Chapter 106: Encountering Battle

Tongwenguan is simple and quiet, with gurgling water.

In the flower hall, Wu Guanghuai held the tea in restraint and secretly glanced at the face of the Southern Regent sitting on the head from time to time.

Although his name was the Lord Dai Yan, Wu Guanghuai knew it, in fact, no matter from any aspect, his status was not as good as a seventh-rank magistrate in the southern country. The regent would hold a banquet to receive him, and even summon him to the flower hall to discuss matters after the banquet. This was naturally a very grand honor for him, and he was both frightened and nervous.

While tasting the tea, Ye Zhao asked lightly: "I heard that your Wu family has a deep relationship with the Chinese company in Pontianak?"

Pontianak is a port town in western Borneo. It has a lot of Chinese people and is also the base of Lanfang Company.

Wu Guanghuai said respectfully: "Yes, my family's ancestors and Lan Fang's eldest brother are friends of life and death, but over the years, the young man has had fewer contacts with Lan Fang's company."

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, but Ye Zhao had a bad impression of Lanfang Company. The Dutch implemented the policy of using China to control China in Borneo, and attacked Chinese companies or Chinese armed groups. For example, the once most powerful Dagang Company had defeated the Dutch who entered southern Borneo several times. In addition to sending troops to reinforce from Batavia (Jakarta), the colonial government in the South China Sea, it also won the Lanfang Company to attack Dagang Company. Lanfang Company did act as a pawn for the Dutch. After Dagang Company was defeated by the Dutch foreign gun team, it was blocked by Lanfang Company. The remaining troops were trapped in poor mountains and rivers, and gradually disappeared.

However, Ye Zhao also knew that he could not use his own values ​​to measure these overseas Chinese groups. They wandered overseas and were abandoned by the people of Middle-earth, that is, they had no sense of belonging to the country, no program or goal, and everything they did was just for survival and interests, and surrendering to the tyranny of the Dutch.

"You can speak Hakka dialect?" Ye Zhao asked again.

Wu Guanghuai hurriedly said, "Yes, the younger ones can speak." Hakka dialect is popular among Chinese in Borneo, and even many local natives can speak.

Ye Zhao nodded and said, "Let's rest early."

"Yes." Wu Guanghuai hurriedly stood up, knelt down and kowtowed, and respectfully sent the Regent away.

...

On the second day, Ye Zhao was reading the documents in his hand. The guards came to report that the Dutch minister Schneider came to ask for the prince. He was stopped outside the alley and made a big fuss. He was very unconventional.

Ye Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Take him here."

I looked at the information in my hand again, which was a detailed comparison between the Pingyuan Navy and the Dutch troops in the Nanyang area.

Today, Pingyuan Navy does not count coal ships, transport ships, notification ships, etc. logistics support ships, modified shallow sea gunboats and small wooden sailboats with artillery tied to artillery, and thirteen warships with ocean combat capabilities, including four with displacement of more than 2,500 tons, namely Jinling, Dinghai, Zhenhai and Jinghai.

The remaining nine cruise frigates including Guangzhou and Lingbo were shipped.

The Dutch army is not many in Borneo, with about 20,000 people, mainly concentrated on Guawa Island, separated by the sea. Specifically, it is Batavia (Jakarta). Its location of the Dutch and India Governor, in Jakarta, the Dutch and India governor had about 10,000 troops, and the rest were scattered all over the place, which was also the basis for its rule over the East Indies.

According to the Nanyang lineup, the Navy had about 40 armed ships operating in the Nanyang, but Ye Zhao knew that this number was very watery. Not to mention the light primary ships, I was afraid that many armed merchant ships had calculated it.

With the sound of footsteps, Ye Zhao immediately put the documents aside. The gray-haired Schneider walked in, took off his hat, and bowed, "Hello, Your Highness, Prince."

Ye Zhao nodded slightly and moved his hands. A guard immediately brought the soft pier next to him. Schneider sat down, but his impetuous heart slowly calmed down. The power of the Eastern people always had a shocking and awe-inspiring feeling. The southern regent had no need to speak for his subtle movements. The people around him were as busy as if they had received a saint metaphor.

"Mr. Schneider has something important?" Ye Zhao asked lightly.

