At 5:40 in the morning on July 5, 1793, the morning light showed slightly. As the sea water in the Strait of Malacca began to rise, the three gunboats Beihai No. 2, Beihai No. 3, and Guanghai No. 7 led by Guo Xuexian rose from Pulau Udan Island.
The sail was lifted and anchor was lifted, and two hours later we arrived at the ocean three kilometers southeast of Malacca City.
It was already daylight. When the Dutch defenders on the castle discovered the situation, they hurriedly rang the alarm bell. After hearing the news, the city defense commander and governor Abraham Cupelus found that there were only three boats.
Moreover, there were only two fourth-level ships and a Junk ship with hard sails. I was immediately relieved after being hung up all night. The enemy did not have many troops, so there was a lot of time!
To be honest, the North Navy Shipyard has been "not doing its job properly" in recent years. In addition to building two clipper ships of different tonnage, most of the work is to modify the captured or purchased Siamese ships. For the person in charge of the naval department
For Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng, they both disdained from the beginning to build any large and useless sailing ship. No matter how thick the oak board was, it would be rubbish in the face of high-explosive bombs.
Of course, first of all, this has a lot to do with the fact that there is no shipbuilding wood in the native wood in the outer northeast; secondly, the two of them considered waiting for the industrial level to rise and directly start building ironclads. After all, Beihai Town is backed by another time and space, and many early 20th century
Design drawings of all ship types can be found. As long as the technical conditions such as steel smelting, propeller manufacturing, and welding processes are improved, building an ironclad ship will be a piece of cake.
However, eight years later, when the level of workers improved, the two people's ideas changed again. The 75mm cannon could no longer satisfy their ambition of giant ship cannons, so Zhao Liang's military-industrial complex was forced to start climbing the "electro-slag heavy" again.
The technology trees of "Fusion" and "Single-layer Gun Barrel Hydraulic Self-Tightening Technology" pose a higher challenge to Beihai Town's technical capabilities.
Whether it is electroslag remelting or hydraulic self-tightening, it involves refining, forging, heat treatment, cutting and drilling, self-tightening, barrel correction, stabilization heat treatment, finishing and a series of processes and heavy equipment. Especially 1000~1500Mpa
The ultra-high-pressure self-tightening machine is not just cabbage on the roadside. If Zhao Xin wants to buy a complete set of production equipment and technology from "Da Mao", in addition to massive funds and the strength of skilled workers, the procurement process alone will cost a lot of money.
Last year and a half.
In addition, after a type of artillery is produced, it must undergo a large number of tests, including reliability, support, maintenance, testability, safety, cost-effectiveness, and personnel.
It's not just about making the barrel.
Zhao Liang had no choice but to use the "Rodman cannon casting method" of the mid-19th century to make a transition first. However, this method could only create a front-mounted smoothbore wine bottle cannon. Not to mention Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng, even Zhao Liang
I don’t like the new ones. And the most important thing is that this kind of technology is not advanced. Once it is leaked, it can be easily mastered by Europeans.
Therefore, the naval department of Beihai Town had no choice but to cling to its laurels and continue to equip small-caliber 75mm guns, while looking forward to the arrival of the era of ironclad ships and large-caliber naval guns in the future.
Although his mentality was relaxed, Kuperus, the governor of Malacca who was a businessman, still sent an envoy to negotiate. If he could negotiate, he would not lift the table. Fortunately, Chen Qihou and the others had planned to go to Pulau Udan Island this morning, so the ship left last night
Everything was ready. About forty minutes later, a single-masted boat carrying a white flag carried the chairman of the local municipal committee, Weir, Major Parega, Kapitan Chen Qihou, part-time translator Lei Zhenlan, Cai Shizhang and others.
The sailboat sailed along the Malacca River estuary.
The group boarded the Beihai No. 2 and saw that the deck was extremely clean and tidy. The sailors and soldiers were all wearing uniform navy blue short-sleeved uniform trousers and black short boots. They also wore soft hats with the same color on their heads, with a brimmed soft hat in the middle.
They were all surprised to see a beautifully crafted badge.
Regardless of whether it was the Dutch or the two Chinese, they had been in Malacca for many years, and they had seen countless warships and merchant ships going north and south, but no one had ever seen sailors from any country even being issued uniforms.
In these years, the military uniforms of European navies have just begun to become standardized. Of course, officers are dressed elegantly and decently, but sailors... they are just a group of animals. Who cares how they dress. Whether it is a merchant ship or a warship, sailors are either
Wear casual clothes, or rags. If your clothes are torn, look for them in the cargo hold and wear whatever you have!
In fact, the uniforms of the Navy in Beihai Town have gone through several twists and turns before they became what they are today. At first, they were orange work uniforms, and then they were changed to jungle camouflage like the Army, and then they were changed to white sailor uniforms.
Unexpectedly, this was resisted by many sailors, who unanimously believed that wearing a "silk uniform" was very unlucky. Deng Fei had no choice but to change it again, and this is how he got the current navy blue uniform.
