Chapter 380: Elevation

After the Battle of Taizhong ended, nearly a thousand indigenous Taiwanese people were taken prisoner.

Under the supervision of Ming troops, they spent several days clearing and cleaning the battlefield, after which they were escorted to the county seat of Taizhong for centralized detention. After screening, these people would become free labor for opening up wasteland and military farmland.

Because the Dutch landing force had been completely wiped out, the Dutch warships lingering in the outer waters never received any word from Van Dyke.

Several days later, just as the Dutch navy sensed something was wrong, Wu Qun sent men under cover of night to place some Dutch clothing and battle flags not far from the coastline.

When dawn came, the Dutch troops responsible for watching over the landing craft discovered these blood-stained items and immediately sent men to deliver them back to the gunboats.

Upon learning the news, several captains held a brief discussion. After concluding that the army under Van Dyke's command had been utterly defeated by the Ming forces and that waiting any longer was pointless, the Dutch withdrew their landing craft and personnel.

The four Dutch warships then formed a line and opened fire on the coast, hoping to intimidate the Ming army and vent their fury.

After firing a round of explosive shells toward the shore, the four Dutch warships weighed anchor and returned to the harbor of Fort Zeelandia.

An entire regiment of infantry being annihilated by the enemy was extremely rare in the history of the Dutch military.

If this news were transmitted back to the homeland, the Dutch decision-makers would certainly be shocked. As for what measures they might take, that would be a matter of at least one to two years later.

After all, Europe and the Great Ming were separated by tens of thousands of nautical miles, making intelligence transmission extremely inconvenient. Moreover, the Dutch forces on Taiwan had lost more than half their strength in one stroke. Even if Putmans, the Dutch governor on the island, harbored intentions of revenge, he was utterly powerless to do anything.

Under the current circumstances, the Dutch garrison could only adopt a passive defensive posture while awaiting orders from home.

Several days after the Dutch warships withdrew, several of Zheng family's ships carrying daily supplies docked at the simple wharf on the shore. Only then were the joint victory report and routine memorial signed by Wu Qun and Lin Rong, along with some captured Dutch firearms, able to be delivered to Tianjin Garrison.

News of the great victory in Taiwan reached the palace on the fourteenth day of the first month. Since the various government offices had not yet reopened and this matter was not urgent, it was not until today that Zhu Youjian brought it up for discussion among his senior ministers.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, although this Assistant Regional Commander Wu of Shandong annihilated nearly a thousand red barbarians with his troops, his own casualties were also considerable. Given that the red barbarians' firearms are formidable and their fighting strength is not weak, and that they are highly likely to launch armed retaliation against the soldiers and civilians on the island, I recommend increasing the number of official troops on the island so that they are capable of responding to larger-scale conflicts in the future!"

Yang Sichang, who had long known the full details, rose and reported with a cupped-fist salute.

Wu Qun's forces suffered more than five hundred casualties in this battle, with a casualty rate exceeding thirty percent. Being able to achieve such a great victory under such extremely dangerous circumstances would bring a qualitative improvement to the combat effectiveness of the Shandong official troops.

But if the Dutch subsequently organized large-scale military operations, the remaining force of just over a thousand men would clearly be far too weak. Expanding the army or reinforcing troops had become an imperative course of action.

"Minister Yang's memorial is most reasonable. As I understand it, the majority of the red barbarian garrison forces on Taiwan Island have been lost in this battle, and the remaining red barbarians are no longer capable of threatening the migrants. Since the Great Ming is separated from them by a full ten thousand li, if the red barbarians wish to send a large army, it would take at least two years. Hence this matter is not urgent. I intend to recruit new soldiers from among the refugees of the northern border regions, with a number of five thousand. The Ministry of War may begin handling this matter from today!"

The main reason Zhu Youjian recruited northern soldiers to be sent south was to use strong troops to suppress the clan forces of southern Fujian across the strait, break their firm grip on local rule, and provide powerful armed support for the future nationwide implementation of extending imperial authority to the countryside.

The stubborn and conservative local clans would be the greatest obstacle to the new policies in the future.

They naturally understood that extending imperial authority to the countryside meant their power would be drastically weakened and their interests would suffer enormous damage. To protect their vested interests, they would certainly take measures to resist the court's new policies.

Not to mention in the present age — even under the open and transparent political systems of later generations, the clan forces in southern Fujian, northern Guangdong, and other places remained extremely powerful.

While preserving many of the fine traditional cultural heritages of the Chinese nation, these large clans built on blood ties as their fundamental foundation also retained many backward ideas and cultural dregs. Some of these dark aspects truly should not continue to exist.

