"We are the Fubo Coast Guard!" The man's voice came in and out in the sea breeze, "You have entered our maritime guard area, please stop the ship immediately for inspection! Indicate the course, otherwise we will take all measures
Necessary action——"
Van Delantron called a Chinese sailor and asked him to listen to what the other party was saying. The sailor initially said 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.
Relay it to the businessman in a 510 manner.
Van Delentron frowned and stopped the ship to check. It seemed that the Australians were very rampant in this area of the sea. They seemed to be the overlord of this area of the sea. He couldn't help but think of the British who always tried to seek channel hegemony in the English Channel.
status. This made the businessman very unhappy.
"Ignore them and sail straight into the strait!" he ordered the captain.
"Mr. van de Lanteron! Their ship is faster and more flexible than ours..."
There are artillery on the opponent's deck. With the opponent's speed and flexibility, it is not difficult to avoid the gunfire of the big ship and use the low characteristics of the small boat to avoid the blind spot of the artillery fire. It is not difficult to get help. There are many pirates who commit robberies in the Mediterranean.
They also drove such a small boat, but they were able to capture large merchant ships several times larger than them. Even large sailing ships equipped with more than 30 cannons could not escape disaster. Not to mention bulky "speed boats" like theirs. The people on board
It's okay to use 8 naval guns to scare the indigenous pirates, but if you really want to go to war with such an enemy, you may not be a match for them.
Van Delantron thought for a moment and ordered: "Let this Chinese speak! We are the Dutch East India Company's trade mission to Lingao. If they are really Australians from Lingao, please ask them to pilot the ship to Lingao
.We are willing to accept all inspections when we arrive in Lingao!"
The sailor yelled and yelled at these words, and after going back and forth for more than ten minutes, the other party seemed to understand what they meant. Van Drentrön saw the bow of the dhow swerve to the outside. He passed by.
After a while, suddenly there was a burst of smoke and fire from the small boat. Van Delantron, Gonzalez and others were all stunned. In their astonishment, they saw a rocket flying straight into the sky and exploding under the sky.
Open, ejecting a cloud of blue smoke.
"What does this mean?" Van Delantron was shocked.
"Calling accomplices." Gonzalez was a veteran and immediately understood what the other party meant by suddenly firing rockets. "There must be several of their ships in this area! Get ready to fight!" He yelled nervously and pulled out his sword.
came out.
There was a sudden commotion on the ship, and the sailors and soldiers took up their positions, ready to open fire at any time.
Time passed minute by minute, and half an hour later, two other similar dhows appeared from the sea. Three Type 2 single-masted patrol boats approached the "Magdeburg" in formation.
.
Gonzalez held a saber in one hand and a pistol in the other. He looked nervous: it could be seen that the opponent had been prepared for a long time. Judging from their proficiency in maintaining the formation, they did not know that they had ever done such cooperation at sea.
How many times. If these three ships launched a pincer attack, the "Magdeburg" would be captured in an instant! Gonzalez noticed that there were 4 cannons on the enemy's deck, and then there were 4 cannons on the poop.
An unknown square box - probably also a kind of artillery piece. In terms of the number of artillery pieces alone, the "Magdeburg" was already at a disadvantage.
The three dhows were in the shape of a triangle, loosely distributed around the "Magdeburg". The artillery on the deck had taken off its gun jackets. Obviously, once it opened fire, the "Magdeburg" was slower and weaker in firepower.
You don't have to wait for the enemy to rely on you, you will be beaten alive by the opponent just in the artillery battle.
Leib Trini was so frightened that his face turned pale and he ducked back into the poop. Even an old soldier like Gonzalez knew that the current situation was completely under the control of the other party.
"The other party asked us to follow. They will escort us to Lingao." The captain noticed the new flag hung by the other party, "What should we do?" he asked for instructions.
The businessman pursed his lips tightly. He was very unhappy with the other party's strength on the sea. But he knew that this was not the time to fight for the Dutch's right to freedom of navigation on the sea, just as the company would not fight for religious freedom in Japan.
He ordered: "Hang out the flag: we will obey."
"Magdeburg" entered the Qiongzhou Strait under the "escort" of three patrol boats.
Report from Van Delantron, junior merchant officer of the Dutch East India Company on the Magdeburg, to De Carpentier, Governor of Batavia.
