Chapter 208: The Dutch Decisive Battle (Part 3)

After the Dutch drove Zheng Zhilong's troops and Yilan's garrison into the sea, they knew that this former maritime overlord would never not fight back after suffering a loss.

Moreover, since the Keelung Navy defeated Spain and dominated the sea, the Dutch's business has become increasingly difficult. Whether in terms of military strength, morale, or financial resources, they are no longer as good as before, and it is still difficult to deal with Zheng Zhilong's troops.

So in the past half month, Joseph has been clearing out the forces of the settlers in Yilan that may be unfavorable to him, confiscating all the knives and guns in the hands of the settlers and registering them, and requiring that all iron weapons except for the knives used for eating be surrendered.

Although it caused a lot of resistance, after hanging a few stubborn guys on the top of Yilan City, the whole Yilan suddenly became quiet.

But Joseph still did not dare to be careless, and asked the savages under his command to continue to collect from house to house. Once they were found to be hiding privately, the whole family would be killed, making Yilan, which was already full of contradictions, even more like a firecracker sitting on the crater of a volcano, which could explode at any time and anywhere.

He clearly understood that the current Yilan army had only less than 1,500 soldiers, a dozen broken ships, and dozens of cannons of various calibers. If he wanted to defend Yilan from Zheng Zhilong's troops, these measures were far from enough.

Joseph commanded his troops to recruit civilians to reinforce the Dutch advance base, Fort Zeelandia, and the fortresses and defenses of Yilan with glutinous rice, syrup, and cement, and further strengthen the fortifications of Chikan City.

In addition, all Dutch troops on Taiwan were mobilized to put down their tasks, gather together, and strengthen the preparations for war in the three places. At the combat meeting, Joseph declared the justice of the capture of Yilan with emotion, and encouraged all the soldiers on the island to share life and death with the king's land.

After the meeting, he issued an official document requiring the castles and artillery forts in the advance areas to strengthen reconnaissance and armament, and not allowing Chinese to sell food and purchase local products in Fort Zeelandia and Fort Zeelandia. All Chinese leaders and gentry were placed under house arrest in Fort Zeelandia to prevent them from collaborating with the enemy. All the unharvested rice in the fields must be burned, and no more harvesting outside the city is allowed.

"In Yilan City, hundreds of our fellow townsmen from Xiamen and Quanzhou have been killed by the Dutch devils in the paddy fields outside the city in order to protect the harvest in their fields!"

"Wait!" Zheng Zhilong waved his hand to stop his second brother's report, "How did you get this information? Can we still contact the island now?"

Zheng Zhifeng gave him a positive answer.

"Brother, there is still some news, but it can only be traffic news. It is unlikely that a large group of people will go there immediately. Our ships cannot enter those ports. The Dutch devils' artillery fire blocked several ports, and our people must be very careful when entering and leaving."

Zheng Zhilong paced excitedly in the flower hall. The military information brought by Zheng Zhifeng came too timely for him.

"Also, according to what our people have learned from the Dutch devils, Joseph has been worried about the shortage of troops, and has mobilized all the troops on the island as if to fight to the death. In addition, in order to make up for the lack of firearms, he plans to send people and ships to Lingnan to buy muskets and gunpowder from the Portuguese as a precaution."

"If the Portuguese do not sell, or intend to charge money, the Dutch intend to use the name of buying guns and gunpowder to capture Haojing."

"Haha! Their appetite is really big! If I didn't know their strength, I would have thought that the Dutch were the coachman on the sea, and they could attack wherever they wanted?!"

After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help laughing wildly.

"Second brother, do you know what flag the Portuguese in Haojing are flying now?"

"Isn't it the flag of the Portuguese country?!" Zheng Zhifeng didn't know why Zheng Zhilong asked this question.

"You have been at sea these days, but you don't know that the Portuguese are now the puppets of Qin Hao in Keelung. If these Dutch go to attack Haojing, will Qin Hao be able to swallow this breath? I am afraid that the Dutch's muskets have not been lit yet, and the cannons in Keelung will sound!"

"So that's it!"

At this time, Zheng Zhihu came in excitedly from outside, saying that the Dutch were willing to negotiate and willing to pay 200,000 protection fees.

The arrival of these 200,000 silver dollars made Zheng Zhilong hesitant.

What should we do with the Dutch? Should we attack Yilan or not?

If we fight, we can get a stable rear base, settle the settlers, harvest food, and set up a trading station in Yilan. If we don't fight, we can collect 200,000 silver dollars from the Dutch every year, which is enough for him to buy food and various firearms in Keelung.

