Chapter 491: Witness

"Dear directors of East India Company, as the company's special envoy, I am fortunate to be entrusted with important tasks and witnessed an unforgettable battle on the way..." When the ship of the British East India Company Tes Adams was still on the sea, he couldn't wait to write a letter to the bosses of the British East India Company.

The British, far away in India, were extremely difficult during this period and were far from comparable to the world hegemony after the British-Dutch war. At this difficult stage, when they received an invitation from China, the British were ecstatic and immediately sent Adams as a special envoy to Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, to meet the cabinet minister of the Ming Dynasty who gave the invitation.

On the way, Adams' ship encountered a naval battle, which happened to be the battle where the Fons Valley commanded the fleet to pursue Kiichi.

"There are many reasons why it is unforgettable. First, the Ming people's warships are not as small offshore ships as we heard before. Their warships are no less than the best warships in Europe. Second, the size of the Ming country's fleet is much larger than the news we have before. In this battle, they used forty warships to besiege ten Dutch warships, and had an extremely fast light warship. As a means of entanglement of opponents, the main fleet caught up with the Dutch and achieved the goal of annihilation of the opponent. The third and most important point is that the Chinese gun range can open fire at a distance of 1,500 feet and successfully penetrated three to five feet thick oak boards. Imagine the number of such warships and cannons that the Ming country owned. It may be five hundred, or it may be possible that the Chinese cannon range was fired at a distance of 1,500 feet and successfully penetrated three to five feet thick oak boards.

If there are a thousand ships, then they will have no opponents in the South China Sea. It is even certain that even without our joining, they can easily defeat the Dutch East India Company. Based on the above three points, it is not difficult to draw a conclusion that this respected Ming Dynasty cabinet minister needs not as simple as allies on the battlefield. In personal judgment, he lacks enough understanding of Europe and lacks confidence in his own strength. Therefore, he made an invitation move. In view of this, as a special envoy, I hope to build his trust in us through open and honest dialogues and strive for both parties to become partners. I think. This cabinet minister also needs a partner from Europe to gain greater benefits for his overseas trade. Otherwise, I will not be able to understand the true intention of this invitation. Finally, I wish me good luck."

When Adams set foot on the island of Dayuan, he couldn't wait to send someone to send the letter back to India. The reason why he was so anxious was because he saw the strength of the Ming Dynasty's maritime power. This is a big country with a long coastline, far from being comparable to that of the British. You should know that Britain was not an empire that never sets in the sun. Moreover, China's trade object is really tempting.

During this period, Europe had very little knowledge of China as a whole. It only knew that it was a vast and extremely wealthy country. As long as China's silk, tea, and porcelain could be brought back to Europe, there was nothing that could not make money. And it was violent, with a slight profit of three to four hundred percent, which was enough to make any adventurer die.

That naval battle left a deep impression on Adams, especially when Fons Valley arrived with the fleet, the Dutch surrendered in less than two hours after a siege. A ship that left the battlefield was finally unable to escape from the battlefield under the encirclement of ten fast sailboats.

Although they only watched the battle from afar, Adams was still surprised by the Chinese's naval combat strength. They used the tactic of seizing the t-head, but they were already doing this. This is definitely a conscious behavior. Perhaps their firing rate is not as fast as the elite British navy, but the effective range of 500 meters is enough to make up for this gap. You must know that proficiency can be practiced, and the range of cannons is not something you want, and it must be supported by technology. It can be seen that the Chinese have mastered more advanced manufacturing techniques.

It was already late at night outside the window, and a crescent moon was in the sky. Adams' heart was undulating and he couldn't fall asleep. He walked out of the door and looked at the towering fortress in the distance. He wanted to go up and take a look, but was rejected.

Also unable to fall asleep were prisoners of war, Kuiichi. The Mauritius was hit with more than 100 shells in the battle, riddled with holes. Conversely, the casualties his fleet brought to the Ming navy were negligible. This was originally a battle with huge power disparity, and just this was not enough to make Kuiichi desperate. The real despair was the range of the giant cannon, a distance of five hundred meters was enough to penetrate three to five feet thick oak boards. In this era when traditional naval battles occurred between 100,200, it was definitely a desperate number. The Ming navy was so powerful that it could not be looked up to within just over a decade.

Kuiichi could not close his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, the scene of the sea battle would appear in his mind. One after another of the shells hit his warships, flying wood chips shot everywhere, and the injured seaman fell to the ground and groaned, and blood flowed on the deck. The sails fell, and the Ming fleet like bloodthirsty sharks surrounded him, and the rain-like shells created countless water columns on the sea. The whole process was carefully recalled, and despair was numb. Until the moment he ordered the white flag to surrender, the counterattacks of other warships on the sea only hit the opponent's warships for more than ten times, and none of them penetrated.

