Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 471 This is the Opium War
"Oh, God, this is robbery! You have violated the previous agreement, this is a breach of contract!"
"Hmph, this is Ronaldo, right? You have to understand that you cheated and bribed the local officials to get the right to live here. But the ownership of this land still belongs to the Ming Dynasty. Now that the owner doesn't want you to live here anymore, what right do you have to refuse to leave?"
"...Oh, Your Excellency the Honorable Governor, please make one thing clear. We are Portuguese, not the damn Spaniards who sell drugs!"
"Huh? Portuguese? Don't think I'm a fool. You Portuguese were annexed by Spain a long time ago! You are all citizens under the rule of the King of Spain. Now, the Ming Dynasty has decided to declare war on Spain. As citizens have to stay here? You must know that my emperor is kind and treats you white people in Asia differently. For example, you Portuguese and Dutch were only escorted out of the country with courtesy, and you were even allowed to take away your property and given time to sell your properties... and those so-called pure Castilians all had their thumbs cut off and their ears cut off!"
"Raios Partam! This greedy king has taken Portugal, the Netherlands, and the whole of Europe, but he is still not satisfied. He even wants to sell drugs to a great country like Ming! It's a pity that we Portuguese have lost our motherland and are losing our homes in the East because of Spain's stupidity! When I return to Europe, I will make those Spaniards pay!"
Limited by the means of communication at that time, the Ming Dynasty could only agree on a rough time to eliminate the Spanish (including the Portuguese in the past) strongholds in Asia, and could not act in unison. Therefore, on April 2, when Tian Ergeng and others had just arrived at Yangon Port, on April 1, Chen Shiji, who succeeded Xiong Tingbi as the governor of Guangdong, led the soldiers of Guangdong and Guangxi to enter Macau and expelled the Portuguese who had obtained the right to reside there for 50 years.
Fifty years, in this era of early marriage and the belief that having many children brings happiness, is enough time for three generations to be born and grow up. Therefore, the expulsion of all white people from Macau certainly aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Portuguese who settled here.
But what can you do if you are still dissatisfied? At that time, there were only more than 3,000 Portuguese who settled in or frequently traveled to Macau. There were only more than 800 adult men. Although Chen Shiji led the Guangdong and Guangxi guards with questionable combat effectiveness, you can't resist the total number of 10,000. Not to mention, there was a fleet led by Yan Siqi himself on the sea of the Macau Peninsula.
Therefore, no matter how dissatisfied they were, they still had to move. Fortunately, the Emperor of Ming was not too cruel and gave them half a month to prepare ships and purchase sailing supplies. Otherwise, thousands of people would be crowded on several large sailing ships currently anchored at the port to return to Europe, and I am afraid that people would die all the way!
Is this Zhu Youdong's kindness? Maybe. But the most important thing is that Zhu Youdong hopes that these Portuguese can return to Europe alive: before being annexed by Spain, Portugal was a maritime power and had developed large colonies. Its technology and economic levels are not much worse than those of Spain. Therefore, separatism has always existed after the two countries merged. Now, let these Portuguese go back intact. Their dissatisfaction at this moment will turn into dissatisfaction with the Spanish royal family after they return to Europe. And those Castilians who have lost their thumbs, which is equivalent to losing more than 70% of their labor force, will face the safe and sound Portuguese when they return... That picture should be beautiful, right?
Of course, as a time traveler, Zhu Youdong has long been unhappy with the Westerners' inroads into East Asia and their various outposts in East Asia. In the past, there were too many things going on at home and his power was limited, so it was difficult to take action. Now, since the relationship has been completely torn apart because of the drug issue, he must bring into play the excellent quality of "either don't do it, or do it to the extreme" that Zhu had in the past. Take down all the colonial outposts of Spain (including Portugal) in East Asia in one go!
On April 1, 1621, when Chen Shiji issued an ultimatum to Macau, the Governor of Central and Southern China, Xiong Tingbi, convened a new war meeting in Saigon Port.
"My dear friends, the Emperor has already issued an order to declare war on Spain. Of course, the Spanish mainland is thousands of miles away. The Emperor's letter to me also made it very clear that the goal of this operation is not to go on a long expedition. It is to capture all the Spanish strongholds in Southeast Asia. Specifically, it is Luzon Island, Timor Island, Malacca Island, Java Island, Thanlyin, and Macau.
