Chapter 495

After finally waiting for the plague to pass, they discovered the Great Ming Navy had unexpectedly re-equipped!

The navy's warships and cannons far surpassed the past!

Damn it, their advantage was gone.

Even with the help of the pirate Liu Xiang, they had no confidence.

For a time, the Dutch hesitated, and General Putmans dared not attack the Great Ming.

They remained deadlocked like this.

Until Su Qiao was found and returned, now the Great Ming Navy has begun active war preparations.

Inside the Maritime Trade Office in Quanzhou Prefecture, many foreigners have already sensed the smell of gunpowder.

It seemed as if a single spark could trigger an explosion.

With this, Putmans had nowhere left to retreat.

He had no choice but to fight!

He knew clearly what kind of person Zheng Zhilong was.

If Zheng Zhilong were in a weak position, he might not show aggression.

But the intelligence reported that he had already controlled all of the Great Ming Fujian and Quanzhou Navies, with warship firepower far surpassing the past; the balance of war had already tilted.

From the weaker side, he had become the stronger side.

Even if he retreated with the Dutch fleet, it would be useless.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong would surely pursue and attack.

Inside the conference room, Putmans' face looked very ugly.

"Gentlemen, now the Great Ming has firmly resolved to fight us; do you think our current fleet can achieve victory?"

Putmans asked the others in the conference room.

Those attending the meeting were all captains, experts in plundering at sea.

In the past, they would have long been clamoring to teach them a lesson!

However, today they did not; everyone looked at each other in silence.

But eventually, someone spoke up.

"General, according to intelligence, the Great Ming Navy has re-equipped; at least sixty advanced warships, larger and more powerful than our ships, and I hear their cannons are very powerful. If so, with only seventeen main fleet ships we have gathered this time, it is probably not enough."

As soon as this person finished speaking, another immediately refuted him.

"Coward! Don't forget that Haidao Liu Xiang is helping us this time; although the warships under his command are small, there are hundreds of them, enough to fight the Great Ming!"

"Hmph, Liu Xiang's warships are completely useless; one blast from a cannon and they're gone, they can't stop the Great Ming Navy's warships at all!"

"Ants can kill an elephant, let alone so many warships; as long as they play their part, we can still win. You coward, if you're afraid, go wash your butt and get out!"

"You're the coward, I challenge you to a duel!"

Unknowingly, the people below started shouting loudly.

The arguing made the veins on Putmans' forehead jump and throb.

He actually also felt Liu Xiang's warships were useless; he still had to rely on himself.

However, the East India Company's fleet was not a completely solid block; various interests were interwoven.

If he did not want to control the fleet, he had to accommodate more people.

"Enough! Stop arguing. I called you here to discuss what to do, not to quarrel. How about this: we vote. Those who believe our current strength is fully sufficient to fight the Great Ming head-on, please raise your hands!"

Putmans slammed the table, and the noisy crowd immediately fell silent.

After all, he was a General and still possessed great authority.

Voting also conformed to People's thoughts.

However, most people were not fools; they also knew that with just these few men, trying to prove they could go head-to-head with the Great Ming fleet, the win rate was too low.

So now very few people raised their hands, only two or three!

449, Pre-war Mobilization!

"Good, next, those who believe we need reinforcements, please raise your hands!"

Swish!

This time, those who hadn't raised their hands just now basically all raised them.

Seeing this result, Putmans felt a sigh of relief in his heart and was very happy~.

"The minority obeys the majority; since that is the case, let us call for reinforcements and fight the Great Ming Empire properly!"

Actually, if Putmans were to not call for reinforcements and engage the Great Ming with just these ships in hand,

he really had no confidence.

The Great Ming Navy has already changed.

He preferred to win safely and then plunder for profit.

Near Lu Song, a Dutch fleet was anchored, with over twenty warships; in the Strait of Malacca, there were also over twenty, nearly thirty warships.

Altogether, that was sixty to seventy warships.

They could fully form a powerful, massive fleet!

With this support, he dared to go hand-to-hand with the Great Ming Navy fleet.

"My lord Su, news has arrived!"

Su Qiao was in the post station; with nothing else to do for the moment, he had not gone to Quanzhou Prefecture to get involved.

With Zheng Zhilong training the navy and Zhou Xun and others handling logistics, since the war had not yet begun, he did not need to be so active.

Once preparations are complete, one simply needs to make the decision.

Thus, Su Qiao basically spent his time in the guesthouse with Liu Rushi, sipping tea and reading books.

It was leisurely beyond words.

The officials of Quanzhou Prefecture were also quite pleased with this arrangement.

Of course, major news and significant matters still had to be reported to Su Qiao immediately.

Indeed, the Dutch had just made a move.

The news reached Su Qiao without delay.

The messenger was none other than Zheng Sen.

Zheng Sen now stayed by Su Qiao's side; while it was said to be for study, it was also to serve as a hostage.

Both Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Sen understood this clearly.

After all, Zheng Zhilong commanded over seventy thousand naval soldiers, with warships of all sizes totaling nearly a thousand.

With such a massive naval military force, how could there be no system of checks and balances?

Therefore, when Su Qiao previously proposed that Zheng Sen stay by his side, Zheng Zhilong agreed so eagerly.

Zheng Sen handed the paper to Su Qiao.

Su Qiao took it and began to read.

There were not many words on it; in fact, one could say very few.

Yet it conveyed quite a bit of information to Su Qiao.

"The Dutch are currently retreating; they must be terrified and have gone to summon reinforcements."

Su Qiao said in a deep voice.

Then Su Qiao looked at Zheng Sen and asked, "What do you think the Dutch will do?"

"My lord, my father told me that the Dutch are very restless and highly aggressive. They will likely summon reinforcements from the Strait of Malacca, Lu Song, and other places to fight a great battle with Great Ming and decide the outcome!"

Zheng Sen replied without a moment's hesitation.

Hearing this, Su Qiao remained noncommittal. "This is the surface level; have you seen the deeper meaning?"

Zheng Sen was stunned. He thought for a long time but could not come up with anything, so he simply shook his head and said, "Deeper meaning? Forgive my student's dullness; I cannot see it."

"Hehe, the deeper meaning is that the Dutch covet Great Ming greatly. Unless they are completely driven out of Asia in one go, they will not give up. Furthermore, they do not trust the strength of the pirate Liu Xiang. If even they do not trust Liu Xiang's strength, it proves that although Liu Xiang commands ten or twenty thousand pirates, they are still a disorganized mob."

"This war could even directly determine who holds the title of hegemon in Asia!"

After Su Qiao finished speaking, Zheng Sen finally understood.

He also realized the gap between himself and Su Qiao.

"Xueshengshou Sect!"