The Dutch side rejected the request for negotiations, breaking off Zheng Zhilong's illusions. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The condition they put forward was that the Chinese side immediately stop trade with Spain, Portugal and other countries, and could only trade with the Dutch, otherwise there would be another war. The reply from the Fujian government was that the Dutch should first compensate for the war losses and return them to the generals, and then it would be possible to negotiate commercial matters. Such negotiations are purely chicken-to-duck and have no chance of success.

Preliminary negotiations broke down, the Dutch once again brazenly attacked Xiamen, Quannan guerrilla Zhang Yongchan and Tong'an Zhi County Xiong Rulin led the Ming army to meet the attack, the Dutch army was defeated and retreated, and more than 10 Dutch soldiers were killed. The Fujian sailors pursued them to the outer ocean, but due to the unfavorable wind direction, they failed to meet the enemy after two days and nights and returned. The defeated Dutch army cruised on the sea and did not dare to attack Xiamen again, so they turned to enter the moon port from Liuluo Bay, where the moon port was located, Liang Zhaoyang, the magistrate of Haicheng County, led his troops to cross Kinmen Huyu at night, attacked the Dutch army, burned three of its boats, and captured five.

After the Battle of Huyu, the Dutch did not dare to attack rashly because of the successive losses, and the Fujian government was also waiting for the imperial court's opinion on the handling of this conflict, which was obviously not a trivial conflict, so the two sides only maintained a small range of contact during the typhoon interval in July and August.

On July 27, Liu Xiang gathered all his main forces and joined up with the Dutch fleet. Putmans gained confidence and sent a declaration of war to the Ming Dynasty representatives on July 29, and the Ming and Dutch sides officially declared war. The issuance of this declaration of war means that the "Tiger Fighting Operation" of the Qiongzhou Battalion has been a great success.

In the declaration of war, the Dutch put forward several conditions as a demand for armistice: they wanted to have the right to free trade in the Zhangzhou River, Anhai, Dayuan, and Batavia; Establish a trading base on Gulangyu Island, which can send representatives to China's coastal cities to purchase goods; Dutch ships were able to moor freely off the coast of Fujian; No Chinese ships were allowed to travel to Manila to trade with the Spaniards; The Dutch have the same legal rights in China as they do in China.

Such harsh conditions were naturally unacceptable to the imperial court. Due to the dissatisfaction with the burning and looting of the Dutch along the coast, in mid-August, Chongzhen's holy decree arrived in Fujian, and strictly ordered Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian, to severely punish the red hair and maintain the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty. After Zou Weilian received the order, he immediately sent an edict to the civil and military generals in all parts of the province not to talk about the word "mutual market" anymore, and to "swear to fight to the death", and mobilized the five tiger guerrillas Zheng Zhilong, the deputy commander-in-chief of the South Road Gao Yingyue, the Quannan guerrilla Zhang Yongchan, the Penghu guerrilla Wang Shangzhong, the deputy commander-in-chief Liu Yingzhong, and the staff general Deng Shu as the main force to deal with the Dutch, among which Zheng Zhilong was the vanguard, Gao Yingyue and Zhang Yongchan were the two wings, Wang Shangzhong was the guerrilla, and Liu Yingzhong and Deng Shu were rewarded for their meritorious service, and the deployment of troops was completed.

The news from Fujian had lagged behind in reaching Guangdong, and it was not easy to contact Wang Qinian too frequently, so as not to expose his identity, so it was not until Zheng Zhilong's envoy arrived at Lingao again that Xia Nan grasped the latest progress of the war.

It is still Zheng Zhiguan who came to Lingao, but this time the attitude is completely different from the last time. First, the Qiongzhou battalion has already demonstrated its strength in the center and left, with mobile and flexible warships and sharp naval guns, so that the Zheng family does not dare to underestimate them; Second, the Zheng family has a request for the Qiongzhou camp, so they naturally have to correct their mentality.

