The mist in the bay is like a veil, looming. The sea outside the bay is blown away by the heavy wind and waves. The mist cannot be seen at all, and the line of sight can be seen far away.

Geng Baogui led three seagull-shaped warships to the entrance of the bay. He held up his telescope and observed carefully. Seeing that the 12 Dutch warships on the sea skyline were arranged in a semicircular shape and had tightly blocked the outer sea, his heart couldn't help but sink.

This time, the Dutch attacked the enemy in large numbers, which was larger than he thought. He almost sent all the warships to land the fleet...

Thinking of this

Geng Baogui raised his telescope again and searched carefully. He did not find any trace of a cargo three-masted sailboat at the end of the sea skyline, which made him feel extremely uneasy ~ the worst possibility happened.

The coastline at the eastern end of Shangri-La Island is winding and long, surrounded by many islands formed by volcanic geographical activities and coral reefs over tens of millions of years. The number is so large that it is difficult to calculate. In addition, there are many Shanghai Bay, and countless places are suitable for landing.

Within 100 kilometers north-south direction of Holdsby alone, there are no less than 7 bays suitable for landing, and the Dutch landing fleet may be in any of these.

Judging from the scale of enemy warships, there were almost all out, and there were definitely not a small number of troops sent to the beach. This message must be immediately transmitted to the Third Guard Regiment of the First Division of the Garrison, and mobilized militias to participate in resisting the invaders.

In order to confirm his judgment, Geng Baogui ordered the flag bearer to contact Beishan Watchtower and ask if there were any other enemy ships on the sea, including transport ships."

“Yes, ask immediately.”

Not long after

Through the flag-language contact, Geng Baogui's judgment was indeed confirmed. Except for 12 Dutch warships and a small sloop fast sailboat, no other ships were found, nor were there transport sailboats were found on the nearby sea.

I looked at the time and it was already 7:20 in the morning.

The sun shines on the sea, the sky is clear and blue, and you can see the distance from the sight.

The 470-meter peak watchtower on the Beishan Mountain is equipped with a large-diameter high-magnitude telescope of the German Zeiss Company. It can observe maritime targets 60 kilometers away at the farthest. As for the coastline targets, due to the winding shoreline and mountain blocking, it can observe targets 20 kilometers away at the most.

Within this range, no enemy landing regiments were found.

The Royal Dutch Fleet led by the cruiser "Seven Provinces" is blocking the bay with the goal of blocking Moresby Bay, preventing fleets from attacking and launching attacks on vulnerable transport fleets on landings.

As for the assault into the harbor, Geng Baogui believes it is unlikely. With the fragile small body of the Dutch Fleet, the Dutch Fleet's wooden sail warships, they are simply unable to withstand the fierce firepower of the shore artillery. The Dutch Fleet commander is not that stupid and will not take the initiative to deliver vegetables to the door.

Looking at the fleets of both sides, they are almost all light armored or unarmored, and they almost belong to the category of sea light cavalry.

It is natural to mention the Dutch sailing warship. Due to the limited displacement tonnage of the Seagull type high-speed patrol ship, there is no bulletproof armor at all, so medium-caliber artillery will cause serious damage to the ships of both sides, and will be even less able to withstand the bombardment of large-caliber artillery.

The "Seven Provinces" cruiser is a typical shore gun room cruiser. It is equipped with armored protective belts in key parts such as the shore gun room and the driving tower, which can withstand the frontal bombardment of large-caliber artillery fragments and 95mm artillery. It also has two tall sails, one in front and one behind, to assist navigation. In the case of a downwind, the speed can be increased by 2 to 3 knots, and the full speed will not exceed 14 knots.

In terms of protection, the cruiser "Seven Provinces" is much stronger than the two Seagull II modified warships built at the Naval Shipyard of Portsmouth, England, but it is not enough to see the heavy cruiser and the steam armored battleship, and it is not a player of the same level at all.

No wonder after the Naval Battle of Malacca, the detailed report of the British cruiser "Strange Stone" was submitted to London. The bureaucrats and men in the Admiralty did not pay any attention to it at all. After a look, they put it aside.

The evaluation is just a fight between children and hurt each other.

