"Tulip".

Captain Marco van Nistelrooy watched the other side carefully keep their distance, and his teeth itched with hatred in his heart.

He was an extremely experienced old sea wolf, and he knew very well the advantages and disadvantages of the weapons of both sides, and knew that the chances of the Tulip being able to win were very small, probably less than 1/10.

The nine old breech guns on the deck of the "Tulip" galleon, the youngest of which are 60 years old, can only fire solid and shotgun, and can also fire chain bullets, flowering shells and other types of ammunition in naval battles, and the ultimate firing speed is one shot every two minutes.

Although the ironclad battleship on the opposite side had only one German-made 239-mm main gun and four Belgian 70-mm secondary guns, at first glance, the number and caliber of guns were far inferior to that of the "Tulip", in fact, the account could not be counted in this way.

This is completely a product of two eras, the difference between the old breech gun and the new breech gun, almost one day and one earth.

The German-made 239 mm screw breech gun can fire three shells per minute, and the firepower of one breech gun is equivalent to six old breech guns.

The main guns and secondary guns of the ironclad ship are all located in the bow position, which allows the bow to exert the maximum fire density without facing the enemy on the side of the ship, which greatly reduces the area of bombing.

"May God bless the Dutch ......," shouted Captain Marco van Nistelrooy, who reverently drew a cross on his chest, suddenly opened his eyes; Deck guns fire! ”

Order

The eight deck guns, which had already been prepared, roared angrily, the flames flickered, and the smoke rose and the "boom" cannon sound was incessant, firing eight black projectiles at the enemy.

It's a pity that the distance is too far, and the accuracy is not good.

The four shells fired from the side of the ship on the side of the "Tulip" fell on the side of the "Bar-headed Goose" at the closest distance, more than 400 yards, and splashed up four high columns of water.

On the other side, the ironclad battleship was even farther away, and the nearest shell fired by the "Tulip" was about 750 yards away, so it could not pose the slightest threat.

The purpose of the preemptive fire was not to sink the enemy ship, but to tear a hole in the enemy's encirclement and make a way for the tulip schooner to survive.

The sound of the cannon was an order, and the main guns of the three ironclad battleships roared one after another, and the muzzle flames of the large group flashed, hitting the hot projectiles over.

This naval battle with a huge disparity in strength officially began.

The shells fired by the ironclad ship were extremely threatening, exploding at a distance of about 60 yards, and setting off a large splash of water onto the deck, knocking the two nearest sailors to the ground, drenched and drenched.

"Raise the full sails, rudder 12 degrees, snake forward."

Captain Marco van Nistelrooy gave a loud order, now is the most dangerous moment for the Tulip, it must break through the ironclad fire network into the depths of the bay, and then turn around, brave the heavy fire of the opponent to rush out of the bay, escape.

The reason for this is that when the galleon turns 180 degrees, it needs to maneuver the sail line to turn to the windward direction, and there is a process of complete stall and re-acceleration, at which point it will become a slow target on the sea.

At this time, the battle flag was raised on the mast of the "Bar-headed Goose".

The four 70-mm secondary guns also roared one after another, and the "tom tom tom ......" poured a large number of hot shells over, instantly blowing up the "Tulip" into sawdust, breaking bones and tendons, and flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Not to be outdone, the "Petrel" and the "Puffin" roared in unison, pouring out dense firepower and washing the "Tulip" in blood.

Unlike the old breech guns, which had a short range, the Seagull-class cruisers' German-made 239mm guns had a range of up to 8.5 nautical miles and 70mm secondary guns had a range of up to 6.2 nautical miles.

Due to the limitations of the times, the accuracy of shooting cannot be guaranteed at such a long extreme range, and whether or not you can hit can only depend on God's blessing.

generally speaking

The firing range of the German-made 239 mm main gun has entered the range of 5 nautical miles, and the shooting accuracy has risen sharply, and in the range of 2~3 nautical miles, the well-trained artillery crew can already ensure a fairly high hit rate, basically not less than 20%.