But how can we swallow the Dutch's anger?

"Zhihu, what do you think we should do with the Dutch? Peace or war?"

"Brother, I say that the Dutch are a bunch of ungrateful people who only care about food and not fighting. Now we have the initiative. With a knife in hand, he will pay the protection fee obediently. In the future, if you are not careful, he will bite you!

Besides, Yilan was given to us by the general. If we just send it over, I am afraid..." After learning about Yilan, Zheng Zhihu was also indignant and worried about the reaction of Keelung. .

Zheng Zhilong always felt uncomfortable with his third brother who favored Keelung. Could it be that the mine in Keelung could change a person's habits so much? His third brother has only been there for a month, but his personality has changed dramatically. If it were not for the close blood relationship, he would have thought that Zheng Zhihu had been replaced.

"But at the moment, our army's strength really can't keep up. A few days ago, Mr. Xiong of Fujian asked us to go to Lingnan to suppress the bandits and deal with those bandits. There won't be too many troops left in Fujian. At most, we are looking after our homeland. If we want to recover, It is impossible to gain territory in Yilan or teach the Dutch a lesson.”

"So, Zhihu, take advantage of the Dutch to send money. In the past two days, you ask the guy who sent the money to accompany you to Yilan to ask that Joseph to withdraw from our territory!"

"That's it?!" Zheng Zhihu was greatly disappointed.

"How is it possible? First stabilize them. I will organize the troops and horses here and tie up the ships. When everything is ready, I will send the Dutch devils back to their hometown."

"Okay! I'll do it right away."

Zheng Zhihu was so happy that he was about to go down, but was stopped by his second brother Zheng Zhifeng.

"Brother, are we going to fight the Dutch? If we fight at sea, our navy is not afraid of the Dutch. But if we want to fight on land in Yilan City, our brothers have never fought a siege war!"

"What's more, we still have to fight with those who surrendered to the Dutch. They make the mountains and forests their home. I don't know when some freshmen with broken hair and tattoos will jump out of the woods and streams. After cutting down a few brothers, It roared and disappeared again." Zheng Zhifeng was also very worried about this war.

"This would cost us too much and it's not cost-effective."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Zheng Zhilong looked unhappy, neither this nor that.

"That's right, second brother, what do you think we should do?" Zheng Zhihu also said in a round tone.

Zheng Zhifeng looked at her eldest brother and third brother and expressed her opinion helplessly: "The most beneficial thing for us right now is to attack a few unimportant small towns in the north of Yilan. I mean, as for Yilan..."

"You mean to give up Yilan and give it to Keelung?" Zheng Zhilong looked at his second brother in disbelief, as if he wanted to see something in his eyes.

But in the end, it didn't happen. He let the two of them go out and stayed alone in the study for a long time.

I casually opened a book of Song Dynasty history on the table, and a sentence caught my eye, "How can someone else be sleeping soundly beside the bed?"

"Ah!" Zheng Zhilong exclaimed, "I understand, I understand."

The exclamation caused the whole house to tremble, and his wife Tian and her maids and servants hurriedly entered to check the situation.

"Husband, what's wrong with you?"

"I understand!" Zheng Zhilong pushed Tian away like crazy and shouted loudly, "Go and invite Zhifeng and Zhihu!"

............

The same military information passed through the vast waves of the South China Sea and was sent to Qin Hao, who was building a naval anchorage in the northern port of Qiongzhou Prefecture.

Qin Hao couldn't help but have an elusive smile on his face as he looked at the information that was collected and compiled by Ye Tianlei, the director of the Military Intelligence Department as quickly as possible.

"The Dutch actually want to go to Haojing to replenish gunpowder? This is good news! It means they have run out of gunpowder!"

Ye Tianlei still looked disgusted with people and ghosts: "Then, will my subordinates inform the Lingnan authorities that they are not allowed to sell weapons and gunpowder to the Dutch?"

"You don't have to take this too seriously!"

"What do you mean, lord?" Ye Tianlei's eyes flashed like will-o'-the-wisps.

After a while, he understood what Qin Hao meant. All materials except firearms could be sold. Keelung was engaged in business and could not give up trading because of the war.

Soon, another piece of military intelligence arrived. The letters from Situ Jianru and Lan Shaoru were similar to the secret report from the Qin and Han Dynasty's Military Intelligence Department.