The fire in Schneider's heart immediately burned again and said with a calm face: "Your Highness, Prince, I am deeply dissatisfied with the work efficiency of your foreign affairs department. I don't understand your country's approach to listing pirates like Wu Guanghuai as a guest of honor. I also regret it. I hope Your Highness can understand our country's proposals and extradite Wu Guanghuai back to Batavia."

Ye Zhao frowned slightly. Among the three major colonial countries in the South China Sea, Spain, which occupied the Philippines, had few warships. Recently, it had many conflicts with the United States. Not long ago, it signed a trade agreement with China, giving Chinese merchants a free trade status in Manila. Because the British controlled the territory was so huge, they were more willing to be in control of the Strait of Malacca from the Dutch, and after they seized control of the Strait of Malacca from the Dutch, they were more willing to be dominant in the East Indies. In the East Indies, the British only had a few colonies in the northern part of Borneo, and to a large extent the personal behavior of British merchants. They were a merchant named James Brooke and his team to help the Sultan of Brunei suppress the rebels, and the Sultan of Brunei appointed him as the governor of Sarawak.

Mr. James Brooke was just a prodigal son in England, but he had an extraordinary spirit of adventure. He recruited a group of homeless men with a 30,000 pound inheritance. When he came to Southeast Asia, he became a military force. The Brooke family also managed the Sarawak area. It was not until the end of World War II that the British government replaced his family to rule Sarawak. However, in general, the Sarawak area was regarded as a British colony.

Therefore, the Dutch who have the most ambitions for the entire East Indies are the Dutch, and the Dutch who have the greatest strength are also the Dutch. For example, the Brook family's armed forces, dozens or hundreds of guns, and mercenaries, it is indeed a powerful force in Borneo where indigenous tribes gather, but for the Netherlands and China, national power, it can be ignored.

Now, after the Dutch bloody suppressed the rebellious movements on Java, their eyes began to focus on Borneo, intensified their infiltration into Borneo, and began to crack down on various Chinese communities active in Borneo, embezzling the indigenous tribes or countries that are numerous in Borneo.

Relying on the agreement signed with the British to divide the East Indies thirty years ago, the Dutch obviously felt that the Chinese dare not really challenge their hegemony in the East Indies. After feeling that the Chinese had the intention to expand their sphere of influence to Borneo, the Dutch had to take action first, accelerate the pace of encroaching Borneo, and grab Borneo in their own hands in the Chinese.

Schneider had issued several solemn statements to the Southern Dynasties Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Chinese have been delaying and their attitudes are ambiguous. And last night, Schneider heard that the Regent held a banquet to entertain Wu Guanghuai, but he couldn't sit still. After thinking, he simply came to see the Regent and asked the Chinese to make a clear statement.

Schneider was a very arrogant person and had many disputes with Ye Zhao in Guangzhou. At that time, the Southern Dynasty notified all countries. While reiterating respect for the interests of various countries in South China, it also required all countries to properly handle disputes with overseas Chinese in South China and respect the right to survive. Otherwise, the southern government reserved the right to take further actions. Seeing this note, Schneider also went to Changsha to argue with Ye Zhao.

With an agreement with the United Kingdom and the support of the Netherlands' military power in Southeast Asia, Schneider didn't really think much of the Chinese.

As long as the Chinese can be forced to extradite Wu Guanghuai, the Chinese's plans in Borneo will be greatly defeated, which is more practical and effective than expelling Chinese businessmen.

He picked up the tea cup and sipped the tea. Ye Zhao said, "Mr. Schneider, our country has a formal trade agreement with the Kingdom of Daiyan. Instead, your country fought undeclaredly, suddenly attacked the Kingdom of Daiyan, expelled our merchants, and re-auctioned the gold mines sold to our merchants. I think your country is provoking our country."

Schneider had long expected Ye Zhao to say this, and argued with a raised face: "There has never been a Kingdom of Daiyan, but an illegal regime that pirates oppressed the natives for their service. Our country cracked down on pirates and liberated the indigenous people in order to smooth trade in the East Indies. In the official documents of your Foreign Ministry, our country has explained it very clearly."

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, and did not argue with him, saying, "Mr. Schneider, in fact, your country focuses on trade and is a businessman society. Nowadays, our industry is developing rapidly. If we can reach a consensus between us, the trade circle of the Chinese sea will definitely be extremely prosperous. In fact, if we are in harmony, we will benefit both sides. Why bother to argue for immediate interests and cause trouble?"

