"It is my pleasure, Lord Governor." Wenbeck bowed slightly and said in a very gentlemanly tone;

"Following in the footsteps of our forerunners, we have been here in this archipelago for more than 300 years, and we are very familiar with the maritime geography and climate of the East Indies region, and the possibility of encountering storms and plagues is extremely small, and even if we do, it is impossible to wipe them out, so this possibility can be ruled out.

Look around

The French are waging a colonial war in the Kingdom of Vietnam in Indochina and are deliberately advancing on kingdoms such as Laos and Cambodia, and have neither the ability nor the will to cause trouble in our colonial zone.

The same is true of the Americans and the Fuso, who are powerless, and the local slash-and-burn natives are even less likely.

So only the Spanish pirates and the English were possible, if the Spanish pirates were raids, and if they were British, I judged it to be more likely to be an individual. ”

Speaking of which

Wenbeck said helplessly; "As the true maritime hegemon in this world, the British do not need to be sneaky about which piece of territory, after the Battle of Waterloo, the British withdrew from the rule of Java to show goodwill to the Netherlands, with their usual pride, and will not be interested in a desert island."

This judgment is really a three-point point, and it is close to 6 percent of the facts.

Sir Frederick S. Jacob nodded approvingly, walked to the window, looked out at the bustling city of Batavia, and said with a light sigh;

"No matter which one it is, it's not easy to deal with, we can't get out now!"

"Yes, Lord Governor." Winbeck wisely didn't say much.

"Thank you very much, dear Wenbeck, and I'll be looking for you if you need to know about it."

"We are always looking forward to your inquiry."

Winbeck bowed slightly, turned and left the governor's office, closing the door casually.

Located on the northwest coast of Java, Batavia was initially occupied by the Dutch as a seaside fishing village of two to three thousand people, and has grown to become one of the most important port cities in Southeast Asia with a population of more than 900,000.

It was a center of trade between the East and the West, a channel for the transmission of material and cultural knowledge, and in the nineteenth century it had a high degree of internationalization and was an open trading city.

The climate in Batavia at the end of August is as hot and hot and rainy as ever, the climate here is maintained between 25~28 degrees Celsius all year round, the rainfall is average, there is no dry season and rainy season, there is only one season throughout the year, that is, summer.

Sir Frederick S. Jacob, who hails from the Nordic region, now misses the snow of the Alps, and his family owns a large castle in Austria that turns into a fairytale world when the snow falls in winter.

And in this Dutch-ruled city, Mr. Governor could not find that kind of affectionate sense of belonging in any way.

Mr. Frank-Sneijder's hasty intrusion shattered the quiet life of the Governor and presented him with a problem.

The present East Indies are not at peace, and the Dutch invasion of Aceh has been going on for nine years since 1873, with no end in sight.

Two-thirds of the army forces under the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies were used in the Aceh battlefield to maintain a strong suppression of the rebels.

Think back to the beginning

The Dutch soldiers arrived on the land of Aceh with confidence, feeling like it was just an easy trip to the countryside, and the Dutch were joined by soldiers recruited from all over Europe, and the conquistadors were confident in the face of the natives of Aceh who only had spears and broadswords.

The truth is exactly the opposite

The natives of Aceh inflicted hardships on the colonial army, and the war became a nightmare for the Dutch.

The Acehnese adopted the tactics of guerrilla warfare, they were good at using the terrain in battle, hiding the army from the people, and the Dutch could not distinguish between ordinary Acehnese civilians and Acehnese soldiers, because they were all wearing the same tattered clothes, and they were soldiers when they took up arms, and civilians when they laid down their arms.

The Acehnese's tactics included setting traps, setting ambushes, and raiding Dutch soldiers wandering alone in the streets and villages, which made the Dutch feel that every village was hiding the danger of death.

The terrified Dutch army, in order to dig up the hidden Arcchi resistance fighters, bulldozed villages, burned houses, and raised butcher knives against civilians......