The "rumbling" artillery battle broke the tranquility of the bay, and a large number of residents poured out of the town of Jayapura to watch the battle in the bay in the evening up close, reflecting the strong sense of participation and onlookers of the people, and the people cheered for each hit of the "Tulip", which was like a grand festival.

A moment after a fierce battle

Stumbling all the way into the depths of the bay, the "Tulip" no longer had its former image, the huge white sails were full of blackened blast holes, and some sails had already burned, emitting thick black smoke and fire.

The sleek hull had been shattered, the deck was littered with blood, and the tall foremast had been blown off and collapsed diagonally.

It was a one-sided slaughter, and the Tulip's fire could not damage the ironclad ship, but not the other way around.

Captain Marco van Nistelrooy stood by the wheel, his left hand, broken by shrapnel, and drooping limply, roaring hoarsely; "Old Brown, turn, set sails, let's get out of the bay."

"Captain, surrender!" Old Brown smiled bitterly with difficulty, spat out a mouthful of red blood in the captain's surprised eyes, and lay weakly on the steering wheel.

Behind him, there was a sharp piece of broken wood that had exploded, and the blood had stained his entire back red.

"Hey, old fellow, can you still hold it?" Marco van Nistelrooy yelled.

"Don't struggle, Captain, we don't have enough men to adjust the sails, and if we continue to fight, everyone will die here, I've lived enough, and the lads are still young, you should go back with the living." At this point, Old Brown coughed up again a mouthful of blood and stained the steering wheel beneath him.

Marco van Nistelrooy grabbed old Brown's shoulder with his right hand and said with an unwilling expression; "I haven't lost all my chips yet, you're going to help me...... Is it? Old Brown. ”

"Recognize the reality, this is already the territory of the British, and no one can take it back, hehehe......" Old Brown chuckled twice and swallowed his last breath very dryly.

He looked around with a miserable expression

Marco van Nistelrooy saw that less than half of the sailors were able to stand up, and the others were either dead or wounded, and he saw a look of fear in the sailors' eyes.

Dutch sailors were never afraid of battle, but the huge difference in armament and equipment resulted in a one-sided one-sided massacre, which was unacceptable to all sailors.

Marco van Nistelrooy watched as the three ironclad battleships approached, and the muzzles of the black holes could tear the Tulip to shreds at any moment, leaving him with only one option.

"Raise the white flag, we surrender."

Battleship "Bar-headed Goose".

Seeing the white flag raised by the "Tulip," the officers and men let out a burst of heartfelt cheers, and the corner of the ship's Captain Li Jie couldn't help but show a smile on his mouth.

From the moment the "Tulip" entered the bay, it was already doomed to a fate.

The tenacity of the Dutch left a deep impression on Li Jie.

If it weren't for the great difference in weapons and equipment, the Dutch would never easily admit defeat in this skirmish and would have fought to the end.

If an ordinary civilian ship can do this, then the Dutch East Indies fleet will naturally be stronger and more determined, there is no doubt about it.

In today's world

The three-nautical-mile rule of territorial waters was generally followed, because in the early 19th century, coastal guns had a relatively close range, only about three nautical miles.

Entering this area is generally considered an invasion of the territorial waters.

If the "Tulip" is always wandering in the open sea range of 8~10 nautical miles, Li Jie really can't do anything about it.

Once the high-speed patrol ship chases it out, and the two sides chase and flee for dozens of nautical miles, the Shangri-La Marine Police District really has no right to strike, detain, or take other actions against the "Tulip."

Because it was an out-and-out area of the high seas, even if the Earl of Queensland claimed ownership of Shangri-La Island, his fleet could not extend law enforcement powers to the high seas, which was almost no different from a bandit.

If it is sunk, it will be a big problem even if it is decades or hundreds of years later, and once it breaks out, it will be a scandal.

The Tulip's entry into the bay was different, it was an intrusion into the inland waters, and the patrol fleet had the right to raid it, board the ship, search it, seize it, and even sink it, and all this was legal as long as London recognized the possession of the Earl of Queensland.

The Dutch side, of course, will strongly protest, but it will not do much.

Not the other way around, the merchant ships of Great Britain intruded into the internal waters without authorization, showing strong hostile behavior, and the ships of any country could not take easy action against them, this is the logic of the maritime hegemon.