Your Excellency:
In compliance with the orders of Your Excellency and our master, I commanded the speedboat "Magdeburg" to go to Lingao on the coast of Guangdong, China, to establish trade relations with the maritime group that occupies the area and calls itself Australian.
God blessed us, and our voyage went very smoothly. On Monday, February 3, at the entrance of a narrow strait, we encountered an Australian naval warship. These were some small warships, similar in appearance to those we often see along the coast of the English Channel.
The schooner was very similar, but was more beautiful and faster than those ships. Each ship was equipped with cannons and the sailors were well-trained.
The commander in command of these three warships asked us to stop the ship for inspection. I immediately refused. Under the prestige of the prince and the company, the commander did not insist on his request, but asked us to sail with his fleet to Linshan.
Gao. Because the Qiongzhou Strait belongs to the area controlled by the Australians - they call it the "Marine Security Zone", ships without permission cannot sail in this strait. Ships entering the strait for the first time must be escorted
Lin Gao went to explain his purpose.
Escorted by three warships, our ship arrived at Bobu Port in Lingao in the afternoon of the same day. Bobu Port is a beautiful new town. It is said that there are 1,000 households. There are also two companies of infantry and some artillery stationed there.
.The port is very neatly built.
It is particularly worth mentioning that there is a huge stone trestle in the bay, the size of which is unimaginable. The stone trestle is built of lime and stone. Its top is very neatly built, and its width can accommodate 10 cavalry in parallel.
The foundation part that goes deep into the sea is wider. The sailors and soldiers on our ship were all amazed by this. Some people say that this trestle is not completely artificial, but is built on natural piles of stones. Even so, this
The engineering is also a miracle.
There are at least ten cranes standing on the entire stone trestle. Some are wooden, and some are entirely made of steel. Their solidity and magnificence left a deep impression on me. But the most peculiar thing is that only one of these cranes
A very small part of them uses human power or animal power. Most cranes are driven by a complex set of machines, and the machines themselves are run by some kind of firepower machine that we cannot understand - because we see craftsmen pouring water into the furnace continuously.
Coal is put into the
In addition to the stone trestle, there are many piers along the port. There are such cranes on each pier, and chimneys emitting black and white smoke can be seen everywhere. There are many ships anchored in the bay, most of which are Rong vessels.
There are also some European-style ships. Opposite the stone trestle, we saw the rumored large iron ship. Its size is indeed quite amazing. The largest ships in Europe, neither the British nor us, are so huge.
Ship. Unfortunately, we can't get close to observe the ship - because it is a restricted area. Even the locals in Lingao cannot go near the ship without the written permission of the Australians. The Australians call it "
"Holy Ship" - its meaning is unknown.
All the houses in the port are made of stones or bricks, with good hooks and wide streets. Before we anchored, we saw groups of soldiers on the dock, all of them equipped with muskets. From the outside,
They are more like a European army than an Asian one. One of the leaders is an officer, and there are three of his companions. They are all sent by the so-called "Bopu Harbor Master" in Australia. The Harbor Master is not feeling well because of his illness.
We showed up, but he assigned customs officials to entertain us and take care of us as much as possible.
When the "Magdeburg" entered the port, we fired three gun salutes to salute the city, and the other party immediately fired a salute in return. Under the guidance of the warship, we lowered the anchor at the quarantine anchorage. At this time, a customs officer
The official boarded the ship immediately. He had a clear order: We must be quarantined on the ship for 20 days. During this period, no one is allowed to land. During this period, the ship must be processed by them.
The customs officer asked us about the purpose of coming here, the number of people on the ship, and the type of cargo. I truthfully reported our mission. The other party showed great interest. However, he said that we must undergo quarantine before that.
They then sent a detachment aboard the Magdeburg, the dress and conduct of which I think worthy of mentioning in the report.
All the members of the team wore a burqa-like jumpsuit of natural cloth color, covering their entire body under the robe. They wore monk-like hoods with holes only for the eyes. However, the robe did not hang down.
On the legs, there are trouser legs. The trouser legs are tied into a kind of yellow high boots that seem to be made of leather. The boots are very awkward and wide and look ill-fitting.
Sleeves, trouser legs, and all openings were tightly tied with strips of cloth. Even the eyes were covered with glasses made of glass. They all exuded a strange smell, which was very irritating to the nasal cavity. It reminded me of those
A city where the plague had occurred - this made me very worried. I repeatedly asked if the plague had occurred in this city. They assured me that this was just a preventive measure.