"We can already see the sea rock line ahead, then we should not be far from Sukatana now, I hope that when we arrive, it is better not to be like Kendawangan, there is not even a ghost shadow, it is like a dead city, phew, this is really unlucky." Overmars, the commissioner of the Dutch East India Company, took out his pocket watch, looked at the time, shook his head, and said.

"Mr. Commissioner, this is normal, you must know that this time we have dispatched 7,000 brave soldiers, and our huge fleet is also attacking them, if these Chinese from Lanfang dare to fight us with their cold weapons or fishing boats, in that case, maybe I will admire their courage, but the victory is still ours." Commodore Van Gaal of the Dutch Navy looked proud. He was standing on the aft deck of this third-class battleship, and the military uniform on his body looked so gorgeous and solemn, setting off the demeanor and pride of a general of an old colonial country.

"Dear general, I couldn't agree more." Overmars nodded. Indeed, although the brigadier general seemed a little arrogant, the fighting quality of his opponent who fled from the wind really made Overmars unable to raise the slightest spirit to remind the brigadier general not to be careless.

"General, the city ahead should be Sukatana." At this time, the lookout standing on the mainmast shouted, and the monocular in his hand pointed straight ahead.

"I'll see." Van Gaal took a telescope from the guard's hand and looked straight ahead, and sure enough, he could already see a city by the sea.

"Hey, why are there so many boats, what are they doing?" Overmars, who was also looking through the telescope at the city of Sukatana, which was getting closer and closer, cried out at this time.

"They're on the run, Mr. Commissioner. Look at these poor fellows, they seem to have spotted us, the merchant ships are struggling to untie the cables, and some of them have fallen into the sea before they even have time to get on board. Oh my God, what the hell was that ship carrying? That's a gold bar, I swear to God. Van Gaal saw a box of cargo suddenly topple on a heavily guarded merchant ship, and as he rolled over, the box was knocked open, and many golden strips flew out, and Van Gaal's blue eyes instantly turned red.

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"Stop them, General, we should keep them, they must be moving supplies." Agent Overmars, who had also seen the scene, pointed to the harbor miles ahead and shouted loudly, as sharp as a shrew who had caught her husband climbing into another woman's bed.

Van Gaal threw the binoculars to the guards beside him and said loudly: "Tell the other captains to speed up and stop them." You can't let these people go. ”

Before receiving the order of the fleet commander, many captains had already discovered the scene in the harbor, and Commodore van Gaal's order was like the sound of the starting gun in the arena, and many two-masted warships and some temporarily recruited armed merchant ships rushed towards the harbor with their own speed and sails.

"Damn idiot, don't you know how to keep the fleet in formation?" After giving the order, Van Gaal saw his subordinates rushing forward frantically as if they had been bloody, which made Commodore Van Gaal, whose flagship was a slightly slower but powerful third-class battleship, look quite dissatisfied.

Hearing the commodore general's complaints, Overmars pursed his lips covertly, and the sight of gold lifted his spirits, and he could imagine that the Lanfang Chinese must have decided in a panic to abandon some cities and ports that were vulnerable to attack, such as this Sukatana, after hearing about the Dutch army and the huge fleet pressing the border.

The merchant ship laden with gold was being protected in the center by more than a dozen armed merchant ships and clippers, and was speeding to the north. Just looking at the ship's carrying capacity, the commissioner estimated the amount of gold, at least tens of thousands of pounds of gold. God, if they rob this gold, then they have completely recovered the military expenses for this time.

"General, do we send patrol ships to guard against the other side's warships?" At this time, the first mate next to him suggested to Van Gaal sensibly.

"Of course." Van Gaal's fingers tapped anxiously on the mast, and he wished he could pounce on his ships as they swooped forward. "Send five armed merchant ships to guard the area, but I don't think we'll be able to run into the opposing ships."

"You're right. According to the information we have obtained, the number of warships owned by the Chinese in Lanfang will not exceed thirty, and if those poor little sampans are included, the number will not reach a hundred at most, and although the number of warships in our fleet is only thirty-seven, even our smallest two-masted warship can deal with two or three of them. Even those armed merchant ships are believed to be on par with their so-called warships. As a correspondent of the company, Overmars must know everything about the other party.