Seeing that the bay had been blocked, Geng Baogui did not act rashly to try to break through. No matter how fast the warship was, it would be impossible to be as fast as the shells. The Queensland fleet could only rely on shore artillery protection, and the two sides formed a confrontation at the entrance of the bay.

The Royal Dutch Fleet did not dare to come in, and the Queensland Fleet could not break out, creating a stalemate.

On board the cruiser "Seven Provinces"

"I did a great job. I value Mr. Sheng's important role in this war and will focus on this in my report."

Observing the strong explosion of the Moresby Telegraph Office, the task force commander Yang Cork Burhoff raised his beard with a look of appreciation in his eyes.

"Thank you, Commander, for your kind treatment."

"You don't have to be polite, Mr. Sheng, you are the best friend of our Dutch. I'm very curious, who is your confidant lurking in Port Moresby?"

Sheng Yeyun looked quite sad; "Ada was a partner who grew up with me since childhood. Although she was a slave, we were as affectionate as brothers. I never regarded him as a current person. This time, he devoted his loyalty to the royal army and completed the final entrusting. He was definitely dead. I will treat his family well, treat his son as my son, and be kind."

"Well, he is indeed a hero."

Yang Cork Burhoff responded unscrupulously. He was not interested in slandering a pariah. The three warships that came from Moresby Bay attracted his attention and immediately ordered; "Order each ship to put away its main sails, keep the blockade array, and prepare for launching the guns on the side, and be on standby at any time."

"Yes, sir."

The order was immediately issued through the flag words. The subordinate sail warships put away the main sails and used the secondary mat to slightly adjust the course speed to maintain the highest alert state that can fire at any time.

Moresby Town

Shangri-La Garrison 1st Division 3rd Regiment Camp

After receiving a warning from the port fleet, the Third Regiment immediately held an emergency combat meeting. In addition to the regiment commander Fritz, deputy regiment commander Mo Rufeng and officers above the company level of the entire regiment, there were also Shangri-La General Manager Wu Xuewen, Town Mayor Li Fushan and Militia Captain Qi Feng.

Moresby is facing the worst crisis since its establishment. The Shangri-La Garrison, which has been established for less than two months, faced the test. All the military and political leaders and minds gathered together to discuss the major plans.

The third regiment commander Fritz was born in a noble family of Junker. He was a former German captain officer, former deputy commander of the Tiger Cavalry Guard, and a guardian knight enfeoffed by the Earl of Queensland. He was an experienced professional officer, and he glanced at everyone with a serious expression.

“The situation is already very critical, and the news from the fleet shows;

The main purpose of this Dutch attack was to protect the landing fleet. The fleet's opinion was that the other party could not attack the port, and the crisis faced by Moresby town could be temporarily lifted and residents did not need to retreat to safety.

The biggest problem now is...we have to determine where the enemy is logged in?

The regiment reconnaissance company has sent two teams to search in the south and north. News is expected to be heard at the evening at the latest.

The situation we are facing is very serious. The Moresby Telegraph Office was attacked and damaged by enemy spies. It was unable to receive the Red River Valley instructions through trans-ocean wired telegraphs, nor could it convey the war situation.

This means that we must fight alone and independently compete with the Dutch soldiers for at least one month.

According to prior agreement;

If the Red River Valley does not receive a security telegram tonight, you will realize that we have been attacked by the Dutch. The only uncertainty is whether the telegram failure or a lone wolf attack, or whether the Dutch attacks in large numbers.

The regiment headquarters judged that this required the Black-Clothed Guard's foreign intelligence agencies to provide enough intelligence to allow the Red River Valley to accurately judge our situation, which took time.

When Shangfeng realized our predicament, he would inevitably send a joint fleet in Jayapura to reinforce, which would also take time.

We cannot get reinforcements from the military until the Joint Fleet establishes its maritime advantage over the Dutch, and it will take time.

It will take time for the reinforcements to set off to arrive in Moresby.

Based on the above judgment, the regiment headquarters believes that it will not be able to receive external reinforcements within at least one month, and we must independently support the battle situation. I have determined it to be 40 days at this time.

Now gentlemen can speak freely and make suggestions for our defense, and all the forces unite to fight this battle."