As the captain, Guo Xuexian wore the same style of uniform as the sailors, but the two-star military rank on his collar badge indicated his identity. When it was confirmed that the young man in front of him, less than thirty years old, was the fleet commander, several Malacca City officers
The messenger couldn't help but be surprised again.
Both sides saluted each other. Weir, the chairman of the municipal committee representing Cuperus, came up and started talking about it. Afterwards, Cai Shizhang translated in Zhangzhou Mandarin. Guo Xuexian, a Panyu native, rolled his eyes as if he had read a book from heaven. What a loss.
One of the officers behind him was from Quanzhou, and he understood what he meant.
In the era when Mandarin was not promoted, the accents of different villages and towns were very different, let alone different language areas. A Cantonese person speaking Cantonese and a Zhangzhou person speaking Minnan dialect were like chickens and ducks talking.
The mixed dialects caused great communication difficulties, which is why the Chinese were willing to hang out with fellow countrymen after going to Nanyang.
Closer to home, what the Dutch mean is that everything can be discussed. Surrender is not out of the question, and there is no need to fight or kill. But before surrendering, how will the local Portuguese descendants deal with the fate of the Dutch residents?
, the handling of each family's goods, real estate and plantations will take time to resolve one by one. Therefore, they hope that the Beihai Navy can be generous and give them some time to sort out these matters before completing the handover procedures.
"Boss Cai, please tell Mr. Weir that I have made it very clear before that the time given to them is only at 1:30 noon today. If they don't leave the city and surrender at that time, more than a hundred cannons on the three ships will fire.
Let them decide for themselves!"
Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang suddenly knelt down in front of Guo Xuexian and begged with mournful faces: "Sir, please save the villain's family! Last night the Dutch sent troops and took all the Chinese families in Jia City to the castle. If you fire, my family and I will
The lives of the young, old and other people must be in danger!"
Guo Xuexian nodded slightly. He helped Chen and Cai up, and first asked Cai Shizhang to translate his words verbatim. After hearing this, the three Dutch people's faces became ugly.
A few people were about to tell the difference when Guo Xuexian raised his hand to stop and said to Cai Shizhang: "Tell them and tell the governor when you go back that the city of Malacca must surrender today. There is no discussion! Surrender obediently and I can guarantee their lives and property."
Everything is safe, otherwise I will put it here today. If they dare to use Chinese people to block the shells for them, not a single Dutch man, woman, or child will survive after the city is broken. I will chop off their heads and serve them as sacrifices to the Chinese who died.
.”
After hearing this, Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang were stunned.
"Cai, what did Lieutenant Colonel Guo say?"
"He said, said..."
Under Guo Xuexian's gaze, Cai Shizhang stammered a rough translation with a grimace. After hearing this, Weir and others' expressions changed dramatically, and they did not expect that this seemingly gentle commander could have such a cruel temperament.
Chen Qihou begged: "Master Guo, General Guo, why can't we sit down and talk about it? The Dutch are not unreasonable."
"I'm sorry, you two. I have received an order that tells me that I must capture the city of Malacca today without any delay, otherwise I will be subject to military law."
Guo Xuexian pondered for a while and decided to add fuel to the fire, completely cutting off the Dutch's thoughts, so he said again: "Don't worry, you two. In my opinion, the Dutch are just a bunch of cheap bones. If I show weakness, they will be even worse."
You will have no fear. In two hours, I will conduct a firepower display on the fort in the southeast corner of Malacca City. You go back and tell the governor to get away if you don't want to die."
Chen and Cai didn't understand what a "show of firepower" meant, but they understood from Guo Xuexian's tone that the other party was probably going to fire on the castle. They later tried to persuade them, but Guo Xuexian issued an eviction order, and they had no choice but to follow.
The three Dutchmen left and took the boat back to deliver the business. As the dhow went away, a gray-white drone rose up from Beihai 2 and headed towards Malacca City...
Several envoys returned to the city of Malacca and immediately went to the "Red Room" where the governor's official residence was located. Speaking of this red room, it turned out to be white. Unexpectedly, the local Indian workers always liked to spit the juice on the wall after chewing betel nuts.
, the Dutch tried to stop it many times, but to no avail, and finally painted the exterior walls red.
After listening to the report from Weir and others, Governor Cupelus' face turned ugly. He did not expect that his little trick would be seen through by the other party, and that he "didn't care" about the lives of more than a thousand Chinese people, but instead took the lives of himself and his compatriots.
Counter-threat. To put it bluntly, he is just a businessman. He came to Southeast Asia to make a fortune, not to fight with anyone. Furthermore, even if he does not consider others, he must also consider his wife and children.
Time soon came when the Northern Navy was demonstrating its firepower. However, the Dutch defenders on the castle found that the opponent's three gunboats were not moving. They thought that they should hit them with a hammer at such a distance! Including the city defense commander,
Many people think that the North Korean Navy is talking big words.
Unexpectedly, the next second, a slight sound suddenly came from the empty and silent sea in the distance, like someone setting off a firecracker dozens of meters away. However, after a few seconds, a roar came from far to near.
