Outside the city, Rhodes returned to his army with a dark expression.
“Ambassador Rhodes, it seems your negotiations have failed. I told you this Great Yu Empire is arrogant and ignorant. It is better to use guns and cannons than to reason with them,” Sakai said lazily. “But now it is too late; we have lost our chance.”
Rhodes snorted coldly. “Damn it. God knows how this Prince of Qi mastered the flintlock technology. But you are right in one thing—this Prince of Qi is far too arrogant and ignorant. They think that just because they have flintlock technology, they can defeat us Dutch at sea?”
“Exactly. Let’s teach them a lesson on the sea,” Sakai said, glancing at the soldiers gathering on the city walls. These soldiers were now aiming their guns at them. If a battle broke out now, they would be utterly defeated.
Rhodes turned his head toward Dengzhou city and said, “I must return and report this to Count Claire. The three conditions this Prince of Qi demanded are intolerable to us Dutch.”
With that, he and Sakai led the troops away from Dengzhou city.
At this time, Xiao Ming had already climbed the city wall. Looking at the Dutch troops’ equipment and their six-pound field cannons, he frowned. At any time, the equipment of a country’s army reveals the nation’s wealth.
Now, the Dutch soldiers under Dengzhou’s walls all wore leather boots, tall hats, and gray cotton uniforms. This seemed to be the standard Dutch military attire, showing the advanced European textile industry.
The soldiers’ flintlock muskets were polished and shiny, reflecting metal luster under the sunlight. This steel alone reflected Europe’s advanced steel technology.
The six six-pound field cannons, dragged by tall warhorses, further proved the current state of European military equipment.
If this Dutch force had come two years ago, it would have easily captured Dengzhou city.
Putting away his telescope, Xiao Ming said to Niu Ben, “It’s time to send Yue Yun. These Dutch won’t compromise until they see our warships.”
Niu Ben nodded and immediately sent scouts to the bay to inform Yue Yun.
Descending from the city wall, Xiao Ming said to Yang Chengye, “From now on, Dengzhou’s position will be very important. You must start building coastal defense artillery to prevent enemies from attacking us by sea.”
“Coastal defense artillery?” Yang Chengye looked confused. This was beyond his knowledge.
Xiao Ming said, “You don’t need to understand what it is. The engineering battalion will come here to build it. You just need to cooperate. Simply put, these cannons are for attacking warships at sea. Understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Yang Chengye nodded.
Previously, the main threat was from the north, so Xiao Ming concentrated all resources to defend against the northern barbarians. But now the maritime threat had become serious, so he had to strengthen Dengzhou’s coastal defense and the Dengzhou army.
Although the Dengzhou army had not yet been equipped with flintlocks, Ye Qingyun often went to Qingzhou for training. Once firearms were supplied, Ye Qingyun could train a firearm unit.
“Your Highness, shall we pursue them now?” Ye Qingyun asked as Xiao Ming walked outside the city.
“No. Let’s see how the Dutch react when they see our fleet,” Xiao Ming smiled.
Niu Ben and Ye Qingyun exchanged glances and smiled maliciously. Yue Yun’s heavily armed warships were truly terrifying to imagine.
An hour later, Rhodes led his troops to the coast and boarded small boats to return to the warships.
“Count Claire, I think our negotiations have failed. The Prince of Qi’s demands cross the bottom line for us Dutch. Two of these three bottom lines alone give us reason to declare war,” Rhodes said.
During Rhodes’s time ashore, Claire waited on the warship, stroking his curled beard. Claire asked, “What are the conditions?”
Rhodes repeated Xiao Ming’s original demands. Claire’s face grew darker with each word. He said, “This foolish Prince of Qi—does he not know that colonies are extensions of a country’s territory? His demands are basically a declaration of war.”
“Respected Count Claire, that is why I refused. Not to mention the colonies, these trade routes are the lifeline of us Dutch. We fought wars with the Spanish, the English, and the French over these routes. We Dutch fear nothing,” Rhodes said passionately.
Claire patted Rhodes’s shoulder. “You did well. Those who make such demands to us Dutch deserve to be humiliated.”
Sakai’s eyes flickered between Rhodes and Claire, a faint smile on his lips.
He had been a pirate at sea for many years and had traveled widely with a Dutch pirate. He was very familiar with these Europeans’ ways.
In his view, these Europeans had a kind of fanatic adventurous spirit, driven by the wealth of the entire world.
Unless defeated, nothing could stop these Europeans mad for plunder, because they were even crazier than pirates.
Just as he expected, upon hearing the Prince of Qi’s conditions, Rhodes and Claire were furious, because both Ryukyu and the trade routes belonged to the Dutch East India Company. Claire and Rhodes were important stakeholders of these interests.
Even the soldiers’ livelihood on this fleet depended on Ryukyu and these routes. He remembered that in the Netherlands, this was called stocks.
“War! War!”
Following Claire’s lead, the soldiers on the ship began to shout, brandishing their flintlocks.
“Throw these natives into the sea to feed the sharks!”
“Let’s show them our power!”
…
The fanatic spirit spread through the ship. Claire and the soldiers shouted together. He shouted, “Soldiers, these natives want to steal what belongs to us. Tell me, what will you do?”
“Kill them all! Kill them all!”
The soldiers roared.
Claire raised his hat and shouted, “Then let us use cannon fire to show these natives how they should speak to us, let—”
“Enemy sighted! Enemy sighted!”
Just as the soldiers were caught up in their frenzy, a Dutch soldier on the lookout tower suddenly shouted urgently, pointing to the northern sea. The shout interrupted Claire’s passionate speech.
Claire looked up at the soldier on the masthead, then immediately grabbed his telescope and went to the bow. Rhodes also took out his telescope to look toward the northern sea.
Through Claire’s telescope, fifteen warships formed a line sailing toward them. The lead ship was a massive three-deck warship, followed by second-rate and third-rate warships, with smaller warships behind.
“My God, can someone tell me what the hell is going on!” Claire felt like he had fallen into an ice cave.