Wu Xuewen, the head of Shangri-La, frowned and thought for a while and said, "It has only been more than a year since the establishment of the Moresby area, with a total population of more than 70,000, including more than 60,000 young and middle-aged men. There are about 40,000 people in the Tunken Village and Town below, scattered in a vast area of ​​26 or 7 kilometers.

For the present plan

In accordance with the prior emergency war plan, the population of villages and towns in the southernmost and northernmost areas were evacuated, agricultural products and personal property were transferred, and the policy of clearing the fields was implemented, but this took time.

The town will try its best to draw tractors and large supplies to participate in the rush shipping. If we can determine the direction of the enemy's attack, we can concentrate our efforts in one place, so that the rush shipping will be faster.

Therefore, I hope that the military and militia will block the enemy for at least two days and leave plenty of time for the organization to transport supplies."

After listening to the request of the Shangri-La General Manager Wu Xuewen, the third regiment commander Fritz said that the military would do his best to complete the task of blocking the enemy. He would personally lead the troops of the two battalions to the front line, form a solid defense line with the militia, and resolutely complete the task.

At this time, everyone's eyes fell on the militia captain Qi Feng.

Qi Feng was a retired veteran of the Dragon Cavalry, the leader of the Hongmen Moresby score. He was a capable middle-aged man in his 30s. He had received strict military training from German instructors and was not afraid of the Dutch's large-scale attack.

Retired veterans who have experienced this like him have now become the backbone of the militia force, including militia instructors, squadron captains and squadron leaders. Most of them are the backbone of the Hongmen clan and are very convinced by the big leader Li Fushou.

After the initial development stage of Red River Valley, Li Fushou began to deliberately remove Hongmen disciples from the military system to make the army purer.

The main destination of Hongmen disciples is the militia team, so the "Xinghua Association" militia now has Hongmen disciples as their backbone and are quite strong.

This became the second quasi-military force in the hands of the Count, used to check and balance the influence of the army. If necessary, he would like to raise his arms and ask for help, and no one dared not to obey.

Qi Feng thought about it and said;

"Mr. General Manager, the regiment, our Xinghua Association militia now has 3,177 people, mostly composed of new immigrants, and has received at least one and a half months of military training. We are confident that we will grow up quickly in the war against the Dutch and become a powerful helper for the military.

However, our militia is very short of spears, currently there are only less than 400 spears, and there are not many ammunitions. The main weapons are revolvers and spear-swords. The military also asks for appropriate support for this part.

Among the migrants in settlements, they generally received 5 to 10 days of military training.

However, for these farmers who are familiar with hoes, they can’t tell the difference between military training in just a few days. It is probably a fantasy to rely on for the high combat effectiveness, and it is still possible to have a strong momentum.

Now that our team has all gathered together, we can follow orders to the front line at any time. I will personally lead the elite militia to follow the regiment chiefs to act together. There are more than 800 people in this group, and our old brothers are in charge, so the combat effectiveness can be guaranteed."

Hearing this

The third regiment commander Fritz nodded with satisfaction, considered it for a while, and ordered Zhao Jiaxiong, the commander of logistics and supplies, and "Battlefield Commander Zhao, allocate 600 rifles from the regiment reserve to equip the militia brothers of Xinghua Association. In the face of strong enemies, we must fight side by side. The number of people may not be as large as the enemy, and we cannot suffer any loss in weapons."

Having said this

He turned his head and patted Qi Feng on the shoulder and explained, "We can only squeeze out so many spears and try to equip you with a thousand people. There must be other weapons reserves in the regiment, but considering that the war may last for a long time, we must keep some inventory, but ammunition can be sufficient."

"Thank you, the regiment seat, so that our militia will be more confident."

"Okay, after the meeting, you will arrange for someone to get the equipment. Take the time to get familiar with the equipment. We will set off soon."

"Affect the order."

Qi Feng saluted a standard military salute, then sat down again, and the emergency combat meeting continued.

Below, the town mayor Li Fushan introduces the situation of the village reclamation. He is a member of the Li clan from Lijiabao and a distant uncle brother of the same class as the Earl. He was promoted to Mayor Moresby for showing certain management skills.
Chapter completed!