occurred in 1624, the Battle of Penghu , which is an inevitable product under the background of this historical layer.
Helpless late challenger
Early East India Company focused its strategy on the competitor's outer circle
As a typical second-generation colonial challenger, the Dutch encountered complex situations when they first entered Asian waters. They have already mastered global geographical information and found that they need to face the Portuguese who are ahead of their predecessors, the places that hate the Christian world, and the huge empire that is resistant to the outside world. Since there is no stable forward base, I have to rely on limited time and manpower to solve all problems. Finally, I realized that the armed combat power of relying entirely on the contract mercenary is poor and I can't deal with most of the opponents at all.
So the Dutch cleverly reset the strategy plan. First, we will select the location of the future base, aim at the outer layer of the defense line of the Oriental Empire of Portugal, and try it one after another on the coast of West Africa, Mozambique , Ceylon, Bay of Bengal and Sumatra. Then we should look for local allies to cooperate as much as possible, especially Sri Lankan indigenous people, Burmese kings and Aceh sultans who are hostile to the Portuguese. With their support, we will gradually surround and compress the port network system of our old opponents. Finally, when facing those who are very backward or refuse to negotiate, you should demonstrate your own force without hesitation and act as a stepping stone for business in the roughest way.
In addition to the large Galen sailing boats, the Dutch also used a large number of single-pole boats in the East
Therefore, the famous East India Company became the creator of the Asian chaos at this stage. Although even the small Mozambique was difficult to conquer during independent combat, it did not prevent them from relying on the help of their indigenous allies to gain a foothold in Ceylon, the Bay of Bengal and the Nanyang Islands. Especially the establishment of Batavia City has finally made the company have a qualified general base in the East. A large number of armed merchant ships also began to use this place as their home port and continued to go north to attack the maritime transportation systems of Spain and Portugal. The competition between the two sides also extends outward from the origin of spices until Kyushu Island on the west coast of Japan. Therefore, the Penghu Islands and Taiwan Strait sandwiched in it gradually show their own strategic value.
In fact, the early Dutch merchant ships did not project their main energy to the coast of Fujian. On the contrary, Guangzhou, which has a longer history of foreign trade, is the main public relations target. As for Macau, which has become a Portuguese outpost, it is the number one target that wants to remove or replace it. However, the specialists of the East India Company soon discovered that all their strategic measures could not be used on the shores of the Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese, who have been operating in this water for a long time, have the advantages of Macau's independent defense, and can also rely on the Ming Empire , which has superficial cooperation with it. Unfortunately, the latter is not only satisfied with the current situation, nor is he willing to cooperate in depth with newcomers. Therefore, the two attacks on Macau or Pearl River Estuary ended in failure.
Dutch officers and gunners sailing for a long time
A very attractive supplementary plan
Penghu Islands map drawn by the Dutch
Since it is difficult to gain a foothold in the coast of Guangdong, Dutch armed merchant ships head north along the coast. While finally reaching the Hirado Port of Japan, I also realized the importance of Fujian waters. This is not only a must-pass place for the Macau-Nagasaki route, but also a large number of local merchants go overseas to earn silver. Xiamen - Manila shipping. Therefore, as long as the Taiwan Strait is firmly controlled, the regional economic arteries of the two competitors can be blocked at the same time.
Of course, local officials in Fujian in the Ming Dynasty actually disliked the Dutch more than their fellow Guangdong colleagues. This is because since the establishment of the dynasty, the tribute trade objects allowed by the official have been limited to Ryukyu family. Therefore, no matter how brilliant the past Quanzhou and Fuzhou were, they became less knowledgeable than Guangzhou. At the same time, after the reform of Longqing Kaihai, trade with Luzon was also a one-way operation that only went out but not in. All processes and benefits are controlled by local officials and businessmen, and no outsiders can be allowed to get a share. Based on the above factors, the Dutch's efforts on the Fujian-Zhejiang coast are destined to be impossible to have good results. We can only send armed merchant ships to patrol the Taiwan Strait regularly, but we cannot guarantee that we can win every interception.