Indeed, the Netherlands has always been established in trade and the European Industrial Revolution, but the Netherlands is in a stagnant pool. In addition, the re-export trade declines, which is also the reason why it gradually became a third-rate European country.

Ye Zhao was very thoughtful, but Schneider felt that he was stabbed to the pain. As the former overlord of Europe, Schneider was sometimes intoxicated by the glory of the past. He knocked on his pipe and said lightly: "It is your country that has been causing trouble in the East Indies."

He didn't know that he had closed the last door to reconciliation with the Chinese, he didn't know that the sharpening of the knife had already decided to knock down the former European overlord, and he didn't know that the Nanyang area would sound the horn of blood and fire from his words and become the focus of the whole world.

Ye Zhao looked at him deeply and nodded.

...

The deep sea, thick fog.

Near Pontianak Port, there are more than a dozen warships floating like ghosts. They are the fleet of the Chinese navy, and their supply logistics ships are hidden between a scattered archipelago dozens of nautical miles away.

On the deck of the flagship Jinling, Ma Dayong used a thousand-mile mirror to observe the sea area silently. According to spies everywhere in the Southeast Asia, there are more and more Dutch merchant ships on the trade line from Pontianak to Batavia, and a small fleet of three Dutch warships often appear in the Pontianak waters to deter pirates and Chinese communities in Pontianak.

In a naval battle with the powerful Thai powers, although Ma Dayong made a military order in front of the Regent, how could he not be nervous? In recent years, the Pingyuan Navy has almost no real rivals to fight against evenly matched opponents, let alone a powerful Western power.

Although the Regent said that the national strength of the Netherlands was no longer as strong as that of the Southern Dynasties and was farther away from the ocean, these red-haired ghosts had been dealing with the sea for a lifetime, and they were afraid that they would know how the wind would change when they smelled the fishy smell of the sea breeze. The Pingyuan Navy had only been active in the sea border tens of thousands of miles away for only three or two years.

This battle can only be used both water and land, transporting the naval infantry team to Pontianak and obtaining the support of the Chinese community. In this way, if the navy fails, it will still be able to rely on infantry to expel the Dutch in Borneo, and it will always maintain an unbeaten situation.

On the transport ship, more than 20 heavy agricultural shore defense artillery were loaded. As long as you can gain a foothold in Pontianak and lay the artillery down, the navy will fail and you can temporarily retreat into the port.

Ma Dayong's usual way of using troops is to think about defeat before winning.

In terms of naval battles, concentrating the firepower of the entire fleet and eliminating two or three warships of the opponent first is a more realistic goal. Training troops and courage is more important. If you want to become a fat man in one breath, you will be defeated miserably.

"Call Wu Guanghuai to get off the ship." Ma Dayong turned around and ordered the personal soldiers standing beside him.

In the lounge, Wu Guanghuai was chanting Buddha's name with a pale face. When he got on the boat, he realized that he was coming to Borneo to fight the Dutch. He was frightened at that time. The red-haired devils were like overlords in the South China Sea. The infantry team of hundreds of people easily destroyed an indigenous country. A warship appeared on the sea and could scatter the birds and beasts.

The Regent, how could he know the power of the Red-haired Devils? Challenge the Dutch, where did you start?

But how could he dare to say these words? Since he got on the boat, he hid in the lounge to pray, and even less dared to go to the deck. If he happened to see the oncoming red-haired ghost warship, the torture would be even more uncomfortable than death. He was out of sight, and he hid in the lounge, even if the ship was sunk, he would be a fool.

"Mr. Wu, please come out and send you ashore!" The iron door of the lounge opened, and a young and young sailor's face appeared.

Wu Guanghuai sighed deeply. His mission was to go to Pontianak and other places for Borneo Chinese gatherings to contact the Chinese community, persuade them to serve the Southern Dynasties and unanimously deal with the Dutch. At the very least, he would also provide logistics support to the landing of the Southern Navy Infantry Regiment and other aspects.

Wu Guanghuai didn't dare to say anything. He followed the sailors and stepped on the iron ladder to the deck. The fog was filled with thick fog. Not far away, it looked like a thick black reef, and it seemed like a ship, and it was hard to see clearly for a while.

In front of the deck guardrail, Ma Dayong smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, "Don't be afraid."

Wu Guanghuai smiled bitterly and said nothing.

