The Australian Revolution of 1828

1828年5月10日早晨6点，经过近7天的颠簸，副指挥使骆秉忠顺利带着船队抵达预定海域。

As Li Guochen was searching for his target (Li Guochen) with his monocular binoculars, Wei Guochang broke the morning's tranquility, shouting, "Deputy Commander, look over there! It looks like the Commander is here!"

Following Wei Guochang's directions, Luo Bingzhong quickly found their target and said, "We have many ships; Guochen should have seen us by now. Signal them immediately!"

The visitors were Li Guochen and Zhang Yuanyang, who had timed their arrival perfectly and made their way there under the cover of night. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and nothing untoward happened.

Upon seeing the merchant ship's flag signals, Zhang Yuanyang was overjoyed and said, "Commander, it's our merchant fleet. Let's move over right now."

Li Guochen neither confirmed nor denied, but his meaning was quite clear: hurry up.

The two sides met face to face. Li Guochen boarded the expeditionary fleet made up of merchant ships and then revealed a slight smile, saying, "Brother Bingzhong, I didn't expect you to be appointed as the deputy commander."

Luo Bingzhong accepted this appointment without hesitation, jokingly telling Li Guochen, "There's no other way!"

"Since you, the true god, are not here, it's my turn to lead the team!"

Li Guochen smiled helplessly and said, "Forget about that, let's talk about the login process!"

When the conversation turned to business, Luo Bingzhong reverted to his usual demeanor, taking out the letter of appointment and saying, "Your Excellency, the Grand Commander's Office appoints you as Commander of the Expeditionary Force. I am now transferring command to you!"

Receiving the appointment letter meant taking command of the fleet. This trust was extraordinary.

Li Guochen was also deeply moved and did not shy away from expressing his respect for Han Qingyun, saying, "Brother Bingzhong, Guochang, it is our blessing that the Chief Justice can trust us. If we cannot take Danpasa, how can we face returning to Hanyang?"

He then bowed deeply in the direction of Hanyang to express his gratitude for being recognized and appreciated.

This resolute decision truly deserves this unparalleled trust.

In fact, Li Guochen's statement was not unfounded; he was quite certain of his assessment. During his nearly month-long stay in Denpasar, Li Guochen was not there to enjoy a life of leisure, but rather to tirelessly monitor the situation at the Denpasar forts and the garrison.

As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. With the help of the Denpasar trading post, Li Guochen bribed three officers and learned about the fort's defenses and the garrison's equipment.

Meanwhile, in order to support the expeditionary force's landing, Li Guochen also bribed a group of ruffians with a large sum of money.

Of course, everything was for the victory at Hanyang, only the methods varied greatly.

Having taken command of the expeditionary force from Luo Bingzhong, Right Vice-General Li Guochen made no attempt to conceal his determination. He issued his first order, asking, "Are Zhang Yuanyang and Wei Guochang present?"

Speaking in a commanding tone, the two men simultaneously stepped forward, clasped their hands in a fist salute, and said, "Your humble servants (Zhang Yuanyang) and (Wei Guochang) are here!"

Commander Li Guochen didn't waste any time and gave the order directly: "You two return to the trading post immediately and make sure you are ready to provide backup."

"The expeditionary force will land at noon, and the city must be thrown into chaos before then."

The orders were brief and direct, and the methods were ruthless and merciless.

Both men were seasoned traders and had witnessed the common tactics of foreigners. They accepted the orders one after the other, saying, "Your subordinates (Zhang Yuanyang and Wei Guochang) obey!"

After the two men departed on a fast boat, Right Vice-General Li Guochen pointed in the direction of Denpasar and issued a second order, saying, "All merchant ships of the fleet, proceed to Denpasar port."

The orders came one after another, leaving Luo Bingzhong speechless.

Considering Li Guochen's busy schedule over the past month and his confident demeanor, Luo Bingzhong thoughtfully said, "Commander, it seems we will take Denpasar without bloodshed this time!"

Things have come to this point, there's really nothing left to hide.

Li Guochen spoke frankly, revealing his innermost thoughts, saying, "Brother Bingzhong, don't forget, the trading post was jointly established by our two offices."

"Although it has been split up by the General Constable, the influence of the two offices still remains. Five years have passed; I don't believe you know nothing."

Five years is definitely more than just a period of time for doing business.

Luo Bingzhong was aware of this, but he didn't expect that Li Guochen would integrate them into a force in just under a month.

Seeing his old partner's surprise, Li Guochen responded positively.

Without hiding his achievements during this period, he said, "I thought Denpasar's military equipment was lax, so we could still put up a fight. But after reconnaissance, I discovered that it wasn't just a matter of lax equipment, but rampant corruption!"

"Danpasa only has two gun emplacements, but only 18 cannons. Of those 18 cannons, not a single one is real; they are all just wooden stakes for show."

"Brother Bingzhong, tell me, can this still defend against the enemy?"

To be honest, if this is really the case, Denpasar is completely beyond saving.

Taking Hanyang Prefecture as an example, with a total population of less than 70,000, it had five concrete gun emplacements to defend against enemies at sea, with 58 cannons in each emplacement.

Five gun emplacements, totaling 290 cannons, equivalent to three first-class battleships.

Of course, the Hanyang forts were completed, but the artillery was not at full strength. At present, there was no war in Hanyang, and the five forts were defended by only 100 men.

In the event of war, apart from war-related and food-related industries such as mining, other industries would basically have to shut down. Their personnel would either be reassigned to artillery positions, arsenals, or the army.

This is mass production, and the entire military!

Currently, the army has only seven companies, totaling about 500 men, because there is no immediate external danger on land. If Hanyang were to be attacked, all the people of Hanyang would be required to serve in the war effort.

In Denpasar, corruption is rampant, and the army has lost its soldierly demeanor, resembling more like bandits, with extortion and blackmail being commonplace.

Therefore, Li Guochen did not intend to attack the fort, but instead went directly to the port to land.

Indeed, it was just as Li Guochen had investigated.

The expeditionary force had just landed when the officials in charge of port affairs in Denpasar assumed they were resting and were already dreaming of making another killing.

However, things didn't go as planned; what awaited these officials was a musket. Only after the disembarking sailors and army soldiers had everyone imprisoned did they realize this wasn't the case, and they began to shout in protest.

The soldiers in charge of guarding the officials couldn't stand the noise and weren't easy to talk to. They went up and hit the officials with their rifle butts a few times, which finally made the officials behave themselves.

The army was temporarily recruited; some had worked with Grandpa Han at sea to make a living, while others had immigrated to Hanyang in recent years.

Regardless of the category, all recruits had participated in militia training and were familiar with the essentials of shooting.

Once the port was completely under control, Li Guochen disembarked and immediately dispatched more than 300 soldiers to take control of the forts, along with heavy cannons unloaded from the ship, to be deployed at the forts in case of a foreign attack.

Meanwhile, the city of Denpasar descended into chaos, with a group of ruffians robbing and causing widespread disorder.

Fearing the situation would descend into chaos, Luo Bingzhong brought out the "three kills, three no kills" policy he had issued before the expedition and suggested to Li Guochen, "Commander, it's time to enter the city and restrain the behavior within. If things continue to be so chaotic, I'm afraid we won't be able to control Bali as soon as possible."

However, Li Guochen remained unconvinced, saying, "Brother Bingzhong, do you think the city will welcome us?"

"The current chaos is for better governance in the future! Only when these people have completely alienated everyone in the city can we rely on them more effectively!"

"That makes so much sense!" Luo Bingzhong was speechless for a moment, unable to utter a single word in response.