"Don't forget, Mr. Commissioner, and our battleships, I believe that our two third-class battleships, the Hague and Rotterdam, will be enough to crush all those pitifully small opponents." Van Gaal patted the mast rail, a look of pride.

Several people looked at each other and laughed, as if the goddess of victory had thrown several bundles of autumn spinach at them, stripped off their long skirts, and changed into festive robes, waiting for the arrival of these successful ones.

On Maya Island, ten miles north of Sukatana, white clouds float lazily in the pale blue sky, and the light blue waves gently ripple in the offshore water, smearing the golden sand with a layer of water and white foam, and a few long-haired and black-haired seabirds are hovering and chirping in the sea breeze, and the salty but fresh smell fills the air.

"Zhang Xingba, if you don't run here and let those Dutch catch up, then don't blame my brother, I can't help you." Brother Li Pao licked his somewhat dry mouth and put away the binoculars. Turning his head, he glanced again at the countless artillery clusters behind him that were covered in dense tropical vegetation at the end of the sandy beach on the coast, and curled the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.

Maj, an island in the north of Sokatana, is separated from the mainland by a river, and the width of the water between the island and the mainland is only one mile, and at its narrowest point it is only a little more than half a mile.

On both sides of the valley between the island of Maya and Borneo, 250 large and small cannons were installed, and even many of the artillery originally used to defend the city and port of Sukatana were moved here.

So much artillery, mainly concentrated at the mouth of the river and in the middle of the valley. Imagining the scene of hundreds of artillery firing at the same time, Brother Li Pao's heart felt hot, this was the first time he commanded so many artillery pieces to conduct a group battle.

Brother Li Pao bent down, hid behind the reef, and gave an order to the herald behind him. "Send a signal to the brethren that the Dutch are chasing the bait, and tell them that no one is to open fire without my orders, and that we will try to block as many Dutch ships as possible in this valley."

Seeing the back of the herald rushing away, Brother Li Pao secretly gritted his teeth, no matter what, this battle must show the majesty of the Liang family's artillery, if there is any leak in this task, I am afraid that I will not have the face to see the young master again. At that time, the artillery battalion that the young master was preparing to build would probably not have its own place.

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"Zhangtou, let's get those Dutch to catch up." A subordinate with a panicked face rushed to the middle of the stomach? Or should it be said that Zhang Xingba, who was lying on the foredeck and was smashing a cigar from Young Master Liang, yelled very anxiously.

Zhang Xingba squinted. "How far are we from here?"

"Less than two miles."

"Then you are in a hurry, you have to remember, we are a ship that transports gold, we can't run too fast, besides, according to Madame's orders, the ballast stones in this cabin are almost on the deck, can you run fast?" Zhang Xingba rolled his eyes and said angrily.

"But the guys around us are too hard to work, right? It's simply insulting to the prestige of our old Liang family. The other pirate patted the gun on the deck with a look of dismay.

"What if they do too much and scare away all those poor Dutch chicks? To remember. Our task is to bring them into the valley between Maaye and Borneo, rather than rushing forward and beating them up right now. Zhang Xingba took a sip of wine and continued to squint his eyes and lie down with a cigar. Let them come, don't scare them away, or I'll take you to feed the sharks." ”

"Yes!" The men replied loudly.

"These Lan Fang guys seem to be frightened by us, and they actually ran to the Jedi." The captain of a two-masted battleship couldn't help but laugh when he saw where the other was going.

"Soldiers, if you try harder, those poor Chinese don't even have the courage to fight back, and they can't pose any threat to us. Don't let the greedy merchants on the armed merchant ships get ahead of us. Advance! The captain took out the command knife from his waist and raised it high, shouting loudly to boost the morale of his subordinates.

"Very well, it seems that the other party has taken the bait, and now, let half of the sailors and guards jump into the sea and make it look like they are going to run for their lives, and the rest will continue to sail for me and rush into the valley. Hook these white-skinned ghosts some distance further into the river valley. After the ship arrived at the junction of the river and the sea, Zhang Xingba finally stood up, observed the enemy situation in the rear, and gave the order.

(To be continued)