It was not until he boarded the Shandong, the flagship of the Ming Navy, that he realized that the Ming Navy's warship was covered with a layer of iron sheet and painted with black paint. No wonder it looked black and shining with the white sails.

As a loser, he handed over his sword to Fons Valley. By informing each other of his identities, he realized that Fons Valley was just a commander of a squadron. The maritime power of the Ming Navy was only part of the presence. After a brief inference, Kuiyi became even more desperate. In fact, it is not difficult to make a judgment on this point. The Ming Kingdom was too big and had too rich resources. This was a huge empire, and it is said to be a centralized empire. Once they wanted to do anything, they were not able to compete with the Netherlands, a small country. Not to mention, they mastered the desperate manufacturing technology.

As an officer, Kuiichi was treated well and could live alone in a room. In the night of Chikan, the lights from Hotzalan could be seen from afar. In that place, Putmans and his soldiers were already firmly surrounded and could not hold on for too long. Although it was a very difficult night, Kuiichi finally fell asleep. The next morning, he was awakened by the sound of cannons.

Just as he got up, the door opened, and the Fons Valley who walked in showed his reserve of victory and spoke politely: "Mr. Kuiyi, did you have a good night last night?" As a European, Fons Valley's actions to serve the Ming Empire are really nothing. The European mercenaries of this era are to be honest with you to exchange their lives for their lives. The status of a guerrilla general in the Ming Dynasty is a benchmark for many mercenaries to envy. Even this matter is the thing that Fons Valley is most proud of.

"I'm not sleeping well. I want to know, are you siegeing the city of Rezhalan when I heard the sound of cannons just now?" Kuiyi couldn't help asking, and Fangsgu shrugged and said, "Your guess was a little wrong. We were indeed siegeing the city, but there was no attack. The artillery attack was just the artillery's experience in wanting to have more practical combat. The hot zhalan doesn't need to attack. We have time, just surround it. It won't take too long, and Lord Putmans will make the right choice by himself."

"So, what is your purpose for coming here?" Kiichi was very depressed. As a prisoner, all he could do was to figure out his fate. In general, he was an invader or a prisoner. He had no intention of too high expectations.

"You chose to surrender wisely, so you are treated the most humanely. The coal mines in the north need a labor force. Where will you work for three years, if you perform well, you may have a chance to release it." Fons Valley's words made Kiichi unacceptable, and he couldn't help but shout in surprise: "I can pay the ransom!"

Fang Sigu shrugged helplessly: "I'm sorry, this is not something I can decide. I need to report to the cabinet minister of Nanjing, Lord Chen. At the same time, I have to remind you that if he makes a decision, your fate may be worse." Kuiichi's face changed, and this worse meaning is not difficult to understand at all.

"What do you mean, may I be executed? Isn't the Ming Dynasty planning to continue trading with Europe in the future?" His voice trembled a little, and Kuiyi asked in disbelief. Fangsigu smiled and said, "I think you've made a mistake. Europe is not just a country like the Netherlands. The issue of ownership of the entire Southeast Asian country depends on the meaning of the Minister of the Cabinet. To be honest, I always think that it's already a very polite thing for the Ming Navy to not go to Java. That's it, you can bring your own personal belongings, board the ship this afternoon, and start a new life in the north."

The whole process was really unpleasant. The Ming soldiers holding bayonets looked at these Dutch prisoners with cold eyes. When Kuiyi arrived at the dock, a fairly intact Garen ship was used as the transport ship for this time. When he boarded the ship, he saw some things he wanted to see, such as at least seventy or eighty warships from the Chinese people. The migrant workers who were looking at the dock were repairing and expanding the dock, and countless supplies were being transported ashore, including a 12-pound cannon. The Ming Navy's cannon was pulled by four short horses. Judging from the number of people, there were about 12 soldiers operating a cannon. A group of soldiers lined up to pass by Kuiyi in an orderly manner. You can see at a glance that they were all the most elite soldiers.

These soldiers, wearing strange hats, carrying a luggage pocket, carrying rifles, and walking on the ground with their shoes, making neat footsteps, which makes people feel trembling. The soldiers who drove away the captives were very rude and asked the Dutch to stand on the side of the road to make way, and wait for the soldiers to walk over before they continued to move forward.

When I got on the boat, Kuiyi saw that the Ming people were hanging off the boat with the captured cannons, and some craftsmen were repairing and being damaged. (To be continued...)

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Chapter completed!