The sound caused the defenders on the castle to change their expressions, and it was already too late to run away at this time.
"Boom!" A shell landed in an open space more than 20 meters away from the southeast corner of Malacca City. The gray-black smoke column rose five or six meters high. The soil flew up into the air along with the weeds, and fell again with a crash.
Down. The Dutch defenders on the turrets on the city wall were a little panicked now. I bet the Northern Navy was not bragging!
Thinking of this, the dozens of defenders on the southeast corner fort did not wait for the city defense commander to speak, and retreated one after another. Amid the chaos and noise, a roar came from the air, and black smoke columns kept rising outside the city wall. This explosion
The point was getting closer, and a cannonball landed on the city wall. The shock wave of the explosion blew the wooden mount of an 18-pound cannon into pieces. The heavy bronze cannon hit the ground with a clang, making a dull sound.
sound.
Ten seconds later, more shells roared in, and the southeast corner of the Malacca Castle was immediately filled with smoke and debris. Three 18-pound cannons weighing several thousand kilograms were even blown up and rolled to the ground.
, or fell off the city wall.
The Dutch defenders in the castle were shocked. They had all heard about the powerful cannons of the Northern Navy, but no one had seen them. They had just seen them today.
When the explosion finally stopped, Cupelus got up from the ground holding his head and shook the dirt off his head. Seeing that everyone around him, including the commander of the city defense and the municipal committee members, looked at each other, he sighed and said to himself
It's quite unlucky.
"Okay, for the safety of all our lives and property, I need someone to stand up and contact the Chinese. I agree to surrender. What do you think?"
After hearing this, everyone nodded silently, and then turned their attention to the three envoys who went to negotiate in the morning.
Under the threat of North Korean naval guns, Malacca, which knew it was difficult to resist, after more than three hours of difficult negotiations, Guo Xuexian agreed to write the clause that "will not harm the lives of the Dutch in the city and guarantee the legal property of everyone"
After signing the instrument of surrender, Kuperus finally agreed to cede Malacca to Butterworth Town.
Zeng Youliang's short musket was still useless. Although he tried to mobilize some Chinese on the night he entered the castle, preparing to lead people to attack the "Red House" when the Northern Navy attacked the city, there were only a few responders. After Guo Xuexian led his troops ashore,
, he took his servants to the city gate and set up an incense table and a bowl of wine to welcome the king.
Seeing that this young man was so capable, Guo Xuexian immediately appointed him as a consultant to the Military Control Commission to assist in handling affairs in the city. This made Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang, who were a step behind, jump around. It seemed that the boss of Qingyunting would be replaced in the future.
After the army entered the city, they issued a peace notice, confiscated the weapons of the defenders, sealed the armory, and sealed the official accounts. All actions were as they should be. Cuperus and the officers in the city were imprisoned as prisoners of war that night. Guo Xuexian did not.
They were mistreated and allowed family visits, but they were told to wait until the Java War was over before repatriating them.
In the next three days, the newly established Military Control Commission not only purchased a large amount of food through local Chinese, replenished fresh water on the ship, bought a large amount of quicklime from the market, but also hired workers to dig a large building near the beach outside the city.
pit, and dug a diversion ditch leading to the sea. His move puzzled many people, wondering whether the North Navy planned to build a salt farm?
The answer was soon revealed. Two days later, when the "Thunder" sailing from Bacheng arrived in Malacca City with 500 security team members, Guo Xuexian ordered that all opium in the local market be immediately searched and transported to
The beach was destroyed. The Dutch merchants, Portuguese merchants and Chinese merchants who sold opium finally woke up from their dreams.
After two days of inspection, the wolf-like security team members, led by people from the Bacheng Military Control Commission, confiscated more than 2,000 boxes of Indian opium from the market, totaling more than 150,000 kilograms. They had done this before in Bacheng
I've only done it once, and I'm already familiar with it.
Many people came to Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang to help plead for mercy, and even came to the "Red Room" to see Guo Xuexian. They said that even if the customs duty on opium was raised in the future, it would be fine, but once it was confiscated, not only would the business suffer heavy losses, but many people would go bankrupt.
exist.
However, eradicating opium is the firm goal of Zhao Xin and even Beihai Town. It is useless for anyone to say anything. Moreover, the Bacheng Military Control Commission has dealt with the cover-up in the collection of opium very strictly. Once someone is found to have accepted bribes and cover-up, the minor will be punished.
They were sent to the plantations to perform hard labor, and in severe cases, they were shot directly.
From this moment on, businessmen from various countries traveling in Southeast Asia finally understood Beihai Town's attitude towards opium. However, Zhao Xin knew in his heart that the more opium was banned from flowing into East Asia, the more its price would rise. Moreover, although he controlled the Malacca Strait, he could
There will definitely be people who will open up land routes, and it will be difficult to completely ban them.
Therefore, this time Beihai Town intervened in the local governance war not only to support the French and Mysore, but also to "remind" the British East India Company from the source and let them weigh the consequences of condoning opium.