Chapter 424 Malacca Crisis

On the east coast of India, in the western waters of the Bay of Bengal, the huge Indian Ocean Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire is sailing eastward in formation.

Dozens of warships guarded the two Nuwa-class transport carriers tightly, and the security was as strict as the emperor's cruising at sea.

On the periphery of the fleet, every ten days and half a month, a Sea Sparrow-class fast communication ship will pass by.

Sometimes the ship belonged to the Imperial Navy Communications Department, but most of the time it belonged to the Imperial Postal Company.

Whenever you see a turquoise painted communication ship guò, it always causes a strong sensation. The officers and men of the whole fleet could not wait to hand over the letters they had prepared in their hands to the postman and entrust the postal company to bring their thoughts and blessings back to China.

On the Dongting Lake, Li Yan and Li Zicheng handed over their letters to the postman, and then prepared to pay for the newspapers of the last half month.

However, the price of the newspaper turned out to be fifty silver dollars.

"I said little brother, you guys are just robbing"

Li Zicheng's expression looked a little painful, although he didn't care about five gold coins, but using five gold coins to buy more than 20 newspapers, there was always an uncomfortable feeling of being stripped naked and robbed.

The postman who delivered the letter just smiled faintly and said, "Sir, we are also on business, this is the price set by the company."

"You're Robbing"

Li Zicheng looked very unconvinced, earning the five gold coins in his hand, but he didn't want to give them to the postman.

Seeing Li Zicheng lose his temper like a child, Li Yan rolled his eyes, he was really helpless, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop Li Zicheng and handed the five gold coins to the postman.

"No, uncle," the postman quipped, "our newspapers sell to foreigners for several times more."

"What do you say?"

Li Zicheng suddenly became angry, the postman's face was full of innocent looks, Li Yan hurriedly grabbed Li Zicheng and sent the postman away.

"What are you doing here?"

"He- he called me uncle?" Li Zicheng said dejectedly: "Am I that old? ”

"That's it?"

Li Zicheng nodded, and Li Yan was speechless.

Li Zicheng also felt a little overdone, and said with a smile: "That-the-fold newspaper is really expensive."

Li Yan ignored him and returned to the deck pergola by himself, drinking tea and reading the newspaper.

The deck of the Dongting Lake is huge and the ride is smooth, and it is rare to feel the shaking on it.

After setting off from Egypt, Li Yan and Li Zicheng did not have to worry about any problems, and in order to pass the time, they built a tea shed on the deck for the officers to enjoy the wind and coolness, as if they were on vacation.

Li Zicheng looked to the other side, and a large group of officers and sailors surrounded the postman, who not only commissioned the delivery of letters, but also accepted the postman to sell his newspaper.

"Is it clear that you are making extra money?"

Li Zicheng shook his head, his face was full of helplessness, so he had to sit down opposite Li Yan.

"We're eye-catching, every newspaper says we're there."

Li Yan watched it with relish, but Li Zicheng was not in the mood, and said, "I heard that the imperial court is ready to do something against the Dutch."

"How do you know?"

Li Zicheng said: "The last time I went to the Zhengya, I listened to what the officers on the ship said."

"It's eavesdropping."

"How do you know?" Li Zicheng was stunned, and hurriedly tried to cover up when he said the wrong thing, but was interrupted by Li Yan.

I saw Li Yan smile and said: "You like to fight so much, it's a matter of time before you do it to the Dutch, but that's a navy thing."

Li Zicheng didn't want to hide it, he did inquire secretly.

"Looks like you know the inside story."

Li Yan smiled and said, "I know something, do you want to listen to it?"

"Of course"

"One Hundred Gold Coins"

"You rob" Li Zicheng glared: "You are worse than that little postman"

Li Yan said with a smile: "I don't think so, I have inside information, but when I invited the commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet to dinner, you want to know, you have to pay some, now the price is so high, a newspaper costs five gold coins, you said that you can't eat a meal for a hundred gold coins!"

Li Zicheng looked at Li Yan in amazement, as if he had known him on the first day

"After so many years of getting along, I found out that you are shameless"

Li Yan didn't care at all, he liked to experience the mood of robbing others, especially Li Zicheng.

Of course, Li Zicheng also knew that Li Yan deliberately made fun of him, so he said: "Okay, I apologize, you are not very shameless"

Li Yan was about to go crazy, Li Zicheng hurriedly said to forgive, and after the two confronted each other for a while, they both laughed unconsciously.

"The Imperial Court has not yet intended to wage a full-scale war against the Netherlands, but it has decided to take action against the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch East India Company."

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "Actually, I also guessed that the empire has already controlled the entire Pacific Ocean, but this Dutch East Indies is the only one left in the way, the Dutch East Indies is holding the Strait of Malacca, affecting the empire's trade security, and sooner or later it will have to be done."

Then, Li Zicheng suddenly said: "The navy can't land and fight, I don't know which brother unit will be in charge when the time comes."