Recently, in the business circles of the northern and southern capitals, some unknown people, led by Shanxi merchants, have contacted Qin and Han companies, trying to purchase military supplies from Qin and Han companies.

Qin Hao only had this thought in his mind.

"Both the northern and southern capitals?" Qin Hao's voice was slightly trembling and trembling, but if you weren't familiar with it and listened carefully, you wouldn't be able to tell.

"What are they going to buy?"

"Cloth, grain, gauze, cotton, and some alcohol and other medicines. In addition, armor, swords and guns are popular items. A pair of steel armor from the Keelung Military Factory can actually be sold for two hundred taels of silver, and there is still room for growth. ”

"And they want a large quantity, often thousands of armors and swords, rice worth tens of thousands of dan, and the price is basically non-repayable. They are all delivered in cash. The rich owner. The two principals are not sure. Therefore, I am writing to ask my lord to make a decision.”

"Write a letter to Situ Jianru and Lan Shaoru, telling them that at present, for this group of Jin merchants, it is necessary to deal with them in vain, except for making sure that they are purchased and delivered by the army and can be sold for a sum.

All other requests from Jin merchants were declined. They were really unable to refuse. They all sold some equipment that had been eliminated from the army and dealt with it secretly, without asking, once every two months. If there are too many, then I would like to thank you! "

Qin Hao had already vaguely guessed who the trading partner was in the two capitals!

Ye Qi and Lan Shaoru don't know, but Qin Hao, as a chosen one from the 21st century, knows it all too well!

In fact, these two groups of people are still too famous, and they are both the protagonists who caused chaos in the world.

Those who appeared in Jinling can definitely be the Shaanxi peasant army led by Li Zicheng, who traveled across various places in the southern Zhili area and rushed to Chongzhou.

The peasant army may lack strategic vision, but they know very well what weapons are useful!

The number of people who died directly or indirectly in their hands can be measured in tens of millions of units. They can't do it well with sharp weapons, and they can kill people easily.

The customers who appeared in Yanjing were more strategic and had a higher status.

They not only had to buy all the products in Keelung, but also bought raw materials such as wrought iron to make them themselves!

In this way, they could make everything they needed: iron armor, swords, cotton armor, and even muskets and cannons.

Qin Hao couldn't imagine what kind of situation would develop there once his agricultural products and primary industrial products were brought to Liaodong by those generous customers through the trade routes of Jin merchants.

That's right, those customers in Yanjing were the Jiannu of the Liaodong Later Jin Kingdom!

In the future, Keelung's biggest opponent in entering the Central Plains, Qin Hao's enemy - Huang Taiji.

Think of the elite troops of Liaodong Jiannu who were filled with dishes cooked with Keelung rice, vegetable oil and refined salt, wearing cotton armor made of Keelung cloth, iron armor or chain mail made of Keelung wrought iron, wielding steel knives and sharp arrows in their hands, and slaughtering innocent people in the Central Plains with these. That horrible scene is what Qin Hao doesn't want to see right now!

It must not happen, this is Qin Hao's lowest requirement for himself.

Of course, Qin Hao first hates the Jin group of masters, and then admires them. Their perseverance and patience, and their ability to summarize and analyze business intelligence in detail are admirable.

In the absence of railways and roads, they can rely on horse teams and camel teams to do business in Moscow, which is now extremely far away. The perseverance and hard work of Jin merchants are admirable.

Unfortunately, if the ability is not used properly, the greater the ability, the greater the harm!

"It's not the right time now, so don't do anything!" Qin Hao held the two secret reports from Jinling and Yanjing, muttering to himself, "We can confront these shameless businessmen in a few days!"

"Lord, Lord?!" Ye Tianlei called out in his unique low and suppressed voice, pulling Qin Hao back from his trance.

"Oh?! What's the matter?"

Qin Hao couldn't remember what the spy chief in front of him wanted to do.

"So is that how Jinling and Yanjing are handled?" Ye Tianlei was good at judging people's appearances. He found that Qin Hao was a little absent-minded today, so he knocked on the corner to confirm, so as not to misunderstand the Lord's meaning and send the wrong order, which would bring him a fatal disaster.

"Just do as we said before. You can sell some daily necessities, but no gunpowder or firearms. Even if we have to break up with each other, they can't get even a grain of gunpowder from me." Qin Hao stood on the top of the artillery battery in the northern port, facing the humid sea breeze blowing from the South China Sea. He looked at the areca palm trees that were as straight as masts, or the swaying coconut trees on the mountains and plains in the north, and couldn't help feeling proud.