The Australian Revolution of 1828

May 25, 1828, in the suburbs outside Xunyang City.

After the military supplies, food and other materials were prepared, County Commandant Wei Guochang took command in the center, with Imperial Guard Captain Shek Batu as the vanguard, and marched toward the lair of the Minister of War.

The Minister of War's stronghold is located in the northern region, about 10 kilometers outside Xunyang City. The distance isn't far, but it's difficult to attack and requires artillery support.

For this suppression of the rebellion, the Imperial Guard Commander, Shek Batu, led three companies, approximately 300 men. The Guard Company Commander, Han Shiwei, led a company and five 6-pound cannons.

As for Wei Guochang, who was in command, he had a company of soldiers, plus a supply company, and two 12-pounder heavy artillery pieces, totaling about 200 men.

It can be said that in order to ensure victory in this battle, Xunyang County deployed nearly six companies of troops to attack the farm castle located 10 kilometers away.

It's 10 kilometers, and if there's a road, it usually takes about two hours to get there.

If it were a march, and given the extremely poor road conditions in Xunyang County, it wouldn't just be a matter of two hours; it could very well take half a day.

Indeed, that was the case; the army that quelled the rebellion set out in the morning and did not arrive at the Minister of War's castle until noon.

The castle was neither a concrete structure nor a stone wall; it was built against a mountain and did not have strong defensive capabilities.

The ambush and enemy attack that he had expected did not materialize, which made Wei Guochang somewhat hesitant about whether or not to launch an attack.

While they hesitated, Han Shiwei and Shek Batu arrived together and offered their opinions, saying, "County Commandant, why don't we launch a probing attack? We can't keep stalling with them!"

That makes sense. Deploying troops is very expensive, and it's not good to keep dragging it out.

In order to quickly ascertain the strength of the troops inside the castle and the weapons used by the rebels, Wei Guochang immediately gave the order to attack, saying, "Company Commander Han, this battle is a probing attack; let's begin with the five 6-pound cannons you brought!"

"After 10 rounds of shelling, Captain Shek Batu was in charge of organizing the troops to attack."

Han Shiwei shared this idea; the two 12-pound cannons brought by County Lieutenant Wei Guochang were there as backup. If, after testing, the castle's firepower proved weak, they could be used.

However, if the castle has strong firepower, the two 12-pound cannons they bring will be a surprise weapon, and they must not be exposed for the time being.

Once the mission was clear, Han Shiwei's guard company was the first to act, with 6-pound shells slamming into the castle walls, creating several large craters.

At this moment, War Minister Tanay Dart, showing no fear and appearing unusually excited, boosted morale by saying, "Hold on! I received news yesterday that the Dutch frigates will definitely arrive at the port today."

"They'll retreat once night falls."

"At that time, you will all be meritorious officials, and I will personally petition for your commendation and reward you with a piece of farmland."

The allure of farmland was considerable, especially for these tenant farmers who were guarding the city.

War Minister Tanai Datt was so confident because he had contacted the Dutch colonial government in Batavia and received a clear message yesterday.

The Netherlands has dispatched two fourth-class cruisers, which are expected to arrive around noon today.

As War Minister Tanai Datt stated, two cruisers from the Dutch colonial government in Batavia arrived at the sea off the coast of Xunyang County.

Upon learning the news, Garrison Commander Li Guochen rushed over immediately.

Gazing at the cruiser in the distance, Li Guochen instructed the soldiers on guard duty, saying, "Signal the enemy ships with flags, ordering them to leave the waters off Xunyang County immediately."

The soldiers responsible for signaling quickly relayed Li Guochen's warning, but the Dutch fleet disregarded it and instead ordered Li Guochen to lay down his weapons and open the port.

Li Guochen has never been a weak or easily bullied person, and he would never back down just because of two Dutch cruisers.

In order to force the Dutch fleet to leave the area, Li Guochen relayed the order to the fort, saying, "Notify the fort to fire warning shots at the Dutch cruisers in the open sea."

"If the enemy retaliates, we can launch a bombardment and make sure to sink the enemy ship."

The guns were all 32-pounders, with a range of up to 2500 meters, which was much stronger than the 24-pounders of the fourth-class cruisers.

Moreover, ships are in a state of swaying, making them much less likely to hit gun emplacements. Gun emplacements, on the other hand, are located on land and do not experience swaying.

If the artillerymen are skilled, they only need three or four rounds of shelling to hit the enemy ship.

Following Li Guochen's order, the fort quickly responded, firing a warning shell directly into the waters near the Dutch fleet in the open sea, startling the Dutch fleet into wanting to open fire.

However, under the orders of the Governor of Batavia, the fleet was only intended as a deterrent. War should not be initiated without absolute certainty of victory.

Based on the sound of the warning shells, the Dutch fleet could guess the caliber of the forts and was powerless to fight back, nor did they dare to confront the forts.

In a short time, they withdrew from the sea outside the port and then circled around Xunyang Island.

At this stage, Xunyang County is unstable, and Li Guochen has no time to deal with the Dutch fleet. He immediately relayed the latest order to the suppression troops, saying, "Immediately inform Wei Guochang that the rebels are relying on the Dutch."

"Order the quelling forces to annihilate the rebels as quickly as possible, and prevent the Dutch fleet from finding an opportunity to attack."

The order quickly reached the suppression army. Upon learning that the rebels were relying on the Dutch, Wei Guochang burst into laughter, saying, "We overestimated these barbarians!"

"I thought they were holding back some big move, but it turns out they were just the Dutch from thousands of miles away. They're incredibly stupid."

Company Commander Han Shiwei sighed and remarked, "County Commandant, we've probably read too many military books and are treating these barbarians like foreigners, imagining them to be too clever!"

That makes sense. If Java had a few people who knew military strategy, they wouldn't have been defeated by the declining Dutch.

Over the years, the Dutch have done a lot of stupid and bad things, and it can be said that they have exploited Java Island to a terrible degree. There has never been a force that could resist them, allowing the Dutch to be so arrogant for so many years.

Now that he knew what the rebels relied on, Wei Guochang didn't hold back and directly brought out two 12-pound heavy cannons, along with five 6-pound cannons from the guard company, and fired at the castle together.

With the help of two 12-pound cannons, the already somewhat dangerous castle could no longer withstand the bombardment and gradually collapsed.

The Imperial Guard, who had been waiting for an opportunity, seized it and, led by Shek Batu, charged toward the castle. Inside the castle, apart from a small number of soldiers, were mostly tenants of Tanai Dat, the Minister of War.

Against a professional army, you can't win even by fighting with knives.

About half an hour later, the army composed of tenant farmers was completely defeated and lost all will to fight.

In this battle, 137 male tenant farmers were killed and nearly 3000 households, totaling over 15000 people, were captured. Additionally, 3700 taels of gold and 19 taels of silver, along with other jewelry and ornaments, were seized from the family of the Minister of War, Tanay Datt.