1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 370 The Power of the Dutch
On April 1640, 4, a fleet of 18 ships sailed into the port of Batavia.

Batavia Governor Anthony van Daiman brought many middle and senior officials of the East India Company to the pier with great excitement to welcome the arrival of this fleet from mainland Europe.

The fleet brought a large amount of much-needed materials and personnel to the East India Company, especially the [-] German mercenaries. For the Dutch colonial authorities, it was tantamount to sending charcoal in a timely manner.

At the same time, the fleet also brought a piece of news that made everyone in the Dutch East India Company extremely excited. In October last year, the Dutch navy severely damaged the Spanish navy in the Downs waters of England, defeating their attempt to invade the Netherlands again.

In September 1639, in order to suppress the rebellion in the Netherlands, Spain assembled a huge navy in its homeland. The combined fleet of Spain and Portugal was the main force, consisting of 9 warships, equipped with a total of 77 sailors and soldiers. The task was to go to Flanders and put out the "revolt" in the north, and the task of the navy was to seize control of the English Channel.

The fleet, commanded by Spanish Navy veteran Antonio de Oquendo, set sail from Lisbon.The fleet is powerful. Among them, the Portuguese Santa Teresa has a displacement of 1100 tons. The double-layer artillery deck is equipped with 68 guns. The sailors and the army on board have a total of 1000 people.The flagship of the fleet is the Spanish Santiago, which has a displacement of 1200 tons and 60 guns. Other warships are also large in tonnage.The Spaniards wanted to do their best to completely solve the "rebels" in the Netherlands.

The commander of the Dutch fleet was Marton Tropp, who first used 13 squadrons in the waters of the beachhead, using the shallow sea and sandbar terrain to limit the Spanish galleons from being able to exert their strength.And Tropp imitated the tactics of Drake and Howard, instead of arranging the battleships in an offensive formation, he took them into the melee.

The sight on the sea was blurred by the thick smoke from the gunfire, causing the nervous Spaniards and Portuguese to be unable to see their opponents clearly. They thought they were being attacked by the Dutch and bombarded them with heavy artillery.

In the end, the joint fleet of Spain and Portugal was completely chaotic, and the strangest scene in the history of naval warfare happened. 77 huge warships were actually chased by 13 small warships all the way, until they retreated near the Downs sea area of ​​England, and were blocked by the Dutch again. Live at the neck of the waterway, guarding Downs and throwing the ground.

On October 10, one month after the blockade of the Spanish-Portuguese combined fleet, the reinforced and strengthened Dutch began their general attack on it.

What is surprising is that the Spanish and Portuguese navies, which were among the top European navies at that time, behaved like fish belly and were slaughtered. Of the 77 warships, only Admiral Oquendo led 7 warships to escape through the burning smoke and returned to Dunkirk on November 11.

In this battle, it is estimated that the Spaniards lost 43 ships and killed about 6000 people in the naval battle; the Dutch lost 10 arson ships and killed about 1000 people.

After this naval battle, Spain suffered heavy losses and completely gave up its attempt to conquer the Netherlands. At the same time, it also won the reputation of the Netherlands as a maritime power.

At the same time, this naval battle also marked a major turning point in the world's naval power. Due to the process of this naval battle after the 30-year war until the beginning of the 18th century, Spain failed to rebuild its naval superiority. The Netherlands completely replaced it as the world's most powerful naval power.

However, the Dutch ignored one of the most critical issues in this naval battle. The Downs naval battle took place within the British territorial waters, blatantly undermining the neutral position of the UK. For the UK, the inability of the navy to intervene is a great shame.British resentment over the incident may have played a role in the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War.

After winning the great naval battle against Spain, the board of directors of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam, in order to make up for the early Eastern trade and transportation forces, immediately began to dispatch a large number of fleets to the Far East.

The 22 armed merchant ships that arrived earlier this time gave Governor Daiman more confidence. In addition to organizing some ships to transport all kinds of oriental goods that have been accumulated for a long time to return to Europe, other ships will enrich the local maritime armed forces so that he can Active and effective measures were adopted to maintain the maritime hegemony of the Dutch East India Company in this area.

Governor Daiman knew that since the Dutch navy had severely damaged the Spanish navy, there would definitely be a large number of ships coming to the East Indies from the mainland in the future.Batavia's strength will also be greatly enhanced in the short term, and the attack plan against the Portuguese may be ready to proceed.

Oh, and that rebellious Hanzhou must be sealed more tightly. It is best to find an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to them.The war has been going on for more than a year. Apart from blockading Hanzhou, the Dutch seem to have caused no actual harm to them. On the contrary, Hanzhou rushed out suddenly and bit the Dutch, causing them heartache.