In the confrontation between the court and local forces, bloodshed was inevitable, and even large-scale disturbances could not be ruled out.

At such times, the strong army across the strait would be the powerful force to suppress all forms of defiance.

Zhu Youjian had not considered directly stationing troops in southern Fujian and northern Guangdong, but the output of these two regions simply could not sustain the presence of several thousand official troops.

The inherently poor geographical conditions, compounded by several consecutive years of natural disasters, had left many local people displaced — this was precisely why Zheng Zhilong was able to organize migration smoothly.

Taiwan's excellent geographical environment and output were more than sufficient to support a large army. Should any disturbance occur, the Taiwan garrison would be able to reach the scene of the incident within a very short time and then carry out targeted handling.

"I humbly obey Your Majesty's decree! But I have one more proposal, and I hope Your Majesty will consider it!"

Yang Sichang accepted the decree with a cupped-fist salute and then continued speaking.

"Minister Yang, speak freely!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I observed in Assistant Regional Commander Wu's victory report that the red barbarians' infantry cannon are extremely formidable. Their gun carriages and transport carts are exceptionally convenient, allowing them to shift firing positions and locations at will. Moreover, the projectiles they fire burst upon landing, equivalent to the official troops' thunderclap bombs, but with far greater power and range. I believe these cannon and their ammunition should be handed to the Bureau of Military Manufacture for vigorous replication and improvement, so that such formidable weapons may be promoted and deployed in the army as soon as possible!"

After all, Yang Sichang came from a distinguished official family; his breadth of vision and knowledge were beyond what ordinary people could match.

From Wu Qun's victory report, he had discerned that the primary cause of direct and indirect casualties among the official troops was the Dutch artillery. The killing power of these shells that exploded upon landing was secondary; the main effect was the terror that the explosion itself instilled in people.

The Great Ming had a long history of replicating foreign firearms. The Folangji cannon now widely equipped in the army were first purchased and then copied, and the replicated Folangji were actually superior to the originals.

Historically, the Great Ming was never a nation of blind arrogance and complacency. Its spirit of inclusiveness and absorption was maintained from beginning to end until the dynasty's collapse.

"Minister Yang's proposal is excellent! It is exactly the same as my own thinking! This matter is hereby entrusted to Minister Yang for handling! Additionally, this great victory is the greatest triumph our August Ming has achieved in warfare against foreign barbarians from across the vast ocean since the founding of the dynasty! Assistant Regional Commander Wu of Shandong and the Shandong official troops, fearless in the face of death and fighting valiantly in bloody battle, have greatly boosted the morale of our entire army, displayed the might of our August Ming, and dealt a heavy blow to the foreign barbarians' covetous designs on our August Ming's territory! Such military merit must be rewarded! I hereby promote Wu to Regional Commander of Taiwan. All officers and soldiers under his command shall be promoted one rank, with three rotations of merit recorded, and ten thousand taels of reward silver issued! The wounded and fallen shall be compensated according to established precedent!"

Although there was a precedent of defeating the Dutch during the Wanli era, at that time several thousand Ming troops faced a little over two hundred Dutch soldiers. After a brief exchange, both sides ceased hostilities, with casualties numbered in single digits.

It was only when the Dutch saw the overwhelming strength of the Ming forces that they voluntarily ceased fighting and sought negotiations. The scale of that engagement was minuscule and could not compare with this bloody battle — hence Zhu Youjian's claim of the greatest victory.

"Taizhong County is hereby elevated to Tainan Prefecture, with Taizhong County placed under its jurisdiction. Lin, the County Magistrate of Taizhong, has served in his post for over two years. During his tenure he has been diligent and devoted to his duties. He is hereby specially promoted to Prefect of Tainan Prefecture, with the rank of fifth grade. Other assistant posts shall be determined by the Ministry of Personnel. The position of County Magistrate of Taizhong shall be filled by his recommendation, selected from among the officials who escorted migrants from Shanxi! Now that the situation in Taiwan has basically stabilized and its grain output is more than self-sufficient, the Grand Secretariat shall, in accordance with actual circumstances, continue migrating people from the north to Taiwan!"

Zhu Youjian immediately issued new personnel appointments.

Although Lin Rong came from humble origins, the achievements he had made during his two years in office were remarkable.

Officials with this kind of practical, down-to-earth spirit were precisely those who most deserved promotion and reward.

No doubt Lin Rong, having jumped several ranks, would work even harder.