The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 99 If you want to do it, do it

When the new 7th Battalion and the new th Battalion rushed to the port of Surabaya, they arrived more than an hour earlier than the scheduled deadline, but still failed to catch up with the end of the battle.

What they saw was a bay stained red with blood, countless corpses floating in the water, charred cargo ships burning with flames, and black smoke rising straight into the sky.

This made Feng Zhaocai and Feng Zhaohui feel quite depressed. They had been holding their breath and wanted to make a big contribution, and they spared no effort when going to the countryside to sweep up.

But it just happened that by just such an inch, a huge achievement passed him by.

When they met Wang Erzhu, the new commander of the 8th Regiment, walking towards him with his chest raised and his belly raised, like a proud big rooster, what he said made people vomit blood for three liters, and said;

"Oh, you two members of the team have finally arrived, and our battle has just ended. Please catch these street gangsters in the sea. The commander said that they should be gathered in piles and burned. It's too hot, so don't worry. Cause a plague."

I'm sorry, more than a thousand brothers from our two regiments marched for hours and rushed back just to clean up the mess for your eighth regiment?
Wang Erzhu, please don't be too seductive, just wait for me...

The commander stood by the bay with his hands behind his back, his invisible aura covering the whole situation, and the two captains, Feng Zhaocai and Feng Zhaohui, did not dare to say anything.

He could only hold his nose and tell his men to start working.

Fortunately, they won this beautiful naval battle and bought the Nanyang Army ample time to carefully build a stronger fortress.

This gave him a heads-up;
The field artillery on the Seven Star Fortress was not the right way after all. The field artillery was mainly 9-pounder cannons and 12-pounder cannons. Although the firepower was intensive, the caliber was too small and the power was too poor.

Feng Guohui looked at the white prisoners escorted one after another from the Dutch warships. A look of satisfaction appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he was extremely happy in his heart.

This incident
The white sailors and soldiers were so frightened that they all lowered their heads, and no one dared to look up at Feng Guohui again.

Be sure to keep the enemy out so that they cannot pose a threat to the cargo ships and buildings on the dock.

When two armies meet, the brave one wins.

"Okay, okay, okay, then I will fulfill your simple wish, pull him down and behead him... well, hang him, just hang him on the mast of the cargo ship." Feng Guohui said this and also named a few white sailors. , said;

In the future, serious coastal guns will be equipped, mainly 48-pound guns and 32-pound guns, with long barrels and high power, capable of blocking the entire Surabaya Strait.

This blow to confidence was fatal to them, destroying all the arrogance and confidence they had in the past.

The battle lasted for only half a day, more than 30 rounds of salvos were fired, and more than 730 shells were fired. The damage to the two Dutch warships was minimal, but only a large number of personnel were killed.

If the Seven-Star Fortress hadn't been prepared in advance and was powerful enough, we would have suffered a lot today, and the entire Surabaya Pier would have been destroyed.

Our soldiers are not afraid of death, so why should they be afraid of death? "

Lieutenant Kai Havertz and several white sailors who were spotted were immediately thrown to the ground by the menacing soldiers, put on ropes, and tied up.

Where the mind turns
Feng Guohui looked coldly at Special Envoy Schneider and Lieutenant Kai Havertz. They were now prisoners. The two Dutch sailing warships were also wiped out. Their faces were pale and there was no trace of blood.

In addition to the high-altitude Seven-Star Fortress forts, some low-level forts located on the rocks near the bay must be built to form a high-low artillery fire network to make up for the shooting blind spots of the high-altitude forts.

Feng Guohui said coldly;
"I remember not long ago, someone made a bold threat to harm the Chinese people, saying that ants can never compete with lions, I won't surprise you.

Just 4 to 5 rounds of artillery salvos destroyed two sail cargo ships, causing one to sink and the other to be seriously injured. The power was incomparable.

The main force of the naval gun is the 32-pounder gun, with the 24-pounder gun as the auxiliary, and the firepower is much more fierce.

"And you, you... plus you, each one of them stared at me with unconvinced looks. We might as well die together."

Victory in today's battle deepened his knowledge;

His eyes stared coldly at Lieutenant Kai Havertz, as if he were looking at a dead man. Lieutenant Kai Havertz was forced to bite the bullet and responded;
"I admit that you won this war by luck, but that doesn't mean anything? And you can't use any despicable means to make me surrender. I am a glorious Royal Dutch Navy officer who is willing to defend the soldiers with my life. of glory.”

The few people who dared to glare just now have been thrown to the ground, and those who were pushed and pushed will be sent to the cargo ship next to the dock pier to be hanged. The countdown to their lives has come.

"I'm not convinced. We are soldiers who have surrendered and should be treated humanely instead of brutally massacred. This is unfair."

