Chapter 222 Action in the Night
April 7, 1907, was the fourth day since the pirate robbery incident.
After all, the incident cannot be concealed. Rather than letting the Chinese people speculate, it is better to announce it directly and mobilize the unity and public outrage of Australasians.
The Victoria Newspaper and the Australasian Daily News reported extensively on the news that two Australasian merchant ships had been robbed by pirates. It soon became a hot topic among most Australasians and successfully aroused public outrage. , demanding that the government send troops to immediately deal with the pirates and rescue the captured Australasian citizens.
For Australasia, where the situation is calm, such news is enough to shock the entire country and nation.
The day after the news was reported, Prime Minister Evan organized a public meeting and announced that he would take immediate action to protect the lives and property of Australasians.
At the same time, the royal family and Arthur also stated that they would protect the lives of Australasians at all costs, and at the same time retaliate against everyone involved in the looting, and promised to dispatch the Guards and the Navy.
The size of Australasia's navy is not worth mentioning compared with other great powers, but when it comes to Oceania and Southeast Asia, it is definitely second to none.
Sending out the Guards and the Navy to destroy the pirates is the most powerful guarantee that Arthur can give.
Even if the pirates have support from other countries, they will never be Australasia's opponents.
The decisive response from the government, the royal family, and Arthur made Australasians dissipate a lot of their anger, but they paid more attention to this piracy incident.
Whether it is the government, the royal family, Arthur and the Australasians, they are all waiting for the results of this pirate incident.
If the plundered Australasians can be rescued, it will prove that what Arthur said about protecting the lives and property of citizens is true, and that he will really use state power to do it.
If the lives of those Australasians suffer serious losses, even if the government deploys a large number of troops, it will cause serious damage to the reputation of the royal family and the government.
Minister Kent also understood the seriousness of the matter. After obtaining detailed information about where the pirates were stationed, he immediately led his fleet and troops to areas where pirates might exist.
The pirates were stationed in the southern part of the West Sea of Suwela and the northern part of the Makassar Strait, just east of the Kutai Sultanate controlled by the British East India and west of the Brommont Gondo Kingdom.
Because we are at the junction of the two seas, and both sides of the strait belong to different indigenous forces, it is easy for the islands in this area to breed some rebel forces.
The indigenous forces on both sides did not have the ability to manage them, and the Dutch East Indies did not have the energy to explore these small islands at the junction of the two sides of the strait. This made these places the chosen garrison for pirates.
Heading westward along the Kingdom of Bolang Mungondo, we approached the Kutai Sultanate in Borneo after a few hours.
Of course, the purpose of the fleet was not the Kutai Sultanate, but several small islands on the eastern coast of the Kutai Sultanate.
There is a small protruding peninsula on the eastern coast of the Kutai Sultanate, which forms a small bay. There are several large and small islands in the bay to form an archipelago that is not too big.
Those pirate forces are usually stationed on these islands. When the harvest is good, they are simple fishermen. But if the harvest is bad, they are a pirate gang that can kill people.
Because it was not clear where the captured Australasians were, Minister Kent did not dare to act without authorization to avoid unnecessary casualties.
In order to prevent the Blanco Mongondo Kingdom from reporting these pirates, Minister Kent ordered the army to eliminate all the princes and nobles of the Blanco Mongondo Kingdom and destroy all their fishing boats and small boats.
Minister Kent has no control over the life and death of those indigenous fishermen, but if one Australasian is killed or injured, not to mention Minister Kent, even Arthur's prestige will suffer a certain loss.
Of course, just in case, Minister Kent ordered the navy to form a long and narrow encirclement line, eliminating the possibility of any ship approaching the bay.
"Everyone, let's talk about it! The location of the pirates has been determined, but we are still not sure where the captured people are." Before starting the operation, Minister Kent summoned all the army and navy commanders and organized a meeting A small meeting.
"These small islands should not be possible, Mr. Minister." A captain of the Navy said: "This kind of island is too small, and the number of people it can accommodate must not be many. This also means that these small islands should be those small Pirate gangs, they shouldn’t have the guts to rob our merchant ships.”
Although Australasia’s merchant ships are not equipped with any escorts, Australasia does not tolerate guns. Why would someone carry a gun for defense when traveling on a merchant ship? .
