Chapter 364: Landing

"Oh? Heh! I do not concur with the Colonel's assessment. Zheng is nothing but a cunning, despicable rogue! All he relies on is having plenty of men who do not fear death! Were we to draw up our lines and meet him on the open sea, I am confident my *Staten* would destroy the greater part of his fleet within three hours!"

Zheng Zhilong had once inflicted a tremendous humiliation upon the Dutch.

The Dutch navy, vaunted as invincible, had been contending with the Zheng clan for the Southeast Asian shipping routes when, owing to carelessness, several of their warships lay anchored in port. Zheng Zhilong dispatched several thousand fireships in a night raid, and in the end two warships managed to escape with damage, another was so badly damaged it was seized as a prize, and over a hundred sailors lost their lives.

This affair caused a tremendous stir in the upper echelons of the Dutch establishment. After deliberation among the high command, they unanimously resolved that cooperation with the Zheng clan on the seas of the Far East was the proper course.

All for the sake of hefty profits — there was no need to break with a local power like Zheng Zhilong. That would bring considerable trouble.

From that day onward, Zheng Zhilong's name spread across the seas of all Southeast Asia. Though the Dutch navy seethed with resentment, under pressure from the government and the States-General they were forced to set aside thoughts of vengeance for the time being.

"Captain, do not underestimate the wisdom of the Easterners. The might of the Great Ming Empire is not something those foolish Indians and Luzon natives can compare with. However, we Dutch are a formidable presence in this world whether by sea or by land. Since your navy has suffered at the hands of the Ming, let our army avenge you! Hahahaha! Captain, I am going ashore now — you just wait for my good news! Hahahaha!"

Van Dyke finished speaking, put away his telescope, tossed a casual salute at Link seated in his chair, and then swaggered down the gangway.

"Son of a bitch army! Without our navy, would you have swum ten thousand nautical miles to get here?!"

Seething with silent fury, Link cursed under his breath and flipped the middle finger at Van Dyke's retreating back.

Less than half an hour later, Van Dyke stood on dry land — yet the scene he had anticipated, of the Ming army obstructing the landing by force, never materialized.

"Reporting, Colonel! Our scouts have already swept the surrounding two kilometers and found no trace of any Ming troops!"

Major Van Levedale, in charge of the beach landing, reported loudly to Van Dyke.

"Well done, Major! Order the scouts to widen their search radius to five kilometers. The rest of the men are to rest in place by company and await orders!"

"Yes, Colonel!"

"It seems the tactical thinking of the Ming army still lags far behind this era. It never occurred to them to station troops on the beachhead to block our landing — had they done so, my force would have suffered considerably more casualties. I hear the weapons of Ming soldiers are still mostly sabers, spears, and bows. Don't these ignorant, backward troops realize that muskets and cannon are the most devastating weapons of all? Heh, it seems this will be yet another victory of civilization over backwardness!"

Van Dyke walked over to the portable campaign chair his guards had set out, sat down, and casually remarked to his operations staff officer, Vant Hoff, who stood nearby.

"You are absolutely right, Colonel! In this world, only Europe is the vanguard of civilization, and our Dutch army is among the strongest! So long as we can defeat the army of the Ming Empire, we will become the sole rulers of the Far East and Southeast Asia!"

Dressed in a grey thin sheepskin jacket, black tight trousers, and short leather boots, Vant Hoff smiled and sat down in another chair.

"No, no, Viktor, you are wrong. Our purpose is not to conquer the homeland of the Great Ming Empire — we are here to do business and earn profits. We occupy the island of Taiwan because it is not Ming territory, so we may take it as an exclave with a clear conscience. As for the Ming troops who invaded Taiwan, of course we must kill and drive them off — but we will not launch follow-up attacks on the Ming Empire's homeland!"

Van Dyke called Vant Hoff by his name, smiling and shaking his head.

"Colonel, why is that? Our navy is invincible the world over, and our army is mighty as well. The Ming Empire is a land rich in silk, porcelain, and tea, yet their army does not seem particularly strong. Why should we not seize the moment to march in and reap great plunder?"

Vant Hoff asked, puzzled.

