, so let's have a competition." Navy Captain Sun Ming said with a smile on his face, as if to remind the Dutch not to forget the previous shelling of Batavia.

The Dutch chose to remain silent, and no one dared to speak, including the Governor, because the Australian artillery was powerful and long-range, and their ships were moving quite fast.

"Captain, I think your proposal is probably inappropriate, it is easy to misfire in the competition, and it would be very bad if there were casualties between you and me because of this, so I think we should think about it in the long run."

Risen frowned, came out to break the silence, to alleviate the embarrassing scene, if he thought from the beginning that the Australians would care so much about the command, he would definitely strongly oppose this proposal, and even now he has seen that the Australians will definitely grasp this matter, now even if the Dutch don't want to form a combined fleet, I'm afraid it won't work, once the interest of the Australians is raised, they can only bite the bullet.