Although the development of the Natuna Islands is far less important than that of Dayuan Port, its geographical location is no less important than that of Dayuan Port. ↖ ↖ ↖ At the top ↖, the Natuna Islands are a very important supply point in the shipping route between Dayuan Port and Batavia, and almost all Dutch merchant ships going south or north will choose this place as a port that must call - this is the main reason why Dutch merchant ships frequently fall into the net after Natuna Island changed hands.

Ten thousand steps back, even if the Dutch merchant ships now knew that this place was occupied by pirates of unknown origin, and chose to make a cautious detour when passing through the surrounding seas, they would not be able to go far. More than 100 nautical miles east of Natuna is Borneo, where the natives were equally hostile to the Dutch, and Dutch sailing ships could not even resupply the island, and would normally not sail close to the coastline of Borneo for fear of being treated "unfriendly" by the natives. The Anambas Islands, nearly 100 nautical miles to the west, are also a sea area of high piracy, and there is little safety to go around.

Natuna Island was so scarce in peacetime that even the sailors and sailors who traveled to and from Natuna didn't think there was anything remarkable about it, but after the change of ownership, everyone noticed that the strategic position of the island had become a nail in the sea lanes of the South China Sea, and that the pirates entrenched on the island had the ability to contend with the East India Company by force, and its threat would of course be impossible for the company's board of directors to ignore. The defeat of the armed fleet at Natuna Island was even more severe in nature than the defeat of Fujian, at least not on the Fujian side, which would not immediately affect the safety of the shipping lanes between Dayuan Port and the rest of Northeast Asia.

"I think the board of directors of the company will be more inclined to solve the problems on Natuna Island first. Van Longen put it bluntly and without any detours: "If Mr. Hans wants to ask the company for assistance, I estimate that it is very unlikely that it will be realized within the year." ”

Hans also immediately realized his negligence, the loss on the Fujian side is not very direct to the company, and if the hidden danger of Natuna Island is not properly solved, then the company's layout in the entire Northeast Asia region will be affected. Anyone who understands the matter can distinguish which is more important. In his position as Governor of Cohen, he would probably also consider Natuna Island as a priority at the moment.

However, this situation is not necessarily bad news for the person in charge of Dayuangang. The more the board of directors takes the role of Natuna Island, the less impact of the loss on the Fujian side will be, and the responsibility of the relevant personnel will be much reduced. Imagine that the elite sent by the headquarters has suffered a big loss at the hands of a group of unknown pirates, so the loss of Fujian to the Haihan people, who are not weak, does not seem to be a shameful record.

Hans was silent for a moment before replying, "I will write a handwritten letter to Governor Cohen for me." Later my servant will deliver the letter to you. ”

"Willing to serve you. When the conversation was over, Van Longen stood up with great amusement and took his leave, and he could see that the uncle and nephew probably had some personal matters to discuss.

The reason why he gave the handwritten letter to Van Dewegen instead of Van der Wegen to take it back was not that Hans could not trust his nephew, but because Van der Wegen did not have enough social level to complete this mission. Van Longen was one of Governor Cohen's right-hand men, and he would certainly meet Cohen when he returned to Batavia, and it would be convenient to present a personal letter from the Governor. Of course, Hans wouldn't let him run in vain, and when he sent a letter to Van Longen, he would also give him a favor by the way.

"If it weren't for Van Longen's reminder, I would have almost forgotten about Natuna. After Van Longen left, Hans's face looked much better, and his tone became lighter: "I will explain to the Doge in my letter the reasons for the defeat in this engagement, and help you to reduce your responsibility as much as possible." ”

Seeing that Van der Wegen still had an expression of uncomprehension, Hans could only continue to explain: "The reason why I didn't use this method before was because I was afraid that it would backfire, and the company would think that this was a shirk of responsibility, which would increase the punishment for you. But I forgot that there was also Natuna Island, that Spikes and Brouwer had lost their battles together, they had lost to the pirates, and we had lost to a well-formed regular fleet, and the punishment that the company would inflict on you would not be greater than theirs. I am writing this letter to remind Governor Cohen of the need to be fair and not to let such a fortuitous defeat end a young man's future. ”

"I will be forever grateful for what you have done for me!" Van der Wegen understood the real reason why Hans had suddenly offered to write a handwritten letter.

