1890 King of Southeast Asia

In the telegram, Liu Yiming listed a large amount of equipment, raw materials, and a large amount of goods, weapons and ammunition. Liu Yiming believed that once the war started, it would last for more than a year, and the window period in between was not long. From the time Liu Yiming took action until Batavia reacted, if the control was good, there would be three months, which was only enough to train new soldiers. As for industrial equipment, it could only be purchased in the United States or Europe at this time, and Liu Yiming currently had no other way but to buy British goods.

The telegram had been sent to the British naval base in Hong Kong. As for when Charles would receive it, when he would reply after receiving it, and when Liu Yiming would know after sending it, it was all unknown. This era of underdeveloped communications was so troublesome.

At this time, all Liu Yiming could do was wait for news.

According to Liu Yiming's suggestion, the news of the destruction of the Hassan tribe had not been spread. Only the heads of each family, the troops, and the production base knew about it. Except for the heads of each family, the other two were relatively closed, and there was no risk of leakage in the short term. Liu Yiming had already issued a gag order.

All the Chinese in the city were still in a state of tension, in order to paralyze the Dutch. The Dutch were used to being domineering, and they really didn't think that the Chinese could solve the Hassan tribe quietly. So they didn't think there was anything wrong.

Those in charge of production were rushing to produce, scouring the market for various materials, ores, fuels, dyes, etc., and the prices rose sharply. Soldiers were training, and Liu Yiming accompanied the soldiers in training. It was not that he wanted to set an example, but there was no better way. At least Liu Yiming had seen a lot of movies, TV series, and documentaries.

Remove artistic processing, combine with existing conditions, and make certain changes.

Three days later, Charles called back.

Charles called back and said that the equipment had been quoted by Jardine Matheson. The total price after discount was 200,000 pounds. A 30% deposit was required in advance, 30% was paid when the goods were shipped, and 40% was paid when they arrived in Surabaya. There is no problem with the supply of materials. There are Jardine Matheson's cargo ships in Singapore Port, 5,000 Martini Henrys, 20 three-inch guns, and 5 million rounds of ammunition. Liu Yiming purchased another 10 million rounds. These are what Jardine Matheson is going to sell to the court. There are 1,000 rounds of shells. Liu Yiming purchased 20,000 rounds. It's not that he doesn't want to increase it, but he can only gather so many in a short time. For these guns, 15 guns have been dismantled from the navy warships, and there are 60 spare gun barrels, but the gun carriages are not good.

Among them, only five gun carriages are matched, and the remaining 15 gun carriages are put together by Charles in the navy. Although they are all rigid gun carriages, the famous Miss 75 has not yet been released at this time, and only rigid gun carriages are available. It is worth mentioning that the caliber of the bL15-pound gun is still three inches, but the weight of the shells has increased by 1 kilogram. Because smokeless propellant is used, it can shoot farther, more accurately, more efficiently, and more powerfully!

It was still a robbery price. Martini Henry didn't raise the price much. It was only six pounds a piece, with 1,000 rounds of bullets and a belt. The purchase of bullets cost 2.5 pounds for every 1,000 rounds, a total of 55,000 pounds. However, the guns were much more expensive. The three-inch guns quoted to the navy were between 200 and 250 pounds. It was not too outrageous for Liu Yiming. Twenty guns, including 1,000 rounds of shells, were only priced at 10,000 pounds, but the 20,000 rounds of shells were priced at 50,000 pounds! Converted into silver, 10 taels of silver per round 2...

But at this time, only the British could make a move, so it was not expensive!

The total price was 115,000 pounds. Liu Yiming remitted a deposit of 35,000 pounds. Jardine Matheson asked when to ship the goods. Liu Yiming had not decided when to fight. Anyway, the longer he could delay, the better. The straight-line distance from Singapore to Surabaya is only 401 kilometers. If the boat travels slowly, it can be reached in two days. There is no need to rush. It is still possible to set off on the same day. For this reason, Liu Yiming paid another one thousand pounds for the charter fee so that the boat can set off at any time!

What Liu Yiming is worried about now is the Dutch colonial navy. The three coastal gunboats are equipped with a total of 150 barrels of six guns, with a firing rate of 150 per minute and six rounds. If this is not solved, it will be useless even if Liu Yiming captures Surabaya. The artillery volleys will scare away the recruits and they will not be able to defend the city.

There is no good way to come up with for the time being. Liu Yiming can only take it one step at a time and send people to keep an eye on the three gunboats. As for the sailing ships, to be honest, the firepower of the sailing ships is not as large as that of Liu Yiming's artillery battalion.

Another focus of Liu Yiming is on the coastal artillery fort near the port. As long as the coastal artillery fort is captured, it can sink or drive away the three coastal gunboats at a price.

Ten days have passed since the destruction of the Hassan tribe. During these ten days, Liu Yiming basically gained control of the Chinese inside Sishui and recruited 1,200 people again, more than 500 of whom had primary school education or above. Liu Yiming incorporated all of these people into the artillery and learned artillery operation, but there was no live ammunition shooting for the time being. Not only breech-loading guns, but also bronze guns had to be learned, and they were also the focus. These people were Liu Yiming's prepared coastal artillery. Given the Dutch character, most of the coastal artillery was a large number of large-caliber muzzle-loading guns, with some breech-loading guns.

The Dutch were really slow, maybe they didn't make a plan, or even contact. The natives in the city were also confused. They said that they would cooperate with the outside, but the outsiders didn't come, so they were very anxious.

Some people thought of going to the Hassan tribe to explore, but they were annihilated by the Chinese army that had been ambushed for a long time on the way.

After another week, the inactive natives aroused the Dutch's suspicion. To be honest, the natives usually like to do this kind of thing, so why are they so patient this time?

So Henry Bruno found a native and asked about the Hassan tribe, but the road was blocked, so how could anyone know what happened to the Hassan tribe?

Without getting any news, Major Henry still didn't care. The natives had no sense of time and were scattered. It should have taken a long time to gather. After all, the decreasing number of natives seemed to prove this. After that, Major Henry still had a banquet every day and spent the night with a lady or a merchant's daughter.

It was not until the Hassan tribe had disappeared for a month and there was no news that Major Henry remembered it after being reminded by the political officer, and then sent a squad of Dutch to the Hassan tribe to check the situation. As soon as this group of Dutch left, Liu Yiming got the news.

"Finally reacted? For the time being, let's cover it up. Order the first company to let them out and set up an ambush on their way back. The scouts will watch. If they find something they shouldn't see, kill them on their way back." Liu Yiming felt that with the efficiency of the Dutch, it might be possible to delay for a while.

The Dutch colonial army is third-rate in the Netherlands, barely stronger than the police. Without artillery, it might not be as strong as the police. The Dutch army is third-rate in Europe. To be honest, my field troops should be able to fight them back and forth with the elite of the Hunan-Jiangsu Army.

The Dutch colonial army in this class did dirty and tiring work, and of course they were passive and lazy. The strong vitality of the rainforest covered up most of the evidence. If the soil was not dug up, all they saw was a deserted settlement.

Of course, the Dutch colonial army did not have this patience. They checked near the mouth of the valley. The weather was hot, and the colonial army, who was afraid of snakes, immediately concluded that the Hassan tribe had moved. As for where they went, they said they had moved, so who knew where they went?

Just like that, the Dutch colonial army went back to report on the migration of the Hassan tribe, while Major Henry was chatting with a beautiful merchant girl. How could he have time to care about the affairs of the natives?