nycdaug Chapter 61 Batavia Intelligence
Chapter 61 Batavia Intelligence
After Zhu Jiheng issued the order, Luzon began to operate like a machine running at full speed.
As soon as the scouts arrived in Batavia with new orders, informing the Ming spies lurking in the city of the command to investigate the Dutch defenses at all costs, the scouts immediately sprang into action.
They used various identities as cover—Chinese traffickers, dockworkers, Dutch servants, and some even infiltrated the native servants' ranks to join the army—to spy on the city's military situation through various means.
The spies, disguised as traffickers, did not rent a storefront to do business. Instead, they carried a shoulder pole and wandered the streets and alleys, hawking their wares. They used this advantage to frequently enter and exit the streets near the military camp, observing the frequency of personnel entering and leaving the camp and the layout of the buildings.
They used goods or small bribes to win over low-ranking Dutch soldiers or indigenous servants, establishing long-term supply relationships and extracting fragmented information from them.
The dockworkers and the spies who infiltrated the army had it easier; the former could directly load and unload goods at the port and have access to warships, transport ships, and military supplies.
While loading and unloading cargo, the laborers would secretly record the number of warships and cannon windows, and observe the number of soldiers stationed at the port, the shift change time, the arrangement of sentry posts, and the position and orientation of the coastal defense guns.
The latter, being directly in the military camp, had more opportunities to learn about the city's defenses and record the structure, strength, and location of the city's defensive cannons.
Opportunities to infiltrate the homes of Dutch officers as servants were few and far between. After all, they were newcomers and dared not act rashly to peek at the documents in the study. They could only eavesdrop on the conversations between the master and the guests when serving tea or serving banquets.
While the spies were busy, rumors began to circulate in Luzon, Jinghai and other places that the Ming army would send troops to attack the remnants of the Western Army of Sam Bogd.
These rumors were so detailed and convincing that the Dutch spies were skeptical, and the Ming navy's recent increased search efforts on passing ships undoubtedly confirmed the rumors' authenticity.
Therefore, Dutch spies sent the news back to Batavia, and the governor and councilors, who had been somewhat tense and vigilant because of the Ming navy's actions, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
However, they still strengthened their vigilance over the entire archipelago, but the focus of their defense did not shift towards Batavia itself. The parliament even considered whether they could take advantage of the Ming army's southward turn to exert pressure on the Spice Islands, or strengthen their ties with Sulu to contain the Ming army.
As rumors spread, merchant ships loaded with grain, gunpowder, shells, medicine, canvas, cables and other supplies continued to sail to Jinghai, where they stockpiled the goods in warehouses in Jinghai County.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Zhu Jiheng's second month in charge of Manila has arrived as scheduled.
The troops and two Tier V ships that he had recruited were also thrown into the water, along with a Tier VI ship and two squads of colonial infantry recruited from Lingayen.
After Zhu Jiheng moved to Luzon, he never forgot to recruit troops in Linggayan. He regularly recruited two colony infantry units in Linggayan every month to supplement the number of auxiliary troops in the army.
So far, there are five colony infantry units in the army, but Zhu Jiheng is still not satisfied.
As the first year of the regency drew closer, intelligence about Batavia was gradually sent back.
The initial intelligence that was sent back was relatively easier to gather, such as the general city defense system and some information about the garrison.
According to scouts, Batavia's defenses were primarily focused on the port area facing the Java Sea and the city walls to the east facing the indigenous sultanate.
The city was surrounded by massive stone walls and a system of fortifications, with numerous gun emplacements, including at least forty coastal defense guns facing the bay alone.
However, the main defensive area of the garrison is still the eastern city wall, where about 1,200 company troops and several hundred indigenous auxiliary troops are stationed.
The company's army was mainly equipped with matchlock guns, and their daily training consisted entirely of shooting. It could be said that they were more skilled at using firearms than at close-quarters combat.
Through reconnaissance by spies infiltrating the indigenous auxiliary troops, it was found that, generally speaking, the main force engaged in close combat on the battlefield was the indigenous auxiliary troops, and the company's army would not participate in close combat unless absolutely necessary.
Apart from the troops stationed on the eastern city wall, a small number of soldiers were also scattered throughout the city. If all the intelligence were gathered together, the company army in Batavia City numbered at least 2,300, while the indigenous auxiliary forces numbered over 1,000.
It is also worth mentioning that, due to recent changes in the situation in Southeast Asia, the Governor's Office has strengthened its monitoring of the Chinese community in the city and increased patrols to restrict the activities of some Chinese merchants.
This was exactly what Zhu Jiheng had anticipated. With the Spanish as a stark example before them, even if the Dutch were carefree, they would not forget to monitor the Chinese community.
Moreover, the Dutch have never trusted the Chinese.
The permanent fleet in the port was also roughly ascertained, which was similar to Zhu Jiheng's expectations. The Dutch East Indies Company did not have a main warship in the Far East, but mainly armed merchant ships.
The Dutch armed merchant ships were called "Netherlands Merchant Ships," and each ship was equipped with at least forty cannons, which was more than the number of cannons on ordinary armed merchant ships.
Four Dutch merchant ships are currently docked in the port of Batavia, two of which are undergoing routine maintenance in the dry dock and are expected to be ready for combat for more than a month.
Near Batavia, there are usually several two-masted fast boats on patrol. If you want to launch a surprise attack on the port of Batavia, you are likely to be detected in advance and warned in the direction of the port.
After reading the intelligence, Zhu Jiheng fell into deep thought. Batavia, the heart of the Dutch East Indies in the Far East, was indeed as difficult to defend as expected.
"A fortified city with heavy artillery, a large garrison... and those damned patrol boats," he muttered to himself, his mind racing.
The Dutch garrisons were mainly concentrated inland and in the east, while the defenses of the seaports were equally tight, but the garrisons were relatively dispersed.
This is undoubtedly something they can exploit, provided they can solve the early warning problem—how to destroy the two-masted speedboat before it sends back a warning.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Jiheng ordered someone to summon Chen Ang, Lü Qianfan, and others who had returned from Jinghai, in preparation for discussing the matter with them.
Soon, the two arrived at the study. Zhu Jiheng first had them review the intelligence before asking them:
"We probably can't completely avoid the Dutch patrol boats. We must deal with them before they issue an effective warning. Do you have any plans?"
Upon hearing this, both of them frowned slightly. This request was no simple matter, and it would be quite difficult for them to answer immediately.
He pondered for a long time, and Zhu Jiheng did not disturb them. After a while, Lü Qianfan came up with an idea and tentatively spoke up.