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

Chapter 1289 Batavia
The entire combined fleet, including warships and armed merchant ships from Portugal, Britain, Sweden, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, totaled ninety-three vessels.

These warships do not include all the warships of the three Ming navies, and in terms of quantity, they only represent one-third of the total number of warships in the Ming navy. However, in terms of combat power, they are two-thirds stronger than the three Ming navies. It is important to understand that naval warfare is different from land warfare. Naval warfare cannot rely solely on the number of warships and personnel; more importantly, it requires the size of the warships and their powerful firepower. If we only consider the number of warships, the Ming dynasty could easily mobilize hundreds of warships, let alone these few dozen. However, ordinary warships are small in size, unsuitable for long-range operations, and lack sufficient firepower. These shortcomings cannot be compensated for by sheer numbers.

Of the ninety-three warships, seventy-four were Ming Dynasty warships, thirty-five of which were the true main warships, while the rest were auxiliary warships or troop transport and transport ships.

Don't underestimate this number; it's actually quite substantial. These thirty-five warships are currently the most powerful warships in the Ming Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty acquired advanced shipbuilding technology from Europe and combined it with its original technology, it began building new warships capable of competing with large European warships. In all these years, only a mere forty-nine ships have been built.

This time, they brought out thirty-five main warships, which already accounted for more than half of their total main warships. The remaining warships were either used for escorting ships traveling between the Ming Dynasty and the New World, or for protecting the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty.

From this perspective, the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to this battle. Even the remaining auxiliary warships and troop transport ships were vessels suitable for long-distance voyages and possessed a certain level of combat capability.

It's important to know that Spain's most powerful period was when it possessed the Invincible Armada. At that time, Spain was known as the invincible force in the world. Its Invincible Armada consisted of 150 warships. However, even these 150 ships were not all capital warships; they also included other warships.

From this perspective, even Spain at its strongest was like this, and the Netherlands today is not even comparable to the scale of its invincible Armada era. However, the Netherlands should not be underestimated. As a maritime power following Spain, the Netherlands, known as the "Carrier of the Sea," possesses unparalleled naval strength. If the Netherlands were to gather all its national strength to fight a major naval battle against the Ming Dynasty, the outcome would be uncertain given the Ming Dynasty's current naval power.

However, this war broke out in the Far East, and the South China Sea was much closer to the Ming Dynasty than to the Dutch. In addition, the Ming Dynasty was extremely decisive in declaring war on the Netherlands. After the Dutch pretended to be pirates and failed to raid Ming merchant ships, they were caught red-handed. In less than a month and a half, the Ming court decided to punish the Netherlands and began to mobilize the navy to fight in the South China Sea.

When the news reached Batavia, at the headquarters of the East India Company, Governor Reinius looked extremely grim, while Colonel Cohen, standing before him, was sweating profusely and bearing the brunt of the Governor's anger.

"Incompetent! Idiot! Useless!"

Reinice waved his fist, spitting directly into Colonel Cohen's face. He now wished he could take a knife and split the colonel's head open to see what was inside.

It was on the orders of this governor-general that East India Company warships were used to impersonate pirates and repeatedly rob and kill Ming Dynasty merchant ships in the South China Sea, and Colonel Cohen was the one who carried out the order.

Everything was going smoothly at first. In the past two years, they had plundered a total of twenty-eight Ming Dynasty merchant ships. Although this number may not seem like much, the gains were enormous. Not only did they take this opportunity to retaliate against the Ming Empire, but they also acquired a great deal of wealth through looting. The wealth that ended up in the hands of this governor alone amounted to nearly one million Ming Dynasty silver dollars.

As the raids became increasingly successful, Governor Reinnis was delighted with them, seeing them as extremely advantageous to him. In the past, the Dutch had suffered setbacks in both wars, especially after losing Xiaoliuqiu, which brought unprecedented losses to the East India Company.

The Dutch had spent years in Xiaoliuqiu, investing not only manpower but also enormous resources. Their original plan was to use the occupation of Xiaoliuqiu as a springboard, and then, after gaining full control of it, continue their military campaign to conquer the Ming Dynasty.

Even if they couldn't annex the Ming Dynasty, they could use this opportunity to suppress the Ming's coastal regions, thereby establishing a complete monopoly on Ming trade. If they could achieve this, the Kingdom of Holland, especially the East India Company, would become the world's strongest power, and they would control the Far East shipping routes and trade lifelines of both the Ming Empire and European nations.

