556 The opponent’s purpose?

After getting in touch with Hexi and confirming that they were not in any danger, Qionghai had the time to carefully consider the purpose of this sudden Dutch attack and the current situation they were facing.

It stands to reason that no matter how you look at it, the actions of the Dutch can be regarded as unintended - as someone has analyzed before: they have lost all their support bases in East Asia, even if they transfer a dozen new ships from the mainland

Without fixed logistical support, a warship that resorts to roving to commit crimes will not be able to sustain it for long.

Besides, with the Qiong Navy here, even if they defeat the Zheng family, they still won't be able to gain a foothold in the South China Sea.

The Zheng family is also puzzled by this point - their losses this time were particularly heavy, and a big factor was that they were very lax in their thinking - according to the unwritten agreement between the two parties, the South China Sea has always been the Qiong Navy's

They always thought that even if the sky fell, Qiong Haijun, a tall man, would be able to hold them up, and he would not be able to crush them. However, he did not expect that this time they were specifically targeting the Zheng family, and there was no defense at all in Xiamen Port.

For this reason, although Zheng Zhihu did not find a job in Shandong, he still lingered on, quite like "you have to give me an explanation." In the next few days, Fujian, Guangdong and other coastal prefectures and counties also successively reported the situation.

It was said that red barbarian gunboats were harassing the coastal area and plundered several villages, and some fishing boats and merchant ships were hijacked. In fact, the losses were not too great. Some chickens, cattle, fish and rice were robbed, but the ships and personnel were robbed.

They were all later released without even asking for the non-food cargo they were carrying. According to those who were released, the red barbarians seemed to have some scruples this time and did not dare to hurt anyone.

But several coastal counties are still furious. After all, they have just gotten used to the safe maritime environment. Fisheries and commerce in coastal areas have begun to develop gradually. With the Dutch interfering with it, the huge sums of money that many big families have just invested are about to disappear.

Losing money, how can this be done? Businesses that can grow their business these days have people behind them. Several local celebrities or retired officials went to the prefectural government offices, and many local officials began to write

Memorial, preparing to impeach Qiong Haijun.

——This is not because they deliberately want to make trouble with Qiong Haijun, but because of the most basic principle in officialdom: when you encounter trouble, you must quickly shirk the responsibility. And it is easy to shirk responsibility in this matter.

——The imperial court made a good statement when recruiting people: Shorthair will be responsible for dealing with the Western barbarians. Now, just a few years ago, the red barbarians came to invade the country again. In any case, the shorthaired shorthair is a "negligent" in his duties.

The crime is definitely correct

There are also some officials who have a good relationship with them. They are not in a hurry to write the book. Instead, they find ways to come over and ask what is going on? Do you short-haired people have the ability to calm the matter down? If it can be calmed down as soon as possible, then we will take care of it.

I'll help you take some risks first. If it can't be solved, then it's impossible. Brother, I can only take care of myself first...

In this way, several urgent telegrams came in from various coastal contact points, and the Hainan Island headquarters was also anxious. Now that several military commanders are not at home, Aosayan is temporarily responsible for this work. He can only report that he has just arrived home.

The "Snow Wind" and other three clippers were sent out again, and together with the "White Horse" and "Feiyan" ships that were already outside, they continued to perform search missions on the southeast coast, but the target was changed to find the Dutch fleet. As long as

Find the opponent's position, let the Clippers keep an eye on them from a distance, and then turn around and mobilize Luzon's main fleet to deal with them.

However, rather than just finding the opponent and destroying it, the committee wanted to know why the Dutch did this? It is understandable that the Dutch East India Company was not willing to lose the large markets of China and Japan in East Asia, but if it thought that it relied on the dozen or so medium-sized ships

The sailing ship can regain control of the sea area here... Those old businessmen who are good at weighing are not so naive, right?

The previous battle in the Qiongzhou Strait should have taught them enough lessons. If not, there is also the subsequent battle on Taiwan Island - after these two wars, no matter how arrogant the Europeans are, they will definitely know this.

The weapons around them are much more advanced than theirs. And it is precisely because of this advantage that they dare to plunder everywhere in the world.

"To find out what they're thinking."

Such words have appeared many times in committee discussions. As two recognized think tanks in Qiong Haijun, Pang Yu and Zhao Lide have also received telegrams from the headquarters, hoping that they can help analyze their opponents' ideas.

It’s just that the two people’s responses were similar - any correct judgment must be based on sufficient information, and the only news they got at the moment was that a medium-sized Dutch fleet suddenly appeared on the coast of Fujian and attacked

For several ports, including Xiamen, there is no further information. The information is insufficient. Even if some guesses can be made, their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. It is even more unrealistic to use this as a basis to determine the plan.

, to put it mildly, that’s called delusion.

So right now they can only make some relatively simple guesses and don't dare to make big claims.

Those at the headquarters obviously knew that this request was a bit excessive, so they continued to send all the information they had learned to Shandong and Luzon as quickly as possible. Including all the new information sent by the Zheng family...

——After receiving this sap for no reason and suffering heavy losses, Zheng Zhilong was furious. As a generational hero, he certainly could not place all his hopes of revenge on his allies. On the one hand, he asked Zheng Zhihu to come to Qionghai Navy for help.

