1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 233 Portugal's Choice
The Portuguese Governor of Ceylon, Dietous Smit, had just taken office not long ago, and he was not fully familiar with the situation of the entire Ceylon colony.Before his eyes, it was an extremely bad situation.Colonial soldiers lacked fighting spirit, colonial officials lacked the necessary dedication, and the entire Ceylon colony was generally demoralized by the defeat suffered in March.

His predecessor, Governor Castro, was unfortunately killed in the Battle of Mount Gannoruwa with the Kingdom of Kandy.Following the death of Governor Castro, there were more than 900 heroic Portuguese colonial troops. Although most of them were descendants of Portuguese-tin mixed blood, they were also one of the important forces that Portugal ruled the Ceylon colony.

Today, the entire Ceylon colony is facing a situation of insufficient defense forces and no fighting spirit.In order to boost the morale of the colonial army, Governor Dietous Smit planned to recruit another [-] soldiers to carry out a limited blow to the Kandy kingdom.

However, the preparations for the attack had not yet been completed, and three days ago, a shocking news suddenly came from the colonial establishment in Malacca.

The Dutch are coming to Ceylon!

The Malacca colonial agency obtained detailed information from Batavia, and the accuracy is very high.In May, the Dutch had signed a treaty with the Kingdom of Kandy against the Portuguese, and were invited to station on the east coast of Ceylon.The intelligence pointed out that the Dutch would land in a small fishing village in eastern Ceylon called Portoville by the locals at the end of June or early July. There were eight armed merchant ships, more than [-] landing soldiers, and hundreds of soldiers. Javanese and Ming people.

Immediately afterwards, the news from Kandy City also confirmed the accuracy of this information from the side.In mid-April, a group of Dutchmen entered their palace in Kandy.

No, the Dutch must not be easily allowed to land on Ceylon, they are all greedy commodity dealers.Once they get a foothold, they will find ways to crowd out the Portuguese.Just like a few decades ago, in the Spice Islands, in Timor Island, and in India, the outrageous approach.What is even more worrying is that the Kingdom of Kandy on the island also colluded with the Dutch.

"Send fast liaison ships to India, to Malacca, to Ho Keng (Macau), and to Oecussi (now the port of Pante Makassar, East Timor enclave), asking for their quick support. We must respond to the Dutch invasion , to launch a resolute and tough counterattack." Governor Dietous Smit said loudly to his subordinates: "We must quickly and covertly assemble about ten warships, not only to frustrate the Dutch attack Landing attempt, but also to teach them an impressive lesson!"

"Governor, could this be a trap set by the Dutch? A few months ago, they were still planning to attack our Timor Island." A colonial official reminded the new Governor.
"Mr. Delta." Seeing someone questioning his judgment, Governor Dietous Smit said with a worried face: "I would like to ask, what is on Ceylon Island? And what is on Timor Island? Moreover, the Dutch have already occupied half of Timor Island. I am a little pessimistic, if the Dutch want to take the remaining half of Timor Island. Our strength there is unstoppable.”

"However, in Ceylon, we have been operating for more than 100 years, with a strong foothold and a deep colonial foundation. Here are the spices that the Dutch have long coveted. They have tried to land several times, but we have thwarted them. Now, facing us Unprecedented defeat and weakness, how do you think the Dutch will choose?"

The colonial official suddenly came to his senses, "Your Excellency, you are more considerate. We must seek help from other colonies as soon as possible, and once again thwart the Dutch attempt to get involved in Ceylon Island."

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The Governor of Portugal in Oecussi, Giorgos Diawara, was stunned when he received a letter of appeal for help from the Governor of Ceylon, Dietous Smit.Aren't the Dutch trying to unite with that Hanzhou to attack our Ocussi?Why did the fleet suddenly assemble and land on Ceylon again?
Shout out?Giorgos Diawara suddenly realized something, damn the Dutch, they should have threatened us by force, making us Portuguese think that they would attack Timor Island.

Think about it too, the Dutch have already occupied half of Timor Island, and there are no spices for them to trade here.As for all kinds of precious wood, there is no shortage of them in Batavia and Palembang.

Moreover, with the Dutch's consistent face of focusing on interests, it is impossible for them to go to war for a servant.That being the case, the three armed merchant ships docked at the port of Oecussi can all support Ceylon.

However, soldiers cannot support too much.Because, recently, the Weihali Kingdom in the central part of the island has received assistance from somewhere, and there are obviously many more swords and spears than before.Even, they also have some muskets.They continued to attack the colonial strongholds deep inland, causing a lot of losses to Portuguese residents and soldiers.