At this moment, a police sirens suddenly blew on the lookout table, three long and one short, which meant to discover the enemy.

Ma Dayong frowned slightly. Are they those Dutch ships? It was a coincidence.

"Mr. Wu, how about you wait until you finish watching this war before landing?" Ma Dayong said to Wu Guanghuai with a smile. It was obvious that Wu Guanghuai was frightened and he should give him some encouragement.

Wu Guanghuai felt his legs were a little weak, and Ma Dayong had turned around and shouted: "Rise the fire, live ammunition, prepare for battle."

"Prepare for battle!" After orders were passed, the entire Jinling began to boil. The machine roared and black smoke blew. In front of the turret, shells with metallic luster were sent into the rifled cannon.

When he got off the ship, various sounds of ships preparing for war were heard. On this quiet morning, it seemed so harsh and murderous.

In the morning light, the thick fog gradually faded a little, and a flag slogan was lit on the lookout platform: "A more than five enemy fleets were found in the southwest direction."

Ma Dayong was slightly stunned, raised the Thousand Mile Mile Mile Mile and looked southwest. The black dots gradually approaching, one, two, three..., actually, there were more than a dozen.

Ma Dayong immediately burst into cold sweats with his hands, but now if he orders to retreat, the attack on morale can be imagined, let alone the Dutch would immediately guess the intention of the Chinese fleet. When they came back and gathered ships to find the Chinese fleet, the battle would be even more difficult to fight.

"Hmph, fifteen Dutch ships." Ma Dayong cursed softly and shouted: "Prepare for battle, sound the flute and signal it to make the Dutch ships leave this sea area, otherwise it will be considered a war provocation!"

Fifteen ships? Wu Guanghuai slumped on the ground with a thud and fainted.

At this time, there was a mess on the deck, so who would have noticed him?

...

The flagship of the Dutch fleet that was slowly approaching was called the "Matalan", which was a three-masted three-deck battleship with a displacement of 2,500 tons.

The fleet escorted dozens of Dutch merchant ships to Brunei. They were about to settle down in Pontianak to replenish supplies, but suddenly they saw black smoke rising from the sea ahead. Obviously, unknown ships were moving, so they slowly slowed down.

The fog gradually faded, and it was not the first time that the kirin flag was floating high on the other side's ship. It was no longer a new story for the Chinese Navy to appear in the South China Sea in the past two years.

But when he saw the signal from the Chinese, several Dutch officers in the captain's room of the Matalan immediately laughed, as if he had never heard such a nice joke.

A tall general frowned. He had brown hair, arrogant face and gloomy eyes. It was Kalimans, the commander of the fleet.

Recently, Chinese merchant ships suddenly seemed to have been much less than in the East Indies. He intuitively felt something was wrong. However, in Batavia, the senior officials were celebrating. Under the high-pressure policy, the Chinese finally withdrew from the competition in the East Indies, and from then on, the East Indies returned to the glory of the Dutch Republic.

Kalimans felt that things would not be that simple, but he did not believe that the Chinese dared to challenge the interests of the Dutch in the South China Sea, let alone that their naval forces had just formed an army. Although he heard that the Chinese navy had ironclad ships, would the Chinese who had never fought naval wars fire?

"Transfer, get on the bullet, line up!" Kalimans roared.

The captain's laughter of the naval staff officers in the room stopped abruptly, and one staff officer said hesitantly: "General, the Chinese will not really open fire. Their usual trick is to intimidate."

Kalimans' eyes were gloomy and said, "Don't you think this hunting game will be fun?"

The captain immediately whistled and cheered. Hunting the Chinese ships was indeed a very exciting game. If you want the Chinese to stop stepping into the waters of the East Indies, you must teach him a lesson once.

When the Chinese come to intimidate, they will let them know what a real naval war is.

Even if a fleet of more than a dozen ships goes to Guangzhou, it will not encounter any obstacles, right?

In the thin sea fog, several three-masted battleships of the Dutch slowly lined up in front of the front and tail, and the battleships were named after the name. The muzzle beside the ship was aimed at the black spots of the Chinese fleet in front, and with the wind direction, it cleverly drifted to the right wing of the Chinese fleet. Its very experienced naval combat tactics are used to bombard the enemy's bow and stern, and to avoid the attack range of the enemy's guns next to the ship.

Small ships are flexibly interspersed around, looking for opportunities to attack enemy ships.
To be continued...