This kind of pirate gang was established by the indigenous people of Southeast Asia. Most of their weapons are cold weapons and local guns from hundreds of years ago.
If you want to successfully rob a merchant ship, at least dozens of pirates must surround the merchant ship, otherwise the guns on the merchant ship will be enough for them to drink a pot.
Minister Kent nodded, looked at the largest island in the bay, and ordered: "The Guards will sneak into the island tonight to find the whereabouts of the captured Australasians. Once found, your mission Just to protect the safety of these people and avoid any casualties." "Yes, Mr. Minister!" The commander of the Guards Division nodded calmly without any doubts or hesitation.
"After you find our citizens, you are free to shoot. After we heard your gunshots, we immediately landed on all the islands. These pirates left no one alive. I don't want to see any alive on these islands. ." Minister Kent nodded with satisfaction and continued.
Minister Kent is only worried about the safety of Australasian citizens on the islands. If their safety can be guaranteed, then it will be time for the Australasian army to launch an offensive.
Now is also the time to test the training effect of the army since the last expansion. This time, Minister Kent not only led a Guards Army, but also led the Third Defense Division of more than a thousand people.
At around 11 o'clock in the evening, a group of Guards soldiers took advantage of the darkness and quietly approached the coast of the island in a small sailboat.
The pirates' defense was very lax, and because the Guards soldiers did not use any light sources, they were not discovered by the pirates.
After quietly landing on the island, the Guards soldiers discovered that there was basically no defense force on the coast of the island.
But it's normal to think about it. These natives have just become pirates again. In addition, the geographical location is very advantageous, and there are many small islands for defense outside. It is normal for the natives to be undefended.
The place where the Guards soldiers landed was on the back of the island, which was closer to Borneo and less likely to be discovered by pirates on the island.
As they quietly approached the inside of the island, the Guards soldiers did not find anyone, which also surprised the soldiers.
However, despite being surprised, one should still be cautious. The soldiers cautiously moved closer to the inner side of the island, while cautiously paying attention to the direction where there might be people.
It turned out that the soldiers' caution was a little too much. All the way to the fishing village where the pirates were located, the soldiers were surprised not to find any sentry or patrol post.
After arriving at the fishing village, the soldiers discovered that all the indigenous people had gathered in the fishing village to celebrate, and there were more than a dozen Australasians tied up next to them.
It can be seen from the degree of celebration and the food consumed by the indigenous people that they are very excited at this moment.
In fact, it is understandable. These famine-stricken natives suddenly received hundreds of tons of grain, as well as various vegetables and meat from two merchant ships, enough to allow them to eat without worry for several years.
"Platoon commander, what should I do?" the Guards soldier asked cautiously.
Almost all the pirates are now gathered in the fishing village, and the captured Australasians are not far away.
This makes the situation a bit tricky. The soldiers must kill all enemies with weapons so that there will be no casualties among those captured.
The Guards platoon leader carefully observed the situation in the fishing village and found that there were not many indigenous people holding native guns, only a dozen at most.
Coupled with the indigenous people who were close to the captured Australasians, the soldiers only needed to deal with less than twenty people, which basically ensured that there would be no casualties among the Australasians.
"Each person is assigned a target. Even if it cannot be killed with one hit, the target must be incapacitated. The first, second, and third squads are divided into targets according to the categories of next to the fire, holding muskets, and close to the hostages. Remember , if the first shot does not hit the target, immediately fire a second shot and get closer to our citizens." the platoon leader ordered.
The Lee-Enfield rifle equipped by the Australasian army is currently the fastest firing rifle among all rifles in the world.
This also allows Australasian soldiers to quickly rotate and pull the bolt after firing the first bullet to achieve multiple shots.
Of course, just in case, the Guards platoon leader ordered the soldiers to quickly approach the hostages in Australasia if they missed the first shot and use their own lives to protect the hostages.
This is the level of loyalty of the Guards. In order to complete all the tasks assigned by Arthur, they can devote their lives without hesitation.
After determining their respective tasks, the soldiers adjusted their weapons one by one, loaded their weapons, and began to aim carefully according to the targets assigned to them by their respective squad leaders.
"Everyone, shoot immediately after hearing my gunshot. After the second shot, you must be close to all the hostages. Do you understand?" Before starting the action, the platoon leader asked again.
"Understood!" All the soldiers responded in a low voice.
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(End of chapter)