Giorgos Diawara decided to gather more than 200 soldiers in the near future, and at the same time recruit more than [-] soldiers from the Kingdom of Larantuca (a vassal kingdom controlled by Portugal and the only Catholic kingdom in the Nanyang region) to prepare for the Baucau, the royal city of the Wehally Kingdom, carried out a devastating blow in retaliation for their frequent raids on Portuguese colonial strongholds.

As for the Hanzhou, I heard that their colonial stronghold in the south of Timor Island is very strong and has many artillery pieces. It is indeed a tough nut to crack.

What's even more annoying is that Hanzhou is still clamoring, and will send troops to attack Ocussi, so that the people of our noble Lord will pay for the lives of the immigrants on the sunken ship.It's ridiculous!They think they can rely on the support of the Dutch to threaten our great Portuguese kingdom?

After repelling the Dutch attack on Ceylon, we must organize a fleet to go to the mainland of Hanzhou in the south to give them a demonstrative warning.

Of course, I have to admit that the mother country of your Hanzhou—Ming Kingdom is indeed a huge and powerful kingdom.However, in the area of ​​the East Indies, the strength of your Hanzhou is not enough.Don't think that because you defeated the Spaniards with the support of the Dutch, you think you are very strong.The reality will cruelly tell you, Hanzhou, that you are far from our Portuguese opponents at sea.

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"We think that while the Portuguese ships are returning to Ceylon to fight against the Dutch, we can unite with the Wahali Kingdom to launch a large-scale attack on Dili." Qi Tian suggested to Cao Xiong.

"Those natives can break the Portuguese castle?" Cao Xiong doubted the fighting power of the soldiers of the Kingdom of Weihali.

"We can provide a few cannons to help them break the city gate." Qi Tian learned from Niu Hu that the city of the Holy Name Jesus was bombarded by the heavy artillery of the Han and Dutch coalition forces, causing the native soldiers to rush into the city.In Dili, perhaps, it could be replicated.

"Then do we need to send marines?" Cao Xiong asked.

"You can send out a company. In addition to bringing back some things, you can also train soldiers."

Hearing the phrase "Bring something back", Cao Xiong couldn't help laughing.It is a scholar who can talk about the looting of Portuguese cities in such a cryptic manner.

"I don't know when Dajiang will return to Hanzhou. These few boats at home may not be able to threaten the Portuguese." Cao Xiong said.

"If we can capture Dili, we can go further west and go to Ocussi, the center of the Portuguese rule in Timor Island, to demonstrate, and we can also organize warships to go to the northwest of Timor Island to attack the Portuguese vassal—— The Kingdom of Larantuka. Not only can it continue to weaken the strength of the Portuguese, but it can also train and improve the combat effectiveness of the Hanzhou navy."

No wonder, someone once said that the army lasts ten years and the navy lasts a hundred years.The army is easy to build, requires rigorous training, and after a few more battles, it will soon become effective.The construction of the navy is not easy, it cannot be accomplished overnight, and it takes time to accumulate.

The current Hanzhou Navy is weak, and it is impossible to confront the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, the maritime powers that have accumulated for decades, and it is not worthy of a full blow.The only way to gain combat experience and improve maritime combat skills is to fight the sampans of those small countries.

"Those two old gentlemen are still in Heishan City?" Cao Xiong said leisurely.

"I heard that I went to Xinhuai'an yesterday to see our newly cultivated farmland." Qi Tian replied.

"You have been looking forward to them for a long time, why are you not in a hurry to see them?"

"I haven't figured it out yet, what should I say when we meet." Qi Tian tilted his head and thought for a while, then smiled wryly, "After all, they were kidnapped by us."

They were talking about Wang Zheng and Song Yingxing who were "trafficked" by Zheng Zhilong to Hanzhou. They have been in Hanzhou for more than a month. Village soldiers, follow and protect them at any time.And issued an order that wherever they want to go, they must not be blocked.

"Worried that people will look down on our Hanzhou?"

"With a population of just over [-], and living in a remote continent, and thousands of miles away from Daming, they will look down on us, that's for sure."

"How do you convince them to stay and be willing to help us develop industrial and agricultural production?"

"I plan to give them all the resources they can. As long as they want to do something, Hanzhou will fully support them."

"That's it?"

"That's the only way." Qi Tian said: "If they really want to do something, maybe they will be moved by our support from Hanzhou."

In Daming, Wang Zheng and Song Yingxing didn't have high official positions, and they definitely didn't have too many resources.If they really have a "scientific" heart, a spirit of exploring things, and a huge force to support them, they should think about doing something, right?
(End of this chapter)