A leisurely city for solo travelers

Chapter 308 Half Friends, Half Enemies
Frafen and his party sat on the lifeboat, before any resentment emerged in their minds, only empty confusion.

Leaving aside the battleships of the Fang family navy, the armament of the Fang family navy, and even those sailors who are more terrifying than the villains in the Caribbean... Just talking about the character of the admiral opposite is enough to make people feel uncomfortable. I understand.

Frafen later invented a new word to describe this kind of character - Yakuan, in layman's terms, it means pretending to be crazy.

On the way back to Jakarta, Frafen hardly said a word, and the adjutants and sailors who accompanied him had nothing to say. They could bear defeat, they could lose to the Spaniards, the British, even the French and Italians, but To be captured by a bunch of iron lumps like this is really something beyond imagination.

Frafen can imagine that this battle will not only change the situation in Southeast Asia, not only the battle situation between the Fangjia Navy and the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce, but it will directly affect the confrontation between the East and the West. The question now is no longer when the Europeans will Going to East Asia to invade, how to go...but how to stop the admiral's counter-aggression...

Just when Frafen was still thinking with question marks in his head, he saw the pile of iron bumps again.

"Wait! Didn't you say three days?" Flaffin stood on the lifeboat and roared towards the iron ship not far away.

"Friend, don't you have a sense of time?" Fang Xian put one foot on the railing, smoking a pipe he got from somewhere in his mouth, "We've been in Brunei for three days, and it's all because the lifeboat is too slow. gone."

"Xinyi, what about your Xinyi?"

"Where did I break my faith?" Fang Xian put down his pipe and smiled, "It's just that your sailors are not as hard-working as my sailors when rowing."

In this way, Frafen watched several fleets of the Fang Family Navy disappear from sight, and when passing by, they almost swept their lifeboats into the sea.

"It seems... something is wrong." Frafen scratched his head.

"Admiral... they seem to have 20 ships... 5 of them are large North Sea three-barrels that we captured..."

"..." Frafen slumped on the lifeboat, "It's too late, everything is too late."

…………

In the port of Jakarta, Kuhn has received information that the entire second fleet of his fleet has been captured. He has mobilized the remaining two fleets to stand by in Jakarta. Unexpectedly, the Fang family navy did not choose guerrilla warfare, but rather a hard nut to crack. Just go wherever.

As a shrewd Dutch businessman, Kuhn has mixed feelings.

On the surface, it is a foolish act to take the initiative to find the enemy's main force to fight head-on; but it is an indisputable fact that the Fangjia Navy defeated the Kuhn Second Fleet. Since they have the courage to come, they are sure to win.

The specific information about the Fang Navy's operations has not yet been transmitted, and Kuen looked at the iron lumps and was confused.

"Admiral, the Preyla Chamber of Commerce has replied." The adjutant hurried over with a piece of paper.

"Read it directly."

"Okay." The adjutant opened the envelope, glanced at it first, and then said with a stiff voice, "It's just... a group of East Asian barbarians. I believe that your chamber of commerce will be able to resist it. return."

"Damn it." Kuhn waved his arm and stopped the adjutant, "Stupid Portuguese, they don't know how to speak out at this time, but instead laugh behind them. Our side is defeated, and they will be next. It's that simple. Do you not understand the reason?"

The adjutant put away the documents and continued: "Admiral, although the Preyla Chamber of Commerce did not agree to the alliance, their fleet is approaching here..."

"Want to reap the benefits?" Kuhn laughed dryly, "Europe is still immersed in luxury, but here is going to war first."

Now that things are going on, Kuhn can't decide whether to start a war. Although he knows that he will suffer no matter what happens, he can only order to load and prepare for shelling.

As time goes by, there are more and more ships of the Chinese navy above the sea... more and more...

After the lookout confirmed that he had entered correctly, he reported the number "20" to Kuhn.

"Four fleets?!" Kuhn was a little dizzy, but he immediately made up his mind. If the enemy had four fleets, then it would be understandable for his Second Fleet to be defeated. I am very confident, maybe the enemy originally had 5 fleets, and some of them have been bombarded and sunk behind Frafen.

