Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1072 Recovery
Without Hermann, Jacob continued to persuade Caron, which made Caron, who had originally intended to surrender, more inclined to this option.

However, what Kalon was most concerned about was the promise of the Ming army, and he needed a strong guarantee. That is, he hoped that if he wanted to surrender and hand over Fort Zeelandia, he must get a written promise from the Ming side.

For this reason, Jacob could not be sure whether the Ming army would agree to this matter, so he could only say that he would return to the outside of the city to bring Mr. Kalon's intention to the commander of the Ming army and ask for the other party's request. In this case, Kalon urged Jacob to leave the city as soon as possible to inquire about this matter. Jacob left the city in a hurry within a few hours after entering the city without even eating, and returned to Shi Daxuan's camp outside the city.

After meeting Shi Daxuan, Jacob conveyed Caron's request and hoped that Shi Daxuan could give them a written guarantee as a general of the Ming Dynasty to ensure the conditions proposed by Caron.

After hearing this, Shi Daxuan remained expressionless on the surface, but secretly admired Hong Chengchou in his heart. Jacob and others, including Caron, did not know that Hong Chengchou had explained to Shi Daxuan long before he sent troops. One of the points was that he could give the other party a promise at the appropriate time, and even sign an agreement with the other party with the authorization of the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang to ensure the recovery of Xiaoliuqiu and the expulsion of all Dutch.

But this promise was based on the premise that the Ming army could not easily capture the castles where the other side was stationed. If the Dutch in Xiaoliuqiu were vulnerable, then this promise would not be necessary. Shi Daxuan could have directly captured Fort Zeelandia and Fort Anthony with a thunderous force, and then captured all the Dutch and forcibly expelled the other side.

But now, although the Ming army has a great advantage, it took a lot of effort to capture Fort Antony. Fort Zeelandia is much stronger than Fort Antony in terms of the strength of the city, the number of soldiers, the population and the supply within the city. Moreover, more than half a month has passed since Shi Daxuan landed and started the war. If the time is delayed too long, when the Dutch reinforcements from Batavia arrive, it is hard to say when this war will end.

In addition, there was the problem of Ming army supply. Although Hong Chengchou had made preparations in advance to ensure the smooth progress of the war, the supply of sea crossing was a very important link. Xiaoliuqiu was 700 miles away from Fujian by sea. The fleet not only had to take into account the current war, but also had to guard against the Dutch reinforcements that might arrive at any time.

In this situation, supplies can only come from the sea, and the supply of more than 25,000 people every day is an astronomical figure. The longer the war lasts, the more disadvantageous it is for the Ming army. So now that they have the advantage, according to Hong Chengchou's previous arrangements, it is not excessive to sign an agreement to ensure that the other party's demands are met.

After a little consideration, Shi Daxuan did not give an answer immediately. After all, things that are too easy to get are often not cherished. So that day, Shi Daxuan asked Jacob to go downstairs to rest, saying that he needed to think carefully. He delayed for a day. In the afternoon of the next day, Shi Daxuan asked someone to bring Jacob and told him that if Fort Zeelandia could surrender immediately, the Ming Dynasty could sign an agreement with Kalon to ensure his conditions and end the war.

After receiving Shi Daxuan's promise, Jacob was ecstatic. In his opinion, everything would be fine with this promise. In this way, Jacob entered Fort Zeelandia in the evening of the same day and brought Shi Daxuan's reply. After hearing the news, Kalon, who had been waiting in the city for a long time, was overjoyed and decided to surrender.

Although the subsequent surrender process had some twists and turns, mainly due to the opposition of Major Hermann, the military commander, Caron, as the highest administrative officer, directly deprived Hermann of his post and had the officer put under guard.

Although Caron was incompetent and cowardly, he was an aristocrat who was very familiar with such tactics. He didn't spend much effort. He just ordered Hermann to attend a meeting, and then easily controlled him with guards, dismissed him from all his positions and imprisoned him. At this point, it was too late for Hermann to resist. Moreover, Caron was his superior as the chief executive. He had no choice but to obey his superior's orders even if he didn't want to.

After dealing with the troublemaker Hermann, Caron asked Jacob to go out of the city again to inform Shi Daxuan that Fort Zeelandia was ready to surrender, but the prerequisite was that an agreement must be signed first to ensure his own interests.

In this way, Jacob became a temporary communication messenger between the two sides, busy traveling back and forth in and out of the city. Three days later, the two sides revised the content of the agreement several times and finally formed it. They chose a day to sign the agreement formally at the gate of Fort Zeelandia with ten representatives from each side.

On this day, Shi Daxuan, as the commander-in-chief of the Ming army, met with Kalon outside Fort Zeelandia with his personal soldiers. The meeting went very smoothly and the two sides formally signed the agreement in a friendly atmosphere. After the agreement was signed, Shi Daxuan stood up with a smile and extended his hand to Kalon. Kalon was completely relieved and shook hands with Shi Daxuan with a smile on his face, completing their respective missions.

On the morning of the second day after the signing of the agreement, Fort Zeelandia opened its gates, the Dutch formally surrendered, and the Ming army officially entered the city, marking the end of the war.

