As the capital of Italian Borneo, Pontianak is one of the largest ports in Southeast Asia, which is exceptionally busy.

Every day, ships bring goods in and out of the port, contributing to the prosperity of Pontianak.

Today, however, the port of Pontianak is a little different. Because today there are very few ships coming in and out of the port of Pontianak, because today is the day of the arrival of the Italian task force.

And not only the arrival of the fleet, but also the convoy of transports carrying the entire crew of the 1st Guards Division under its protection was also docking. The crowd on the dock was crowded, and everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Italian army. And there are also enthusiastic people who are welcoming the crowd unknowingly, popularizing the situation of the Guards.

"This guard is the personal soldier of the Italian emperor, the Imperial Forest Army knows no, they are specially for the emperor to stand guard, each of them is big-shouldered and round-waisted, and one can fight ten."

This is obviously a person who doesn't know how to pretend to understand, and of course there are people who really understand.

"This guard is the army of the King of Italy's cronies, and it is not wrong to be a Praetorian Guard, but someone else's guard may be able to fight a tough battle, but it is not an embroidered pillow. Italy has fought several wars before, and in my opinion, it is here to beat the Dutch. ”

Well, when the Dutch were mentioned, the scene was immediately emotional.

"It's good to beat the Dutch, the Dutch are not something."

"It's just that the Dutch are simply bandits."

"Dutchman ......"

Well, there are not many Chinese in Pontianak who say that the Dutch are good, and over the years of colonization, the Dutch have a good reputation in Nanyang. Of course, there was also the guidance of the local colonial government, as long as the Dutch bullied the Chinese, the Italian colonial government helped them to hype up, which caused many Chinese in the Dutch colony to go to the Italian colony.

Of course, most of these people came with their wealth, and you must know that in Nanyang, except for the colonists, they are the richest among the Chinese.

This trick is the favorite use of former Prime Minister Cairoli, everything is afraid of comparison, and after comparison, the Chinese will know who is the best.

And the current situation is the best commentary, Italy's good reviews for many years have achieved the current results.

Of course, as the newly arrived First Guard Division, it is natural to present the good side to the crowd that greets him. Therefore, all the ships of the 1st Guards Division were selected from the best group of officers and men (seasickness is inevitable in sea transportation, let alone long-distance ones), to form a capable force, full of spirit and full of armor, appeared in front of everyone.

Looking at the mighty officers and soldiers of the Guards, the cheers of the crowd immediately reached the highest.

Regarding the treatment of the Guards, the accompanying naval officers and soldiers showed envious eyes. Although they drove the steel giant ship across the sea, the crowd would focus more on the battleship, and pay less attention to the officers and men of the navy, so naturally they rarely had this feeling of the purpose of ten thousand people.

Vice Admiral Álvaro, as the commander of the task force, also knew the envious eyes of his subordinates, but he was not for the cheers of the crowd.

Well, Vice Admiral Alvaro has a deep understanding of watching someone else become the new Lord of the Admiralty. That's right, Vice Admiral Álvaro was also one of the candidates for the Minister of the Navy before, and he also had a lot of prestige in the navy, but in the end he was not as good as Admiral Yagill, so he could only lose the election.

Of course, he was not unable to eat without competition for the Minister of the Navy, and after the defeat, he quickly adjusted his mentality and moved closer to the new Minister of the Navy. So in return, or in some gesture, he became the commander of this task force.

At present, the Italian Navy task force has more than 20 warships, but the core is three Turin-class battleships, as well as two Venice-class cruisers, even other auxiliary warships, the speed is not lower than the maximum seventeen knots, which can be regarded as the essence of the Italian Navy.

Vice Admiral Álvaro is full of confidence in the fleet under his feet, and with the strength of the fleet, not to mention the pile of rags of the Dutch, he is not afraid of having a fight with the Indian Ocean Fleet of the British Empire.

Well, that's a bit of a head, and if there really is a conflict with the British, his fleet will not be good. Among other things, the British Empire's naval bases all over the world, as well as hordes of warships, can surround his fleet.

As for the Dutch fleet, if it had been believed that it had been said that it was all in tatters eight years ago, the Dutch had built several new ships in recent years, the best of which were two 7,500-ton armored ships; Seven provinces, Holland. The design of the class began in 1886, construction began in 1887, and it entered service in 1890.

As was customary for the Dutch, the ships were equipped with two 305 mm guns, four 150 mm secondary guns, and 12 small 47 mm guns, a 9,000-horsepower triple-steam engine, and a top speed of 163 knots.

From the firepower, it can be seen that the ship is a small boat carrying cannons, although the speed was okay when it was designed, but now it is no longer good, and its ability to adapt to the environment is extremely poor.

Indeed, in the sea trials, the two warships were shaken and seriously unstable in the case of six-level wind and waves.

After some improvements, it is better but there are still problems.

Therefore, these two warships can only be used as shore defense warships, and they cannot go to sea at all. Of course, it is also possible that the Dutch thought like this, otherwise how could these two warships be built so cheaply. At a cost of only 20 million lira, two armored ships were built, which is too cheap. Of course, it is still qualified to let it be a coastal warship to guard a port.

Therefore, it is simply impossible to become an opponent of the Italian fleet, and let's not forget that the Dutch have an archipelago in their hands, and the demand for sea transportation is very large.

The welcoming ceremony lasted until noon, when the crowd had dispersed, and it was only then that Vice Admiral Álvaro walked out of the naval base.

Of course, before that, Vice Admiral Álvaro reiterated an order to the fleet that officers and men must pay attention to military discipline. He didn't want these children to ruin Italy's good reputation, even if they had been at sea for so long. As for the army, I believe that Major General Pulev will give the same order, but these guards attach great importance to honor and will definitely not leave anything to be ashamed of.

In fact, according to reason, he, a lieutenant general, should also appear at the welcoming ceremony. The colonial government had an invitation before, but Lieutenant General Álvaro refused, and he didn't want to be too ostentatious.

So he waited until the welcome ceremony was over, and then he got into the carriage and headed in one direction.

He was going to visit Governor Antonio and ask how he needed to cooperate with him in the future.

After all, the main reason for coming here this time was to stand up for Governor Antonio, so that the Dutch would sober up a little.

Of course, if the Dutch is really not interested, then it is time to educate him, and he is happy to see it.