1850 American Gold Tycoon.

The fierce battle lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon. This fierce naval battle in the waters near Pontianak finally ended with the Dutch East Indies Fleet taking the lead in withdrawing from the battlefield.

Liang Yao ordered the fleet to pursue for a while, then turned back to the battlefield and began to clean up the battlefield, counting casualties and battle results.

In this naval battle, Liang Yao's biggest loss was the flying clipper ship requisitioned from the people.

Although these clipper ships have been carefully selected, the selected civilian ships are in relatively good condition.

But after all, it is still a civilian ship with extremely limited protection capabilities. Unlike a wooden warship wrapped in cast iron armor, it can continue to fight after several rounds of shelling as long as the loss of personnel is not large.

Of the 18 clipper ships that participated in the battle, 4 were directly sunk, 6 were seriously injured, and the remaining clipper ships were basically injured.

In terms of loach boats, 8 of the 2 loach boats participating in the battle were directly sunk, 3 were seriously injured, and the remaining 3 loach boats were slightly injured.

The situation of the 4 capital ships is slightly better, but not much better.

The Roland and Chaoyong were seriously injured and needed to return to Xiangshan for overhaul to restore their combat effectiveness.

Liang Yao's flagship Boldness was injured in a moderate condition, as long as the lost crew gap was replenished, it could barely fight.

The best situation was Yang Wei, who was only slightly injured, and the loss of personnel was not large, so he could continue to fight.

In terms of battle results, this campaign sank 3 enemy sailing warships, of which 2 were level 1 sailing warships and 1 was level [-] sailing warships, and captured an enemy steam warship and [-] level [-] sailing warship.

Of the civilian merchant ships conscripted by the Dutch and Indian authorities this time, 3 were directly sunk, 4 were captured, and there were countless casualties.

After most of the day's high-intensity artillery battle, it is impossible to avoid injuries unless the firefight starts before the start of the battle, but the degree of damage to the ships is different.

The casualties in terms of personnel are even more shocking. Before the war, the number of crew members participating in the war was 3400.

After this battle, only less than 2500 crew members were able to continue to participate in the next military operations.

366 crew members were killed or missing, and 541 crew members suffered moderate or above injuries.

Sailors like Liang Yao who suffered a little skin trauma and could continue to participate in military operations were not counted.

Dutch crew casualties are estimated to be comparable to their own, perhaps slightly lower.

Judging from the gradually thinning gunfire at the end of the battlefield, the casualties of the Dutch will not be much better. There are 318 corpses of the Dutch crew salvaged alone.

Since it was the Dutch who voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield first, Liang Yao also captured 371 Dutch sailors on the battlefield. Counting these captured personnel, the loss of the Dutch's personnel would be worse than Liang Yao's.

After all, Liang Yao was still in control of the battlefield and could rescue the crew members who fell into the water and the lifeboats. However, the crew members of the Dutch East Indies Fleet who failed to escape the battlefield in time had to be captured obediently if they wanted to survive.

Of course, if the losses of the Guangdong navy and pirates are also included in the statistics, the loss of personnel is still greater on Liang Yao's side.

Hong Mingxiang, the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, and Li Fengchun, the pirate leader, came to the Bold and asked Liang Yao for the final payment.

The admiral of the Guangdong navy and the pirate leader, two incompatible characters, stand together and ask Liang Yao for the final payment, which makes Liang Yao inexplicably feel a little happy.

Liang Yao took out a pen, signed two checks and handed them to the two: "Both Fragrant Hills and Guangzhou have Bank of America branches, and you can use this check to draw the balance at any Bank of America."…

Both the Guangdong Navy and the pirates persisted until the end and did not run away. They were already very righteous, and their role completely exceeded Liang Yao's expectations.

Liang Yao originally only expected them to support the scene and play the role of cheerleaders, but he didn't expect them to achieve good results.

The Guangdong navy sank an armed merchant ship and captured a level five sail warship, and the pirates even captured two armed merchant ships.

Of course, their losses were also heavy. There were 860 people from the Guangdong Navy who accompanied Hong Mingxiang to the expedition, and 180 people were killed in battle, and the wounded did not count.

Of the three Loach-class armed patrol boats brought out by Hong Mingxiang, one was directly sunk by the Dutch, and the other two also suffered injuries to varying degrees.

There were 1100 pirates who accompanied Li Fengchun on the expedition, and 286 of them were killed in battle, and the wounded did not count.

Hong Mingxiang happily accepted the check from Liang Yao. He was still counting on using the money to comfort the soldiers. Besides, he deserved the money, so there was no need to put on airs.

Li Fengchun did not accept the check, and Liang Yao thought that Li Fengchun felt that it was too dangerous to withdraw money in Xiangshan or Guangzhou, so he said to Li Fengchun: "If it is troublesome to withdraw cash in Xiangshan or Guangzhou, I can pay directly with gold coins in US dollars."

"If you can pay in US dollars, that would be great. May I ask Mr. Liang, but the payment is in California dollars?" Li Fengchun said happily.

The U.S. dollar coins of this era are real gold and silver coins, not banknotes, but also hard currency.

Of course, due to the influence of the country, the dollar is still not as strong as the pound.

But the pirates are also willing to accept US dollars. After all, they are real money, and the actual value lies there.