, on the other hand, they also mobilized all their own manpower, and spent a lot of money earned over the years, summoning heroes from all over the land and sea, promised heavy rewards, and prepared to fight to the death with the red-haired ghost.

However, in order to fight the opponent decisively, he must first find the opponent's location. For this, Zheng Zhilong even offered a huge reward. Compared with Qiong Haijun's clueless search on the sea with a clipper ship, the Zheng family has traveled across Fujian and Zhejiang for many years, and has accumulated rich resources.

Personal connections seem to be more effective. Most ports on the southeastern coast have their informants. Even if they don't, as long as they are willing to spend money, it is easy to buy information.

Relying on the advantage of local snakes, the Zheng family quickly learned a lot of gossip about the attack. The most useful one was that the Dutch were not completely alone. They received help from local people here. And the people who came to help them were

, but it is the old enemy of the Zheng family and Qiong Haijun. The big pirate Liu Xiang gang used to be almost equal to the Zheng group, but has basically disappeared in recent years.

"No wonder they dare to act in this area..."

After receiving this piece of information, both the Zheng family and Qiong Haijun had a sudden feeling. The Zheng family had always suspected that no matter how lax the defenses in Xiamen Harbor were, they were not crowded with resting sailboats every day.

How could the Red Yi fleet that came from afar be so coincidental? It would launch a surprise attack when the largest number of ships were gathered in the port?

Sure enough, someone had tipped off the information. Zheng Zhilong first suspected that there was something wrong with the internal staff, and conducted a thorough investigation. But when the name of Liu Xiang, his old enemy, appeared, he stopped doubting his own people - Liu Xiang was the same as him.

With a deep-rooted background as a maritime merchant, it is not surprising that the other party has an eye on the other party in Xiamen Port. Moreover, even if the Liu Xiang Group has declined now, arrange some manpower in a remote fishing village on the seaside to provide food and supplies to the red ships once or twice.

Fresh water supply is still possible.

Now that we had a clue, the direction of the follow-up investigation became much clearer. Once the Zheng family launched an attack, its efficiency was also quite terrifying - in just a few days, clues were found from the bulk purchases of grain, vegetables and other daily necessities, led by Zheng Zhibao.

I personally led a team to raid a remote fishing village, and indeed found out more information from the captives - the red-haired ship had been here for replenishment and rest, but it stayed for a short time before leaving.

After that, several hidden piles of Liu Xiang Group on the mainland were destroyed one after another, which can be regarded as eliminating a hidden danger. However, Zheng Zhilong was always very dissatisfied - after a long time, all they dealt with were Chinese pirates. For the real

The culprit, the red-haired fleet, has never been found except for some outdated information. After getting clues about the Dutch fleet, the Zheng family launched an all-out attack, covering the entire coast of Fujian, as well as the neighboring Zhejiang.

I searched all over the coast of Guangdong...but I just couldn't find it.

The Zheng family informed Qiong Haijun of all these news as soon as possible. Now Zheng Zhilong has a radio station and relevant personnel around him to ensure that he can contact Qiong Haijun at any time. They are responsible for searching offshore, while Qiong Haijun uses flying shears.

The fleet searched the outer ocean, and the five clipper ships spread out, forming a very large search county. They sorted out several nearby routes from south to north, but still could not find any trace of those Dutch ships.

"The other party probably left Xiamen immediately after attacking Xiamen...the target was very certain, and in addition, they robbed the merchant ship but only wanted food instead of goods...They must have a very clear plan."

The coastal search yielded no results. By calculating the speed of those sailing ships, Zhao Lide made a preliminary judgment, but he still had no clue as to where the Dutch's target was.

But a few days later, the Dutch answered his questions with actions - Wang Haiyang sent a telegram, saying that the northern part of Taiwan controlled by the Zheng family had been suddenly attacked by Dutch ships and troops, and the other party had captured the original Spanish territory.

A castle was built with the intention of reestablishing a colony there.

The leader of the Zheng Family Army in Taipei fled to Tainan to ask for help from his allies. Of course Wang Haiyang was obliged to do so, but before sending troops, he had to notify the rear.

The Hainan Island headquarters breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the news - it was not afraid of the Dutch attack, but it was afraid that they would never show up. No wonder they couldn't be found along the coast. It turned out that they went directly to Taiwan. But now that these people have shown their signs

, especially if you are so stupid that you still want to occupy the territory? There is nothing to say - mobilizing troops to go over, whether it is a land battle or a naval battle, will inevitably make those Westerners taste the shame of defeat again.

But the Dutch must have expected this - almost at the same time that Wang Haiyang sent the telegram, an originally quite ordinary merchant ship suddenly changed its flag to the East India Company "VOC" when it sailed outside Qiongzhou Port on Hainan Island.

Flag. The ship was immediately controlled as a matter of course, but a group of Europeans who claimed to be envoys of the East India Company appeared on the ship. Using a leather merchant named Diego as the translator and introducer, they requested a trade agreement with the Qionghai Trading Company.
Chapter completed!