Pending the settlement of the Natuna troubles, Batavia also suspended all shipping missions in the direction of Northeast Asia that needed to cross the South China Sea, to ensure that no more East India Company-owned sailing ships would fall into the hands of the pirates. The loss to the East India Company due to the interruption of maritime transport was also a number that could not be ignored, and most of those who were anxious for the company to send troops to conquer Natuna Island again were the ones who suffered from the loss of their interests.

It's a very good account, and it's been nearly four months since the disappearance of merchant ships began in April. That is, one-third of the year's time has been wasted because of this, and the sufferers are not in the mood to put this matter off until the next year.

Not everyone is accustomed to using force to settle disputes, not to mention that the results of the previous use of force were still so bad. It has been pointed out that the Ming merchant ships passing through the Natuna Islands during this period were not plundered, indicating that the local pirates were consciously targeting Dutch merchant ships, and that no one knows why they targeted the East India Company in such a way. The Lord and Pai Jian yì asked the Ming businessman to come forward as an intermediary, first talk to the other party about the conditions, and figure out the original situation of the matter. If there is really no agreement, it is not too late to resort to force to solve the problem.

If the dispute can be resolved through negotiation, then why does the company still have thousands of armed forces? People have already done so many votes, and they are specifically picking on Dutch merchant ships, so it is clear that they are not afraid of you at all, and this foot has already stepped on your own face, and you can still negotiate with a thick skin? If you can swallow your anger like this, it will be a shame for the East India Company!

Governor Cohen himself actually preferred to use force to settle the matter, because this opponent with an unknown background appeared with obvious malice from the beginning, and Cohen did not feel the slightest possibility of reconciliation from the other party's behavior. Moreover, the company's armed forces suffered heavy losses on Natuna Island, and even Brouwer was killed in battle, if there is no retaliation, then what is the face of the company, and how can it account to the families of these victims?

But how to do it, this really makes Governor Cohen a little difficult. If Spikes' description wasn't exaggerated, the company would have to assemble at least a larger army than the previous one to be able to recover the Natuna Islands from the pirates. However, this is √ for the East India √ √ √, m.≦.co↘mstyle_tt; In addition to the need to draw combat personnel from various colonies in the Far East, the amount of money and materials needed to prepare for the cross-sea campaign was also insignificant.

In addition, it is also an extremely troublesome matter to appoint who will lead the army, and Spikes and Brauwer have both fought for the company, and they are both quite outstanding, and Cohen arranged for them to go together in order to buy a double insurance. In addition to them, there are only a handful of high-ranking officers in the company who can command large-scale military operations, and most of them still have their own positions, and they are not immediately able to withdraw after being transferred. After thinking about it, Cohen felt that it was only Anthony van Diemen, who had just returned to Batavia from Delnat.

Due to the success of Van Dimen's expeditions east of Java, Cohen has submitted an application to the country's parliament to promote Van Dimen to the rank of Admiral of the Far East. However, in light of the previous fiasco, Cohen still has doubts about whether Van Dimen can bring home a victory for the company, and Cohen will not dare to bet on Natuna Island until he has further figured out the strength of his opponent.

While Cohen began to secretly mobilize manpower and prepare supplies, he ordered the company's intelligence department to gather information from Chinese maritime merchants who had traveled between Daming and Batavia in recent months, trying to find out what the pirates on Natuna Island were. However, Haihan had already expected this situation in advance, so after occupying the local area, he carefully hid his identity - for this purpose, he also sent hundreds of Portuguese to replace the Dutch, and used this method to fool the past Ming maritime merchants. Although there are actually many differences between the people of these two countries in terms of appearance, for ordinary Daming maritime merchants, they can't distinguish these high-nosed and deep-eyed people from their appearance.

From the confessions of the Ming merchants, the Dutch learned another important fact - it is likely that there were a large number of Europeans on the island, and it was very likely that they were the Portuguese, an old friend of the East India Company.

However, according to Spikes, the Dutch army did not see any Portuguese at all when they attacked the area, and the personnel who fought on the battlefield must have been yellow-haired, black-skinned and thin East Asians. No matter how dazed Spikes was, he would never mistake the Portuguese for East Asians, and the evidence did not seem to be able to confirm whether the Portuguese were directly involved. But the fact that this group of people actually came up with such a way to hide from the world shows that they have indeed been planning to occupy the local area for a long time, and it is not a temporary act.

As more information became available, Cohen became more and more convinced that his opponent was targeting the East India Company, and because of this, Cohen became more and more cautious about launching another island seizure, because the opponent should also anticipate the reaction of the East India Company and make targeted preparations on the ground.

After nearly two months of suspicion and unease, Van Longen, another party to the Battle of Natuna, finally returned to Batavia. However, before the board of directors could hold the nth hearing on the Battle of Natuna, Van Longen had already met with Cohen and reported to him another bad news - the armed fleet stationed in Dayuan had recently been defeated by the combined fleet of the Ming and Haihan on the coast of Fujian, losing four armed galleons and more than 300 sailors.

"Why would Hans send his army to fight off the coast of Fujian? The mission of these armed galleons is to guard the port of Dayuan and the northern shipping routes, not to oppose the Ming Empire!" said Governor Cohen's anger, and he could not tolerate such folly behavior on the part of his men, especially in the immediate aftermath of the accident on Natuna Island, which had been a leak for the East India Company in the rain overnight.

Moreover, judging from the time of Van Longen, the war on the side of Dayuan Port broke out only after he arrived there, that is, Hans, the commander of Dayuan, knew that something had happened on the southern route, but he was still sending troops to open up another battlefield. If Hans didn't rush to watch the ability at this time, it was a fever that burned out his brain.