Thanks to California's rich gold and good casting technology, the US dollar minted in California is famous for its fineness and fine casting, and is the best in US dollar coins.

Soon, under Liang Yao's instruction, Lin Sen led the crew into Liang Yao's cabin, counted a box of US dollar coins, and lifted the heavy box out.

"Mr. Liang, can I use the money to buy some guns from you, and buy a captured armed merchant ship?" Li Fengchun said.

"I intend to hire you. If you are willing to be employed by me, I can provide you with guns and ships for free." Liang Yao looked straight into Li Fengchun's eyes.

"What does Mr. Liang want me to do?" Li Fengchun was a smart person, so he quickly realized it.

"The Dutch merchant ship was robbed." Liang Yao said.

The Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia are distributed on various islands, and sea routes are the lifeline for the Dutch and Indian authorities to maintain the rule of these colonies.

Allowing pirates to harass the Dutch routes can also force the Dutch to divide their troops to protect these routes and reduce their own sea pressure.

Liang Yao thought it was worthwhile to spend some arms and money to hire these pirates.

Moreover, the pirates could also do some things that Liang Yao was inconvenient to do directly.

"This is Li's job, and Li is willing to be employed by Mr. Liang." Li Fengchun laughed.

In recent years, there are more and more Western ships in Southeast Asia, and their equipment is getting better and better. The life of these pirates is not easy. There is a powerful force to provide them with protection and support. This is a very good thing. Li Fengchun did not Reason for refusal.

Hong Mingxiang walked to the turret of the naval gun, looked curiously at the new gun on the Bold, and asked Liang Yao, "Can you add a few guns to add to the fun?"...

Liang Yao nodded. After the loader finished loading, the gunner locked on the wreckage of a nearby unmanned and shipless Dutch ship, adjusted the parameters, and then explained to Hong Mingxiang how to fire the naval gun.

Hong Mingxiang fired the cannon, and hit the wreckage of the Dutch ship with only one cannon. Hong Mingxiang fired two more cannons to enjoy his hands, and praised: "Good cannon, good cannon! This cannon is extremely accurate and the rate of fire is extremely fast. It is the best cannon Hong has ever seen, when did you make this kind of cannon?"

This is indeed the best naval gun in the world at present.

Without this cannon, Liang Yao would have lost the naval battle long ago.

Thinking of his own fleet with the most advanced weapons, and the opponent with sailing warships playing such an ugly battle loss ratio, Liang Yao's expression also became ugly.

One is because he was very dissatisfied with the performance of the navy this time. With the advantages in technology and numbers, this naval battle was fought so hard that he almost capsized.

Weapons are important, but the people who use them are even more important. The California Navy's background is too thin.

It is so difficult to fight against the Dutch colonial fleet, and it is unnecessary to fight against Britain and France.

If you want to protect your own rights and interests at sea, it is imperative to shift resources to the navy in the future.

The second is because the arm that was scratched by the sawdust before is now gradually in pain, and Liang Yao gasped in pain.

Lin Senjing called the doctor who was amputating the injured man's leg on the deck, and re-treated the wound for Liang Yao.

The ship doctor handed over the work to a carpenter and immediately ran over to treat Liang Yao's wound carefully.

After re-treatment of the wound, Liang Yao felt a little better, and said to Hong Mingxiang, "I have been developing this cannon for several years, and this cannon was successfully trial-produced at the end of last year."

"I lost a loach boat this time. This is the treasure of the Guangdong Navy. You can sell me another one at a lower price. Of course, it would be great if I could replace my loach boat with your new cannon. " Hong Mingxiang said.

"If you can replace me with a new cannon and land in Pontianak for a battle, it will be no problem for me to ask my supervisor battalion and the sailor Buyong of the Guangdong Navy to help you fight?"

Liang Yao did not disclose to Hong Mingxiang the news that he was going to attack Pontianak. After all, no matter how good Hong Mingxiang was with him, they were still outside the California system. It was impossible for Liang Yao to reveal too much inside information to Hong Mingxiang.

But Hong Mingxiang is not a fool. If he was really stupid, he would not be able to take the position of admiral of the Guangdong Navy.

In addition to Xu Guangjin's support, Hong Mingxiang, who was born in the navy's grassroots, can become the admiral of the Guangdong Navy. He is also somewhat capable.

Liang Yao would not fight the Dutch at sea for no reason. The fight with the Dutch in the waters near Pontianak was nothing more than laying the groundwork for the subsequent landing in Pontianak.

Hong Mingxiang could guess this point.

"Really?" Liang Yao asked.

The casualties of the beach landing will not be small. Although Liang Yao specially organized a training exercise for the beach landing before the war, the training exercise is only a training exercise after all, not an actual combat.

Liang Yao didn't know how many casualties would be paid to win Pontianak.

If Hong Mingxiang is willing to help, his western brigade can also reduce casualties.

"really."

Seeing that Liang Yao agreed so happily, Hong Mingxiang regretted it too much, and knew that he would put more conditions.

"It's a deal." Liang Yao said with a smile.

After cleaning the battlefield, it was already sunset. It was too late to land today, so the soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment, who were preparing to participate in the landing, had to rest and prepare to land in Pontianak tomorrow and liberate the compatriots in the Pontianak area.