Batavia, later known as Jakarta, is now the most important Dutch stronghold in the Far East.

The Dutch in Batavia became nervous because of the major defeat suffered by the East India Company in Malacca and the Ming army establishing a stronghold in Surabaya, apparently trying to compete with them for control of Java.

At this time, the Ming army had already controlled Malacca, and with the current strength of the East India Company, even if India and Nanyang joined forces, they would not be able to recapture it, and they could only wait for Europe to send reinforcements, and this would take at least two years or so, so they had to hold on to Java Island for two years.

In order to keep the stronghold of Batavia, the Dutch from all over the South Seas gathered here.

Governor Corry also sent people to Malacca, ready to redeem the captured Moschel and other more than 2,000 Dutchmen at a high price to strengthen Batavia's defenses, but the Ming Dynasty did not pay attention to them, but told them to surrender quickly, otherwise they would send a large army to exterminate them.

This news made Corey realize that he was on his own, and he began to build fortifications and ships in Batavia.

Batavia's terrain is high in the south and low in the north, and is composed of nearly ten rivers of all sizes, which are composed of impact and precipitation, so the Dutch need to build stone walls and fortify the fortress, and the stones needed to be transported from the mountains more than ten miles to the south.

Nearly 10,000 people and many local natives were forced to accept heavy labor, go to the mountains to quarry, cut wood, and cast iron cannons and weapons.

In order to save resources, especially food, the Dutch gave the captives very little food, but they had to carry out heavy labor every day, and the unbearable captives had carried out many riots, but because of the disparity in strength, they were all suppressed by the Dutch, and thousands of people were killed and wounded.

Now the laborers can only endure, every day in the cruel oppression, transporting stones, strengthening the fortress of the Dutch, but not long ago, the Ming Dynasty sailors came here and rescued some people, so that these desperate laborers have another hope.

The Dutch urged them to build the city every day, which showed even more that they were weak-hearted, and perhaps the king would return, and they had a glimmer of hope in their hearts, looking forward to that day.

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth month, at noon on this day, the prisoners on the construction site were resting, eating a little sweet potato, and then they had to continue their work.

At this time, a team of Dutch suddenly escorted more than a dozen people over, and seeing that the clothes were all from the Ming Dynasty, the captives couldn't help but stretch their necks to look, wondering why there were still comrades who were arrested.

Most of the captives took a look at it, and after feeling sorry for the people who were caught, they lowered their heads and continued to nibble on sweet potatoes, but a few sturdy men leaned together and whispered: "The flag team, it doesn't look like the people of Nanyang!" ”

That small flag is the small flag of the Ming army that came to Batavia some time ago to investigate the deployment of the Dutch, but was captured by the red-haired ghost.

His name was Hu Sheng, and when he saw that the group of captives were all sturdy men, he couldn't help but squint his eyes, "Later, you will find an opportunity to investigate." ”

While they were talking, the group was escorted to a shack in which sat a red-bearded Dutch officer, who was slightly stunned when he saw so many people brought, stood up and spoke to the Dutch who led the group, and then looked at the captives and nodded.

"Do any of you know how to strike iron and build ships?" After the conversation, the Dutch officer said in broken Chinese: "Those who have skills can get preferential treatment, and if they don't, they will all go to work as coolies to build the city!" ”

After speaking, among the dozen or so people standing in front of him, a few people exchanged glances, and hurriedly said, "The little one can strike iron." "The villain can keep accounts..."

The Dutch had few people in the Far East, and many of the natives could not do the work, so they still relied heavily on the Ming people.

The officer nodded, and asked the few people who stood up to be taken away, and then waved his hand, "You stay and build the city!" ”

After giving the order, the officer sat down in the overseer's booth again, leaned back in his chair, and opened the bottle.

A month later, in a dilapidated shed, four or five men gathered, and Hu Sheng was among them.

The leader is the leader of a group of people who were arrested a month ago, named Zhou Dai, who is a hundred households assigned to the Ming army by Nanjing Wuxue.

They were ordered to pretend to be caravans and go deep into western Java to buy spices, and were captured by the combined forces of Maka Lan and the Dutch in Tamme, and sent to Batavia as bargaining chips.

In the past month, Zhou Dai has been in contact with Hu Sheng, and has also developed many manpower in the hard labor, and asked the hard labor to stop the riot, not to make unnecessary sacrifices, and wait for the army to come to the rescue.

At this time, several people gathered, and there were people outside the shed staring at the Dutchman, and they could talk with peace of mind.

Zhou Dai spoke first: "Hu Xiaoqi, how many people have you developed in hard labor?" ”

"There are more than 300 people, all of them strong men." Hu Sheng replied.

Zhou Dai nodded, "Very good, continue to develop, but don't be too fast, don't ask for more, just be reliable, understand?" ”

"Understood!" Hu Sheng nodded, and then suddenly asked, "However, we don't have weapons, and we can't enter the fort, what can we do?" ”

Zhou Dai smiled, "You can rest assured of weapons, the brother who struck the iron has quietly shot more than a dozen short knives and spear heads, and he will get more this month." ”

During the Battle of Malacca, most of the soldiers of Batavia went to Malacca to support, and now Batavia is mainly composed of merchants and sailors.