While Kuhn was comforting himself, he clearly saw a flash from the enemy ship, which was the fire from the artillery.For the rest of the time, the sailors of Kuhn's two fleets stared at the looming cannonball, drawing a graceful arc in the sky, and finally hit a few tens of meters in front of Kuhn's flagship.

There was no sound, shooting at this distance, for them, was like Japanese soldiers seeing the Soviet rocket launcher Katyusha for the first time, full of shock and incomprehension, followed by a fall from pride to inferiority process.

Kuhn, like Frafen, gave the order to hold the formation and wait.

This time, the Fang family's navy only fired one shell, and the four fleets of 20 ships stopped moving, and only the flagship Dashun continued to move forward.

Soon, Dashun entered the range of Kuhn's fleet.

"Admiral... the enemy is within range, do you want to fire?" the adjutant thought that Kuhn had forgotten about the artillery, and reminded him from the side.

"They are already looking down on us, firing artillery at this time will only increase our shame." Kuhn's eye sockets became deeper, "The artillery is on standby, the enemy is here to negotiate."

After a few more minutes, finally all the sailors could clearly see the true face of Iron Knot.

The length of the iron lump is similar to that of a large Spanish sailing ship, but its width is fully twice that of a European sailing ship. Dozens of rows of giant paddles protrude from both sides of the bottom of the iron lump. They slap the water crazily, as if they are showing their might.

The admiral on the opposite side was wearing a long black jacket. It could be seen that he was not wearing a shirt at all, as if he was deliberately showing off his bare chest.

When the Dashun traveled to a place dozens of meters away from Kuhn's flagship, it finally stopped. Forty rows of giant slurries pumped water in reverse directions at the same time and stopped at the same time. The scene was quite shocking.

Fang Xian took off his black admiral hat and waved to Kuhn from a distance.

Kuhn had no hat to take off, so he had to bend slightly in embarrassment.

After bending down, he felt that it was wrong to do so.On the one hand, Europeans don't have to do this even when facing the emperor of China. Why did they do it naturally?
Just as he was thinking, the greeting from the other side had already come.

"Kuhn, I like you more than Preyla, so it's me, not Cannonball." Fang said with a smile.

"..."

"To be honest, I'm looking for an ally. It's too tiring to be an enemy of the whole of Europe." Fang Xian fiddled with his hat, "So I plan to be an enemy of only half of Europe."

"..." There was a sound of astonishment from the entire Kuhn fleet.

Enemy against half of Europe?
Even the British in their heyday would not dare to say such a thing, would they?
He thought he was Alexander?Or Caesar?
Only Kuhn knew that maybe what he said was not false.

The previous shot, just one shot, was enough to become a bargaining chip against Europe.

The huge advantage of range is almost the biggest winning condition of naval warfare in this era.

Fang Xian saw that Kuhn hadn't spoken for a long time, so he could only urge him: "Mr. Kuhn, would you like to be my half friend or the half enemy?"

Kuhn was silent for a while, and asked, "Respect Admiral Fang, how do you choose your friends and enemies?"

Fang Xian laughed loudly: "It's like killing the Three Kingdoms!"

"...?"

"Well, you can understand it this way. If I make a friend, then the friend's enemy is my enemy, and the friend's friend is also my friend, and so on."

Kun's eyes lit up: "So, if we form an alliance..."

"I will turn around and make the Portuguese disappear in this sea forever." Fang Xian grinned.

Kuhn didn't hesitate any longer: "Dear Admiral Fang, the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce will be your most loyal ally. Similarly, I will try my best to convince the country. I believe that the whole of the Netherlands will be your friend soon."

The sailors of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce finally exclaimed.

The adjutant kept tugging at Kuhn: "The admiral... didn't get permission from the country... Someone will be dissatisfied with it."

Kuhn turned his head and cursed: "When you really need to make a decision, there is no time to wait. Losing this opportunity will only lead to more dissatisfaction."

Fang Xian clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Mr. Kuhn is indeed a happy person. I will get back my share of the six ports in Southeast Asia, and we will share the rest of Preyla's territory equally."

Kuhn nodded in agreement without thinking.