Taiwan Strait is also an important position for the Netherlands to cut off its rival routes to Western Portugal
In 1622, the East India Company made another concentrated attempt. After obtaining support from two British armed merchant ships, an expeditionary fleet with 12 large ships was formed, with the target directly aimed at Macau, which had weak defenses. However, the weak combat power of the Dutch soldiers and a large number of employees was still fully exposed in this attack. Not only did they fail to capture half of the fortified island, but 300 Marines were even killed by armed citizens who fought back. So I had to drift to Fujian and restart the public relations in vain. When he realized that the bureaucrats in Fuzhou could not let go, he made a hasty decision to force force with force. Not only will large cargo ships heading to Manila, but they will also attack fishing boats indiscriminately, and will land or block any newly discovered islands and harbors. As for the destination of the entire expeditionary force, it was Penghu, which the Dutch had visited briefly before.
In order to have a stable base in the Taiwan Strait, the Dutch fleet hurriedly chose to take root in Penghu in the chaos. With very limited human resources, Fujian coastal residents who had been plundered acted as construction slave workers and built their first fortress on the Far East Coast. The site is located on the Fengguiwei Peninsula opposite Magong Port today, and most of the buildings are set up on the Snaketou Mountain there. Although the length of each side of the fortress is only 55 meters and the height of the guardrail is only 7 meters, this Fengkou Tail Fortress is the first modern fortress in Chinese history with a bastion structure. Because it is located on the clever peninsula terrain, except for the strong side bordering the land, the other three sides are only constructed with rammed earth, and there is no need to install too many defensive artillery. With the outer layer of the trench and surface ship support, it is enough to deal with all opponents in the area's attacks.
Fengkouwei Peninsula is the fortress that the Dutch are interested in
From the historical development, the site selection of the fortress at the Fengkouwei fortress shows the Dutch's smart calculations of geographical elements. Even the Japanese occupation forces in the 19th century and the defeated national troops in the 20th century will build renewed forts in their locations to cover the more important entrance to Magong Port. However, settling in Penghu also exposed the early colonists' ignorance of the specific situation in the region. Because during the long period of the Ming Dynasty, the original settlements and civilian industries on the archipelago were abandoned and destroyed. It was not until the late 16th century that the inspection department's architecture was restored, but only a few trade distribution centers and safe havens for fishing boats were left. Today, the Dutch have come to land in large numbers and cannot obtain enough supplies to maintain long-term occupation. , which is closer to Taiwan Island, is still in a state of underdevelopment and cannot support the Penghu garrison with more than 1,000 people. Therefore, the regular sweep of the East India Company fleet also had the function of seizing food in addition to forcing the market to open. Their inevitable retreat in the future also has a huge logistical factor.
By 1623, the Dutch Penghu Fortress had been declared completed. Nearly 1,300 slave workers in Fujian who were captured died of lack of food and clothing, and the remaining hundreds were also shipped to Batavia for sale. At the same time, the East India Company's fleet still ravaged important ports such as Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Fuzhou, almost paralyzing the Ming Dynasty's silver trade with the Western Philippines, and also hit the coastal economy that had finally gained loose development again.Therefore, local bureaucrats who had no motivation to force expelled had to spend some time on how to defeat the Dutch.
Dutch people who have rooted in Penghu often blocked Fujian harbors with single pole boats
Indirect strategy of Ming Dynasty
Restoration of the wind cabinet tail fortress built by the Dutch
Compared with the Guangdong colleagues who first encountered the Portuguese a hundred years ago, Fujian bureaucrats in the 17th century have already gained a certain understanding of the gap between the East and the West. At that time, the Ming army also had small and medium-sized imitation firearms such as Franchise. But it is still a very difficult problem to use these 15th-century technical equipment to fight against the 17th-century Dutch. Therefore, many relative strategies of the Ming Dynasty were to avoid having direct contact with the other party as much as possible.
