When the crew and passengers of the Java looked with pride at the two hostile naval fleets off the port of Beliman on Bangka Island, a Chinese naval officer was also holding a telescope at the northern sea, less than five nautical miles away, and in his telescope lens was the rusty hull of the "Java".

This Chinese naval officer is Lu Pingxiao at this moment, and he is standing on the ocean-going large attack ship "Green Forest". On the American-style watchtower, a lookout soldier and two naval officers stood beside him, one of whom was holding a telegram in his hand and reporting the contents of the telegram to Lupin.

According to the investigation of the Chinese consulates in Batavia and Palembang, the "Java, is a steel-hulled cargo ship, formerly known as the "Batavia Express", which was built by the shipyard in Lyon, France, and completed in the year of persuasion, with a standard displacement of 500 tons, equipped with two vertical boilers, and a maximum of nine knots. The vessel is twenty years old due to lack of maintenance. In fact, last year it was declared a scrapped ship by the transport authority of the Dutch colonial authorities, according to the relevant materials provided by the Dutch colonial authorities, "Java. The ship was dismantled at a shipyard in Batavia at the end of last year, but for some reason, the ship is still sailing on the South Sea route and has been renamed "Java". The owner of the ship is an overseas Chinese living in Sumatra with Chinese nationality, which has been confirmed by the Chinese Consulate in Palembang, and the consulate is still investigating how the scrapped ship was remodeled.

However, the consulate also stressed that regardless of whether the scrapped vessel had legal sailing procedures or not. As long as the passengers on board are Chinese citizens. There was no reason for the Dutch colonial authorities to detain the Chinese citizens on board, they were not criminals, they did not carry infectious germs, and they were originally settled in the Dutch territories of Huaqiao, not stowaways, so the Dutch colonial authorities forbade them to leave "Java". The actions of the HMS were contrary to international law and inhumane, and in fact constituted a provocation, given that the Dutch warship had also fired at Chinese citizens on board. If the commander deems it necessary to fight back militarily, the consulate has no objection, but please send a telegram to the consulate before the battle begins

The lieutenant commander recounted the contents of the telegram taken from the consulate, and did not hand the transcript to Lu Ping, but stood behind Lu Ping, waiting for Lu Ping to give an order.

Lu Ping put down the binoculars, no expression on his face, turned around and glanced at the transcript of the telegram that the admiral was holding in his hand.

"Order, the Bannerman sent another signal to the Dutch fleet, telling the commander of the Dutch fleet, that if the Dutch colonial authorities continue to detain Chinese citizens on a shipwrecked steamer that is about to sink, we will regard it as a murderous act, and we will take all necessary means to retaliate."

A lieutenant noted down the order and then informed the flag desk by phone, and the lieutenant commander asked.

"Shall we rush into the harbor now to save people? We also have charts for this area, and they are very accurate, as long as we send a cruiser. You will be able to snatch the "Java, from the Dutch."

Hearing this suggestion, Lu Ping pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"We don't know what the situation is in Hong Kong, but it's safe. Now we have only five warships. The other warships remained in the waters of Palembang, and their forces were scattered, and if they were lost, the strength of the entire fleet would be affected. However, it is possible to send a seaplane over, reconnoiter first, and demonstrate to the Dutch by the way

This was Lupin's order, and it was quickly executed.

This time from Palembang, Lu Ping was so poisoned that he didn't carry the slower seaplane carrier, but this doesn't mean that his detachment doesn't have seaplanes, in fact. As large ocean-going assault ships, both the "Green Forest" and the "Red Eyebrow" are armed with seaplanes. Each warship is equipped with two seaplanes, both of which are the latest seaplanes manufactured by Chinese aircraft factories. In peacetime, it is parked on the deck of a warship and lifted by a crane, and in addition to being used to carry out reconnaissance missions, seaplanes can also carry a 50-kilogram navigation bomb to bomb ground or sea targets.

Five minutes later, the Chinese Navy detachment slowed down, the "Green Forest" and the "Red Eyebrow." The crane was activated, the seaplanes were lowered to the surface, and in view of the tense situation, all four seaplanes took off and all were hung with aerial bombs, three of which circled over the fleet, and the other one shook its wings, circled and flew in the direction of Beliman port on Bangka Island.

After all the seaplanes had taken off, the Chinese naval detachment increased its navigation to move away from the range of the harbor batteries, and raised the muzzles of the naval guns, pointing to the two Dutch Navy's "Geldland"-class colonial cruisers that had been tracking from Palembang, and at the same time, the small caliber guns on the warships were also aimed at the Dutch naval gunboat that was sailing out of Belyang Harbor.

The sailors were gearing up, and the naval officers were in high spirits, all looking forward to the fleet commander's order to fight, and the Chinese naval fleet had not fought a decent battle since the First Sino-Japanese War. In the last war in Northeast Asia, the navy's submarine forces were in the limelight, and this made the officers and men of the surface fleet very unconvinced, and they insisted that the duel of the fleets on the ocean must begin with the roar of the big ships and huge guns, and then end in the billowing smoke of the big ships and huge guns, instead of sneakily hiding under the surface of the ocean, and the sneak attack with torpedoes is not enjoyable against the law, and it is also a loss of chivalry, and the officers and men of the surface fleet disdain it.