Fang Xian then gave an order to turn the bow of the boat.

"Mr. Kuhn, I'm not afraid of you breaking your promise...it's just that it will be very troublesome, do you understand?"

Kun nodded awkwardly. In front of the enemy's fleet and artillery, he could no longer scream.

"Okay, Preila's fleet is not far to the northwest. That will be my meeting gift to my allies. Get ready to sign a contract with Malacca."

In this way, they watched the ship go away.

Afterwards, a joke was circulated in this sea area - defeating Kuhn?One shot is enough.

Choosing Kuhn over Preyla was actually a deliberate decision.Preyla is based in Malacca, the throat of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. It is a very important commercial port and the only way for various routes.On the other hand, Jakarta, the stronghold of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce, is in the south of Southeast Asia. There is no need for Fang Xian to go there to expand his territory. Even if Kuhn is eliminated, he has no experience to run business there.

As for "becoming an enemy of half of Europe", this is also a decision after weighing the enemy and ourselves. If you are an enemy of the whole of Europe, the constant consumption and frequent battles are enough to make you vomit blood. Instead of doing this, it is better to use the enemy's Infighting, win over half and kill half, can achieve the game victory conditions without taking risks.

In the European war situation of Voyage 4, Spain's Baroudis Army is undoubtedly the most powerful, followed by Britain's Clifford's Army, and then Portugal, Italy, Germany and other countries.It is worth mentioning that the Hayreddin family from Tunisia in North Africa and the Turkish Pasha army also have considerable strength. Together, they carved a map of the North Sea and the Mediterranean.

Among them, there is basically no possibility for the Fang family navy to form an alliance with Clifford's army and Baludis army. The two countries' navigation capabilities are too strong, and they are all aiming at the world hegemon. Due to national and cultural reasons, they cannot cooperate with the Clifford's army and the Baludis army. The probability of an alliance with the Pasha army is also slim.If you want to win allies, those relatively weak forces obviously have a greater chance. The alliance with them does not expect them to do anything, but just wants to have one less enemy to avoid being too embarrassed.

If Kuhn keeps his word and convinces the country, then at least in the North Sea, a situation can be formed where the Dutch and the British are outflanked, which is much more comfortable than dealing with everyone at the same time.

While the Preyla fleet was still waiting for the results of the Jakarta battle and reaping the benefits, the fleet of the four Fangjia navy had reached the firing range.

No one could have expected that the battle would end so quickly, and no one could have expected that the enemy's artillery could hit so far.

It's a pity that only Huamei's Chinese sailing fleet and the few gun bays of the armored ships are equipped with continuous firing guns. Fang Xian has no time to go back to East Asia to change the guns of the large North Sea three-barrel sailing ship he just captured. , and also overturned 5 enemy ships before the two sides approached.

Preyla originally had an iron plan, and his three fleets would not lose no matter what, but he didn't expect to be bombarded and sunk one formation before firing the cannon.

"Retreat! Retreat at full speed!" Preila was frightened by such artillery. She had no courage to shoot at her anymore. She just hoped to escape back to Malacca and end this nightmare.

But my big brothel's three thousand sailors obviously can't let him get what he wants!
The Fang family's navy made a big disturbance in the Southeast Asian waters, and there was a lot of movement, but there was no real big battle. The Yaozi sailors saw the Europeans surrender and escape, and there was no chance of hand-to-hand combat.

The twitching frequency of the forty rows of giant boats was comparable to that. The ironclad ship flew in like a speedboat. Fang Xian was extremely happy to see this enthusiasm. He immediately promised the sailors a reward of [-] gold coins, and the one who came was even faster. speed.

"Then what the fuck is it?!!" Preyla was speechless, seeing the iron-clad ship approaching like a whale was going crazy, just like a swimmer bumping into a shark, full of despair and fear .

This time, Fang Xian fulfilled his promise and no longer showed mercy to the enemy. Preila was both indecisive and despicable. There was no need to fight for the opportunity to form an alliance with such a person.

The 10 ironclad warships approached quickly and stuck to the enemy ship almost one-on-one. Although the enemy fired a few short-distance shells in a short distance in a hurry, they were swallowed by the ironclad warships one by one.