"I am a noble officer and I demand treatment that matches my status, even if it means death."

"Oh, God, I just look fierce. I really don't mean any harm. For the sake of my mother who is over 70 years old, please spare me."

At this time, Special Envoy Schneider was enveloped in great humiliation. He clenched his fists, raised his head, and said with grief and indignation;
"Dear Mr. Feng, I beg you not to vent your anger on the captured soldiers. Lieutenant Kai Havertz is a member of our mission. Please forgive me and he should be treated fairly."

"Sorry, I have a bad temper and am not broad-minded. I am deeply disgusted by what Lieutenant Kai Havertz has done, and I feel very unhappy about it, so I must hang him, otherwise I will The thoughts are not clear."

Feng Guohui did not hide his disgust, and pointed at Special Envoy Schroeder's chest and said;

"Pu, your mother, I'm actually not happy with you. It's just that you are a messenger, so you shouldn't go too far."

These words shattered all Schroeder's illusions. He stood there blankly, like a soulless body, completely stunned.

Lieutenant Kay Havertz and three white sailors did not escape the fate of being hanged. They were hung from the mast of the cargo ship, and their bodies kept swaying in the sea breeze.

After the bloody and tragic naval battle, a large number of people from Surabaya City swarmed in and watched the corpses of white officers and soldiers piled in dozens of piles on the coast, which were set on fire one by one.

The cheers of the people in Surabaya City resounded through the sky. They celebrated the victory by beating gongs and drums, and continued singing and dancing by the roaring bonfire until after dark.

The myth of the invincibility of the white colonists was completely shattered on this day.

After nightfall

The Feng Family Mansion in Surabaya City

Feng Guohui held a military and political meeting here to discuss the post-war situation and military preparations. He proposed three tasks at the meeting.

The first point is to find a favorable location to build a low-lying fort in the Surabaya Bay. The location requires a broad view and is located on the main road that must pass through the straits on both sides.

The location of the fort should not be too high, no higher than 30 meters. Otherwise, the blind spot of the fort will be too large, which will not be conducive to a complete blockade of the strait.

The second point is whether to take advantage of the opportunity of victory to organize a fleet to attack Semarang in one go and fight there.

The biggest advantage of this is that it greatly expands the defensive boundary. It is impossible for the Dutch colonial army to directly attack the heart of Surabaya City. It expands the territory and enhances security at the same time.

Learned from interrogating white prisoners
The Dutch army has been extremely slow to act, and the plan to increase military funding accordingly has been drafted several times. So far, it has not passed the review and approval process of the Governor-General's Office, and there is no hope of its implementation.

At the very least, there is nothing to do this year.

Because the appropriations for the fourth fiscal quarter have been released one after another, expenditures on strengthening and expanding the military are no longer included in the list. I don’t know how long the dispute will last?
This situation is not unusual. A riot warning was received today and the army set off tomorrow. This was completely imaginary and could not happen at all. Delaying one or two years or even two or three years before taking action is very consistent with the slow-decision-making bureaucracy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is common to argue with each other and blame each other.

The decision-making efficiency of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is not even a bit worse than that of the United Kingdom.

Even in this era, Britain's decision-making efficiency would not be high. Take the Opium War that broke out in 1840 as an example;

In March 1839, Lin Zexu, together with Deng Tingzhen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Guan Tianpei, the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, planned a smoking ban in Guangzhou and comprehensively investigated the smuggling of opium.

Under the auspices of Lin Zexu, all the seized opium was destroyed in public on Humen Beach. The urban and rural people in Guangzhou who were watching the scene all applauded and applauded.

On August 1839, 8, Lin Zexu ordered a ban on all trade, sent troops into Macau, and further expelled the British from the country.

This incident became the trigger for the Opium War. On October 1839, 10, the British Cabinet made the decision to "send a fleet to the China Sea" on the grounds that business was blocked and the lives of British people were threatened.

On January 1840, 1, Queen Victoria made a speech in the British Parliament, saying that she was paying close attention to British interests in China.

In April, the British Parliament held a heated debate on this, and under the influence of Queen Victoria, they finally approved military action by a vote of 4 to 271.

6月，懿律司令官率领的英国舰船40余艘及士兵4000人（包括第18皇家爱尔兰联队、第26苏格兰来福枪联队、第49孟加拉联队、孟加拉工兵团和马德拉斯工兵团等）开赴广州湾，拉开了鸦片战争的序幕……

The intensive actions lasted for a full year and three months before they were finally implemented.

This is still the result of the hard push of Queen Victoria of England. It is not uncommon for a lighter person to continue wrangling for another year or two.

In the common perception of Europeans
East Asia, dominated by the Chinese continent, is regarded as the Far East. This is because if Europe is the center, East Asia is too far away, as if it is the other side of the world.

