Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 259 Chapter Extermination
ps: Starting from tomorrow, there will be exams for three days, so I will not be updating for three days. Please understand.

On August 1878, , the fleet transporting ship workers and textile workers set off for the Malacca Sea after staying in the Natuna Islands for two days. At the same time, two fleets departed from the Java Sea and the waters off Sri Lanka and headed for the Andaman Sea on the transport fleet's route.

The fleet heading off the coast of Sri Lanka was a Han naval fleet cooperating in the suppression of pirates. After receiving the report of the pirate situation by Mei Dongxing, Hu Yaji and Li Han had a brief discussion and quickly reached a consensus. First, they left three gunboats and ten supply ships to cooperate with the local garrison to defend the Kismayo stronghold. Secondly, they dispatched four ironclad ships, seventeen steam warships, three 760-ton gunboats, and eight 200-ton gunboats to form an attack fleet, which sailed to the route passed by the transport fleet in advance. Finally, they cooperated with the disguised transport fleet to eliminate all the pirate fleets that came to attack.

The number of main battleships in the attacking fleet accounted for about half of the Han Navy. With the strength of half of the National Defense Army Navy, they attacked the pirates. Neither Li Han nor Cai Jiu, who served as a guide, was worried about the final outcome of the battle.

"General Li, how about I have a discussion with you?"

On the steadily sailing warship, Cai Jiu stood on the deck and said to Li Han.

"Captain Cai, please speak."

Li Han stared at the situation in the surrounding sea and responded calmly.

"I would like to ask, after the naval battle, how does General Li plan to deal with the captured pirates?"

"According to the practice of the National Defense Force, pirates who committed serious crimes were directly executed, while those who committed crimes that were not punishable by death or those who committed less serious crimes were exiled as coolies and handed over to the Nanyang Corps for disposal."

Li Han paused for a moment and then continued, "Captain Cai has taken a fancy to these pirates and wants to send them to the Kismayo stronghold?"

"Most of the pirates in the South China Sea are of Chinese origin. They have been dealing with foreigners and indigenous pirates on the sea for so many years, and they have some of their own. It would be a waste to directly use them as laborers. Therefore, I would like to select some useful pirates from the captives to supplement the garrison, so as to improve the defense capabilities of the Kismayo stronghold."

"The deployment of domestic troops is tight. Captain Cai wants to strengthen the strength of the Kismayo stronghold, so he will have to spend a lot of energy to raise funds from various sources."

Li Han understood the other party's difficulties, and agreed after thinking for a while. "How about this, when the battle is over, I will discuss with Lord Mei and General Wang and ask them to distribute more of the captured pirates to Kismayo."

"Thank you for your concern, General Li."

Seeing that Li Han readily agreed, Cai Jiu expressed his sincere gratitude.

"It's okay. It's just a matter of asking once. I think Lord Mei and General Wang will agree."

The main force of the naval operations is the National Defense Army Navy, and Cai Jiude's request is reasonable. Li Han does not think that Mei Dongxing and Wang Dashan will have any objections to the plan for distributing prisoners. ...

On the morning of August 16, two large fleets appeared on the sea where the fog had not yet dissipated.

It was misty, and through the fog, the sentry sitting on the high lookout quickly spotted the oncoming ship.

"Bang, bang, bang." The sentry on the lookout tower took out his pistol and fired three consecutive shots into the air, sounding the alarm for the moving fleet.

"Report, an unidentified fleet has been spotted five nautical miles southwest, and they are rapidly approaching us!"

"How many ships are there in the fleet? Are they equipped with heavy artillery?"

"There is heavy fog at sea, and we cannot see the enemy's ships and equipment, but there are a lot of them, roughly estimated to be more than fifty."

"No need to confirm, it's them."

Wang Dashan tightly grasped the deck railing and said calmly, "Order all ships to remove their camouflage devices and all personnel to take their positions immediately and prepare for battle. Also, notify the naval forces of the location of our fleet and request them to rush to the battlefield and cooperate with our fleet to encircle and annihilate the attacking pirates!"

"Yes!"

As the communications officer left the deck to convey combat orders to the fleet, the steam warship disguised as a transport ship quickly returned to its original appearance. One after another, 105mm or 155mm guns were pulled to their positions. The black guns were operated by gunners, with their muzzles aimed at the pirate fleet several miles away.

"Mr. Kirby, something is not right."

On the pirate ship traveling at full speed, Huang Fuyuan, the Kapitan of Jakarta, said with a suspicious look on his face, "Sir, you see, the Han transport fleet did not panic at all after discovering us. Did they prepare in advance and wait for us to take the bait?"

"Huang, the Han escort fleet is a regular navy, not a pirate fleet. Don't judge them by your standards."

Kirby made no effort to hide his disdain for pirates and said disdainfully, "Haha, Mr. Kirby is right. I was just overthinking it."

