At 5:40 am on July 5, 1793, the morning light was slightly dewed. As the sea water in the Strait of Malacca began to rise, the three gunboats of Beihai No. 2, 3 and Guanghai No. 7 led by Guo Xuexian raised sails from Prauwudan Island, and arrived at the ocean three kilometers southeast of Malacca City.

It was already bright at this time. After the Dutch defenders on the castle discovered the situation, they hurriedly rang the bell to call the police. The commander and governor of the city defense and governor Abraham Kuperus, who came to hear the news, found that there were only three ships, and only two fourth-class ships and a Junke ship with hard sails. The heart was immediately relieved after hanging for a night. The enemy's troops were not large, and some were dragged in time!

To be honest, the North Navy Shipyard has been "not doing its job" over the years. In addition to building two fly-scissors with different tonnages, most of the work is to modify the seized or purchased Siam broad ships. For Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng, who are the head of the naval department, they both disdained to build large and incompetent sailing ships from the beginning. No matter how thick the oak board is, they are slag in front of the high-explosive bombs.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that there is no shipbuilding wood in the native wood in the northeast. Secondly, the two of them were considering that they would directly build ironclad ships when the industrial level was improved. After all, Beihai Town was backed by another time and space, and many ship design drawings from the early 20th century can be found. As long as the technical conditions such as steel smelting, propeller manufacturing, welding technology are improved, it is easy to get an ironclad ship.

However, eight years have passed, and when the workers' level has improved, the two of them have changed their ideas. The 75mm cannon could no longer satisfy their ambitions of giant ships and cannons, so they forced Zhao Liang's military-industrial complex to start climbing the technology trees of "electric slag remelting" and "single-layer gun barrel hydraulic self-tightening technology", but this poses a higher challenge to the technical capabilities of Beihai Town.

Whether it is electroslag remelting or hydraulic self-tightening, it involves a series of processes and heavy equipment such as refining, forging, heat treatment, cutting and drilling, self-tightening, body tube correction, stabilizing heat treatment, and finishing. Especially the ultra-high pressure self-tightening machine of 1000~1500Mpa, this is not a roadside cabbage. If Zhao Xin wants to buy a complete set of production equipment and processes from "Da Mao", in addition to the massive amount of funds and the strength of technical workers, the procurement process alone will take a year and a half.

In addition, after a model of artillery is produced, a large number of tests are required, including reliability, guarantee, maintenance, testing, safety, cost-effectiveness, and personnel. It is not enough to make the gun barrel.

Zhao Liang had no choice but to use the "Rodmann Cannon Cast Method" in the mid-19th century to make a transition. However, this method can only create a smooth-bottle cannon with a front-loaded smooth box. Not to mention Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng, even Zhao Xin looked down on it. And the most important thing is that this technology is not advanced, and once it leaks, it will be easy to be mastered by Europeans.

So the naval department of Beihai Town had to stick to the shortcomings and continue to equip small-caliber 75mm cannons, while looking forward to the arrival of the future era of ironclad ships and large-caliber naval guns.

Although his mentality was relaxed, the governor of Malacca, Kuperus, who was a businessman, sent an envoy to negotiate. If he could, he would not turn over the table. Fortunately, Chen Qihou and his team had planned to go to Praudun Island this morning, so the ship was ready last night. After about forty minutes, a sloop with a white flag carrying the local municipal committee, Vir, Major Parega, and Karbidan Chen Qihou, part-time translator Lei Zhenlan Cai Shizhang and others drove out along the outlet of the Malacca River.

The group went to Beihai No. 2 and saw that the deck was extremely clean and tidy. The sailors and soldiers were all wearing uniform navy blue short-sleeved uniforms and trousers and black short boots, and a soft hat with the same color on their heads. There was also a finely crafted badge in the middle of the hat.

Whether it was the Dutch or the two Chinese, they had countless warships and merchant ships traveling from north to south in Malacca, but no one had seen any sailors from any country even distributed uniforms.

In this year, the uniforms of navies in European countries began to become standardized. Although officers were wearing elegant and decent clothes, sailors... that was a group of livestock, who cares about how they wore them. Whether it was a merchant ship or a warship, sailors either wore casual clothes or were ragged. If the clothes were rotten, look for them in the grocery compartment and whatever they could wear!

In fact, the uniforms of Beihai Town Navy were also after several twists and turns to become the current style. At first, they were orange-yellow work uniforms, but later they changed to jungle camouflage like the army, and then they changed to white sailor uniforms. Unexpectedly, this was resisted by many sailors. They unanimously believed that wearing "white" was very unlucky. Deng Fei had no choice but to change it, which led to the current navy blue uniform.

As the captain, Guo Xuexian wore the same uniform as the sailors, but the two stars on his seal marked his identity. When he was sure that the young man under thirty years old in front of him was the commander of the fleet, several Malacca envoys were surprised again.

