Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 825 Businessman's Report ([-])
"We are the Coast Guard of the Fubo Army!" The voice of that person came from time to time in the sea wind, "You have entered my maritime guard area, please stop the ship immediately for inspection! Explain the course, otherwise we will take all measures Necessary action—"

Van der Laantelon called a Chinese sailor and asked him to hear what the other party had to say.At the beginning, the sailor expressed that he could not understand what the other party was saying, but he did not understand until the other party started shouting in Cantonese vernacular, and relayed the details to the businessman.

Van der Laantelon frowned, stopped the ship to check?The Australians seem to be very rampant on the sea in this area.It seems to be the overlord of the sea in this area.He couldn't help thinking of the British always trying to seek the hegemony of the English Channel.This made the businessman very unhappy.

"Ignore them and sail straight into the channel!" he ordered the captain.

"Mr. van der Laantelon! Their ships are faster and more agile than ours..."

There are artillery on the opponent's deck. With the opponent's speed and agility, it is not difficult to avoid the artillery fire of the big ship, and use the low characteristics of the small boat to avoid the blind spot of the artillery shooting. It is not difficult to rely on help.Many pirates who plundered in the Mediterranean also drove such small ships, but they were able to capture large merchant ships several times their size.Even galleons equipped with more than 30 cannons could not escape.Not to mention their cumbersome "speedboats".The 8 naval guns on the ship are okay to frighten the native pirates. If you really want to fight such an enemy, you may not be an opponent.

Van der Laantelon thought for a moment and ordered: "Let this Chinese speak out! We are the Dutch East India Company's trade mission to Lingao. If they are really Lingao Australians, please lead them to Lingao. When we arrive at Lingao High, we are willing to accept all inspections!"

The sailor yelled and yelled at these words, and tossed back and forth for more than ten minutes. The other party seemed to understand what they meant. Van der Laantron saw the bow of the dhow tilted outward.After a while, a burst of smoke and flames suddenly rose from the boat.Van der Lantelon, Gonzalez and the others were taken aback for a moment, and while they were in shock, they saw a rocket that had gone straight into the sky, burst open under the sky, and sprayed out a cloud of blue smoke.

"What does that mean?" Van der Laantelon was taken aback.

"I'm calling my comrades." Gonzalez is a veteran, and he immediately understood the meaning of the other party's sudden firing of rockets. "There must be several of their ships in this area! Prepare to fight!" He roared nervously, drawing his saber out.

There was a sudden commotion on the ship, and the sailors and soldiers took their positions, ready to fire at any time.

The time passed by minute by minute, and half an hour later, another two similar dhows appeared from the sea level.Three Type II sloop patrol boats approached the "Magdeburg" in formation.

Gonzalez held a saber in one hand and a pistol in the other.His expression was tense: it could be seen that the opponent was well prepared, just judging from their proficiency in maintaining formation, they did not know how many times they had done this kind of sea coordination.If these three ships launch a pincer attack, the capture of the "Magdeburg" will happen in an instant!Gonzalez noticed that there were 4 cannons on the enemy deck, and there was an unknown square box on the poop—probably also a kind of artillery.In terms of the number of artillery pieces alone, the "Magdeburg" has already fallen behind.

The three dhows are in the shape of a square and are loosely distributed around the "Magdeburg". You don't have to wait for the enemy to rely on help, just the artillery battle will be killed by the opponent alive.

Leibtrini turned pale with fright, and went back into the poop.Even an old soldier like Gonzalez knows that the current situation is completely controlled by the other side.

"The other party asked us to follow. They will escort us to Lingao." The captain paid attention to the new flag that the other party hoisted. "What should we do?" He asked for instructions.

The businessman's lips were tightly closed, and he was very displeased with the opponent's strength on the sea.But he knew that this was not the time to fight for the freedom of navigation of the Dutch, just as the company would not fight for religious freedom in Japan.

He ordered: "Put up the flag: we will obey."

"Magdeburg" entered the Qiongzhou Strait under the "escort" of three patrol boats.

Report from the Dutch East India Company's junior merchant on the "Magdeburg" to the Governor of Batavia, De Carpentier.

Your Excellency:
I obey the orders of Your Excellency and our master, and command the speedboat "Magdeburg" to Lingao on the coast of Guangdong, China.To establish trade relations with the maritime groups that occupy the local area and claim to be Australians.