"Viktor, what you say has merit, but do not forget one thing: the Ming Empire is far too vast, and our Dutch population and army are far too small. If we marched into Ming without effective supply lines and guides, the outcome could very well be disastrous! Let us speak no more of this topic — first things first, let us deal with the Ming army on Taiwan!"

At around three o'clock that afternoon — roughly the *wei* hour of the Ming lunar calendar — eight hundred Dutch officers and men, along with one thousand native inhabitants of Taiwan, had at last all completed their landing.

Van Dyke immediately ordered the entire force to divide into three sections — vanguard, center, and rear — and, guided by the scouts, they set out along the route that had been reconnoitered in advance, heading for the Ming settlement.

The thousand natives followed behind their respective headmen, some pushing wheelbarrows, others carrying containers for goods, trailing raggedly at the very rear of the column.

According to intelligence gathered from several previous reconnaissance missions, the distance from the landing point to the settlement was roughly forty-odd *li*, with only a single road about ten paces wide running between them. On either side, apart from paddy fields and ponds, there was nothing but barren slopes, weeds, and dense jungle.

Fortunately, the road had been built quite level and smooth. Judging from a crude wharf at the shore, it appeared to have been specially maintained and widened for small vessels transporting supplies — wheel ruts were still visible everywhere on the ground.

It was the dry winter season, with temperatures around a dozen or so degrees. Wearing somewhat thicker clothing, one felt no chill. A point squad of a dozen or so officers and men was advancing ahead, searching as they went, about five *li* in front of the main column.

This point squad consisted of twelve soldiers, led by a corporal whose wide-brimmed soft hat had a golden pheasant feather stuck at a slant. Their task was to scout for enemy traces and provide early warning for the main body behind.

The twelve soldiers comprised four pikemen and eight musketeers, all wearing jackets and tight breeches, leather shoes on their feet, and puttees bound around their calves. The corporal carried a heavy smoothbore musket, from whose muzzle a small triangular pennant fluttered in the wind.

Just as this Dutch squad rounded an earthen slope and vanished from the rear column's sight, a rapid string of gunshots crackled like popping beans. Dozens of lead balls howled out of the dense woods several dozen paces off the left flank, and great billows of white smoke rose from among the trees. In the blink of an eye, five men of the small Dutch squad, advancing in skirmish formation, crumpled to the ground.

"Fall back! Fall back! Enemy!"

The corporal reacted with lightning speed, shouting for the remaining seven soldiers to retreat.

European armies of this period still fought primarily with a combination of pike and matchlock. The skirmishing tactic of dropping flat at the sound of gunfire had not yet been developed.

Moreover, warfare between European armies at this time consisted of large formations meeting head-on in the open field; there was no concept or doctrine of ambush or surprise attack. The whole range of modern individual soldier tactics only gradually came into being after firearms had completely replaced cold steel.

"Damn it! These red-haired bastards run damn fast! Come on — we're pulling back too!"

Watching the Dutch squad retreat in panic, Squad Leader Sun Sanshun of the government troops cursed and gave the order from within the dense woods.

"Squad Leader, Squad Leader, this old boy's never seen what a red-haired devil looks like in all his life! How's about I go have a look on the road, and while I'm at it, lop off a head or two to bring back?"

A File Leader named Liu Qi glanced toward the road and made his request to Sun Sanshun.

"Have you spotted the main body of the red-haired devils?"

Sun Sanshun mulled it over, then raised his head and shouted up at a large tree.

Liu Qi's words had gotten his own blood up as well.

They said the red-haired devils were peerlessly fierce and brave — and yet hadn't he and his men just cut down several of them?

A few dozen paces away, he hadn't been able to make out what these red barbarians actually looked like. Wouldn't it be grand to hack off a head and take it back to show off?

"Squad Leader, the red-haired devils' main body is several *li* away, and they have no cavalry! The routed men show no sign of turning back!"

Seeing the soldiers, Liu Qi included, all itching for action, Sun Sanshun gave the order: "Liu Qi, take one squad of men, go search the area behind, and cut off some heads. Be quick about it and get back fast!"

"Yes, sir! Follow me!"