Esco's report did not bring any positive information to Robben, but a large basket of negative news. But Robben had to listen to these negative news. Because these negative news are all real and closely related to the future of the Dutch. If some of this information is omitted, it may have a negative impact on the future of the battle.

When he set off for the Far East, Robben had no idea that the situation in the Far East would be so bad. Prior to this, the Dutch judged that the position of the Dutch was threatened, not mortally. But now, Robben felt that the threat to the Dutch was very deadly.

I have to admit that the top of the Dutch, on the issue of the Far East, absolutely made a fatal mistake. The Dutch don't know when, but they actually learned the pride and prejudice of the British, and did not take the white navy in the slightest. They simply would not believe that in the eastern world, there is such a powerful country with such a powerful navy. In their impression, the world of the East should be ignorant and backward.

Robben stood in front of the chart, smoking his pipe, pacing back and forth. Since Spain brought tobacco back to Europe from the American continent, many of Europe's high-ranking aristocrats have learned to smoke. Robben, one of the five admirals of the Netherlands, also developed a habit of smoking. When he came to the East, he brought with him several fine pipes and fine tobacco.

However, tobacco, which used to be able to refresh the mind and refresh the spirit, has completely lost its effect today. Robben smoked several cigarettes in a row, but he still felt that his mind was still a chaotic mess, and he didn't have a clue at all. Such a feeling has never been felt in his life experience.

"White Coats Navy ...... Xu Xingxia ......"

Robben smoked his pipe and silently muttered a few special terms.

There is no doubt that the battle between the Dutch and the white-coat navy was inevitable. The violation of the interests of the Dutch by the White Coats Navy has reached the point of intolerability. Robben's arrival is to prepare for the upcoming decisive battle. The Dutchman's top brass hoped that the appearance of Robben would completely eradicate the threat from the east.

At the beginning, Robben was also quite confident in undertaking this task. Even, he had some happy feelings. After all, the battle in the Atlantic is too fierce, and there are many capable people and masters. The Spaniards, who were unwilling to quit on the spot, and the British, who wanted to challenge the supremacy of the seas, were both formidable opponents of the Dutch. No matter how powerful his ability is, he can't guarantee that he will win every battle and will never be in danger.

The Atlantic Ocean is a devil's cave that devours humanity at any time and at all times. In addition to the threat of humanity itself, the storm in the Atlantic Ocean is also the most violent. Whoever it is, once it encounters a storm in the Atlantic, it is possible that it will be completely lost. Even if he is an admiral of the Dutch, with a prominent position, he can still die in the icy waters if he is not careful.

However, when it comes to the Eastern world, it is different. With his ability, in the Eastern world, he is absolutely invincible. Robben believed that with his own ability and the strength of the Dutch, there would be no major problem in controlling the sea of the Eastern World, or controlling the land of the entire Eastern World. If he could, he could even build a kingdom of reading. Like the Spaniards, they have colonies dozens of times larger than their own.

However, after learning the number of warships of the White Army, Robben was not happy. His original plans were all shattered. All his previous ideas fell through. Now, instead of having the opportunity to build his own kingdom of reading, he is gradually losing even the inherent interests of the Dutch in the Far East. Without particularly strong measures, the Dutch will eventually withdraw from the East completely.

According to the latest intelligence information, the navy of the White Army has deployed 11 fleets in the South China Sea. From the Second Fleet to the Twelfth Fleet, the number of warships in each fleet is around twenty. Eleven fleets, which means the white-coat navy, have a total of more than two hundred warships. There are more than 200 warships, and they are all large warships with a displacement of more than 500 tons, and the numbers alone give Robben a headache.

"Is Xu Xingxia crazy? Does he only know how to build ships? ”

Robben held a newspaper published by the White Army in his hand and muttered quietly.

With the gradual completion of the layout of the White Army Navy in the South Seas, many new things inherent in the White Army, such as newspapers and the like, have appeared in many ports in the South Seas. In Leizhou, the white-clothed army built a new newspaper printing plant in order to transport newspapers to the Nanyang area more quickly. The natives of the Nanyang region, as well as the Western powers, as well as merchants from all over the country, all had a deep understanding of the White Army through the newspapers of the White Army.

The newspaper that Robben is holding in his hand now is the news of Xu Xingxia's inspection of the Leizhou shipyard. According to newspaper reports, Xu Xingxia put forward a lot of high demands on the shipyard. Shipyards are required to start work overnight, adopt the method of three-shift and assembly line production, and build a large number of warships of all kinds. The manager of the Leizhou Shipyard assured Xu Xingxia that the 50 docks of the Leizhou Shipyard would be at full capacity and would start work for 12 hours.

There is also a news in the newspaper, that is, about the Yazhou shipyard. The Yazhou Shipyard is the closest to Nanyang, where the White Navy produces a large number of Taishan-class warships with a displacement of only 500 tons. The construction period of such a warship takes only six months. Every year, the Yazhou shipyard can build a hundred warships of this type.

