Chapter 1184: This Is a Villainous Gentry!

Matsolko's demand for a "battle of gentlemen against gentlemen" completely caught Wei Qingmu off guard, and it also exceeded his authority.

This was no jest! Matsolko was the Governor-General of the East India Company, and by proposing a "battle of gentlemen against gentlemen" he was in fact issuing a challenge to battle.

This was an ancient, nearly forgotten rule of war — the two sides agreed upon a time and place, fought a great battle, and thereby decided victory and defeat.

But Wei Qingmu was merely a consul under the Great Ming Ministry of Foreign Affairs — how could he possibly respond to Matsolko's challenge?

So after obtaining Matsolko's assurance that martial law would be lifted, Wei Qingmu took the letter of challenge issued by Matsolko on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and boarded a fast ship belonging to a "Yiguan Party" trading house, leaving Batavia and sailing toward the port of Macau more than six thousand li away.

Macau had now "returned ahead of schedule" and was an autonomous commercial city under Guangzhou Prefecture. The Great Ming Office of Transmission had also set up a relay station in Macau, so once Wei Qingmu arrived there, he could send Matsolko's letter of challenge by express courier through the Office of Transmission's relay station to the Old Mountain Palace in Yingtian Prefecture.

Five days after Wei Qingmu left Batavia's harbor, a new-model bombardment warship from Europe, the States Assembly, slowly came alongside the docks of Batavia.

After the great naval battle of Kagoshima Bay six years earlier, the three states with relatively strong finances and shipbuilding capacity — Great Ming, Holland, and England — had all immediately begun upgrade programs for their mainline warships.

The new-model bombardment warship obtained by the Great Ming navy was the Yingtian Prefecture-class bombardment ship of the line with a burden of about 800 tons; the English navy obtained the Lord Protector-class bombardment ship of the line of about 1,000 tons; and the Dutch navy obtained the States Assembly-class bombardment ship of the line of about 950 tons.

What arrived at Batavia in early November 1663 was the States Assembly, the lead ship of the States Assembly-class ships of the line. Accompanying this brand-new ship of the line to Batavia were Rear Admiral Cornelis van Tromp, commander of the Dutch East India Fleet, and Bruys van Diemen, special envoy of the East India Company's board of directors.

It should be explained that the so-called Dutch East India Fleet was actually a borderline concept — it could be interpreted either as the East India Company's fleet or as the Dutch Republic's East India Fleet. The reason such a name was devised was that Grand Pensionary De Witt of Holland believed the Dutch Republic needed to maintain a "flexible deterrent" in the East.

"A flexible deterrent?"

Inside the fortress at Batavia, Governor-General Matsolko had finished reading the personal letter from De Witt brought by Bruys van Diemen, and his brow was now tightly knotted.

"Bruys, can you explain what a flexible deterrent is?" Matsolko asked.

Bruys van Diemen smiled and said, "It means being able to deter the Celestial Empire while at the same time being able to negotiate peace with the Celestial Empire at any time and conclude a treaty as favorable as possible!"

"This—"

Rear Admiral Cornelis van Tromp, a tall, powerfully built man with a stern rectangular face and shoulder-length gray hair, took up the subject and said to Matsolko, "Governor-General, the situation in Europe is extremely unfavorable. Philip of Spain has fallen gravely ill, and his health is a cause for concern. Louis XIV of France is aggressive, having built up a massive new-model army, and will very likely attack the Spanish Netherlands after Philip IV's death. And Charles Cromwell of England is a cautious, conservative sort who seems unwilling to take part in the struggle for supremacy on the European continent, and even less willing to discuss with us the question of containing France!"

"That does sound truly dreadful." Matsolko's expression turned somewhat grim. "It seems we need the House of Orange again!"

"Johan!" Rear Admiral Tromp said in a low voice. "Do not mention them. William III of the House of Orange is only fourteen this year — what can we expect of him?"

This really was a disaster in the making!