Hans waved his hand and said, "There's not much I can do for you, and when you return to Batavia, you'll have to rely on yourself to do your activities." Also, make a good relationship with Mr. Van Longen on this voyage, don't think he's just a maritime merchant, maybe he won't be able to help you much, but it's easy to get bad things!"

"I will remember your teachings, dear Uncle Hans. Vanderweigen replied respectfully. In terms of how to behave in the world, he really has a lot to learn from his uncle.

While the Dutch on the island of Taiwan were still racking their brains about how to deal with the accountability of the company's headquarters, Haihan had already begun preparations for the change of defense and development of the Ambuna Islands.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs plans to move in about 3,000 immigrants to the local area in the second half of the year, which is basically the same as the aborigines who remained there, on the one hand, in order to increase the labor force on the island and provide manpower guarantee for the next development and construction, and on the other hand, the large number of naturalized people will also be conducive to the implementation of Haihan's own unique social system in the local area. After the completion of this phase of migration, the number of permanent civilians on the island will reach five to six thousand, and this number does not include the troops stationed on the island.

Due to the transfer of power, the Annam militia troops, who played the role of pirates, were no longer suitable to be stationed in the Ambuna Islands. The unit will be relocated to the capital of Qiongzhou in northern Qiongbei, and even their families and relatives will voluntarily move from Annam to the area – one of the post-war benefits promised to the unit by the Executive Committee.

However, the commander of this unit, Mu Xiabai, did not choose to return to Sanya, but planned to garrison Cam Ranh Bay, after all, it will be the largest military base of Lihai Han in the South China Sea in the next few years, and the size of the garrison may even exceed Sanya. However, there is unreliable gossip in the military hierarchy that Mushabai has a companion on Annan's side, but he has not yet married, which is one of the important reasons why he chose to settle in Annan. But Mu Xiabai himself didn't mention it, and his colleagues didn't take the initiative to arch him, Yan Chujie could only tacitly approve a one-month long vacation for Mu Xiabai, and the destination could be chosen at will in Haihankong Zhanì District, and the cost would be fully reported, and it should be a congratulatory gift from the official.

The senior officer who will represent Haihan on Ambuna Island to replace Mushaber is Roger, a member of the North American Gang, who has been transferred out of the Tiandu Industrial Zone along with Shi Diwen and officially entered the military establishment. When Shi Diwen led the fleet of the Haihan Mission north to Fujian, Roger also took over the military management of the capital city of Qiongzhou and part of the Qiongzhou Strait.

Because Haihan was prepared to deal with it in advance, after the Ming alternate officials arrived on Hainan Island at the beginning of the year, they basically failed to make any waves, and Qiongbei Fucheng has always been firmly under Haihan's control. The local chief executive, Qiu Yuan, was much more ruthless than his colleague Zhang Xin in Danzhou, and there was no such thing as Yan Mingjun, Li Jin and the Danzhou riots. On the Fucheng side, all those who openly took the lead in opposing Haihan were killed, killed, and arrested, even if they only made such remarks, they would be warned and even forcibly moved out of the area.

Qiu Yuan's iron-fisted methods in the capital city of Qiongzhou made it very easy for Roger to garrison the local area, and there was almost no pressure at all, and he did not even carry out large-scale military operations in his short tenure. But there is also a disadvantage to such an environment, that is, there is no military merit at all. Shi Diwen followed the mission to Fujian, and by chance, he assisted the Ming army to capture Nanri Island occupied by Shibazhi, and had already achieved a good result.

