Zhang Wei, the head of the ship pick-up work group, came to the Kunming ship, and met with Shang Jinfeng to understand the current situation. At the same time, Shang Jinfeng also reported the situation of the two new warships now. At present, the two warships have sufficient coal, food and drinking water. Although the machines have been worn and worn for more than 20 days of navigation, they are somewhat wear-out and running 25 knots, but there is no problem in running 22 or 3 knots, and the cruise speed can reach about 20 knots. In this era, this is also a considerable speed.

Moreover, during the 20-day voyage, the soldiers of the two warships became more familiar with the operation of the warships. When they set out from Germany, both warships were equipped with ammunition and brought a batch of training ammunition. They conducted multiple shooting trainings on the way back. Now the training ammunition has been exhausted, and about 40% of the ammunition has been used. However, the soldiers' artillery skills have been greatly improved, and the remaining ammunition can still support one or two sea battles.

After understanding the situation of the Qingzhou ship and the Yizhou ship, Shang Jinfeng felt at ease. Now the fleet is about 600 kilometers away from Java Island and is expected to arrive in the Java waters from 8-9 am tomorrow. At this time, the Qingdao command had already learned about the situation in Java through Zhang Zhenxun. Although the farm was attacked by a group of indigenous people a few days ago, due to the large number of people on the farm and being prepared, he not only guarded the farm, but also contained an appointment.

The 300 Chinese who fled to escape now have basically intact facilities on the farm and sufficient food supplies. Zhang Zhenxun is willing to hand over the farm to the People's Army's overseas Chinese protection troops as a temporary garrison. Therefore, the Qingdao Command also agreed to Shang Jinfeng's plan. However, the Command also reminded Shang Jinfeng that at this time, the Batavian colonial authorities had known that the East China government had armed overseas Chinese protection troops, so they were likely to send warships to intercept the front fleet and needed to be prepared.

Shang Jinfeng considered that the first task of the front fleet is to land the army on the landing, and the Dutch fleet may cause trouble for the landing of the front fleet. It is best to divide the front fleet into two batches, one to attract the attention of the Batavian colonial authorities, and the other to bring the army to land. Of course, if you attract the attention of the Batavian colonial authorities, you will likely go to war with them. However, Shang Jinfeng has obtained the authorization of the Chinese people and can open fire first, that is, you have the right to fight.

After hearing this, Zhang Wei immediately asked for an order like Shang Jinfeng, the Qingzhou ship and the Yizhou ship were responsible for attracting and restraining the Batavian colonial authorities. After Shang Jinfeng was worried, he also agreed to Zhang Wei's request for rescue.

In fact, if the Kunming ship is dispatched, of course, it can easily eliminate all the warships of Badavia. However, although Shang Jinfeng fires first, he is very clear that it is impossible to start fighting when he meets him without saying a word. He always has to negotiate with the other party first, and then move. Of course, if the other party fires first, it is a different matter. The advantage of the Kunming ship lies in the attacks outside the other party's range, so it is not suitable to engage in negotiations. If you get a shot, it will be a loss.

Although the Qingzhou and Yizhou are all new ships, they are warships of this era, and they are built for wars, so it is not a pity to be damaged. Moreover, these two warships are both large protective cruisers and have certain combat power. It is unlikely that the Netherlands will have any powerful warships. These two warships will still have a battle. If they really can't compete, then there is still Kunming ships, so they don't even need to touch the place. Only a few * can solve the problem. In addition, letting the Qingzhou and Yizhou participate in the strength can also accumulate experience for the navy. This step will sooner or later be taken over.

After confirming the plan, the three warships immediately lined up in a column and headed towards Java at a speed of 18 knots, crossed the Karimata Strait, and entered the Java Sea.

At around 7 a.m. the next day, the front fleet arrived at the sea area about 60 kilometers away from Java, so the fleet was divided into two, and the Kunming ship sailed towards the predetermined landing position, while the Qingzhou and Yizhou were commanded by Zhang Wei and headed towards the Batavia direction.

The Qingzhou ship and the Yizhou ship sailed about 20 kilometers away. At this time, at the place where the world is in the distance, the outline of Java Island was very clear. At this moment, the lookout table sent an alarm and found that a warship was sailing towards us in front.

After hearing this, Zhang Wei immediately picked up his high-power binoculars and looked from the porthole. Sure enough, several warships appeared directly in front of him. Zhang Wei counted and found that there were 6 warships in total. Of course, because they were too far away, they could not see the details of the warship, but they could still see the red, white orchid-like tricolor flag hanging on the mast, which was the Dutch national flag.