However, Lu Ping maintained a rare calmness in the midst of the passionate emotions of the officers and men, and he knew very well whether the nature of the "Java incident" was a war provocation or an act of law enforcement at sea. Just between his words, or a command, as long as Lu Ping shouted "Hit." "Then, the next time in the history of world naval warfare will Jiang Lu look at the Dutch naval detachment, there are only three warships. Two of them were protective cruisers and one was a gunboat, which was a huge disparity in strength in the event of a war. In the end, it was certainly not the Chinese Navy that lost. It can only be the Dutch Navy, so if the officers and sailors of the Chinese Navy want to leave a name in the history of world naval warfare, now is the best time to go to war.

Naval warfare has never been about fair duels. It's always been more boats and fewer boats. As long as there is not much difference in the technical level of the two sides in the naval battle, then the side with more ships and more artillery can win the victory in the naval battle.

Now, Lu Ping's fleet belongs to the side of "many ships and big guns", and as long as he gives the order to start a war, he will become the first general of the modern Chinese navy to win the battle of the surface fleet, and he will definitely have a place in the history books in the future.

But Lu Ping still suppressed the impulse in his heart, he knew very well that although the command of the battlefield to decide whether to go to war was in his hands, as a qualified military general, he not only had to take into account the local part of the battlefield, but also had to take into account the overall strategic situation, now, once the war between China and the Netherlands started, then, the situation in the entire South Seas and even the entire Far East will undergo drastic changes, whether it will affect the overall strategy of the central government, Lu Ping is not sure at all.

"Order, no fire, no order!"

Lupin repeated the order he had given a few minutes earlier, and then, raising his binoculars, he looked at the two cruisers of the Dutch Navy.

Just when Rupin was hesitating whether to take military retaliatory action, on the side of his opponent. On one of the cruisers of the Dutch Navy. A senior official of the Dutch colonial administration was also holding a telescope to look at the Chinese Navy seaplanes hovering in the sky.

This high-ranking official of the Dutch colonial authorities was Mr. van Eidenberg, the Governor of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the East Indies Colony, and at this moment he was standing on the bridge of the Dutch Navy protection cruiser "Geldland", holding a telescope and looking up at the sky.

In the lens of the telescope, the details of the Chinese Navy seaplane can be seen at a glance, and even the scarf tied around the pilot's neck can be seen; As for the swarthy aerial bomb mounted under the plane, the Dutch governor also saw it very clearly, and he also understood that the Chinese fleet was ready for battle, and as soon as the battle began, the several seaplanes hovering in the sky could drop aerial bombs on the decks of the warships of the Dutch fleet, or even on the head of Mr. Edenberg.

Edenberg is now very frightened, his fear can be understood, on the one hand, the strength of the Dutch fleet is weak, on the other hand, the Chinese Navy detachment is strong in combat effectiveness, especially the two American-made large ocean-going attack ships, not only thick armor, but also large caliber of main guns, just one shot can send any Dutch Navy cruiser to the bottom of the sea, this disparity in strength is the main reason for Edenberg's fear, as for the secondary reason, is the telegram from the Netherlands just now, In the telegram, which came from the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Xiang severely rebuked Edenberg's provocation against China and ordered him to take remedial measures not only to avoid angering the Chinese, but also to avoid causing the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to lose face in the international community.

The phase command is a difficult task. At least Edenberg believes that with his means and capabilities, he cannot achieve the best of both worlds, and the strength of the Dutch fleet is not enough to deter the Chinese fleet, either, provoke the Chinese, the Netherlands declares war with China, or, take the initiative to compromise and retreat, and then the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will become a coward and a joke in the eyes of European governments.

Since there is no way to have the best of both worlds, then. Now Edenberg has only two choices: to fight or not to fight, and the war is bound to be lost. If you don't say it, you have to take the life of Mr. Governor, and if you don't fight, you can only make the Chinese in the Nanyang region more presumptuous. And not only will it make the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands lose face, but it will also make Edenberg lose the hat of the governor and the considerable annuity, as for whether he will be severely punished by the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands after returning home, no one can guarantee it, and even the telegram does not seem to rule out this possibility, so Edenberg is now in a dilemma.

"Your Excellency the Governor, the distance between the Chinese fleet and us is getting farther and farther, and if we don't give the order to go to war, our shells may not be able to hit the ** ship at all, but the shells of the ** ship can hit our warship, and at this distance, those old shore defense guns in the harbor will not be able to assist the fleet in the battle at all."

The captain stood beside Edenberg and whispered a few reminders, which made Edenberg angry.

"Those damn Tujiang actually gave me such a bad set, if it weren't for those Tu Kings. How did we come to the brink of war? ”

Seeing that Mr. Governor's anger was strong, the captain did not say anything more, but he knew very well that if it had not been for this rash Mr. Governor who had rashly accepted the advice of the earth kings. The "Java" would not have been intercepted by the Dutch naval gunboats at all, and in the final analysis, the situation that the Netherlands is now facing has been created by this Governor-General, and if he cannot resolve the crisis caused by the "Java Incident," a war will surely break out between China and the Netherlands. And not as soon as Mr. Governor-General's "position hardened", as the Sumatra kings claimed. "Weak and accustomed Chinese" will "retreat from the battle"

Obviously, the Chinese are now very different from what they used to be, and the root cause of all this change lies in the Nanyang strategy of the central government of China, and the sadness of Edenberg is that he tried to challenge China's Nanyang strategy in the face of insufficient military power, so it is not surprising that he was counterattacked by China.