To everyone's dismay, the Ming Dynasty actually sent troops to Little Liuqiu. The Dutch had not yet fully managed Little Liuqiu, nor were they prepared for war. Even the city on the island had not been completely built when the Dutch launched their military operation.

Under the combined onslaught of the powerful Ming Dynasty navy and army, despite the valiant fighting of the island's troops, they ultimately could not withstand the enemy's advance. Following the defeat at Xiaoliuqiu, the Dutch East India Company had no choice but to concede defeat, sign an agreement with the Ming Dynasty, and withdraw its troops from Xiaoliuqiu.

This defeat was not only a disgrace to the Dutch, but it also caused Reinius's predecessor, Lord Lane, to lose his position as governor and leave Batavia in disgrace to return home.

To this day, Reinice still remembers the look of resentment and regret on Lord Ryan's face as he left. As Ryan's important deputy and subsequent governor, Reinice swore revenge against the Ming Dynasty when Ryan left Batavia, which led to his later act of impersonating pirates to attack Ming merchant ships. "Colonel! Didn't you tell me that the Strength had sunk? Can you explain to me what's going on?"

Picking up a piece of paper, Reinice roared at Colonel Cohen. Colonel Cohen was pale and speechless. Seeing his condition, Reinice threw the paper in his face and continued to curse.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Reinice immediately stopped cursing and looked toward the door.

"Come in!" After slightly adjusting his appearance, the governor managed to regain his usual composure and called out to the door.

The door was pushed open, and standing before them was Lieutenant Hahn, Reinnis's bodyguard.

“Your Excellency the Governor… Your Excellency the Colonel…” Lieutenant Hahn greeted the two men as he entered, his gaze lingering briefly on Colonel Cohen’s slightly disheveled face before he began, “Several directors of the company and Commander-in-Chief General Cappellen have arrived. They are waiting for you in the council chamber…”

Reinice paused, opened his mouth as if to ask something, but the words he was about to say changed.

"Lieutenant Hahn, please ask them to wait a moment, I'll be right there." Lieutenant Hahn responded, saluted, and turned to leave the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

“Trouble is brewing…” Reinice had no intention of continuing to berate Colonel Cohen; his brows were furrowed, and his face was extremely grim.

“Sir, if it really comes to it, I’ll take the blame. After all, it was my mistake.” Colonel Cohen was a confidant of Governor Reinice, and the matter was indeed his fault, or rather, he had been misled by his subordinates.

“You?” Reinice shook his head. Colonel Cohen was simply not up to the responsibility, and now it was he who was facing this problem.

During the initial raid on the Ming merchant ships, one of the two warships escaped, while the other was besieged by Ming warships. Reports later indicated that the operation had failed, and the besieged USS Stryner had been defeated and sunk. Colonel Cohen reported this to the governor, expressing regret over the sinking and loss of the Stryner, but without much further consideration, and certainly not anticipating its capture.

Subsequent news confirmed that the Strayne had not sunk; instead, it had surrendered and been captured upon realizing the situation was dire. With the Strayne's capture, the news of its piracy and raids on Ming merchant ships could no longer be concealed. This incident caused a great stir. Having just received news from the Spanish in Luzon, the Ming Empire was furious and decided to teach the Dutch in Batavia a lesson by force, not only declaring war on the Dutch but also expelling them from the Far East.

This was a major event, especially for the Dutch East India Company, which would be a near-catastrophic disaster. If the Netherlands were to lose this war, or even be expelled from the Far East, the Dutch East India Company, which had only been established for a few decades, would completely collapse, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although the Dutch East India Company was relatively young, it experienced rapid growth within a few decades. Especially after establishing its headquarters in Batavia and during the two terms of Governor-General Jean-Petersson Cohen, the Netherlands not only defeated the Kingdom of Portugal in the Far East but also acquired important colonies in the Indian Ocean and Malacca, thus ushering in a period of rapid expansion for the East India Company.

However, after two unsuccessful attempts to expand northward, the East India Company failed to completely monopolize the Far East trade routes, and its development gradually stagnated. In particular, after the Battle of Xiaoliuqiu, the East India Company retreated to Batavia in disgrace, and even the former governor was dismissed as a result.

The East India Company is currently in a precarious situation. The war with the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Ming and European countries and the opening of domestic trading ports, has significantly reduced the company's profits. If it were to be expelled from the Far East by the Ming Dynasty, the East India Company would have nowhere to stand, and this company, which had enjoyed less than fifty years of glory, would inevitably face bankruptcy—a result that none of the company's leaders wanted to see.

(End of this chapter)