Both sides saluted themselves, and Weir, the chairman of the municipal committee representing Kuperus, came up and said Brabra. After that, Cai Shizhang spoke Zhangzhou Mandarin to translate. He listened to Guo Xuexian, a Panyu man, rolled his eyes as if he had heard of the heavenly book. Fortunately, there was a Quanzhou man among the officers behind him, and then he understood what the other party meant.

In an era when Mandarin was not promoted, let alone different language areas, the accents between different villages and towns were very different. A Cantonese-speaking Cantonese-speaking Cantonese-speaking Zhangzhou people who speak Minnan dialect was simply a chicken and a duck. Different dialects caused great communication difficulties, which is why Chinese people were willing to find fellow villagers to gather together after going to Southeast Asia.

Back to the point, the Dutch meant that everything could be discussed, and surrender was not impossible, and there was no need to fight, kill or something. However, before Xiancheng surrender, the stay and departure of the Dutch residents, how to deal with the local Portuguese descendants, and the handling of the goods, real estate and plantations of each family, all require time to solve them one by one. So they hope that the North Navy can give them some days to make these matters clear and handle the handover procedures.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! "Boss Cai, please tell Mr. Weir that I said it very clearly before. I will give them time until 1:30 noon today. When it is time to surrender, more than 100 cannons on the three boats will fire. Let them think about it themselves!"

Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang suddenly knelt in front of Guo Xuexian, begging with a sad face: "Sir, please save the villain's family! Last night, the Dutch sent troops to take all the Chinese from each family in Jiacheng to the castle. If the adults fire, we will have life worries about our family and other people!"

Guo Xuexian nodded slightly, and he helped Chen and Cai up, and asked Cai Shizhang to translate his words without missing a word. After hearing this, the three Dutch people looked very ugly.

The few people were about to distinguish, but Guo Xuexian raised his hand to stop him, and said to Cai Shizhang: "Tell them, and tell them when you go back, you will also tell the governor that the city of Malacca must surrender today, and you will discuss it! Surrender obediently, I can guarantee that their lives and property are safe, otherwise I will put it here today. If they dare to use the Chinese to block shells for them, the Dutch men, women, and young men, and young men, and I will cut off their heads and serve as sacrifices for the Chinese who died."

After hearing this, Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang were stunned.

"Cai, what did this Lieutenant Colonel Guo say?"

"He said, said..."

Cai Shizhang, under Guo Xuexian's staring gaze, made a rough translation with a bitter face. After hearing this, Weir and others changed their expressions drastically. Unexpectedly, this seemingly gentle commander was so cruel.

Chen Qihou begged: "Mr. Guo, General Guo, what can't you sit down and talk about it well? It's not unreasonable for the Dutch."

"I'm sorry, you two, I received an order to take down Malacca City today, and not delay, otherwise I will also have to take military law."

Guo Xuexian pondered for a moment and decided to add more fire, completely cutting off the Dutch's thoughts, so he said again: "Don't be anxious first, two. In my opinion, the Dutch are just a bunch of bad bones. If I show weakness, they will be more fearless. Two hours later, I will show the firepower of the fort in the southeast corner of Malacca City. Go back and tell the governor that if you don't want to die, get away."

Chen and Cai did not understand what "firepower display" means, but they understood from Guo Xuexian's tone that the other party was likely to fire at the castle. The two tried to persuade them later, but Guo Xuexian issued an order to expel the passengers. In desperation, they had to follow the three Dutch people and take a boat back to hand in the deal. As the sloop went away, a gray-white drone rose from Beihai No. 2 and headed towards the direction of Malacca City...

Several envoys returned to Malacca City and immediately went to the "Red House" where the Governor's official residence was located. Speaking of this red house, it turned out to be white. Unexpectedly, local Indian workers always like to spit juice on the wall after chewing betel nuts. It was useless for the Dutch to stop them many times, and in the end they simply painted the exterior walls red.

After hearing the reports from Weir and others, Governor Kuperus's face looked ugly. He did not expect that his tricks were seen through by the other party, and he "didn't care" about the lives of more than a thousand Chinese people at all, but instead threatened the lives of himself and his compatriots. To put it bluntly, he was just a businessman. He came to Southeast Asia to make a fortune, not to fight anyone. Besides, even if he didn't consider others, he had to consider his wife and children.

Time soon came to the North Navy for firepower display, but the Dutch defenders on the castle found that the other party's three gunboats were all unmoved, thinking that they were so far away to make a hammer! Many people, including the City Defense Commander, felt that the North Navy was talking big.

Unexpectedly, the next second, a slight sound suddenly came from the empty and silent sea in the distance, just like someone setting off a firecracker dozens of meters away. However, after a few seconds, a whistling sound from far to near made the face of the defenders on the castle change drastically. It was too late to run away.

