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The smoke from the battlefield gradually dissipated, and countless shipwrecks and debris were floating on the lonely sea. The fleet led by Li Han and Mei Dongxing had immediately engaged in the sea and returned to Natuna with the captured personnel and materials.
Islands.
The battle in the Andaman Sea ended successfully. As the victorious party, the Defense Force Navy not only captured thirty-six usable pirate ships, but more importantly, captured more than 5,000 pirates and more than a dozen Chinese Kapitans.
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More than 5,000 captives belonged to 13 families of Chinese pirates and 17 families of Chinese Kapitan. Among them, four leaders of the 13 pirate families died in the battle, and the remaining nine were captured, while 17 Chinese
None of Kapitan and the Englishman Kirby who was working in tandem died, and they all became prisoners of the National Defense Force and Navy.
According to the distribution plan discussed in advance by Li Han and Cai Jiu, 700 Chinese pirates who were not guilty of serious crimes were assigned to the Kismayo stronghold. Among the remaining 4,500 captives, except for more than 400 who committed numerous crimes, they were directly
After the execution, the others were assigned to northern Annam, Songkhla, and Natuna Islands to be used as the main labor force for building fortifications.
The disposal plan for the more than 5,000 captives easily gained consensus among everyone, but when discussing the final disposal plan for the nine pirate leaders and the 17 Chinese Kapitans, obvious differences arose among several people.
The naval fleet led by Li Han was the main force in ambushing the pirate fleet. From the perspective of a soldier, Li Han believed that the task of eradicating evil was done. Since he had captured all these pirate leaders and the Chinese Kapitan, he would naturally kill them all and solve them in one fell swoop.
Maritime safety issues in the migrant transport fleet.
Considering the long-term security of Han's stronghold in Nanyang, Mei Dongxing disagreed with Li Han's point of view.
"General Li, the Chinese Kapitans rely on the Dutch and the British to exist. If we don't deal with the Dutch and British colonial forces in Southeast Asia, even if we kill these Kapitans, the foreigners will soon support a new group of Chinese leaders.
Take their place, so it is not difficult to kill seventeen Chinese Kapitans, but after all, these Chinese Kapitans are affiliated forces of the Dutch and British. Once we kill them all, the Dutch
What will the British think? Will they think that we want to incite the Chinese in the Southeast Asian region to fight against them, or that the Han Dynasty has expanded its ambitions and wants to taint the Southeast Asian colonies?"
Mei Dongxing explained carefully, "The core interests of Han State lie in the homeland. Your Majesty established a transit base in Nanyang. The main function is to transport Chinese immigrants domestically, rather than to replace the positions of foreigners and take Nanyang as your own."
General Li, you must understand that the naval fleet's stay in Nanyang is limited. Now it has offended the foreigners and has a complete stalemate with them. Limited by the deterrence of the naval fleet, the Dutch may not act rashly, but after ten days and a half, the navy
The fleet escorted Miss Wu back to the mainland. The Dutch have no scruples and may instigate the British to retaliate against us. Therefore, for the sake of His Majesty's grand plan and the safety of the Nanyang stronghold, we still have to be patient for a while and let these Chinese Kapitans go.
."
"Lord Mei, I don't understand. The pirates who attacked the transport fleet were supported by the Dutch. Now they have all been wiped out by our army. Aren't we already at odds with the Netherlands? Even if we will capture the Chinese Kapitan
If we release them back, are the Dutch really willing to accept the loss of silence and live in peace with us?"
Li Han asked rhetorically.
"It is true that the Dutch want to expel our forces from the East Indies, but the Dutch do not have enough troops in the Southeast Asia. If the two sides openly confront each other, it will only lead to losses for both sides."
As he spoke, Mei Dongxing looked at the captured old gunboats and explained, "The Dutch are no longer the sea coachmen they were two hundred years ago. Their original colonies in Africa and America were either snatched away by the French or sold at low prices to
The British, their remaining colonies are mainly the East Indies. The Dutch government attaches great importance to the possession of the East Indies. As long as we do not openly break up with the Netherlands, they will not dare to attack the Natuna Islands and the Netherlands.
