The Australian Revolution of 1828

The prince grew increasingly angry after leaving, and found a pretext to punish his attendants.

Back at their lodgings, with departure imminent, they still hadn't obtained the desired munitions. The deputy who had accompanied them to the negotiations was also somewhat anxious, advising, "Your Highness, the army is short of artillery and cannot stop the Dutch attack."

"Without the support of Xia Kingdom's military supplies, the army probably won't be able to hold out for long."

Prince Tibonicolò, already extremely annoyed, was now listening to his deputy's rambling, and snapped, "Tell me what to do?"

"Are we really going to agree to their demands and export female laborers of working age?!"

The deputy, with a more pragmatic view and understanding that the army was the prince's foundation, said, "Your Highness, the survival of the army is more important now. A few women are insignificant to the overall situation!"

"What does it matter if we give away 20 just to get the weapons back?"

When the topic of the army's survival came up, the prince finally calmed down and said, "Besides these female laborers, the Xia Kingdom also demands that we open up the ports."

"You know, ports aren't easy to capture. I just wanted the Xia people to help us, but they won't even agree to this small request!"

"Almighty God!"

At this critical juncture, the deputy had no choice but to offer advice. He could only grit his teeth and analyze the current situation, saying, "Taking advantage of Xia's naval victory, our army can concentrate its firepower and seize a port."

"Once we have a port, Xia's munitions can flow in continuously. At that time, even if we don't have an artillery advantage, the gap won't be too large."

"With the country's large population, it is entirely possible to recapture the old capital and drive the Dutch out."

Perhaps the allure of reclaiming the former capital of the Yogyakarta Kingdom was too strong, because Prince Tibonigoro no longer raised any objections. Instead, he patiently accepted his deputy's suggestion and said, "Inform the Xia Kingdom that I am willing to accept their cooperation proposal."

按照夏国的合作方案，一支成本8块银元的燧发枪价值20块银元，一门成本700块银元的32磅炮价值1200块银元。

To put it simply, one working woman of working age could be exchanged for a flintlock musket, and 60 working women of working age could be exchanged for a 32-pound cannon.

When laborers arrived in the Xia Kingdom, men who wanted to marry these female laborers had to pay a marriage fee of 50 silver dollars.

In this way, the Xia Kingdom not only earned enough for military expenses, but also solved the problem of unmarried singles, which played a positive and important role in increasing the population.

With the prince's approval, the deputy finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately informed Li Guochen of the final decision.

Having accomplished both the mission of providing military support and the strategic containment, Li Guochen felt much more relaxed and informed Zhang Zhenghe, the magistrate of Xunyang County, and Meng Xiong, the Grand Commander, of the Yogyakarta prince's decision.

Once the two arrived at the conference room, Li Guochen pointed to the sphere of influence markers on the map and said, "With Tibonicos making concessions, our next targets are Machen and Makassar."

"Makassar has an exceptionally strong fortress and is located in the southern part of Sulawesi. We can simply use armed merchant ships to sail north and threaten them, and cut off Dutch communications. There is no need to launch an attack."

"As for Machen, it is located in the southern part of Borneo. To prevent the garrison from moving north, a probing attack can be launched, but there is no need to breach the castle."

The Dutch had been operating in areas like Makassar and Macedonia for centuries, and their fortifications were exceptionally strong. Unless there was a suitable landmass for ships to land, it was not advisable to attack at that time.

This was not only Li Guochen's idea, but also Han Qingyun's. In a direct confrontation between warships and land-based artillery, the warships would generally suffer losses.

Of course, except for the Qing Dynasty!

Before probing the strength of the Dutch fortifications, it is not advisable to rashly attack either location. The best course of action is to maintain the status quo and avoid supporting Lanfang.

With one side receiving aid while the other did not, Lanfang's situation was quite clear.

Indeed, when news of the naval victory reached Lanfang, Wei Guochang was overjoyed and summoned the trading post staff, saying, "With this naval victory, our side has a huge advantage."

"Before the British can react, I intend to launch an attack and completely annihilate the Dutch garrison in Lanfang. I wonder if any of you have anything to add?"

Having endured so much humiliation for so many years, Tang Boqian was finding it difficult to bear it. He had long wanted to teach the Dutch a lesson and said, "Your Excellency, the Dutch are used to being arrogant and domineering. As long as we raise our banner, I believe the entire Lanfang will support us."

"I propose that we first eliminate the weaker Liu Tai'er to completely cut off the Dutch's external support, and then join forces to attack the Dutch garrisons in Nanbawa and Laoputou."

Liu Tai'er is indeed an infuriating person. As the leader of the Lanfang Chinese community, he has neither secured various benefits for them nor provided them with a stable living environment.

Instead, they colluded with the Dutch, working together to oppress the Chinese in Lanfang, and their crimes are unforgivable.

At Tang Boqian's suggestion, Wei Guochang agreed, and Cheng Wenzhuo also expressed his thoughts, saying, "County Magistrate and Station Chief, attacking Liu Tai'er will inevitably cause misunderstandings among the other leaders of Lanfang and create unnecessary trouble."

"I believe we should unite with Chen Qi'en, the headman of Xinputou, and allow him to succeed as chief. Together we will send troops to eliminate Liu Tai'er, to show that we have no intention of interfering in Lanfang, but only to expel the Dutch forces."

This idea makes a lot of sense. If we rashly attack Liu Tai'er, the chief of Lanfang, the Dutch could easily mislead the other leaders of Lanfang with a little trickery.

If local leaders make a wrong judgment due to misunderstandings, the Dutch will inevitably benefit from it.

Moreover, at this critical juncture of eliminating the Dutch, the Chinese should unite and try their best to avoid conflict between the two sides due to misunderstandings.

Wei Guochang agreed and expressed his support, saying, "Wen Zhuo's idea is excellent. The most important task now is to eliminate the Dutch; everything else can be put on hold."

"Whether or not to support Chen Qi'en to succeed as Chief of Staff, we can promise first, but we must leave room for maneuver. This is not something we can decide. We will ask His Majesty after we have completely eliminated Liu Tai'er."

After some discussion, the three of them quickly came up with a clear plan.

Tang Boqian was tasked with persuading Chen Qi'en to join forces in suppressing Liu Tai'er. Meanwhile, to avoid misunderstandings, Chen Qi'en was also required to contact local leaders and explain the situation of the war, namely that the Xia Kingdom had no intention of annexing Lanfang.

This is a very sensitive issue. The local leaders of Lanfang certainly wanted to expel the Dutch, but they also did not want the Xia people to continue the Dutch's ways.

Now that Chen Qi'en has stepped in, there will be far fewer misunderstandings.

Upon meeting Chen Qi'en in a hurry, Tang Boqian exchanged brief pleasantries before bringing up the matter of cooperation between the two sides, saying, "Uncle Chen, as you can see, Chief of Staff Liu is still on the Dutch side."

"We are worried that Chief Liu will cause trouble if we continue to send troops to Laoputou. We hope that you can step forward to take charge of the situation in Lanfang, stabilize the order in Lanfang, and prevent the red-haired devils from showing off their power again."

The previous probing attack not only revealed the troop readiness of the Dutch reinforcements, but also Liu Tai'er's stance.

Chen Qi'en openly sided with Xia Guo, offending not only Liu Tai'er but also the Dutch.

Coupled with the allure of the position of Chief of Staff, Chen Qi'en hesitated for a moment before agreeing, saying, "I can step forward, but your country must support my ascension to the position and cannot go back on its word."