With Kalon's surrender and the end of the war, the Ming army also kept its promise and did not settle accounts with the Dutch on the island, nor did it take any revenge. At the same time, the Ming army returned the two captured Dutch warships, allowing Kalon, Jacob and others to board the two warships with their subordinates and carry their belongings to leave Xiaoliuqiu. Of course, the guns of the two warships were basically dismantled by Shi Daxuan. Except for the two self-defense guns, the rest of the guns became the spoils of the Ming army. As for the large amount of food and other military supplies stored in Fort Zeelandia, they all belonged to the Ming army. As for wealth, except for the personal belongings taken away by the Dutch, the rest were also seized by the Ming army.

The battle to retake Xiaoliuqiu lasted only one month from the time troops were dispatched from Xiamen to the end of the war. Even when Caron and his men left Xiaoliuqiu, the East India Company in Batavia had just received a request for help and was still discussing how to reinforce Xiaoliuqiu.

Compared with the historical situation where Zheng Chenggong took more than eight months to recapture this place with almost the same number of troops, Shi Daxuan not only took much less time, but the Ming army also suffered huge losses and consumption.

There are several key reasons for this. First, the current Dutch Governor is not Kiyi but Caron. Compared with Kiyi, who is capable but comes from an ordinary background, Caron is just a boastful nobleman. He did not have a firm belief in defending the city from the beginning. He only considered his own safety.

Secondly, whether it is Fort Zeelandia or Fort Antonius, since the war broke out about ten years earlier, the solidity of the two places cannot be compared with that later.

Third, this time the Ming army caught the enemy off guard. Although Hong Chengchou was a scholar and a Jinshi, he was not pedantic and understood the principle of speed in war. Therefore, before the war, he did not make a big fanfare like Zheng Chenggong did, nor did he notify the other side that he was going to fight, giving the Dutch a chance to prepare. Instead, he sent troops directly from Xiamen, attacked the Dutch by surprise, and took Penghu and Taijiang in one fell swoop, instead of losing the initiative like Zheng Chenggong did. He knew that Taijiang was more suitable, but because the Dutch were already prepared, he could not attack head-on, so he could only choose Luermen, where the waters were complex and dangerous. If it were not for good luck, Zheng Chenggong might not even have the chance to land on the island.

As for the fourth point, it is the flexible use of this war. As the commander-in-chief, Hong Chengchou considered many issues before the war and explained and arranged them to Shi Daxuan. Because Shi Daxuan was so important for the first time, coupled with his caution and execution, he implemented Hong Chengchou's will very well, which led to the current result.

On the other hand, Zheng Chenggong not only lost the initiative, but also had a head-on naval battle with the Dutch in the battle to attack the Penghu Islands. Although he won, he also suffered losses. Then, because he could not land from Taijiang, he could only choose Luermen. Although he was lucky to land at Luermen due to high tide, it also delayed some time.

By the time Zheng Chenggong landed, the Dutch in Fort Zeelandia and Fort Antony had already made full preparations and were waiting for his arrival.

In the subsequent siege, Zheng Chenggong, who lacked firearms and firepower, had an advantage in terms of manpower, but he was never able to achieve a repressive advantage. As time went on, Zheng Chenggong's troops not only suffered heavy losses, but also encountered many problems due to logistics. In addition, the Dutch reinforcements from Batavia arrived, and the two sides fought again at sea. In the end, Zheng Chenggong had to work very hard to repel the Dutch reinforcements and refocus his forces to continue attacking Fort Zeelandia and Fort Antonini.

In the subsequent wars, Zheng Chenggong became more and more anxious, and finally used human lives to fill a gap and capture Fort Antony. Although he captured a city, Zheng Chenggong suffered heavy losses at that time. Facing such losses, Zheng Chenggong was furious. He ignored the persuasion of his subordinates and rejected the idea of ​​using this opportunity to persuade the Dutch to surrender. He was determined to pursue the victory and completely break Fort Zeelandia, clamoring to kill all the Dutch.

He could have forced the Dutch to surrender through diplomatic means, but because of his decision, the Dutch in Fort Zeelandia had to fight Zheng Chenggong to the death in order to protect themselves. In this way, after fighting for more than half a year, Fort Zeelandia could not be taken. Zheng Chenggong's losses became greater and greater, and he became more and more irritable.

Under such circumstances, Zheng Chenggong gradually calmed down and realized his mistake. He understood that it would be impossible to break through Fort Zeelandia by force in a short period of time. Even if he finally took it down, he would suffer heavy losses, and the loss would outweigh the gain.

In view of this situation, Zheng Chenggong had no choice but to negotiate with the Dutch in Zeelandia. At this time, the exhausted Dutch, including the highest administrative chief, Koichi, knew clearly that continuing the war would result in annihilation of the entire army. Since Zheng Chenggong was willing to show leniency, he would not refuse this opportunity. After some negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement to ensure the safety of the Dutch's lives and property, and to send them off from Xiaoliuqiu with courtesy. Koichi ordered them to lay down their arms and surrender.

(End of this chapter)