So far, most of the Army's soldiers have been bogged down in the quagmire of the Aceh War, and the rest of the army is less than 6,000 combined.

There were also many mercenaries from European countries to supplement the Dutch army, which was starved of manpower, and needed to maintain the domination and deterrence of the vast colonies of the East Indies from Malacca to Borneo, and there were more than 13,000 islands alone.

So, Sir Frederick S. Jacob had no extra troops to use elsewhere.

Due to the prolonged duration of the Aceh War, the high financial costs, and the high number of casualties, the government and the military of the Kingdom of the Netherlands were deeply divided, and some cabinet officials accused the military of blindly starting the war, while the military turned against each other, and the prosperity of the Kingdom of the Netherlands came from the continuous colonial wars.

The nine-year war saw no sign of victory, and there was a strong anti-war sentiment among the people, and some officials began to propose to withdraw from Aceh.

The previous governor was disgraced by his inaction in the war and became a scapegoat for the protracted war in Aceh.

Therefore, there is a historical tradition that the population of the Dutch people who are reckless and militant has always been small.

Think about it

Sir Frederick S. Jacob still maintained his original idea, and sent someone to visit the island first, and God willing, it was just some plague or natives making trouble, otherwise things would be tricky.

Neither the Spaniards nor the English were easy to deal with, especially the British......

Come to think of it

Sir Frederick S. Jacob gritted his teeth and gasped, feeling a chill on his back in this sweltering heat, and he had a hunch that this time the governor's tenure was not as peaceful as he had imagined.

One day at the end of August

Surabaya Port

The three-masted galleon Tulip moored at the pier, Captain Marco van Nistelrooy, an experienced old sea wolf, is a strong and burly man, with a wind-blown face and a thick beard.

This time, the Tulip was loaded with spices, marijuana and copper ingots and headed for Manila, and it took nearly a month and a half to make a round trip.

If the exploration of Irian Island did not go well, the return date would be greatly delayed, much to the displeasure of Captain Marco van Nistelrooy, who could not refuse the secret mission of the colonial government.

In accordance with the tradition since the Age of Discovery

The clergy, scholars, and civilian ships sent by the Western colonial governments were often tasked with secretly collecting information about the world, customs, geography, culture, politics, and even special products......

With trade facilitation comes responsibility.

"Hi dear Mr. Captain, I'm Frank Sneijder, who runs a plantation in West Java, and it's a great pleasure to meet you." Mr. Frank Sneijder, accompanied by a boatswain, came over and was the first to say hello in a loud voice.

"I've always hated trouble, and I don't find it any pleasure, and at last warn you bastard, take those three words of dear out of me, or I won't mind letting the lad on the boat fuck your asshole." Captain Marco van Nistelrooy glanced at him coldly, and his words were vulgar enough, which was also in line with the character of the old sea wolf who had been drifting on the sea all year round.

Ruthless, decisive and rough, otherwise it would not be possible to suppress the unruly sailors on board.

Mr. Frank Sneijder's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, the smile on his face quickly faded, and he stared at Mr. Captain and said; "You don't need me to remind you, Mr. Captain, that you should have received a letter from the Governor's Palace, and that I will be a key member of this expedition to Irian Island."

"Did I tell you that your mouth really stinks, now get out of here." Captain Marco van Nistelrooy took a thick Cuban cigar out of his jacket pocket, bit off the butt of the cigarette, and then took the cigar to his mouth, and the boatswain immediately lit it for him.

Mr. Frank-Sneijder's face immediately turned black as the bottom of a pot, and he was eager to kill the rude Dutch man with a single shot; "You don't need to threaten me, Mr. Captain, I'm here on a secret mission."

Taking a deep inhalation, the strong, fragrant smell of tobacco spread, and Captain Marco van Nistelrooy sighed in pleasure and looked at Mr. Frank Sneijder with a disdainful laugh; "Hey, hey, hey...... What a shitty secret mission, it's just to go to Jayapura to find your two sons.