Robben felt that the white-clothed army and navy were absolutely crazy.

In such a short period of time, so many warships have been built, it is simply fatal!

What is the concept of eight shipyards, more than 300 docks, starting work every night, and building ships for twelve hours? With Robben's understanding, it is really unimaginable. The number of shipyards of the Western powers is also quite large, and it is estimated that there are several hundred of them combined, but the production intensity in the docks of these shipyards is definitely not so large. Keeping working all night and night, that's simply burning a lot of money!

Everyone knows that it costs a lot of money to build a warship. As long as the dock is in operation and the keel has not yet been laid, a large sum of money has already been consumed. A battleship with a displacement of 500 tons, the cost is converted, and it will definitely not be possible to do it without a few thousand taels of silver. This was calculated on the basis of the cost of shipbuilding for the Dutch. In Robben's view, the shipbuilding cost of the Dutch should be the lowest, and the shipbuilding cost of the white-coat navy should be higher.

The total cost of a hundred warships with a displacement of 500 tons is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Add in the cost of building the shipyard itself, that's quite a lot. Not to mention, under the White Coats Navy and Navy, there are actually eight large shipyards with hundreds of large docks. Even the Dutch, known as the coachmen of the sea, with a lot of money and deep pockets, could not start building so many warships at once.

It is important to know that warships and merchant ships are two completely different concepts. Warships are only consumed and have no income. After the warship is manufactured, it also needs a lot of follow-up maintenance costs. This maintenance cost is also quite high. The greater the number of warships, the higher the cost of maintenance. At present, the cost of repairing warships in the Dutch Navy is a staggering figure. It was precisely because of the staggering figures of maintenance costs that the number of warships of the Dutch Navy could not be increased rapidly.

Could it be that the military expenses of the white-clothed army fell from the sky? Don't they need to spend money to build warships? Could it be that their warships do not need maintenance costs? For more than 200 warships, the maintenance cost for a year is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver! This white-clothed navy is too wealthy, right?

Esco smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency, I know that you are indeed unbelievable and unbelievable, but this is the case. The Whitecoat Navy is frantically expanding their navy. They completely did not take into account the issue of cost. I'm sure that if we wait until next year, the number of warships in the White Navy will continue to increase by more than a hundred. Of these, most of them will be Tianshan-class warships with a larger displacement. ”

Robben nodded wordlessly, and the depression in his heart can be imagined.

The white-clothed army and navy are obviously reckless. It's just too much to fight against such an opponent. How many warships can you destroy them? Three thousand enemies were killed, eight hundred were self-inflicted, perhaps, the navy of the white army had not been wiped out, and the Dutch navy itself was consumed.

Besides, who knows how many more warships will be built in the White Coats Navy? With the terrible speed of shipbuilding in the White Navy, perhaps, if you destroy one of their warships, two warships will be produced. This enemy will only fight more and more. In the end, it is most likely that the Dutch themselves will be wiped out. Anyway, as long as there is a war, the Dutch will be bad.

Moreover, the Dutch may not be able to destroy the warships of the White Navy. The battleships of the White Army Navy have very strong artillery fire, which has been proven for a long time. So far, the Dutch have not found an effective way to deal with the white-coat navy. If all goes well, Seedorf will not be taken prisoner.

What to do? Robben was confused.

…… The confusion of the Dutch could not stop the passage of time.

Soon, Robben arrived in the South Seas, and it has been four months.

In the fourth year of Taichang, time seems to be moving very fast, and before you know it, it is already September. People living in the Nanyang area generally do not pay special attention to the date of the newspaper when they look at the latest newspaper published by the White Army every day. When they felt the need to pay attention to the issue of the newspaper, they suddenly found that a few months had slipped away quietly.

The battle between the Dutch Navy and the White Navy never broke out. The Dutch carefully reined in their wings, huddled in the waters between Jakarta and Ambona, and rarely came out to move. The number of Dutch merchant ships also seems to have decreased considerably. On the contrary, the area of activity of the white-coat army and navy is gradually expanding. In September, the White Coats Army published news in the newspaper, publicly announcing that the 13th Fleet of the White-Clothed Navy was officially stationed in Brunei.

Regarding the official stationing of the white-clothed army and navy, the local indigenous royal family in Brunei certainly did not dare to say anything. What do they dare to say? A battalion of the White Army Marine Corps has been officially stationed here. The camp of the White Marines is located near the royal palace of the indigenous royal family of Brunei. At the sound of an order, they could uproot the indigenous royal family. The indigenous royal family is not stupid either, they don't do thankless things.

In fact, the report of the White Clothes Army newspaper was watery, or it was deliberate, deliberately hiding the news of the White Clothes Army Marines. To be precise, the 13th Fleet of the White Army Navy stationed in Brunei is actually not the most important. On top of that, the Marines of the White Army were quietly stationed. That's the real killer feature.

