Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 254 Taiping Island

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Severe storms mixed with rain hit the rough sea, and four dilapidated wooden sailboats fled in all directions on the sea like frightened flies.

"Crack", the fast-moving pirate ship made a sharp collision sound, followed by a violent shaking of the hull up and down. Before seven or eight pirates could react, they were thrown into the sea by the huge inertia caused by the shaking of the hull.

The South China Sea is densely covered with reefs and has a changeable climate. If you fall into the sea when encountering severe weather such as storms, there is almost no chance of survival.

A wooden pirate ship ran aground and was damaged. Nearly one-third of the pirates on board were thrown into the sea by the storm and the shaking of the ship. The remaining dozen or so pirates stayed cautiously on the severely damaged ship, not daring to risk their lives to continue escaping.

The severe stormy weather hindered the pirates' escape and also caused considerable trouble to the pursuing Chinese fleet.

There were a total of seven ships responsible for chasing the pirates. Three of them were wooden steamships, which had weak hull protection and were not suitable for combat in stormy weather. They were temporarily transferred out of the combat area. The remaining four gunboats with a displacement of 760 tons were scattered in the east and west directions, continuously attacking the pirate ships in a pincer attack.

"Boom boom!", two shells were fired from the violently shaking gunboat, but because the gunboat was too unstable, it lost its aim and landed on a reef on the water, causing a splash of water and gravel.

"Captain, the sea is too rough, it's hard for us to aim and shoot!"

A gunner shouted loudly to the captain of the gunboat who was commanding the operation.

"The pirate ship is less than fifty meters away from us. Two more salvos. We must send them all to the bottom of the sea today!"

The black and white military uniform was completely soaked by the rain. A young captain ignored his own situation, stared intently into the distance, and gave orders loudly.

"Yes!"

The gunner replied, took off his hat, and quickly returned to his position to load the shells.

The tense but not very fierce sea chase lasted for more than ten minutes. As the last wooden pirate ship was sunk by the patrol boat sent by Zhong Shao, only one stranded pirate ship was left on the sea.

A gunboat was sent out to capture the stranded pirate ship, and the other three gunboats slowly withdrew from the battle area and then joined the escort fleet commanded by Zhong Shao.

"Brother Cao, who are these pirates?"

In the command room of the steam gunboat, Zhong Shao asked a dark-skinned young officer.

"They are a group of pirates under Wang Luoba's command."

The young officer said, "The Nanyang Mining Company has a phosphate mining site on Taiping Island. I don't know where this group of pirates got the courage from. They gathered two or three hundred people and wanted to occupy Taiping Island. As a result, they lost more than two-thirds of their men when attacking Taiping Island. The remaining pirates fled south on several ships and then fled to the Jindun Shoal waters, where they ran into you."

"What's the situation at the phosphate mining site on Taiping Island? Has it been damaged by pirates?" Taiping Island is only 1289 meters long from east to west and 366 meters wide from north to south, with a total area of ​​0.43 square kilometers. During a naval battle, the small area of ​​Taiping Island is easily threatened and damaged by pirate artillery fire.

"The phosphate mining site has suffered some damage. The mining company's technical workers are repairing the damaged areas of the mine. It is estimated that it will take two weeks to adjust before the normal mining capacity can be restored."

The phosphate mine on Taiping Island was attacked by pirates. The young officer had to take the responsibility of defending against the pirates, so he was in a bad mood and said angrily, "The National Defense Army and the South China Sea pirates have always kept their distance from each other. When they robbed the foreign merchants, I turned a blind eye and let them go.

But in the past month, I don't know what kind of foreign money these poor guys have made. They have upgraded their ragtag sailboats to new ones. They are getting bolder and bolder, and even dare to attack the Wehrmacht's territory. I think they have had enough of their carefree life and are looking for death! "

The young officer was furious, and he said, "Master Zhong, you are quite familiar with Master Mei and Master Wang. Can you please report to the two masters and ask them to concentrate the naval forces of the Nanyang National Defense Army to wipe out Wang Luoba's pirate gang?"

“I will report the situation of the South China Sea pirates to the two adults, but Brother Cao should not hold out too much hope.

There are tens of thousands of islands in the South Seas. The British and Dutch have only occupied some important islands and regions. Many islands are still under the jurisdiction of local natives and pirates. It is unlikely to eradicate the Wang Luoba pirate force that attacked Taiping Island in the short term. "

The climate in Southeast Asia is hot and the geographical environment is complex. The British appointed indigenous chiefs of the Malay Peninsula as chief executives to manage local affairs, and their control over the colonies was limited. The Dutch and the British signed an agreement in 1871 to redivide their power in Southeast Asia. Britain obtained the colonial rights of North Borneo and control of the Strait of Malacca, while the Netherlands obtained recognition from Britain and the right to move freely on the island of Sumatra.

There are many indigenous countries on the island of Sumatra. Among them, the religious countries headed by the Sultanate of Aceh have fertile land and a large number of people, making it very difficult to conquer them.

In order to prevent other countries from intervening in Sumatra, the Dutch sent warships to invade Sumatra in March 1873, two years after signing a treaty with the British. At the end of the year, they occupied the sultanates of Palembang, Riau, and Bengkulu.

At the beginning of the following year, the Dutch army occupied the capital of the Sultanate of Aceh and captured the Sultan of Aceh. The Netherlands then announced that the entire island of Sumatra would be brought under its colonial rule. However, the occupation of the capital of Aceh and the capture of the Sultan of Aceh did not mean the end of the war. On the second day after the Dutch entered the capital of Aceh, the Acehnese soldiers and religious figures who had fled to other areas supported the surviving Aceh royal family to inherit the Sultanate throne and continued to fight against the Dutch.

The battle between the Sumatran rebels and the Dutch colonists continued until 1878 and showed no signs of ending.

During the Aceh War, the Dutch slowed down their invasion of Lan Fang, Banjarmasin, Bali and other regions because they were worried that the indigenous forces in Java, Borneo, Sulawesi and other islands would cooperate with the reactionary uprising of Sumatra. They allowed them to retain their internal independence and military power. At the same time, they adopted a policy of wooing the pirate forces such as the Chinese, Malays, Sulus, and Javanese mixed in the Southeast Asian region, using the weapons owned by the pirates to

They tried their best to blockade and encircle the resistance forces scattered on various islands.

The National Defense Army is distributed in three places: northern Annan, Songkhla, and the Natuna Islands. It is not strong enough.
The precious maritime force has to be responsible for the safety of the immigrant fleet and cannot be concentrated to encircle and suppress pirates. Moreover, there are countless pirates in the South China Sea. If the pirate problem cannot be solved once and for all, the escaped pirates are likely to attack the immigrant fleet in various sea areas, making it difficult for the escort fleet to cope with it.

Therefore, for various reasons, the National Defense Force's South Seas Forces and pirates often maintain a cooperative or non-hostile relationship and do not interfere with each other's activities.

The Han Kingdom was busy preparing for war, and the Nanyang troops did not want to cause trouble, but some forces just happened to target them for challenge at this time.

(End of this chapter)