What I have to say is that the heavy cannons equipped by European ships are indeed far stronger than the original artillery in East Asia. Every time the ironclad ships forcibly approach, they lose nearly half of their durability.

But now that the enemy ship has been bitten and hooked onto the trestle, the rest of the matter is obviously a happy thing.

Admiral Fang and a disciple and a lady were also hungry and thirsty. He threw down the admiral's jacket and damn hat, and jumped onto the trestle.

"Shirtless?!! Is he Hayreddin?!" Preyla was already scared out of her wits.

Fang Xian slashed at the desperate enemy sailor in front of him while raising his little finger to Preyla: "You are bound to lose, there is still hope for a duel with me."

When Preila saw this kind of monster, she didn't dare to duel, so she just pushed the sailors to block it like crazy.

Fang Xian personally went into battle and hacked down the enemy ship all the way. Behind him, the sailors swarmed up, with gold coins and blood in their eyes, he was the purest Caribbean pirate.

Fang Xian couldn't help admiring the warriors of the Dao family. At that time, they used three times as many troops as Lai Dao and were able to kill that much. But facing these Europeans at this time, is it like bullying a child!
But facing Preyla this time, the gap between the sailors was five times, not counting the 5 gunboats that failed to keep up.

Almost at the moment of hand-to-hand combat, 4 ships announced their surrender. Within a few minutes, the Dashun annihilated 2/3 of the sailors of the enemy's flagship. Fang Xian captured Preyla himself, and the enemy's flagship also surrendered ,
The army was defeated like a mountain, and after Fang Xian shouted with Preyla, the enemy's entire ship surrendered. Even in hand-to-hand combat, the Fang family's navy almost killed Preyla without any damage.

Looking back after the war, if Preyla could show a little bit of backbone and shoot the whole ship earlier, he might be able to sink an ironclad ship. As for losing, there is no dignity.

These are the judgments of others. Only Preyla and Kuhn know how surprised people will be when they suddenly face such a fleet, and it is understandable to make stupid decisions.

Kuhn held the binoculars and looked at the battle group from a distance, still a little unbelievable, he asked the adjutant dumbly.

"How long did it take?"

The adjutant looked at his pocket watch: "It took 17 minutes and 24 seconds from the firing of the first shell to the capture of the entire Pleira ship..."

"God bless." Kuhn touched his heart and thanked God sincerely, "Fortunately, I am his friend."

The adjutant also sighed sincerely: "When the admiral made that decision, my dignity was a bit unacceptable, but seeing this result, I just want to say that if I am killed like Prayira, I will no longer have the dignity Two words."

Kuhn made a decisive decision: "Go get a pen and paper. I will now send this news back to China. I believe everyone will support my decision after seeing the results of this battle."

"Yes."

At this time, a brown-haired girl dressed in a green and playful waiter had already handed over a pen and paper.

"Uncle, you are already ready."

Kun hesitated for a moment, then took the paper, tapped the girl's forehead, and cursed with a smile: "Didn't you be told to stay on the shore, when did you sneak onto the boat?"

The girl stuck out her tongue.

Kuhn said helplessly: "I'm sorry, Lilu, for getting you involved in such an adult matter and letting you see your uncle making a fool of himself."

The girl pouted: "I'm an adult too! My chamber of commerce is second to none in Amsterdam!"

"Haha, that's right, Lilu is the best at doing business!" Kuhn laughed, seeing that his niece had swept away the depression of defeat, and if he had to say it, his current posture should be that of a winner.

"Is he from the East?" Lilu looked at the warships from a distance, and could only see a group of people yelling crazily around one person.

"Yes, it's the Chinese." Kuhn shrugged, "Intel from East Asia has just come in. He just wiped out the navy of the Qing Dynasty a month ago, and then wiped out the navy of Japan, stepping on the head of the shogunate , God, such important information came so late..."

"That is to say..." Li Lu looked at the vague figure, "He is the... overlord of the East Asian Sea..."

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Kuhn and Lilu didn't have this kind of relationship in the first place. This is the author's life-and-death struggle, and has nothing to do with the protagonist's integrity.

(End of this chapter)