Westerners can be said to be nomads on the sea, merchants and sailors are outlaws, all people are soldiers, they have all done murder and plunder, and their combat power is not weak, but they are not soldiers after all, and their equipment is far less sophisticated than that of soldiers.

Seeing this, Correy had to ask people to step up the forging of plate armor, muskets, and swords.

The Dutch themselves were short of manpower, so they had to let the Ming people help cast, and most of the Ming people who had worked as blacksmiths in Batavia and had other skills, the Dutch did not kill, but enslaved them and let them work.

I heard that there were weapons, although they were mainly cold weapons, but they were better than taking sticks and stones.

Hu Sheng and the others were overjoyed, and then Zhou Dai said again: "As for how to enter the fort, there is also a way." The Dutch will let us go to Mataram next month to transport a shipment of fine iron and food. That's our chance to get close to the fort. ”

Hearing this, several people around became serious, and Hu Sheng said: "What do you want us to do, Baihu will say directly." ”

Zhou Dai glanced at a few people, "We will first send one person to escape at night, inform the marshal, and let the army arrive in the woods near Batavia around July 3rd to lurk, and then agree on the code of the inside and the outside!" ”

Everyone nodded in unison, and one of them said: "I am familiar with the terrain in this area, and I can also speak the local language, so I will report the news." ”

It was a man who was begging for a life in Batavia, and it was very appropriate for him to go, Zhou Dai nodded, "Okay, then you will find an opportunity to slip away tonight." ”

After speaking, he picked up a branch, scratched it on the ground, and said: "When we are transporting, we will calculate the distance and drag it until the evening into the fort, so that the marshal can also see us enter the fort." The red-haired ghost's warehouse, in the second layer of the fort, is very close to the iron warehouse and the weapons warehouse. After we got inside, we all started to kill the red-haired ghost who oversaw it, and the brothers who transported the iron and grain rushed to the armory, occupied it, and then took the commander into the city......"

Everyone nodded after hearing this, "Then listen to the hundred households, just do it!" ”

.......

If Batavia is stormed, the Ming army will definitely be able to take it, after all, the Ming army is much closer to the transfer of troops from Guangzhou than the Dutch from Europe, and the Ming army has a huge advantage.

Of course, the assault will cause huge casualties and a lot of cost, so after Li Dingguo defeated Malacca, he didn't want to use the old method to besiege it for six or seven months.

He heard that there were nearly 10,000 Ming people who were enslaved by Heyi, and there were more than a dozen sailors among them, so he wondered if he could borrow this force to join forces with the outside and capture Batavia.

After all, there were only more than 3,000 Dutch, many of whom were merchants, and if they could organize nearly 10,000 coolies, they should be able to cause trouble for the Dutch.

Therefore, he sent the fifteen elites to accompany the caravan in the city, deliberately allowing the Dutch to catch them and mix them into hard labor.

Originally, this was just an idea of his, and he didn't know if he could do it, but after nearly a month and a half, the person he sent finally sent back the news.

On this day, he was discussing with Yu Fangqi whether there was any other way feasible, when an officer suddenly reported outside the house, "Marshal, Zhou Baihu has sent someone back. ”

Li Dingguo couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, hurriedly dropped the drawings, and said, "Bring it to me!" ”

After a while, the officer led a man in, and the latter immediately bowed and said, "The villain Sun Anmin greets the marshal." ”

Li Dingguo glanced at him, his skin was dark, he was very strong, and asked, he used to be a dart master, and then he got into a life lawsuit, so he ran to Nanyang.

Li Dingguo asked about Zhou Dai again, as well as the agreed code words, and the answers were fluent, Li Dingguo was overjoyed to help him up, and ordered someone to serve good tea, let Sun Anmin drink a cup, and then asked: "Zhou Dai asked you to come over, but there is a chance to capture the fortress of Heyi!" ”

Sun Anmin hurriedly said excitedly: "The villain is on the order of Zhou Baihu, come to inform the marshal, there is already ready, Zhou Baihu asked the villain to inform the marshal, I hope that the marshal can rush to the periphery of Batavia before July 3 to hide, then Zhou Baihu will find an opportunity to enter the castle and suddenly cause chaos, he asked the marshal to be sure not to hesitate, once agreed, he will attack with all his might, and the inside and outside will definitely be able to take Batavia." ”

Li Dingguo naturally understands that once Zhou Dai and them are launched, if they do not respond, it will be a dead end. Li Dingguo pondered for a while, and then said to Yu Fangqi: "Commander Yu, you immediately arrange a ship and send us to Batavia at night." In addition, the sailor should send some men and horses, find some people from among the refugees to change into the clothes of the army, and try to make a feint to the light eyes, so that the Dutch and the army of Ma Talan there will know that Ben Shuai has left Surabaya······"

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it!" Yu Fangqi immediately clenched his fists when he heard this.

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(End of chapter)