Zhang Wei was meditating for a while and said, "Slow down by 12 knots, the course remains unchanged, line up in a row, ready for battle."

The alarm bells suddenly rang on the two warships, and the soldiers on the ship removed their cannon suits with all their arms and legs. The soldiers in the turret also filled the cannon bore and spare cannon shells, while the rest of the soldiers hid in the cabin. The whole process took only 12 minutes. Zhang Wei looked at the watch and was very satisfied with this efficiency. On the way back, the two warships had trained these subjects more than once, and now they finally saw some results.

The two sides were moving towards each other and getting closer. Zhang Wei also saw that the six warships were of different sizes. One of them was slightly larger in shape, and it should be a flagship, and the three were roughly the same, but they didn't look like battleships or large cruisers. Moreover, two warships were obviously small, probably shallow water gunboats or hull destroyers. Therefore, Zhang Wei also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was not a battleship or large armored cruiser, it would be easy to deal with.

At this time, the lookout table sent another message, saying that the other party had sent a flag utterance, asking that the ship be stopped and explain the purpose of the trip.

Zhang Wei said: "What is the distance between us now?"

After a while, the lookout replied: "About 15 kilometers."

Zhang Wei thought about it and said that this distance was far from the combat distance in this era, so there was no danger of stopping the ship, so he said: "Slow down, stop the ship, send a message to the other party, both sides stop, and both sides send small boats to negotiate."

Soon the other party sent a reply, agreeing to Zhang Wei's proposal that both sides stopped the ship, and all sent small boats to meet and negotiate in person. However, due to the inertia of the warship, when both sides stopped, the distance was shortened to about 12 kilometers. Although this distance was still not the warship combat distance of this era, it was actually within the effective range of the main gun. Because when both sides were stationary, if the gun was fired, the hit rate was still very high. So Zhang Wei ordered that the front main guns of the two warships aimed at each other.

Moreover, due to the closer distance between the two sides, Zhang Wei was able to see very clearly. Although the other side had 6 warships, there were not many front main guns. The largest warship had only one front main gun, and the other three had only two front main guns. Of course, the front main guns of two warships seemed to be around 200 mm. The Qingzhou and Yizhou ships had 6 front main guns. Compared with the two sides, the People's Army had an absolute advantage in the number of front main guns with a smaller caliber. Although the caliber was smaller, if both sides opened fire to each other in the opposite state of the head of the ship, the People's Army had a great advantage.

At this time, both sides put down a small boat and drove towards each other. The two sides met at sea and introduced to each other that the People's Army sent Zhang Xuefeng, the deputy captain of the Qingzhou, with the rank of colonel, and the Netherlands also sent a colonel, with his own name as Linkvict.

Zhang Xuefeng said: "We are the People's Army Navy of the East China Government of China. An anti-Chinese incident occurred on Java Island. Therefore, we are here to protect our country's expatriates and have no hostility towards the Dutch Batavia authorities. I hope you don't stop them."

Linkvic said: "There was no anti-China incident in Java. Your actions constituted an infringement of the sovereignty of the Dutch Batavian authorities. Therefore, we ask you to leave immediately, otherwise we will take the necessary means to safeguard our sovereign interests."

Zhang Xuefeng said: "We have received the exact news that there was a serious anti-Chinese incident in Java. We have no hostility towards the Netherlands and the Batavian authorities, and we have no territorial requirements for Java. We just want to protect our expatriates, but if you stop us, we will regard it as hostile."

Linkvic said: "Col. Can I understand your words just now as a declaration of war on us?"

Zhang Xuefeng said: "It is war or peace, the right to choose is in your hands. I hope you can make the right choice."

Linkvic said coldly: "Okay, I have already understood your purpose. I will reply to my commander and let him decide."

Zhang Xuefeng nodded, and said nothing, but ordered the boat to turn around.

Linkvic returned to his warship and came to the command center to report the results of the negotiations between the two sides to Lieutenant General Helveg, the Dutch Fleet and the commander of the Dutch Army of Batavia.

After hearing this, Hurvig nodded and said, "Okay, my choice is war. Let's teach these yellow monkeys a lesson so that they can understand that the consequences of taking care of us are not something they can bear."

Linkvic was a little worried and said, "Commander, I have just carefully observed their warships. Although these two warships are not battleships, their tonnage will be at least 6,000 tons, which is larger than any of our warships. They are likely to be armored cruisers. Moreover, each warship has 6 front main guns, so the firepower should be not weak, so we cannot underestimate the enemy."
Chapter completed!