As long as you are not a fool, you can see that since the white-clothed army has arrived in Nanyang, it will not leave easily. The arrival of the Marine Corps marked the beginning of ground control. In fact, the Western powers also have weaknesses in the South Seas. They actually have quite a few warships, and their naval forces are relatively strong. However, their ground forces, however, are relatively weak.

For example, the Dutch East India Company had a very strong navy and a very small army. The Dutch fought ashore mainly on armed sailors. They do not have a professional army. The Spaniards did have some professional armies, but only 5,000 in number. Compared to the White Army, their army is negligible.

Xu Xingxia grasped this point, and while vigorously developing the navy, he also put the development of the Marine Corps on the agenda. The Marine Corps formed in the early days was a battalion of 10,000 people. The choice of the Marine Corps' camp in Brunei is naturally also to better control the islands in the South Seas.

The Marines of the White Clothes Army were formed on the basis of the Dragoons led by Xia Kewu, who served as the first deputy commander of the Marine Corps. As for the commander, it is naturally Xu Xingxia himself who holds the position. The transformation of the Dragoons is really huge. A year ago, they were fighting in the Western Regions, but a year later, they all went to sea.

…… The Thirteenth Fleet of the White Coats Navy is a little different from other fleets. They have six Tien Shan-class warships with a displacement of 1,500 tons. This large battleship had sixteen 75 mm howitzers, eight on each side.

Such a number of cannons, of course, is nothing. Any warship of a Western power has dozens of cannons. However, the current Dutch are already frightened by the white-clothed army and navy, and they no longer dare to make any wrong moves.

…… The official stationing of the 13th Fleet of the White Army Navy in Brunei was also a great stimulus for the Spaniards. Because, suddenly, the Spaniards found that their sea trade routes seemed to have been cut off by the white-coat navy. Before, Pailin was next to the warship, and they secretly gloated with themselves. Now that Brunei is occupied, they can't gloat.

Spanish galleons sailing from Manila to the Atlantic must have passed through Brunei. If they take the route of Ambona and Jakarta, they will not only have to pay more time and higher costs, but also face difficulties and attacks by the Dutch. However, Brunei is now in the hands of the White Coats Navy.

"What's going on in Brunei?"

Alonsoden asked Herbert depressedly.

"Your Excellency, I think we may be self-defeating."

Herbert responded with a wry smile. No one who can be the commander of the Spanish Far East Fleet is stupid. The consequences of the occupation of Brunei, Herbert naturally knew it. However, all this is force majeure. The Spaniards simply had no way to stop the moves of the white-coated navy. In other words, they can only resign themselves to the behavior of the white-clothed navy.

The most fundamental reason why the Spaniards had adopted a policy of appeasement and allowed the white-coat navy to spread wilderness in the South Seas was that the white-coat navy was directed at the Dutch. At that time, the danger to the Spaniards was not great. But now, the presence of the white-coat navy has seriously threatened the interests of the Spaniards.

However, to ask the Spaniards and the Dutch to join forces, the Spaniards certainly did not want to. The grievances between the two countries are definitely not something that can be easily erased. Besides, the current situation is already very serious. Even if the Spaniards and the Dutch joined forces, they might not be able to win favor from the white-coated navy. Why should Spain be thankless?

Alonsoden frowned and said, "For the sake of today, how are you going to solve it?" ”

Herbert said without hesitation: "It is absolutely impossible for us to make a move against the White Coats first, that is the business of the Dutch. We'd better act on the opportunistic. ”

Alonsoden said with some concern: "In case the White Army defeats the Dutch, they will attack us again...... We're no match at all! Do you feel hopeful? ”

Herbert said bluntly, "If this is the case, I advise the Governor to prepare early. ”

Alonsoden didn't react for a while, and said suspiciously: "Apply to mobilize reinforcements from the country?" We also apply for a Robben to come over? ”

Herbert shook his head and said, "No, we'd better get out of the land of right and wrong. ”

Alonsoden was slightly stunned, but finally understood. It turned out to be thirty-six plans, and it was the best plan. Escaping from the battlefield is obviously not a glorious thing. Realistically, though, it's a good choice. Anyway, he doesn't care about this mess in the Far East. Whoever cares cares, who cares. No matter who is in charge, it is only a constant nerve-wracking part.

It just so happened that in Spain, they did not have a clear understanding of the dangers in the Far East, and there were still many people who coveted his and Herbert's positions, and they just bargained and applied to be transferred back to China to get a good position.

Alonsoden held up the wine bar and said with a smile: "Come, let's have a drink." ”

Herbert raised his glass in understanding, and said with the same smile: "Cheers!" I wish the Governor a smooth return to China and another job. ”

(To be continued)