Our affiliated Taiping Society forces took action."
Territorial area and population are the main factors to measure a country's comprehensive strength. Of the two factors, territorial area often occupies a more important position.
In the early days of the Great Navigation, there was not much difference between the population of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Later, with the arrival of the first industrial revolution, the British population grew rapidly and benefited from a wider territory. The gap with the Netherlands soon widened, causing the Netherlands to compete with the United Kingdom for the sea.
It was at a disadvantage in the war for hegemony and ended in failure. Most of its colonies and overseas trade markets were taken away by Britain, leaving only a few colonies such as the East Indies to live in poverty.
At the same time, due to the loss of a huge amount of overseas interests, the industrial development of the Netherlands is far lower than that of the United Kingdom and France. There is also a huge gap between the ironclad ships equipped by the Dutch navy and the warships used to maintain colonial rule compared with those of the United Kingdom and France.
Li Han, Mei Dongxing and others could all see the dilemma of the Dutch's insufficient strength to rule the East Indies. However, because the Netherlands stood behind the British, Mei Dongxing never dared to underestimate the Dutch colonists. When dealing with the seventeen Chinese Kapitan
, the more consideration is to maintain the superficial peace between the two parties and not to make things get out of hand.
War is only a means, and the competition for interests between countries is more about the exchange and compromise of interests behind it.
After hearing Mei Dongxing's explanation, although Li Han understood that it was not appropriate to directly execute the seventeen Chinese Kapitan, he still felt very unwilling to ask him to let them go.
Li Han was not the only one who was unwilling. Cai Jiu and many middle- and high-level officers involved in the battle were not willing to let go of the captured Chinese Kapitans in vain. Therefore, after more than an hour of discussion, Mei Dongxing and Li Han,
Cai Jiu and others reached a final plan to deal with the captives: Li Han selected four pirate ships with good performance as Zizhong transport ships and placed them under the jurisdiction of the National Defense Forces Navy. All remaining captured ships were handed over to the transport fleet for transporting Chinese immigrants.
and protect the safety of shipping routes.
All twenty-nine pirate leaders were executed. The National Defense Force and Navy took over the property and family members left in their lair, and the territory was taken over by the surrendered pirate leader Liu Wu.
Thirty-seven Chinese Kapitan ransoms ranging from 200,000 taels to 400,000 taels per person were paid by their relatives and subordinates, totaling about 5 million taels of silver.
Four warned the Dutch colonial government and asked the Governor of the East Indies to cancel the discriminatory policy against Chinese businessmen in exchange for the safety of the seventeen Chinese Kapitans and Han's understanding of the incident.
Among the four conditions, only one was targeted at the Dutch colonial government. Of course, it was impossible for the Dutch government to cancel the high taxes imposed on the Chinese. However, this incident was used to put pressure on the Dutch colonists and reduce their oppression of the Chinese in the East Indies.
Exploitation was of great benefit to the Han government in winning the support of Nanyang Chinese, especially wealthy Chinese businessmen.
In the second half of the 19th century, the Netherlands, Britain and other countries had not yet completed full control of the Southeast Asia region. The status of Chinese armed forces and Chinese businessmen in the area was much higher than that in the early 20th century.
Chinese businessmen also have much greater control over their private wealth than they did in the early 20th century. During this period, the Qing government did not pay much attention to the Nanyang Chinese community. As a result, although the wealthy Nanyang Chinese businessmen were wealthy, they did not dare to invest their funds.
A large amount of funds were allocated to invest in mainland China, resulting in a large amount of funds not being effectively used. However, Han Dynasty's domestic development, heavy industry, light industry, commerce and other industries require a large amount of investment. Therefore, it provides safety guarantees for overseas Chinese, thereby attracting overseas Chinese.
Investing funds is a task that Mei Dongxing attaches great importance to, and it is also one of the requirements of the Han government for the person in charge of the Nanyang region.