This opportunity did not take long to appear, as the fighting in Fujian made the Executive Committee realize that the time had come to openly seize control of the island of Ambuna, and that it was logical to deploy more troops on the island to control the East India Company's South China Sea routes. Originally, the Executive Committee intended to send officers from Guangdong to carry out this task, but under the persuasion of Wang Tom, the final candidate for the Military Commission was Roger.

Of course, the reason given by Wang Tom is also very sufficient, Roger is a construction machinery professional like Shi Diwen, and in a place like Ambuna Island, where there is a lack of supplies, he can realize some ordnance repair and maintenance work in the local area, reducing his dependence on the base camp. In addition, the professional skills of the North American gang members in navigation are also an important reason that the top management of the Military Commission cannot ignore, Roger sitting in the local area will help disrupt the Dutch routes at sea, and several senior officers stationed in Guangdong are all from the army, and they obviously have no obvious advantage over Roger in naval warfare.

In addition, there is another reason that is inconvenient to disclose, that is, except for the two doctors in the North American Gang who are temporarily unable to be entrusted with the important task of leading troops because of the special nature of their professions, several other members of the North American Gang have been reused one after another - Wang Tom became the commander of the navy, Qiao Zhiya was responsible for the construction of the coal-iron composite industrial base in Changhua, and Shi Diwen recently made great achievements in Fujian on behalf of the Haihan Militia Group, leaving Roger with nothing to do. Even for the sake of fairness, he should be given a chance to show himself, not to mention that his personal ability is not bad, and he has also performed very well in all the special operations he participated in in the early stage of the crossing. In addition, Roger's own desire for war is also very strong, and it is reasonable that the Military Commission should give him a chance to express himself.

Roger will be accompanied by the 2nd Battalion of the Haihan Militia, which was formed at the end of 1628, and is the same as the Annam Militia now stationed on the island of Anbuna, which is also a reinforced battalion of the 44th formation, which has been stationed in the northern area of Qiongbei since Operation Liaoyuan last year. The battalion was fully staffed with more than 800 men, and for this deployment to the south, the Central Military Commission also arranged for an engineering company and an artillery company to go south together.

In the earlier confrontation on the island of Ambuna, the inexperience of the Annan militia led by Mushabai in artillery battles directly led to the unfavorable situation in the engagement phase. More than a dozen batteries failed to block the opponent's landing operation, which also caused reflection on the military top brass after the war. Although the General Staff also bears some responsibility for the relevant tactical design, the Annan militia did expose their shortcomings in positional warfare in this engagement - after all, this unit is trained on surprise attacks and special operations in mountain environments, and even heavy weapons are not its standard configuration, and the way of engagement on the frontal battlefield is indeed not what they are good at.

In order to make up for this shortcoming, the Central Military Commission made this special transfer. Although the artillery company is equipped with only eight army guns, the power of professional artillery units on the battlefield is not comparable to that of the infantry who make temporary cameos.

The engineering company will be mainly responsible for building fortifications in the port area of Ambuna Island, and the sudden attack of the Dutch has made the Military Commission realize that the previous idea was too simple, and the Dutch may attach more importance to Ambuna Island than expected, and they will definitely launch an operation to seize the island of Ambuna Island in the coming period. The makeshift batteries had proved to be of very limited use in the last engagement, and in order to hold the port steadily, it was necessary to build a large and strong fortification on the coast, following the successful experience of the existing situation.

Of course, it is not enough to send an engineering company to the local area, and the Ministry of Construction will have to mobilize a batch of construction materials to transport them to the local area by fleet. Given the amount of work to be done to build the shore fortifications, there is no doubt that this will be a huge military expenditure. However, this money really can't be saved, and even Gu Kai, who has always questioned the military budget, did not object this time - after all, the Dutch had gone ashore last time, and it might be too late to regret it if the fort was not repaired.

Therefore, although the Executive Committee did not intend to invest too many resources in the local area to build Haihan-style coastal fortifications when it was planning to occupy the Anbuna Islands, everyone found that this step could not be skipped at all, and the money that should be thrown into it could not be saved.