Huang Fuyuan smiled awkwardly and was about to say something to relax when he was suddenly knocked down by a burst of gunfire.

"Mr. Kirby, the Han transport fleet is firing. It's not safe here. Let's slow down and watch the battle from the back!"

Huang Fuyuan hurriedly picked up his western hat and said anxiously.

"Huang, pay attention to your appearance! Look carefully, those are the pirates under Wang Luoba firing their cannons!"

Although Kirby is a businessman, he is much braver and more courageous than Huang Fuyuan, the Kapitan.

"Useless things! They haven't even touched the edge of the transport fleet, but they are busy firing cannons. How can these yellow monkeys be pirates!"

Kirby looked at the pirate ship that rushed forward and fired at the transport fleet without any accuracy, and said with dissatisfaction.

"Don't be angry, Mr. Kirby. These pirates are not up to the standard. They usually fight by stringing together. Suddenly, there are more than a dozen powerful cannons on the ship. They may not be able to adapt to it yet. When they rush into the middle of the enemy fleet, the combat effectiveness will be much better."

Huang Fuyuan was acting as a bridge between Kirby and the pirates, and he didn't want to see Kirby belittling the pirates' strength, so he explained.

"After all, they are uncivilized barbarians. Even if we equip them with advanced artillery, they won't be able to operate them well."

The battle was about to start. Coby, who was about to achieve his goal, no longer concealed his contempt for the Chinese. He ordered Huang Fuyuan in a high-handed manner, "Remind those pirates, I don't care how they distribute the women on the ship, but the more than 200 sailors must be brought here intact. Those sailors are precious treasures and cannot be killed by the pirates at will."

"Don't worry, Mr. Kirby. I have already explained everything in advance. There will be no mistakes."

"Well, let's leave the fighting to those pirates. We will just watch the battle from behind to avoid being accidentally injured by the cannonballs."

"Mr. Kirby, please go back to the cabin and rest. I will arrange for the ship to evacuate the fighting area."

Merchants value money and value their lives. After showing his bravery and decisiveness in front of Huang Fuyuan, Kirby quickly followed the boat and slowly retreated, staying on the sea behind the pirate fleet to watch the battle. The pirates who rushed into the artillery range of the transport fleet immediately suffered the first blow in the battle.

The roar of artillery fire continued, and after each round of artillery fire, the white-haired shells flashed white light and shot towards the pirate fleet on the opposite side.

"Crack, crack," wooden masts broke one after another under the attack of cannonballs. The bows of pirate ships slowly slowed down as water entered the hulls. Several unlucky pirate ships were hit by five or six cannonballs at a time. The pirates on them were either blown to death or drowned in the vast ocean as their ships sank.

The battle went in the pirate fleet's unfavorable direction from the very beginning. When the pirate fleet under Wang Luoba paid the price of more than ten ships and broke into the center of the transport fleet, a fleet of dozens of warships suddenly appeared in the rear.

Dozens of warships first encircled them from the northeast and northwest directions. Kirby and Huang Fuyuan, who were watching the battle in the rear, were surrounded by warships before they had time to resist, and then surrendered under the threat of the black gun muzzles.

The situation faced by Wang Luoba was not much better than that faced by Kirby and others. Except for the more than 20 ships that were sunk, the remaining ships of his fleet of more than 70 main forces all fled in all directions when they saw the situation was not good. In the end, when they were surrounded by two ironclad ships and three steam warships of the National Defense Forces, only five pirate ships were left by Wang Luoba.

"The big boss has surrendered, the brothers can't hold on any longer!"

On a pirate ship with less damage to its hull, the pirate leader who had been investigating the situation on Taiping Island urgently advised.

"You can't surrender. If anyone surrenders, I will kill him!"

Wang Luoba looked fierce and said angrily, "Han people hate pirates the most. If we fall into their hands, all of us brothers will die. Only if we fight hard to the end, we brothers may have a chance to survive!"

"It was you, the boss, who took the lead in attacking the transport fleet. There is no grudge between the brothers and the Han people. If you, the boss, don't want to surrender, you can't drag the brothers to die with you!"

Seeing that Wang Luoba was unwilling to surrender, the pirate leader made up his mind and encouraged the others, "Brothers, you try your best to work for the boss. When the boss was enjoying himself, he didn't think of us. Now that disaster is imminent, the boss won't give us a way out. Brothers, since the boss is so cruel, we don't need to worry about our past friendship. Let's kidnap the boss together and ask the Han people for a way out!"

"Sun Yunpeng, you bastard, dare to betray me? I will kill you!"

Being deserted by his friends and relatives and betrayed by his confidants, Wang Luoba was so angry that he reached for the pistol at his waist, wanting to kill the other party. At this time, seven or eight pirates, instigated by the pirate leader, driven by a strong desire to survive, worked together to capture the furious Wang Luoba, and then surrendered to the Han fleet with the tied Wang Luoba.

(End of this chapter)