The same is true in the Nanyang region. Coming here is no different from being exiled.

Back to topic
Feng Guohui proposed to send a surprise force to capture Semarang because this was originally the treasure land he had coveted for a long time. It was the capital of Central Java with a total population of more than 76 people.

According to the confessions of white prisoners, there was only one Royal Navy supply depot in the entire Sanbaolong area, a white garrison of less than a hundred people, and a dissatisfied musketeer regiment.

It's just that this Royal Dutch Rifles Regiment, with about 600 to 700 men, is not stationed in Semarang City, but at Jepara Fortress, about 42 kilometers south of Semarang.

Jepara is also a coastal town with a population of about 23,000.

If you are prepared and prepared, your chances of success are very high.

The third point is to expand the army again by four to five thousand people.

Points 2 and 3 are closely related. If you want to capture Semarang, the capital city of Central Java, you must have a considerable force to control it, at least more than 3000 troops to control the surrounding areas.

The local Chinese armed forces in Semarang are not weak. There are at least 1,500 to 600 militiamen who are the lackeys of the white colonists.

If the local white people gather together, they will be a very powerful force and must not be underestimated.

Therefore, if you conquer Semarang, Surabaya City will inevitably become empty.

The army was once again expanded to 4,000 to 5,000 men. Its soldiers were mainly young Chinese immigrants who had successively arrived in Surabaya City, including 1 to 2,000 indigenous people.

This part of the new army will be concentrated in the Lando Mountain Mine and Yanwang City for training, which will just make up for the previous shortage of troops, stabilize all forces in Surabaya City, and leave no opportunity for those who are ready to take advantage of it.

At the meeting

Everyone was discussing various possibilities enthusiastically when suddenly a soldier officer knocked on the door and came in. He reached out and handed Feng Guohui a secret letter, and then whispered a few words in his ear.

It turned out that Special Envoy Schneider had been hiding this secret message. After being captured, it was dug out. He also admitted that this was a secret message that the Governor had privately ordered him to deliver to the leader of the Nanyang Army.

After hearing this, Feng Guohui's expression changed, and he couldn't help but blurt out a curse: "What a damn street ghost, I really want to kill him and throw him to the dogs to gnaw on him so that I can vent his evil anger."

After saying that, he opened the secret letter in his hand, read it, and his expression became very exciting.

This is a secret letter handwritten by the Governor, Count Charles Ferdinand Bahou. It doesn't contain much, just half a chapter of letter paper.

Governor Charles did not say much, but simply requested that the Nanyang Army should not establish itself as a country, which would worsen the political impact and force the Governor's Office to send a large army to carry out a cleanup.

If only the scope of the current chaos is maintained, the Governor's Mansion can provide the necessary tolerance time.

There will be no significant military action until at least June next year.

Feng Guohui silently put away the secret letter. Reviewing Special Envoy Schneider's attitude in his mind, he already understood most of the situation.

The use of military force to implement extreme oppression should be a private decision made by Schneider and Colonel Slutt-Meier after discussion, and it did not belong to the attitude of the Governor-General's Office.

These two people should be among the hard-liners in the Governor's Mansion, advocating vigorous and resolute suppression of all riots and rebellions.

Unexpectedly, he kicked the iron plate. The Nanyang Army did not accept this trick at all.

The governor of the Dutch East Indies, Earl Charles, is still in the dark. This person should be a slippery bureaucrat. He has been contacted for three and a half years to serve as governor, and there is not much left in his term.

With a little delay, it would be time to leave by this time next year, leaving the headaches to the next governor.

Therefore, Governor Charles did not want the situation to worsen, he did not want to hear that the Nanyang Army would establish an independent country, and he was not willing to fight against each other. He still maintained a tacit agreement not to affect each other.

The idea was good, but it was a pity that the news came too late.

The Nanyang Army has already ruthlessly beaten the officers and soldiers of two Royal Netherlands Navy sailing warships to ashes, leaving them dead and wounded, and completely captured the two warships.

If you want to stop at this time, even if you want to spit out the loot, it's impossible. How will you stop?

Moreover, 491 white Dutch officers and soldiers were killed and 76 captured.

The 76 people who were captured could be sent back, but the 491 people who were killed could not be resurrected. This was undoubtedly a loud slap on the face of the Governor's Mansion, and the matter was very serious.

Is it really shameless for the Kingdom of the Netherlands to want to settle the matter at this time?
Then they simply kept doing nothing and continued to expand the army crazily again.

Taking advantage of the hesitation on the part of the Governor-General's Palace, he decisively sent troops to capture Semarang, greatly expanding his territory and influence.

Either don’t do it, or do it absolutely.

(End of this chapter)