I transported army soldiers, weapons and ammunition in the Aceh War, led sailors in the war against the natives, and carried out 80 important secret missions, if not 100.

This shit of yours can only be put at the end at best, stop bothering me with this shit thing, and get the fuck out of my way now.

Otherwise, I'll let you rub your white ass on the deck for two months, and your white skin and Dutch accent won't do anything to me.

Now remember for me, you stinking old white boy, I'm the tyrant here, and I'm in charge of this boat. ”

After saying that, he took another beautiful puff of cigar.

Mr. Frank Snead was almost angry, but in the face of such a vulgar captain, he had no temper at all, and could only slip out of the captain's sight.

The Tulip is a large three-masted sail cargo ship that can carry up to 680 tons of cargo between the oceans, with more than 150 sailors on board.

After setting sail

On a three-masted galleon full of cargo, the narrow deck and cargo space are where the sailors rest, especially between the huge masts, and the sailors sleep on canvas beds like dense silkworm chrysalis, one after the other, layer after layer.

The whole ship

Only the captain had a small, separate captain's quarter, which was an expression of absolute authority and did not tolerate any provocation.

The tulip sailing ship sails on the sparkling sea, and the brilliant sunset on the horizon seems to reflect the sea in red, presenting a beautiful blurry picture.

The white sails on the mainmast fed the sea breeze, and dozens of steel rigging made a non-stop trilling sound as they cleaved the waves, as if they were a huge lyre played by an invisible hand, making a staggered chirp.

Captain Marco van Nistelrooy came out of the captain's quarters, holding a heavy wooden wine glass with golden barley beer foaming at the mouth, and he took a long sip of it, letting the overflowing beer flow down his thick beard and onto his chest, looking very pleasant in the sea breeze.

"Hey, old brown, is that old white boy still honest on my ship?" Captain Marco van Nistelrooy walked up to the gray-haired helmsman and casually handed over the beer glass as he asked.

The helmsman Old Brown took the wine glass, took a few big sips of the unceremonious "Gollum, Gollum", and wiped the corners of his mouth with his hand; "Except for being touched on the ass in the afternoon, this old boy pulled out a gun and wanted to play with his life, there was no other movement."

"That's good, even if he still knows each other."

"Hey, hey, hey...... Do you want to add some spice to him? Old Brown was smiling wickedly at the wheel of the huge wooden steering wheel.

"Forget it, we don't have the time to deal with this self-righteous fool, more than 60 white settlers with loaded guns have disappeared, and I suspect there is a great danger here, and we must find out the situation before we can act." Beneath the rude exterior of Captain Marco van Nistelrooy, there is a delicate mind.

"Boss, are we going to Manila with a full load of cargo this time, do we have to make a detour to Irian Island (Shangri-La Island) first?"

"It's still a fart, the heavy ship can't be relied on when the draft is so deep, I'll talk about it when I return." Marco van Nistelrooy replied casually, took his beer glass and took a big sip, seeing that it had bottomed out, he couldn't help but scold; "You damn old fellow, I cursed you to hell and killed me half of the beer I just poured."

"Don't be so stingy, sir, if you don't drink a little, I'll doze off at night." As he spoke, Old Brown took out another tin jug from his bosom, and when the lid was opened, there was a strong smell of rum, and he took a big sip and handed it to the captain; "There's not much left, remember to fill it up after drinking."

"Huh...... Sooner or later, you old fellow, will die in a barrel. Marco van Nistelrooy laughed, poured the remaining rum from the tin jug into a beer glass, shook it gently to mix well, and then raised his head and took a clean sip with a satisfied burp; Wait, I'll pour you some more wine. ”

The sea breeze blew across the deck, the heavy pulley sets crashed against the bulkhead with a muffled sound, and the three-masted galleon cleaved all the way to the north, becoming smaller and smaller against the background of the sunset, and finally disappeared into the sea level.