Among these places, Shalian can be taken down in one fell swoop, and Macau may not need to be attacked. As for the situation in other places, please let Jinyiwei explain it to everyone."
Chen Xiaotian, a centurion of the Jinyiwei in Taiwan, stood out from the crowd: "My superiors, we, the Jinyiwei, have been following the emperor's orders to infiltrate and investigate these white strongholds in Southeast Asia. Generally speaking, there are only a few hundred soldiers in the two strongholds of Malacca and Java Island, and only two or three warships can be dispatched, so it is not difficult to take them down. The slightly more troublesome one is Timor Island, which was a colony of the Portuguese in the past. Although it is now nominally under the control of Spain, the Portuguese here are extremely brave and have always refused to obey the direct rule of the Spanish and refused to accept the governor sent by the Spanish. There are already tens of thousands of Portuguese gathered here, with more than ten warships, and there are also multiple artillery batteries on the entire island. If we really want to take action, we still have to mobilize at least a town of troops.
Of course, the most troublesome thing is Luzon Island. After all, this is the largest Spanish stronghold in East Asia. After repeated investigations, we found that Mania, the largest city on Luzon Island, has been fortified. In addition to the regular commuting of nearly 100 treasure fleets, the Spaniards have stationed a squadron of more than 50 warships here since five years ago. Although this fleet was severely damaged in the naval battles between Japan and Siam and invaded the Ming Dynasty, it has been fully staffed in the past two years. As for the Spanish army here, it is said that their king deployed a new division of the new army here last year. Well, a Spanish division is basically the same size as a town of the new army of the Ming Dynasty. And then add some old-style troops, the army is at least no less than 20,000 people. "
After Chen Xiaotian introduced the situation in the four places, Xiong Tingbi waited for all the generals present to think for a while before speaking: "The emperor's order to me is to prepare to send out all the navy and the army to send out six new regiments, 90,000 people. Of course, these things will not be available immediately. The three regiments of my Central and Southern Governor's Office are of course not to be mentioned, but the other three regiments can only be transferred after General Cao returns."
"Xiong Zhijun, may I ask about General Cao's position?"
"It went very smoothly. General Cao followed Wei Wu's strategy to destroy Yuan and temporarily gave in, causing civil strife among the Mongolian nobles. The news I received the day before yesterday was that Hu Dun Tu Han was chopped off by the Mongolian Tabunangs a month and a half ago, and his head was sent to General Cao. General Cao will stay in Mongolia for a while, and will return after he has straightened out the local order."
"According to this calculation, the remaining three towns will be around June or July at the earliest."
"Yes, Zhijun. According to our experience in the South Pacific over the past few years, there are more storms on the sea in the summer."
"You are all right. So, my idea is to attack Malacca, Java and Timor first. Among them, Malacca is close to Singapore and is the first target. Timor is a hard nut to crack, so it will be placed second. Java was developed by the Dutch, and now Spain has taken over the Netherlands, right? Then I will surround Java but not attack it, and see whether the Spaniards on Luzon will save Timor and Java or not. If they do, then our navy can wait for them to tire themselves out and intercept them halfway, laying a foundation for my subsequent attack on Luzon. If they don't save them, haha, then Spain, the European leader, is not worthy of its name."
"General, your opinion is brilliant. We admire you."
"Then it is settled. Now, the Nanyang armies begin to gather together. After the victory of Thaleng, the Marine Corps and the squadron sent out must also return quickly. We will try to capture Malacca within April, then expedition to Timor, and finally capture Java. By that time, the army support from the north should have arrived. Then it depends on the sea conditions. I don't think the emperor will force the soldiers to land on Luzon Island in the storm just to win a quick victory."
"Hahaha, General Zhijun, you are joking. The emperor loves his soldiers like his own sons. He will definitely not do this."
"Isn't that the end? Everyone understands, right?"
"I understand!"
"Okay, then hurry up and get moving. I also remind you that the root cause of this war is opium. So, in addition to gathering the troops to prepare for battle, you must also do a good job of propaganda in the army! Although there are only opium dens in Yangon now, there is no guarantee that opium has also infiltrated other places in the five states of Nanyang. The harm of this drug and the two chances the emperor will give to drug addicts, you must make every soldier in the army aware of it!"
"Please rest assured, I will obey your orders!"