God bless, our voyage was very smooth. On Monday, February 2rd, at the entrance of a narrow strait, we encountered an Australian naval battleship.These are some small warships, very similar in appearance to the coastal dhows we often see in the English Channel.But it is more beautiful and faster than those ships.Cannons are mounted on each ship.Sailors are well trained.

The commander in command of the three warships asked us to stop for inspection.I immediately declined.In the name of the prince and the company, the commander did not insist on his request, but asked us to sail with his fleet to Lingao.Because the Qiongzhou Strait belongs to the area ruled by the Australians-they call it the "maritime garrison area", ships without permission cannot sail in this strait.Ships entering the strait for the first time must be escorted to Lingao to explain their purpose.

Escorted by three warships, our ship arrived at Bopu Port in Lingao that afternoon.Bopu Harbor is a nice new town.It is said that there are 1000 families.And there are 2 companies of infantry and some artillery.The port is very neatly built.

It is particularly worth mentioning that there is a huge stone trestle bridge in the bay, which is unimaginably large in size.The stone trestle bridge is built with lime and stone, and its top is very neatly built, and its width can accommodate 10 cavalry in parallel.The part of the foundation that goes deep into the sea is wider.The sailors and soldiers on our ship were amazed at this.Some people also say that this trestle bridge is not completely artificial, but is built on top of natural piled stones.Even so, the project is nothing short of miraculous.

There are at least ten cranes standing on the entire stone trestle bridge.Some are made of wood, while others are built entirely of steel.I was very impressed by their sturdiness and grandeur.But the most peculiar thing is that only a small part of these cranes use manpower or animal power. Most of the cranes are driven by a whole set of complex machines, and the machines themselves are operated by some kind of fire machine that we cannot understand-because we see Until there are craftsmen continuously pouring coal into the furnace,

In addition to the stone trestle, there are many piers along the port.There are such cranes on every dock, and chimneys emitting black and white smoke can be seen everywhere.There are many ships at anchor in the bay, mostly junks, but also some European style ships.On the opposite side of the stone trestle bridge, we saw the rumored big iron ship.Its size is indeed quite amazing.The largest ships in Europe, neither the British nor ours, had ships of this magnitude.It's a pity that we can't get close to observe the ship - because it's a restricted area, even local people in Lingao can't go near the ship without the written permission of the Australians.Australians call it the "Holy Ship" - the meaning of which is unclear.

All the houses in the port are made of stones or bricks, well hooked, and the streets are flat and wide.Before we dropped anchor, we saw groups of soldiers on the pier, all armed with muskets.From the outside they looked more like a European army than an Asian one.One of the leading officers, and his three companions.They were all sent by the so-called "Bopu Harbor Director" by the Australians.The Harbor Master, being ill, did not show up, but he assigned the Customs officers to entertain us and take care of us as best they could.

When the "Magdeburg" entered the port, we fired three salutes to the city, and the other party fired a salute in return.We anchored at the quarantine anchorage under the guidance of the battleship.At this time, a customs officer boarded the ship immediately.He had a clear order: to quarantine us on the ship for 20 days.All personnel are not allowed to log in during this period.During the period, the ship will also accept their treatment.

The customs officer asked us the purpose of coming here and the number of people on board and the type of goods.I have truthfully reported our mission.The other party showed great interest.But he said we have to go into quarantine until then.

Then they sent a small party aboard the Magdeburg, whose attire and actions I thought deserved to be mentioned in the report.

All the members of the team wear a kind of burqa-style jumpsuit of natural color cloth, covering the whole body under the robe, and they wear a monk-like hood with holes only in the eyes.But instead of hanging on the legs, the robe has trouser legs.The trouser legs were bound in what appeared to be yellow leather high boots, the boots were so clumsily made that they looked ill-fitting.

Sleeves, trouser legs, and all openings were tightly bound by cloth strips.Even the eyes are covered with glasses made of glass.They all exude a strange smell, which is very irritating to the nasal cavity.Reminds me of those cities where the plague once happened--it makes me very worried.Ask again and again if there is a plague in this city?They assured that it was only a precautionary measure.

　Our Masters: Employees of the East India Company call the company by this
　　
　
(End of this chapter)