I can do that, you can't.

Justice and justice are only within the range of artillery, and if you are weak, you will be bullied, it's as simple as that.

According to the pre-plan;

The fleet of the Shangri-La Marine District conducted a boarding and search of the seized tulip, and the injured were taken to the hospital, while the rest were detained for examination to find out whether it was hostile.

In fact, this is an excuse to procrastinate, which can be bought for about 10 days to half a month.

The skirmishes that took place in the Gulf were quickly telegraphed back to mainland Australia.

Red Fort

The brief battle that took place on September 11 was immediately transmitted to the secretariat through a telegram and placed on Li Fushou's desk.

Although he had predicted it in his heart, once the thing came, Li Fushou still looked solemn, this point in time was earlier than expected, disrupting the original plan, and he needed to plan carefully.

The Tulip has been seized by the Shangri-La Marine District, and the review has found the farmer, Frank Sneijder, the father of brothers John and Davis, white Dutch colonists, who died of his injuries shortly afterward.

In the end, this matter is also a mess, and the biggest possibility is that it will not be resolved.

Due to the backwardness of information transmission in today's era, the seizure of the "Tulip" can buy about 10 to 15 more days.

At present, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom, the first two of the four Seagull II ocean-going patrol ships ordered by the Queensland Coast Guard have been completed and delivered to the receiving team led by Geng Guigui on September 5, and are currently on trial trials in the waters near the United Kingdom.

According to the original plan, the trial voyage will be completed at the end of the month, and the company will return to Australia and officially join the Shangri-La Marine District fleet at the end of October.

Now it seems that the plan is going to be advanced, and Li Fushou drafted the first telegram;

Geng Guigui was ordered to complete the sea trial before September 20, embark on the voyage back to Australia on September 21, and finally arrive at the port of Jayapura through the Suez Canal, and join the Shangri-La Marine District fleet.

The second batch of two ocean-going cruisers has been launched and outfitted, and according to the production plan, the outfitting will be completed in mid-October and officially delivered to the receiving team.

Considering that the British had always had a bad tradition of seizing warships ordered by both sides of the conflict, and that they would not return them after they were seized, Li Fushou drafted the second telegram;

The relevant parties were ordered to immediately enter the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and deliver the ships early with a huge cash reward, in order to obtain the two subsequent ocean cruisers by September 25.

After receiving the ship, it immediately left British waters and went to Germany, where the follow-up naval trials were completed at the German shipyard and set sail for the return trip as soon as possible.

After the review is complete

Li Fushou drafted a third telegram and sent it to His Excellency the Duke of Victor through the personnel who remained in London, and acted in accordance with the prior agreement between the two parties.

On September 26, 1881, it was officially announced by the British Colonial Office, recognizing the Earl of Queensland's interest in the discovery and possession of Shangri-La Island (formerly known as Irian Island or Guinea Island) in January 1881.

This is a matter that has been discussed a long time ago, and the timing of the specific announcement is in the hands of the Earl of Queensland, and the consequences are borne by the Earl of Queensland, and Lord Victor is happy to see and push the House of Lords to form a resolution in his favor.

After this incident, even if the favor accumulated by the huge wealth before is cleared of money and goods, it will be difficult to get substantial help from the Duke in the future.

The umbrella originally used in Australia was used in the Shangri-La Island incident, which was Li Fushou's decision after careful consideration;

If there is really a civil war in Australia, the position of Lord Victor is not yet known, and it is not uncommon to fight back.

The future is unpredictable, but it is still affordable.

Since 1.5 million pounds can buy the support of a duke, it may not be impossible to buy the support of a second duke, provided that you must be strong and have the capital to go to the trading table.

Subsequently, seven telegrams were drafted, some urging the delivery of weapons and equipment, some urging the construction of materials and related facilities, some issuing orders for the training of reserve soldiers, some arranging for relevant personnel to go to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to collect first-hand information nearby, and some ordering banks and major companies to tighten their capital positions......

One telegram after another was issued, and the huge forces of the Red River Valley were put into operation to deal with the impending storm.