Zheng Zhiguan reversed his previous arrogance, and smiled all over his face: "The eldest brother sent me here because he wanted to ask for something, and he asked the general to agree." ”

Xia Nan vaguely guessed the other party's intentions in his heart, but he remained silent on the surface: "The Qiongzhou camp and the Zheng family have formed an alliance, and the family doesn't talk about the two families, but if they have something to say, they just say it." ”

Zheng Zhiguan put on a sad expression: "The red-haired fleet took advantage of my eldest brother's absence to sneak attack the Zhongzuo Institute, and we suffered heavy losses, at least forty large ships were sunk......"

"Is there such a thing?" Xia Nan took the case and was angry, "I said a long time ago that the Dutch are despicable villains, you must be careful, but I didn't expect General Zheng to suffer a loss......"

Zheng Zhiguan observed his words and looks, and couldn't see anything wrong with the other party, and he had a trace of suspicion in his heart, but he also dispelled it. He sighed: "Regardless of the damage to the ship, whether it is newly built or purchased, it is not difficult for the Zheng family to make up for the gap of dozens of ships." However, more than half of the short and heavy cannons purchased from the general were lost, which is what my eldest brother was most worried about, originally these cannons were meant to come in handy, and they were indispensable to fight Liu Xiang and Hongmao......"

And so it was! Xia Nan smiled secretly in his heart, he saw those low-end versions of the Caron cannon sinking to the bottom of the sea with the big green head, and he could naturally guess the intention of the other party's trip.

Zheng Zhiguan paused for a moment, and seeing that the other party did not answer, he had to continue: "Please also ask the general to sell us some more cannons, and the price will remain the same." ”

Xia Nan was embarrassed: "But this cannon is very difficult to cast, and it takes a long time, if you are in a hurry to use it, you may not be able to get it for a while." ”

Zheng Zhiguan was anxious when he heard this: "But we are going to fight with the Dutch, I can't afford to wait!" These cannons showed superior performance in the face of the sneak attack of the "Dutch", and the large plywood ship was not left behind at close range, and Zheng Hongkui truthfully informed Zheng Zhilong of the battle situation, so when the war came, Zheng Zhilong was bound to make up for the damaged artillery.

Xia Nan pretended to think for a while: "Otherwise, how many more cannons do you need, tell me the number, and then ask your eldest brother to give the silver at one time, and I will let the craftsmen rush to work day and night, and strive to deliver the goods within three months." ”

Zheng Zhiguan was a little disappointed, "Three months? I'm afraid I won't be able to start a war with the Dutch......"

"Isn't there still half of the cannon, let's make do with it first, anyway, I won't be able to tell the winner from the Dutch for a while and a half." Xia Nan proposed, "In addition, since our two families have formed an alliance, the Zheng family's affairs are the affairs of the Qiongzhou battalion, whether it is fighting the Dutch or Liu Xiang, we can also do our part!" ”

Zheng Zhiguan didn't expect the other party to take the initiative to participate in the war, hesitated for a moment, and replied: "The general's kindness, as a member of the Zheng clan, I am very grateful. But I can't do this thing, and I have to go back and report to my eldest brother......"

Xia Nan nodded and said: "I understand, Fujian still has the governor's yamen, whether the soldiers and horses from other provinces participate in the war is not a matter of one sentence, maybe Guangdong and Fujian provinces will nod and agree." ”

Zheng Zhiguan hurriedly left with Xia Nan's suggestion. Sima De looked at his back and asked, "The general really plans to go to war?" ”

"Why not?" Xia Nan smiled, "Besides, I just need a reasonable reason to intervene in the war, and I didn't say that I should be a pioneer." In this battle, the two sides must be the main force to the end, there will be no backhand, we will hide in the rear, let the Dutch and Zheng Zhilong fight to the death first, whoever falls behind, I will step on whom, as long as one of them is trampled to death, the other is seriously injured, it will be easy to deal with. ”