1 In November 2, Nanjuyi , who served as governor, took the initiative to invite the Dutch to negotiate in Fuzhou. Then he put up the Hongmen Banquet like a novel of Romance, and captured the entire delegation through the drugged drink. But a small clutch parked at the port escaped from death, avoided several fireboat assaults by the Ming army, and transmitted his own experience back to Penghu. However, the garrison left behind in Fengguiwei Fortress also refused to admit defeat easily, forcing the Ming army to further threaten with large troops. To this end, the organization of the extremely shrinking Fujian Navy had to go to ports such as Zhangzhou to buy merchant ships that could go to sea, and recruit temporary soldiers from fishermen and vendors along the coast. Finally, 200 large and small warships and about 10,000 conquest troops were collected, and all the troops that could not be carried were placed in batches to prevent possible retaliatory strikes.
Fu Ship has always been the largest form of warship owned by the Ming Dynasty
In February of the following year, the first batch of main forces of the Ming army officially crossed the Taiwan Strait. They chose to land far away from the Fenggui Near Peninsula and successfully escaped the cruise range of the East India Company fleet. Although the latter's number has gradually expanded to 11 armed merchant ships, it is still mainly small single-pole sailing ships. Not only do we need to defend against specific areas, but we also need to continue to maintain the supply of the entire army by looting the other side. Therefore, when we realized that the Ming army had landed from a place outside the range of the cannon, we could only concentrate on mooring near the fortress. The Ming soldiers were not in a hurry to attack the city, but simply slowly built fortifications on the main island, using digging shovels instead of swords to open the way. Finally, the command center was moved to the Niangma Palace opposite the Dutch Fortress.
, etc., until a stable position was established on the island, Nanjuyi divided the numerous ships into two groups to use, respectively, for besieging the Fengkou Tail Fortress from the water surface and transporting more soldiers from the mainland to Penghu. The former was soon defeated by the powerful side firepower of the Dutch ship , but this effort also made the opponent unable to intercept his own transportation troops. At the same time, the soldiers who had already landed continued to advance the fortifications. Relying on the continuous cover of bows and arrows and earth-making firearms, all the soldiers of the East India Company were squeezed into a small space to isolate any connection between them and the water source.
The lag in firearm technology allowed the Ming army to choose the indirect strategy
Until this time, the Dutch retreated to the last position did not suffer any major losses, but many inherent disadvantages also began to gradually play a role. The first is the armed structure of the East India Company, which makes them overly rely on non-local German or Swiss contract soldiers. Therefore, those adversities that may inspire the Spanish-Portuguese conquerors to fight hard may become infinite pressure to destroy a single Dutch force. Secondly, Penghu's local materials were unable to support the defenders and fleets at all, and they did not allow them to quickly replenish the temporary supply chain of ammunition.
Finally, although the Dutch army was known for defending fortresses in Europe, it was not good at carrying out high-intensity raids. Worse, such labels apply equally to sea. Therefore, there is almost no other way except to stay where you are.
Structural flaws of the Dutch army are also the biggest obstacle to limiting their performance
In the past six months, the battle on Penghu Island has completely fallen into a state of confrontation.The Dutch launched some counterattacks with limited strength from time to time, but were repeatedly suppressed by a large number of Ming troops. But the latter is also unable to advance with the firepower of bastion and naval gun , and can only continue to maintain a blockade on the periphery.
Both sides have been using this silent game until August 1624. Although the Netherlands first made the request for departure, the long siege had consumed 177,000 taels of silver military expenses in the Ming army. As for the favorable conditions, it is just that the other party followed its admonition and exchanged its residence to southern Taiwan on the other side...
Original title: "The Battle of Penghu: The First Confrontation between the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch East India Company (Including Video)"
