As a crosser, you will not be unaware of the importance of the Strait of Malacca, and although the global maritime industry in the 17th century was not yet as prosperous as it was in the 21st century, mastering an important maritime transport route at this time is equivalent to mastering a piece of wealth.

The Dutch relied on the Far Eastern charts stolen from the Portuguese to have a colony in Batavia, and successfully embarked on the position of maritime supremacy, a detailed navigation can be imagined for several European countries with relatively developed navigation technology.

Charts were like a secret treasure of the state, which was not allowed to be leaked by anyone in any way, and thanks to this conservative policy, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands became empires on the sea, establishing numerous colonial trading points overseas.

Australia is located in Oceania, and it can be said that the entire Australian continent is surrounded by the ocean, and this geographical location gives Australia freedom from attacks from land countries bordering and can develop wholeheartedly.

Another disadvantage is that it is surrounded by the sea, Australia must have a strong world navy, and only with a navy strong enough that the enemy does not dare to attack wantonly, the coast of the Australian continent can be safe.

This is also one of the reasons why the Australian Navy invests much higher military spending than the army every year, Australia's future hegemony will definitely be fought for at sea, and the main focus must be on the maritime battlefield, and compared with the war on land, there are almost few, as long as it is guaranteed that there is always enough army strength to maintain local security and foreign troops.

The purpose of establishing overseas colonies is also to prepare in advance for the future powerful naval supply area, as we all know, the Australian Navy uses steam power units, and the largest raw energy required for steam power is coal, and only with enough coal-fired steam engines can it operate.

In the next 20 years, both naval and merchant ships will use steam engines as their main power plants, and the prerequisite for ships to use steam engines is to set up coaling stations at various intermediate points that must travel long distances.

As the most important water passage in the future, the Strait of Malacca is not only an important water connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, but also an important channel that indirectly controls the economic lifeline of East Asian countries.

The reason why Japan can call it the lifeline of the sea. It is because Japan's crude oil import route takes the Strait of Malacca, and in addition to Japan, China and South Korea also take this route, which is for Australia to dominate the world in the future. By controlling this sea lane, we will grasp the lifeblood of the future development of East Asian countries to a certain extent.

Strategically, the Strait of Malacca is also crucial for the development of the beloved land, and if the sea is controlled by Westerners, it is fair to say what the future holds. It is true that the traversal has technology that is ahead of the world, but it does not dare to guarantee that in the next few hundred years, the West, which is stimulated by the great development of science and technology, will catch up, and can only continue to minimize the hidden dangers that exist within its own limited capabilities.

For the Malacca strategy, in fact, a considerable number of people in the country do not approve, whether from the existing interests or the next few decades of considerations, the establishment of a transit trade station in Malacca, the construction of an overseas territory significance is not the best location for Australia.

The largest market for industrial products produced in Australia is Daming and Europe, and the basic raw material imports will also be Daming, which is not suitable as a transit station here in terms of routes. Even if it is established in Luzon, it is much stronger than here.

On the one hand, Yu Wenbo has to put pressure on the Dutch through diplomatic means to force them to take the initiative to give up a piece of land, and on the other hand, Zhao Shijie is also responsible for persuading the domestic opposition.

To put it bluntly, the most important thing to pay attention to now is the matter of interests, and the establishment of an overseas territory is actually a bit too early for some people to think about what will happen in the next hundred years, because no one can predict what the world will be like in the future. Whether Australia can maintain its position ahead of the West.

This question is basically inconclusive for now, with the export of Australian products, but also marks the spread of science and technology to the outside world, whether this spread through the public willing or unwilling. It is an inevitable existence and a fact that cannot be changed at all.

The ancient city of Malacca was technically dominated by the Dutch in 1641 after the defeat of the Portuguese, but the Dutch were not interested in developing it into a Dutch trading center in the Far East, and it was clear that Batavia was more of a favourite.

This also made it convenient for Yu Wenbo to persuade the Dutch Speaker and the shareholders of the Dutch East India Company. For such a piece of land, which they did not value very much, and with the willingness of Australia to bid for the ownership of this land, and to provide the right to sell rifles and artillery to the Netherlands, Malacca and later Singapore were naturally assigned to Australian territory.

Malacca is a historical city, as early as Zheng He went to the West had stayed here six times, so naturally there are some Chinese living here, but the total number is not much, about 3,000 people, most of them are Zheng He went to the West with the fleet or later immigrated from the coast of Guangdong and Fujian a generation of merchants or fishermen.

For the Chinese living in Malacca, they have not heard the legend of Australia, and they can even use one word to describe Australia, that is, thunder, because of the black water, almost the entire Southeast Asian cities with Chinese know the existence of powerful Australia, and they have more than once longed for the Australians to rule their cities, because then maybe those hateful red hairs will not dare to bully them.

Zheng Shuming is a descendant of the Chinese leader of Malacca, Zheng Fangyang, and the degree of concern for the Australians is not less than that of others, and recently he heard the shocking news from some merchant seamen from Batavia that Malacca has been taken over by Australia, and the Dutch have sold it for more than 200,000 silver dollars.

Compared with Australia, Portugal, the Netherlands and other Westerners with Chinese blood, they certainly prefer Australians to rule this land, because everyone has the same blood in their bodies, they all come from that continent, and they naturally have a greater sense of belonging to Australia. (To be continued.) )