"According to Herr Hans, the outbreak of this war was caused by the surprise attack of our adversary on our fleet, which took us by surprise and suffered such heavy losses. Van Longen said silently in his heart: Mr. Hans, I can only help you get here.

Van Longen had thought that the reasons that the Hans uncle and nephew had come up with were untenable, and that Governor Cohen was far more savvy than they were, and that these tricks would surely be seen through at a glance. It's just that Hans gave him a lot of benefits in private, asking him to return to Batavia to carry out activities on his behalf, and Van Longen was also taking people's money and eliminating disasters for others. It's just that how much effect this can have, Van Longen is not optimistic.

Sure enough, this method drew Cohen's refuge: "Sudden attack? How could our fleet appear on your Nanri Island? As far as I know, it is close to the coast of Fujian, doesn't Hans know that this guy will directly attract the attack of the Ming army? I think he just wants to show off at this time!"

After the confrontation with the Ming army during the Apocalypse, the East India Company chose to withdraw from Penghu and retreat to Dayuangang, and avoided another military conflict with the Ming Dynasty as much as possible. This was not because the East India Company was afraid of war, but because of interests.

First, a long-term battle with such a behemoth as the Ming Dynasty in the local area will inevitably consume a lot of resources and energy of the East India Company, although the strength of the opponent's army is not strong, but the East India Company is an outsider after all, and the war will definitely not consume the Ming Dynasty.

Second, the war between the two sides also directly affected the East India Company's trade with the Ming Dynasty, although the Ming Dynasty officially did not agree to establish trade relations with the East India Company, but in fact this trade relationship not only existed but also a huge amount, and even Xu Xinsu made a fortune by smuggling business with the East India Company in his early years. In the event of an armed conflict between the two sides, trade had to be halted as a result, and this was not a scenario that the Dutch were happy to see.

In the past two years, in addition to the above two reasons, a new reason has been added: to avoid as much as possible the opportunity for Haihan people to meddle in Fujian's affairs.

The rapid rise of the Haihan had already attracted the attention of the East India Company, and it was not a matter of a day or two that they secretly provided military assistance to the Fujian government, and in Cohen's view, their ambitions were already clear, and sooner or later the Haihan would reach into Fujian, just as they had done in Guangdong.

However, Hans obviously did not grasp this spirit well, and the use of troops along the coast of Fujian was undoubtedly an opportunity for the Haihan people to take advantage of. In particular, Fan Longen also mentioned that when the Haihan mission visited Zhangzhou three months ago, the Eighteen Zhi sent assassins to assassinate the Eighteen Zhi and failed, as a result, the Haihan people retaliated and directly captured Nanri Island, which was originally occupied by the Eighteen Zhi, which was also the direct fuse for the intervention of the Eighteen Zhi later.

Eighteen Zhi made trouble, at least Da Ming and Hai Han would not aim their guns directly at the East India Company, although they may also know very well who is behind Eighteen Zhi. On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty can take this opportunity to avenge the apocalypse, and on the other hand, Haihan can also participate in this war as an ally.

Cohen's temper came up, and he couldn't help coughing violently, his physical condition was already quite bad, if it weren't for a few Chinese doctors helping him recuperate, he would have already become a historical figure.

After finally relieving himself, Cohen said weakly, "Give me a detailed look at what you know about the battle." ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, Mr. Vanderwegen, who led the army this time, has also returned with me, and perhaps it would be more detailed for him to recount the course of the battle. Van Longen wanted to get himself out of this mess sooner rather than later, and didn't want to stay here any longer.

"Okay, you ask him to come to see me as much as he can. Also, you stay in the city, and soon the Board of Directors will summon you and ask about the war on Natuna Island. Don't go out and around during this time, and don't interact with Spikes, you know?" Cohen advised.

"Of course, I will do as you command. Van Longen took out an envelope from his bosom and respectfully handed it to Cohen: "This is a handwritten letter from Mr. Hans of Dayuangang to you. ”

After the handover, Van Longen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although there are still procedures such as hearings to go ahead, he is generally relieved.

When Van Lompen had left Batavia two months earlier, Cohen had promised him that if the trip went well, he would return to succeed Van Dimen and take charge of the maritime trade of the colonies east of Java. However, this errand turned out to be unexpectedly unexpected, and the Natuna Islands and the officers that Van Longen had arrived had suffered a different defeat, and did not dare to mention it again when he returned. If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to go to the northern seas in the near future.

Van der Wegen was actually waiting outside the Governor's Palace, and when he saw Van Longen coming out, he hurriedly stepped forward to inquire about the news. Van Longen coughed dryly and said, "Governor Cohen is going to see you now, but don't rush to shirk your responsibilities after you go in, Your Excellency may ask you about the process of the battle in great detail, answer his questions first, and remember not to bump into him." ”

It was precisely because of Van Longen's advice that Van der Wegen was much calmer when he went in to meet Cohen, which prevented Cohen's impression of him from deteriorating further. In his letter, Hans did not blindly evade responsibility, but devoted more space to analyzing the political situation in Fujian and explaining his reasons for sending troops, which also saved Cohen's perception in a certain way.

After reading Hans's letter, Cohen realized that Haihan's influence in Fujian could not be ignored, and that the Fujian government's attitude towards the Eighteenth Chi and the East India Company was largely due to the support given by Haihan. In particular, in the military aspect, Haihan was no longer satisfied with the superficial efforts of selling arms to the Fujian government and assisting in the training of the army, and directly sent an armed fleet to the coastal areas of Fujian to station, which was undoubtedly a terrible signal, and in the long run it would certainly affect the interests of the East India Company in the Fujian region. From this point of view, Hans actually had a justification for trying to interfere with the process by force, but his approach was inappropriate, leading to the subsequent consequences.