"Boom!" A shell landed on the open space more than 20 meters away from the southeast corner of Malacca City. The gray-black smoke columns rose five or six meters high. The soil flew into the air with weeds and fell down again. The Dutch defenders on the forts everywhere in the city wall were a little panicked now. It turned out that the Northern Navy was really not bragging!

Thinking of this, dozens of defenders on the fortress in the southeast corner retreated without waiting for the city defense commander to speak. Amid the chaos and noise, a whistling came from the air, and black smoke columns kept rising outside the city wall. The explosion spot was closer to the point, and a shell fell on the city wall. The explosion shock wave blew the wooden cannon of an 18-pound cannon into pieces. The heavy bronze cannon hit the ground with a bang, making a dull sound.

More than ten seconds later, more shells roared, and the southeast corner of Malacca Castle was immediately filled with smoke from bombs and gravel flew across. Three 18-pound cannons with thousands of pounds were even blown up, rolling and landing on the ground, or falling off the city wall.

The Dutch defenders in the castle were shocked. They had all heard that the Northern Navy's cannons were powerful, but no one had seen them. They only saw them today.

When the explosion finally stopped, Kuperus climbed up from the ground with his head in his arms, shook the soil on his head. Seeing that everyone around him, including the city defense commander and the city commissar, were looking at each other. He lamented, thinking that he was in trouble.

"Well, for the safety of our lives and property, I need someone to stand up and contact those Chinese people. I agree to surrender. What do you guys have any opinions?"

After hearing this, everyone nodded silently, and then turned their eyes to the three messengers who went to negotiate in the morning.

Under the deterrence of the North Navy naval guns, the Malacca side, who knew it was difficult to resist, had been difficult for more than three hours of difficult negotiations. After Guo Xuexian agreed to write the clause "will not harm the lives of the Dutch in the city and guarantee the legal property of everyone" into the surrender letter, Kuperus finally agreed to cede Malacca to Beihai Town.

Zeng Youliang's short gun was still useless. Although he tried to mobilize some Chinese people on the night he entered the castle and was preparing to lead people to attack the "Red House" when the Northern Navy siege, there were only a few responders. After Guo Xuexian led his troops to the shore, he brought his servants to the outside of the city gate to set up a table of incense, eat pots of slurry, and welcome the king's army.

Seeing this young man so powerful, Guo Xuexian immediately appointed him as an advisor to the Military Control Commission to assist in handling the affairs of the city. This made Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang, who were one step slower, jumped a lot. It seemed that the boss of Qingyunting would be replaced in the future.

After the army entered the city, it issued a notice of peacekeeping, confiscating defenders' weapons, sealing armorys, and sealing official accounts. Kuperus and the officers in the city were detained in prison as prisoners of war that night. Guo Xuexian did not abuse them, and also allowed his family to visit, but said that he would wait until the Java War was over before repatriation.

In the next three days, the newly established Military Control Commission not only purchased a large amount of food through local Chinese people and replenished freshwater on board, but also bought a large amount of quicklime from the market, hired workers to dig a large pit near the beach outside the city and dug a ditch leading to the sea. His move puzzled many people, guessing that the Northern Navy was planning to build a salt field?

The answer was soon revealed. Two days later, when the "Jinglei" who came from Bacheng arrived in Malacca with 500 security team members, Guo Xuexian ordered that all opium in the local market be immediately checked and transported to the beach to destroy. Only then did the Dutch merchants, Portuguese merchants and Chinese merchants who were selling opium wake up as if they were dreaming.

After two days of investigation, the security team members, led by the visitor of the Bacheng Military Control Commission, collected more than 2,000 boxes of Indian opium from the market, totaling more than 150,000 kilograms. They had done this once in Bacheng before, and they had already become familiar with it.

Many people found Chen Qihou and Cai Shizhang to help plead, and even came to the "Red House" to see Guo Xuexian. They said that even if the customs tariff on opium is raised in the future, it would be fine, but once confiscated, there would be heavy losses in business, and there would be many people who went bankrupt.

However, eliminating opium is the firm goal of Zhao Xin and even Beihai Town, and no one can tell the truth. Moreover, the Bacheng Military Control Commission has dealt with the sheltering behavior of confiscating opium in the past. Once someone is found to have received bribes and shelter from it, the mildest ones will be sent to the plantation for hard labor, and the severe ones will be shot directly.

It was from this moment that merchants from all over the world traveling to Southeast Asia finally understood the attitude of Beihai Town towards opium. However, Zhao Xin knew in his heart that the more opium was prohibited from flowing into East Asia, the more its price would rise. Moreover, although he controlled the Strait of Malacca, there would definitely be someone who would open a land passage, and it would be difficult to completely ban it.
Chapter completed!