However, neither the navy nor the army seems to want to directly attack the mainland of Hanzhou and the outlying island strongholds they control.The good fighting skills of the Hanzhou people on land and the strong construction of the fort made the Dutch mercenaries unwilling to pay too many casualties to face the attack directly.

But the problem is that Hanzhou's ships did not meet the Dutch ships at all.They will only sneak attack on the Dutch merchant ships that are alone, and attack the Dutch strongholds with cold hands.The sea was vast, and no matter how many ships the Dutch had, they could not find one or two Hanzhou ships at sea.But if they send armed merchant ships to blockade Hanzhou mainland and their overseas territories, the cost will be too high.

"Governor, the place where Hanzhou is based should be a huge island." Colonel Dakman Barrek, the naval commander, said, "Can we organize materials and personnel to land on a place in Hanzhou and build an island?" Stronghold for long-term planning. With the nearest supply point, we can better implement the blockade of Hanzhou."

"I remember that when our navy blocked the mainland of Hanzhou last year, we set up a temporary camp on an island not far from Hanzhou." Governor Daiman listened to Colonel Barek's words, a little moved and thoughtful "Is that place suitable?" he asked eagerly.

"The island is densely forested. If a stronghold is established, all supplies will need to be imported from outside within a year or two." Colonel Barek said: "Moreover, it is only a one-day flight from Jianye Port in Hanzhou , vulnerable to attack from Hanzhou. Unless, we maintain a large-scale fleet there for a long time.”

"Then we need to choose another place." Governor Daiman nodded and said: "In order to maintain a deterrent to Hanzhou, it is necessary for us to land on Hanzhou and establish a strong stronghold."

"Yes, Your Excellency Governor." Colonel Barek said, "We have explored the southern New World several times before, and the sailors and officers who landed and checked said that the land there looked very desolate and worthless. However, I have a bold guess, the continent we named New Holland is likely to be connected to Hanzhou, or even the same continent!"

"Oh?" Colonel Barek's words immediately attracted Governor Dayman's attention, and said: "If New Holland and Hanzhou are the same complete continent, then Hanzhou is likely to monopolize this huge piece of land. In this regard, we need to stop it even more. We must send out the exploration fleet again. In addition to ascertaining the actual situation of this land, we must also find a landing place at a suitable distance from Hanzhou Jianye Port for the construction of a stronghold. Pakistan Colonel Lake, do you have a suitable candidate for another New Holland exploration?"

"Yes, I think the most suitable candidate is Major Abel Tasman." Colonel Barek thought for a while, and then said: "Major Tasman is a very experienced captain. Today, Maluku Islands, Indonesia) served on the route. Later, he carried out the transportation task of the Japanese route. After Nicholas captured Formosa, because the trade between Japan and North Korea was suspended, at present, he is arranged to go to Palembang (Great) Hong Kong) and India to perform trade and transportation tasks on the front line.”

"Then arrange for him to make an exploratory voyage to New Holland or Hanzhou, so that we can thoroughly understand that huge land." Governor Daiman said: "I hope he can make our East India Company's voyage to Hanzhou within this year." Build a stronghold nearby."

History, often spawned by countless unexpected events, will accidentally turn a corner at a certain point, or push a certain process forward a little bit.

Abel Tasman, born in Groningen, the Netherlands, was employed by the Dutch East India Company in the 17s and became a member of the East India Company Navy. He has been serving in the Far East. In 30, he also brought his wife to Paris. Davia, and settled in the East.

Originally, in 1642 and 1644, commissioned by the East India Company, he made two successful voyages, drew maps of northern, western and southern Australia, and successively discovered Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji.Become one of the most famous navigators in the history of global navigation.

Today, Abel Tasman's New Netherlands exploration activities are two years ahead of the original historical time and space, and in order to deal with the threat of Hanzhou, it is necessary to find a suitable colonial base for the East India Company.

Just as Governor Dayman continued to discuss with the Navy how to suppress the Portuguese sea raids in the Straits of Malacca, a naval officer hurried to the Governor's Palace and whispered something to Colonel Barek.

Immediately, Colonel Barek's expression immediately became ferocious and painful.

"What's the situation?" Governor Dai Man's heart tightened, and he asked in a deep voice.

"Governor, half a month ago, Hanzhou attacked Kupang."

"Have they... been repelled?" Governor Daiman asked out of luck.

"They conquered Kupang." Colonel Barek said bitterly: "Just like Ambon, Kupang... was also swept away by the Hanzhou people."

With a "bang", Governor Daiman slapped the table heavily with his palm in annoyance.

The joy brought by welcoming the fleet from the mainland of Europe in the morning was immediately extinguished by this news, and an unspeakable resentment and aggrievedness settled in my heart.

(End of this chapter)