Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 270 Cooperation
The northeast monsoon roars across the Penghu Islands, where the average altitude is only more than 30 meters, and the highest point, Maoyu, is less than 80 meters. Strong winds of level 6 or above blow for nearly half of the year.

But surprisingly, throughout the north wind season, the Magong Harbor on the main island of Penghu is a calm scene. This is the largest harbor in the entire Penghu archipelago, and the archipelago got its name for this reason.

The so-called "Penghu" is actually a corruption of the Minnan dialect "Pinghu", just as "Magong" is also a corruption of "Magong", because there is a Mazu temple built in the early Ming Dynasty to the north of the entrance of Magong Port.

Opposite the Mazu Temple, across Magong Harbor, is Fengguiwei, the end of Fenggui Peninsula. This is where the Dutch built a city in Penghu in the third year of the Tianqi reign.

It was a four-cornered bastion built of rammed earth, covered with bricks, and equipped with 29 heavy artillery pieces. The slaves who built the city were captured by the Reds from Fujian. Due to lack of food and clothing, more than 1,300 people died in just over a month of construction. The few hundred who survived were transported to Batavia and sold.

This four-cornered bastion, where thousands of innocent souls were buried, was later ordered to be demolished, and the Ming army built a gun city on the original site. Lin Hai is now standing on this gun city. He came to Penghu to take office after the Battle of Xiamen. After all, he is now a Penghu guerrilla of the Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The appointment of a garrison commander was not as complicated as that of a garrison officer. After finishing his work, Lin Hai brought Li Guozhu to the site of Fengguiwei City. The latter was also an eyewitness of the Ming-Herpes Penghu naval battle. After all, his father Li Dan was the mediator of that war.

"The Red Hair chose a good location for building the city. You see, it is surrounded by water on three sides, and the Fenggui Peninsula is so long and narrow. Every step forward by the imperial army will result in huge casualties..."

Lin Hai knew the quality of Fujian's Ming army better than anyone else. He could imagine how difficult it would be to drive the red-haired people away from here, so he asked, "How did Lord Nandu force the red-haired people to withdraw from Penghu?"

"That's easy to say..." Li Guozhu replied, "The imperial army cut off Hongmao's water supply, so Hongmao couldn't hold on. And with my father's persuasion, he finally retreated to Dayuan."

"I see. How many troops did Hongmao have at that time? How many soldiers were there in the imperial army?"

"The Reds had more than 800 people and more than ten large and small ships, including seven large plywood ships with a capacity of more than 1,000 tons. The imperial court mobilized more than 10,000 troops and more than 200 ships, but not all of them were used. In the end, more than 3,000 people landed."

"There are seven large plywood ships?" Lin Hai was a little surprised. This was much better than the current red-haired Dutch. The Dutch had blockaded Manila several times, and most of the time they only dispatched so many large galleons equivalent to the company's cruise ships.

He then asked: "Then how did the imperial army land?"

"To make a feint to the east and attack in the west, Lord Nandu sent a fleet to Fengguiwei as a decoy, while the main force quietly landed at Zhenhai Port on Baisha Island, thus avoiding the red-haired plywood. Of course, the loss of the decoy was quite heavy..."

"It's really not easy for Lord Nan!" Lin Hai couldn't help but sigh after listening. Considering the equipment and quality of the Fujian Navy at that time, the ability to force the Dutch back was indeed dependent on the planning of Nan Juyi, the then Fujian Governor.

After sighing, Lin Hai continued with a smile: "But the Reds' land warfare ability is just so-so. They rely on strong ships, powerful guns and bastions. If I lead 800 people to fight against the imperial court, the mere 3,000 Fujian navy will not lose the water source no matter what."

Li Guozhu smiled and complimented him: "Of course, my second brother is a master of military tactics and can be said to be invincible in the world."

"I can't claim to be invincible, but I should be more than capable of dealing with Red Hair..." Lin Hai then repeated the plan he had told Ou Zuoji about, and then asked Li Guozhu, "Brother, Red Hair also has a share in your father's blood feud. What do you think of my plan?"

"My dear brother, you have great ambitions. I really admire you." Li Guozhu said, "But strictly speaking, my father's enemy is actually only De Weite. Now that Weite is dead, I don't necessarily have to take revenge on the red-haired man."

Lin Hai was speechless after hearing this. Ever since Zheng Zhilong's death, Li Guozhu seemed to have lost his goal.

He then continued, "Brother, to be honest with you, I don't want to go out to sea anymore. I just want to live a peaceful life in Japan from now on. The main reason why I didn't agree to join the club that day was for this reason. If you can assign me a long-term mission in Japan, then I would have no problem joining."

After hearing this, Lin Hai knew what Li Guozhu was thinking. This was not surprising. Li Guozhu was a person who did not have great aspirations. He had advised Li Dan not to go to sea. Later, when his father wanted to pass the throne to Yan Siqi, he did not have much objection. He just thought that his father would be a rich man in Japan a hundred years later.

However, Lin Hai really didn't want Li Guozhu to just develop market relations in Japan. That would be a waste.

He knew that his sworn brother was loyal and righteous, so he decided to play the emotional card: "Brother, I am planning to set up a new department. There is really no one more suitable than you. Please help me. It will only take two or three years. After you defeat the red-haired man, you can then be a rich man with peace of mind. How do you think?"

Lin Hai had said so much, so it was difficult for Li Guozhu to refuse. After all, without this second brother, he wouldn't even be able to avenge his father.

"What department are you talking about, brother?"

"I haven't decided on a name yet, but it will mainly manage the company's merchant fleet and overseas trade. In the past, the Navy Department was in charge of this, and I want to separate it out."

Lin Hai said, "In addition to this, another important responsibility is diplomacy, including the management of various relationships at home and abroad. You don't have to worry about the Ming Dynasty. I will be responsible for it myself, and Brother Yilong can assist me. But the person in charge of overseas affairs must be my eldest brother."

"What exactly should we do?" Li Guozhu still didn't quite understand.

"The most important thing is to form an alliance. I want you to represent the company and go to Goa and Surat to try to reach an alliance with the highest level of the Portuguese and Anglo-Guizhou people against the red-haired people."

Regarding the strength of the VOC fleet in Asia, Lin Hai has obtained relatively accurate data through multiple channels such as Salvador Diaz and Su Minggang. There are more than 30 warships equivalent to the Navy's cruiser level.

The Company's Ship Bureau would certainly not be able to build so many cruisers within two or three years. If it wanted to compete with Batavia, it must at this stage pull as many of VOC's Western counterparts as possible into the same trench.

Due to historical reasons, the Li family definitely did not get along with the Spaniards, but they had good relations with the Portuguese and the British. Li Guozhu himself spoke fluent Portuguese and English, so he was indeed the best person to be the diplomatic envoy.

(End of this chapter)