HLnovel Chapter 612 Traitor
Chapter 612 Traitor
Chapter 612 Traitor
Taiwan, the Dutch Governor's Office.
Wang Wenzhou, disguised as Liu Xiang's envoy, came with Liu Wei to deceive the Dutch.
The Dutch Governor-General of Taiwan, Van der Burgh, did not speak Chinese and had to be translated by his attendants.
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Governor-General, the main reason we came here is to ask you to send troops to assist us in avenging our defeat! The newly appointed Governor-General of Fujian, Wang Wenzhou, has gone too far! He set a trap for us to attack Guangzhou. Unexpectedly, on our way back, we were ambushed by Wang Wenzhou. We suffered heavy losses in this battle, and even our leader was seriously injured. We cannot swallow this insult!"
Van der Burgh thought for a moment and then said, "We are allies, and if you are in trouble, we in the Netherlands will certainly help. However, we in the Netherlands are in the East and don't have many troops, so we really can't help you!"
Wang Wenzhou glanced at Liu Wei and whispered, "This is your damn ally? He takes advantage of any opportunity, but when you ask him for help, he makes excuses and refuses!"
Liu Wei shook his head with a wry smile. Although Liu Xiang hadn't read many books, he knew that those who weren't of his kind were bound to have different hearts, and the Dutch weren't on their side. But back then, faced with Zheng Zhilong's relentless pressure, he had desperately sought any solution and could only feign compliance with the Dutch.
Currently, only Portugal and the Netherlands possess strong military forces in the vicinity of the Ming Dynasty. Portugal maintains a good relationship with the Ming, and Portuguese mercenaries are present in the Ming army. Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty only trades with Portugal with other European countries.
The Dutch had always wanted to trade with the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming officials, considering themselves the superior power of the Celestial Empire, looked down on these "barbarians" and ignored the Dutch. The Dutch had engaged in minor skirmishes, but were defeated by local Ming officials and troops. The central government of the Ming Dynasty simply didn't bother with these "small countries" like the Netherlands. It wasn't that the Ming Dynasty was arrogant; it was simply that the Ming Dynasty truly was a superior power at that time, and local officials dealt with them. Moreover, in several encounters, the Ming Dynasty emerged victorious.
The Dutch allied with Liu Xiang with the aim of defeating the Ming Dynasty navy and establishing maritime hegemony in the South China Sea. During this era, Ming Dynasty silk and porcelain, once shipped to Europe, would fetch prices at least ten times higher—it was incredibly profitable.
However, because the Ming Dynasty rarely traded with the outside world, the goods that circulated were mainly rewards received by small countries that traded with the Ming Dynasty as tribute. For example, the shameless Smite Kingdom, in order to get more generous rewards from the Ming Dynasty, at its peak, Smite Kingdom was able to pay tribute more than 150 times a year.
If the Dutch controlled the South China Sea, all goods leaving the Ming Dynasty would have to be at their mercy, which would be a huge sum of money, far more than what they could earn from cultivating plantations in their Southeast Asian colonies.
Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment and then said, “Governor, we also know that we are no match for the Ming army on land. Our leader has a plan. He wants to lure Wang Wenzhou’s fleet out to sea, and we will find a place to ambush it. As long as we annihilate Wang Wenzhou’s Fujian navy, the Ming will have no fleet in the south that can threaten us.”
Upon hearing this, Van der Burgh laughed and said, "Alright! That's not impossible! The main issue is that the Dutch Navy cannot fight for private individuals; that's against our military regulations!"
Wang Wenzhou patted Liu Wei's shoulder lightly and said with a smile, "Did you hear that? The Dutch are shameless; they want you to pay them!"
Liu Wei was quite helpless; it was too embarrassing. Luckily, he had sought refuge with Wang Wenzhou, otherwise he didn't know how the Dutch would have tricked him to death!
Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment and then said, "Governor-General, although we were defeated this time, we did capture Guangzhou and seized a lot of spoils. If you are willing to send a fleet to assist us, our leader is willing to contribute 50 taels of silver for military expenses!"
"Haha!" Van der Burgh laughed loudly, "The Chinese are so generous! With Boss Liu being so loyal, we can't just stand by and do him a favor! Let's work together on a specific action plan and then we'll annihilate the Ming Dynasty's Fujian Navy!"
Wang Wenzhou then discussed the plan with Van der Burgh. It was actually very simple. He would play two roles in this play, and it didn't matter how he played them. The most important thing was to lure the Dutch fleet into the encirclement he had prepared, annihilate the Dutch fleet, and then attack Taiwan and recover it.
After agreeing on the plan, Wang Wenzhou bid farewell to Liu Xiang.
As soon as Wang Wenzhou left, Van der Burgh burst into laughter.
"Haha..." Van der Burgh asked excitedly, "Vincent, where is our Dutch Second Fleet? When will we be able to reach Taiwan?"
Vincent, the commander of the Dutch Taiwan Fleet, said, "We received news yesterday that the fleet has completed its resupply in Malacca and will be able to arrive in a few days at most."
“Good!” Van der Burg nodded and said with a smile, “Wang Wenzhou of the Ming Dynasty wants to set up an ambush to annihilate our fleet. We can turn the tables on him and encircle and annihilate the Ming fleet. However, your fleet may suffer heavy losses in order to draw fire!”
Vincent quickly said, "For the country, for victory, these losses are worthwhile! As long as we can annihilate Wang Wenzhou's newly reorganized Fujian Navy, we will be able to control the South China Sea!"
"We'll discuss how to fight them once Van Persie's fleet arrives." Van der Burgh was very confident of annihilating the Fujian Navy.
The Dutch Second Fleet was one of the two main Dutch fleets. Its flagship was the HMS Flying Dutchman, a first-class battleship with a displacement of 3 tons, three gun decks, and 104 guns. The fleet also included 30 second-class battleships and 100 fourth-class battleships.
Even if Wang Wenzhou didn't intend to trap the Dutch this time, they had long planned to annihilate the Ming navy, control the South China Sea, and use this to coerce the Ming into trading with them.
Van der Burgh knew about Wang Wenzhou's plan because there was a traitor among Liu Xiang's men. Liu Xiang's third-in-command, Lü Boshi, had secretly sent someone to reveal Wang Wenzhou's entire plan before Wang Wenzhou did.
Lu Boshi betrayed the island because Wang Wenzhou massacred his entire family after conquering Lamma Island. However, Wang Wenzhou was not to blame at all.
Lu Boshi was a pirate in his early years, also known as a Japanese pirate, and often went to Japan. Like Zheng Zhilong, he also married a Japanese woman.
After Wang Wenzhou conquered Lamma Island, he issued an order to kill everyone who wasn't a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. Lü Boshi's Japanese wife, being far from home, longed for her homeland.
Lu Boshi felt sorry for his wife, so he had their house built in the Japanese style. Furthermore, his wife, son, and servants all wore kimonos. Lu Boshi believed that this way his wife wouldn't miss home.
That was a good thing. When Wang Wenzhou's men saw this, they exclaimed, "Wow! This whole family are Japanese! Let's kill them!" And just like that, Lü Boshi's entire family, more than 30 people, were all killed without exception.
When Lü Boshi learned of this, he kept quiet. He was clever; if he hadn't, Liu Xiang would have killed him without Wang Wenzhou even having to lift a finger. After learning of Wang Wenzhou's plan, he sent someone to inform Van der Burgh.