1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Liang Yao joined forces with the pirates in the South China Sea and Southeast Asia, and then headed south to the waters near Pontianak.

With such a mobilization of troops, the large-scale fleet voyage naturally cannot escape the eyes and ears of the Dutch and Indian authorities.

After learning of Liang Yao's intentions, Tevez ordered General Cruzan to immediately organize a fleet to go to the waters near Pontianak to intercept Liang Yao's fleet and prevent Liang Yao from landing in West Borneo.

Even the Dutch armed merchant ships moored in Batavia Harbor were directly requisitioned by the Dutch and Indian authorities.

"A lunatic, he is simply a lunatic. Is the American government endorsing him behind his back, or is he acting audaciously?"

Tevez felt incredible and angry at Liang Yao's series of unbelievable actions.

After Krewson read the information sent back, his expression gradually became serious.

Four modern steamships over a thousand tons, one of which is the most advanced dark ship.

This is a sea force not to be underestimated.

After the Anglo-Dutch War, the national strength of the Netherlands declined, and the independence of Belgium in 1830 severely damaged the Netherlands.

At this time, the national strength of the Netherlands is not as good as before, and it is just trying to maintain the dignity of the big powers at the tail of the crane, which is the weakest link among the big powers.

Tevez's intensive mobilization finally gathered 9 sailing warships, one of which was the Rotterdam with three decks, a displacement of up to 2300 tons, and 95 guns. The final card of the Dutch and Indian authorities.

It's just that the Rotterdam is a ship built in the Fengfan era at the end of the last century, and the hull is a bit old.

剩下的8艘风帆战舰则是排水量400吨到1500吨不等，拥炮20门到60门不等的四级舰、五级舰以及六级舰。

Like the Rotterdam, these sailing warships are relatively old, and the condition of the ships is worrying.

Do the Dutch and Indian authorities have any new ships?

Yes, after all, the Netherlands was once a sea coachman. The appearance of steam warships also made Dutch people of insight feel that steam warships that are not restrained by wind will be the future of the navy.

Beginning in 1848, the Dutch began to concentrate financial and material resources to develop their own new generation of steam warships.

The result of the Dutch is the Soembing (the name of a volcano on Java Island. I don’t know how to translate it. If someone knows it, I will modify it into Chinese translation).

The Soembing is a three-masted steam paddle steamer, using both steam power and sail power, with a displacement of 781 tons, a power of 110kw, and a length of 66.8 meters. It is equipped with a single-cylinder coal-fired steam engine and 6 front cannons. It is the most advanced steam ship in the world. one.

Historically, in order to promote the opening of Japan to the Netherlands, after the black ship incident, Japan was founded, and under the lobbying of Hendrik, the chairman of the Dutch Trade Association for Japan, William III of the Netherlands agreed to send a steamship as a gift to Germany. Sichuan shogunate.

Of course, the Dutch are not doing charity. The real purpose of the Dutch is to allow Japan to further open its market to earn more commercial benefits.

Hendrick also thoughtfully considered that if ordered from the Netherlands, the construction period would be very long, and the Soembing, which was serving in the Dutch East Indies, was a new ship that had just entered service in 1853.

Therefore, in the end, under the coordination of Hendrick, the Dutch authorities directly gave the Soembing to the Japanese shogunate.

The Japanese shogunate named it the Kanko Maru. The Kanko Maru was the first steam warship of the Japanese Navy. Later, it was used as a training ship to train the first generation of naval personnel for the Japanese Navy.

"Your Excellency, with all due respect, the sea power we can mobilize is currently limited. I request that the handover of the Soembing to the shogunate authorities be suspended!"

Klutsen requested the call of the Soembing to strengthen the fleet.

Anyway, the Japanese shogunate did not pay for the ship.

Like another time and space, after the founding of Japan, Japan began to seek cooperation from Western countries, hoping to obtain advanced steam warships from Western countries.

The Netherlands and Japan have a long history of trade cooperation, and the Japanese have a good impression of the Dutch, so Japan is more inclined to cooperate with the Dutch.

In modern times, the Japanese Navy took Britain as their teacher, which is a stereotype.

In fact, the Japanese Navy first took the Dutch as their teacher. Not only the Kanko Maru but also the instructors of the Royal Netherlands Navy arrived in Nagasaki, Japan after Kanko Maru.

It wasn't until the Iwakura Mission visited Europe that they carefully inspected the European countries and learned that the Netherlands is only a second-rate small country, and the United Kingdom is the number one naval power.

Japan soon gave up learning from the Dutch navy, and turned to the navy to learn from the UK in an all-round way, using Britain as a teacher.

"The Soembing is a gift ordered by His Majesty to the Japanese shogunate. Reckless requisition may affect the friendship between the Netherlands and Japan."

The Soembing was a gift to the Japanese shogunate personally ordered by King William III of the Netherlands, and Carlos Tevez couldn't make up his mind for a while.

"Your Excellency! Is the friendship between the Netherlands and Japan important or our interests in the East Indies?!" Krewson questioned Tevez.