"You're really addicted to war"

Li Yan smiled bitterly and said, "In the battle against the Dutch East India Company, if the navy wins, the overall situation is basically decided. The Dutch East India Company's army mercenaries were very poor, and the War Department only needed to transfer two infantry regiments from Singapore on the other side of the river to solve the land problem."

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "It really looks like this."

Li Yan smiled: "However, this time you have a chance to watch a sea battle."

"What did you say?" Li Zicheng looked at Li Yan in surprise.

I only heard Li Yan reply: "The Admiralty has already commanded me, and this intelligence shows that the Dutch East India Company is likely to take risks and rob our two treasure ships, so the Admiralty has formulated a detailed battle plan, codenamed Plan P, to prepare to annihilate the Dutch East India Fleet in one fell swoop."

"What?" Li Zicheng was speechless in surprise.

"How? Get excited."

"Excited about what?" Li Zicheng suddenly changed color and said: "Naval battle, haven't we become bait?" Wouldn't that be a dead death?"

"Am I wrong?"

Li Zicheng looked at Li Yan with an innocent look, and the latter rolled his eyes in anger from him, and he didn't take a breath, but was choked by the tea.

"I'm so mad at you"

"I'm just joking, after all, at sea, my life is in the hands of the navy, and I feel a little uncomfortable, I think the navy should not be defeated."

Li Yan thought about it, after all, they were landlubbers, and they had no bottom in their hearts when they fought at sea, and they had to use the navy as bait, so they would naturally be afraid.

"There shouldn't be anything?" Li Yan explained: "I heard that in this operation, the main forces of the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Pacific Fleet all participated in the battle, and it was well planned, so there should be no major problems"

Li Zicheng said: "The main forces of the two fleets are fighting together, and there should be no problem in destroying a Dutch East India Fleet, but we are being used as bait, and we feel uncomfortable just-"

Li Zicheng said suddenly: "It's just that how could the Dutch East India Company have such courage?" Don't they know that there is a heavy price to be paid for robbing our treasure ships? ”

Li Yan said: "It should be a dog jumping over the wall, the empire's trade policy belongs to power trade, and the trade of the Dutch East India Company in Yadong is basically monopolized by our empire, and it is said that the profit is already very low." Coupled with the fact that the empire controlled the Suez Canal, the Dutch trade in Yadong was hit hard. I think the Dutch East India Company must have been preparing to hijack our two treasure ships, and then abandon the Dutch East Indies and flee back to Europe."

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "At present, there is only this explanation of our two treasure ships and the gold, silver and jewelry on the treasure ships, with a total value of more than one billion, which is indeed worth a vote."

In Batavia City, in the Dutch East India Company Governor's Palace, Governor Arnhem looked at the board members with a solemn expression.

"I think everyone should know that the treasure fleet of the Chinese Empire is about to pass through the Strait of Malacca, I want to ask everyone, has it been decided now?"

The members of the board of directors suddenly looked at each other, shook their heads and sighed, apparently hesitant about General Arnhem's plan.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Commander Turner of the East India Fleet first said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I will not implement the plan until the end of the day. I'm just telling you about our current situation, no, it should be a reminder."

I only heard Turner continue: "Everyone knows the trade volume of our company, and this year's trade volume has shrunk again, and it has almost reached negative growth, all because we are facing the power trade of the Chinese Empire, and now in Asia, and even on the American continent, there is no room for us to live." You may say that we at least have colonies to plunder the wealth. That's right, even if we don't have trade revenues, and there is no shortage of colonial plunder. But I want to remind everyone, please don't forget that there are Chinese people making trouble everywhere in Batavia recently, can we endure it today and tomorrow? What about the day after tomorrow? You must know that they are deliberately finding fault, the purpose is very simple, that is, the Chinese imperial government behind them is supporting them, and they are already preparing to invade the East Indies"

The board members nodded their heads, Turner's words were not unreasonable, they were not stupid, and of course they understood the political conspiracy behind this.

At this time, Naval Adviser Rejouz said: "General Turner's words are not alarmist, the Chinese Empire is already planning to seize the East Indies, and I believe that this day will come soon."

Seeing that the time was almost up, Arnhem turned around and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please understand that if the Chinese Empire finds an excuse to send troops to Batavia, do you think our United Provincial Republic will go to war with the Chinese Empire in an all-out war?" ”

Everyone looked at each other, and after talking to each other for a while, they all shook their heads. They understood that if it were in Europe, the Netherlands might declare war, but the distance of the Dutch East Indies and the absolute hegemony of the Chinese Empire in the Asia-Pacific region made it impossible for the Dutch government to declare war

Arnhem continued: "So, we have to rely on ourselves without the support of the United Provincial Republics, and it is difficult for us to compete militarily with the Chinese Empire, so we need to rely on financial resources to sustain it." And where does the wealth come from, the two treasure ships of the Chinese Empire are about to pass through the Strait of Malacca, these two treasure ships carry the wealth accumulated from Egypt for thousands of years, worth tens of billions (guilders), if we get this treasure, what if we give up the East Indies, we can go to Africa and South America to develop"A