William III, the "hero who saved the nation" who in history rescued Holland during the Franco-Dutch War, was now only fourteen. On the French side, meanwhile, military talent was now appearing in abundance — Prince Condé, Viscount Turenne, François de Créquy, and a certain Vauban who was about to make his name!

How could a boy in his teens possibly defeat so many formidable men?

"Then what is to be done?" Matsolko said. "Apart from the House of Orange, who else can stand against the French? If one day they truly swallow up the Spanish Netherlands!"

"The Grand Pensionary will not allow such a situation to arise, so we must end the conflict in the East as quickly as possible, and then concentrate our energies on dealing with the difficult situation in Europe!"

"End it as quickly as possible..." Matsolko furrowed his brow, seemingly lost in thought.

"Is that difficult?" Bruys van Diemen was himself an old East hand. "That Ming Emperor's ambitions must be very great, surely?"

"He wants to rule the Strait of Malacca!" Matsolko said. "The Great Ming consul in Batavia brought me the Ming Emperor's demand just a few days ago — he can leave Java and the Spice Islands alone for the time being, but he will not let go of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra."

Diemen shook his head. "If the Ming dynasty takes the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, the East India Company's lifeline will be squeezed in Chinese hands!"

Rear Admiral Tromp said, "The Grand Pensionary already anticipated the difficult situation, which is why he sent me to Batavia in command of the States Assembly. She is a bombardment ship of the line with a burden of 950 tons! She carries great guns firing forty-pound shot, with astonishing destructive power! The Holland States and the Zeeland States will arrive later — both of them, like the States Assembly, are 950-ton bombardment warships!

Once these three bombardment warships join the East India Fleet, that should be enough to frighten the Chinese, should it not?"

Matsolko shook his head. "They have bombardment warships too. Also large ships of over 800 tons burden! And more than one of them!"

At present, Great Ming's shipbuilding technology was still inferior to England's and Holland's — the Yingtian Prefecture's tonnage, firepower, and speed all fell short of the Lord Protector-class and States Assembly-class.

But the scale of Great Ming's shipbuilding industry was larger than Holland's or England's, and the Ming court's financial resources were stronger as well, so the number of Yingtian Prefecture-class ships being built exceeded the Lord Protector-class and States Assembly-class combined.

Moreover, the main fleets of Holland and England could not all come cruising about the Pacific — their primary theater was still Europe.

"We still have many medium and light warships and armed merchantmen," Tromp said. "With some conversion, they could also serve as bombardment warships—"

"No need for conversions." Matsolko suddenly cut off Rear Admiral Tromp. "Because I have already issued a challenge to the Ming Emperor's navy, agreeing to a decisive battle next autumn!"

"Next autumn... there is still time!" Tromp thought for a moment. "What about the shipyards here in Batavia? Can they complete the conversion of a hundred ships?"

"No, no conversions." Matsolko shook his head.

"No conversions? Then how are we to defeat the Chinese?" Rear Admiral Tromp countered.

"We will not fight a decisive naval battle with them!" Matsolko said. "Because there is simply no chance of victory!"

"Then why did you issue the challenge?" Bruys van Diemen asked.

"The challenge had to be issued," Matsolko said. "It is a stratagem!"

"A stratagem?" Tromp asked. "What stratagem?"

Matsolko smiled and said, "A stratagem to draw the Chinese attention to the sea. If they believe we will fight a decisive battle in the waters east of Malacca, then they will certainly draw ships from all quarters to concentrate in the ports around the Ca Mau area, while at the same time halting their offensive on land.

And we, meanwhile, can seize the opportunity to take action on land in the Malay Peninsula and in the Indian Ocean!"

"Take action in the Indian Ocean?" Bruys van Diemen asked. "What sort of action?"

"Naturally, action that can delay or break the momentum of the Ming army's southward advance!"

"How is that to be done?"

"Bruys," Matsolko looked at Bruys van Diemen, "it seems we will need to trouble you again. I would like to ask you to make a trip to Syriam! Syriam in Burma!"

(End of Chapter)