This is not a very difficult question to answer. The friendship between the Netherlands and Japan is false, but the interests of the Netherlands in the East Indies are real.

The East Indies is the most important overseas colony of the Netherlands, and it is also the last fig leaf, and there is no room for mistakes.

"The Soembing will be called by you." Tevez made up his mind.

After getting Tevez's permission, Krewson transferred the Kanko Maru.

The East Indies fleet consisting of 9 warships and 18 armed merchant ships sailed to Pontianak to assist the Pontianak defenders in defending Pontianak and defending the benefits obtained by the Dutch and Indian authorities in Borneo.

The East Indies Fleet, led by Klusen, cruised at a speed of 8 knots and headed for Pontianak.

In the waters near Pontianak, Krusan encountered a huge fleet, which was Liang Yao's fleet, and it could be said to be Liang Yao's entire family property.

Liang Yao has four steam warships with a displacement of more than 11 tons, and 11 Loach-class ships. Among these 8 Loach-class ships, Liang Yao's own 3 Loach-class ships have been replaced with Sacramento guns, and the Guangdong Navy's [-] Loach-class ships are equipped with The old-fashioned muzzle cannon.

帆船方面梁耀则是有着16艘排水量700吨到1200吨不等，装备了22门到30门6磅萨克拉门托炮的飞剪船。

The rest is the atmosphere group consisting of the small sampans of Guangdong navy and Southeast Asian pirates.

The two fleets met on a narrow road at sea and confronted each other.

But in terms of numbers and momentum, Liang Yao, who came out in full force, was obviously superior.

"This sea area belongs to us, the Netherlands! You have entered the waters of the Netherlands, and I will give you ten minutes to consider whether to choose to evacuate our sea area or go to war!"

Krewson also issued an ultimatum to Liang Yao, asking Liang Yao's fleet to withdraw from the waters near Pontianak.

At the same time as issuing the ultimatum, Kreutsen had already issued a semaphore, ordering the ships to seize the upper wind, so as to obtain a strong maneuvering position after the war broke out.

Krusan's East Indies fleet had a low steam rate, and only one Soembing and two steamed old-fashioned sailing warships could fight without the help of wind.

The rest of the ships are still sail warships, and he must follow the combat rules of the sail era in order to give full play to the greatest advantages of his own warships.

The so-called upwind and downwind are not the same as tailwind and headwind.

But among the wind directions perpendicular to the direction of the sail warship, the one above the vertical wind direction is the upwind direction, and the one below is the downwind direction.

Upwind and downwind have their own advantages and disadvantages. In short, the advantage of the upwind side is that it is easy to gain a maneuver advantage, but the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it may lose its firepower advantage.

In the warships of the age of sail, the waterline of the lower deck was very low, and the layout of the deck guns on each deck of the sail warship was that the guns on the lower deck were more powerful than those on the upper deck.

以基督徒号二级战舰为例，最下层的舰炮为28门42磅炮，上层为28门24磅炮，顶部为26门12磅炮。

The artillery on the lower layer is the main firepower output of the sailing warship.

If it is in the upwind direction, the inclination of the hull can easily make the sea water flood the lower deck or even the upper deck facing the enemy, resulting in only the top deck with the weakest firepower being able to fire.

The enemy is the opposite. Although the enemy's ship will tilt under the action of the wind, the muzzle pointing upwards, that is, the muzzle aimed at the direction of the own ship, is basically not affected by the wind and waves. Therefore, the enemy can guarantee the maximum firepower output.

In the Age of Sail, the navies of various countries have different regulations on whether to gain the upper hand or to gain the upper hand during a battle.

An overall rule is that naval powers tend to seize the upper hand in order to gain the greatest maneuvering advantage and gain the initiative on the battlefield.

Countries with relatively weak naval power tend to seize the disadvantage and wait for work.

The British Navy and the Dutch Navy are representatives who like to seize the upper hand.

The French navy, which is relatively weak at sea, likes to wait for work in a downwind position when fighting the British navy.

Because of the gap in the quality of the sailors of the British and French navies, after the gunners of the French navy fired a salvo, the gunners of the British navy could often fire three or more rounds of salvo.

The gap in the quality of the sailors made up for the loss of firepower output by the British Navy in the upper wind position. Therefore, in sea battles, the British Navy is often more inclined to seize the upper hand, gain the advantage of maneuvering, and strive for the initiative on the battlefield.

The French navy, on the contrary, generally doesn't like to seize the upper hand and shoot at the British navy without losing its main firepower output.

Of course, strength is also relative. Facing the British navy, the French navy likes to have the upper hand in combat, but when facing opponents whose maritime strength is weaker than itself, the French navy will also take the initiative to gain the upper hand.

When fighting the Spanish navy, the French navy often went uncharacteristically and seized the upper hand during the battle, gaining a rare maneuvering advantage to engage in battle.

Wind direction is only a factor that can determine the outcome of naval battles in the age of sails, not a decisive factor.

The decision of the commander, the comparison of strength, the level of equipment, the morale of the sailors, combat experience and tactical literacy, and even accidents can all be the factors that determine the outcome of a naval battle.