1850 American Gold Tycoon

In February 1854, the assembled fleet and the selected armed forces set off from San Francisco, replenished coal in Hawaii and headed directly to Xiangshan Port in Guangdong.

It is obvious that Umbrella's 500 mercenary armies alone cannot complete this military operation alone.

Therefore, most of the armed forces of the Western Brigade went out with the fleet to participate in this military operation.

The regular land military forces participating in Operation Fulcrum Expedition included the entire California Infantry Regiment, the entire Arizona Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the Oregon Infantry Regiment, an engineer battalion, two artillery companies, and a cavalry company, totaling 3,800 people.

In addition to the land force, there are also civilian armed forces recruited by California's upper-level self-organization, totaling 1,300 people. These civilian armed forces were organized into a militia group for auxiliary operations, and Fremont was responsible for the command.

Since the troops were sent out in the name of Umbrella Company this time, the regular troops sent out were prohibited from carrying the company's military flag.

Therefore, all units have replaced themselves with Umbrella Corporation's umbrella logo flags, but painted different symbols on the flags to show distinction.

For example, the California Infantry had a dragon on its flag, the Arizona Infantry had a cactus, and the Oregon Infantry had a beaver.

In terms of maritime power, 4 refitted warships were dispatched, 8 loach-class ships from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau were requisitioned, and 16 requisitioned and modified clipper ships from the private sector. The displacement of these clipper ships ranged from 700 tons to 1,200 tons. .

These clipper ships were equipped with 22 to 30 6-pound Sacramento guns depending on the specific situation and were used as support ships.

Global Shipping Company also deployed seven steam paddle steamers as transport ships to support the logistics transportation of the troops.

The number of sailors participating in this military operation reached 3,400, of which 2,800 were combat personnel.

This was the largest armed force ever mobilized by Liang Yao.

In order to capture the island of Borneo, Liang Yao basically took out all the belongings he could afford.

Liang Yao hoped to end the war on Borneo Island in a short period of time instead of falling into the quagmire of war, so he spared his money and mobilized 9,000 people to participate in this military operation.

"It's a waste of money. It's a damn waste of money. The war hasn't even started yet. Last month, the salary alone was $250,000, and the ammunition for the test firing was a full $120,000."

On board the Bold, Liang Yao stared at the list of expenses since the staff gathering last month and felt his heart ached.

Including the purchase of materials to be transported to Xiangshan, the cost of modifying the clipper ship, the fuel money for the steam ship, and the money for buying off Southeast Asian pirates and Hong Mingxiang, Liang Yao had already spent $860,000 before the war started.

I really don’t know how much it will cost after the fight starts.

When the cannon goes off, there are thousands of taels of gold. The ancients will not deceive me.

"Are you feeling distressed?" Freemont teased.

"This is 860,000 U.S. dollars!" Liang Yao said, covering his heart, "I hope this money is not wasted, and it will not even make a sound when thrown out."

Fremont stared at the operation called Operation Fulcrum on the table and said: "As long as we can land on Borneo Island, the operation plan will be half successful, and the money will be well spent. Land operations are our strength."

"After landing, the troops will also need a steady supply of logistical supplies. Only with sufficient ammunition can our troops exert their combat effectiveness." Liang Yao stood up and drew two lines on the map.

“The Dutch’s supply line from Batavia (Jakarta) to West Borneo is only more than 700 kilometers, while our supply line from Xiangshan to West Borneo is more than 2,500 kilometers in a straight line.

If you want to defeat the Dutch and Indian authorities, even if you don't annihilate their maritime power, you must give their main maritime force a painful beating! "

In island operations, whoever has the best supply capability is the winner. If they cannot gain control of the sea, the situation of the officers and soldiers who land on the island will not be any worse than that of the soldiers of the Chinese resistance organization on the island.

If you want to win, especially if you want to win quickly, you must gain sea control, at least part of it.

Maritime power requires a long period of accumulation, and the gap in this aspect cannot be caught up in a year and a half.

The two bold-class ships being built by the San Francisco Shipyard will not be launched until July at the earliest. Before the two bold-class ships are launched, Liang Yao only has four serious warships available.

Although the Netherlands was severely damaged after the Anglo-Dutch War and has never recovered, its maritime power has been accumulated for more than two hundred years and cannot be underestimated.

In land operations, Liang Yao was fully confident of defeating the Dutch and Indian government's colonial forces, but in sea operations, Liang Yao was not sure whether he could defeat the Dutch and Indian government's maritime forces and gain partial control of the sea.

On February 25, 1854, Colonel Elvis of the Arizona Infantry Regiment nervously sailed into the Capuas River on a British-flagged merchant ship and entered the Port of Pontianak.

Although this merchant ship was chartered by the American Group from the British Steamship Company in Hong Kong, the crew on board were all English, Scottish and Irish crew members from the Universal Shipping Company.

The control areas of Dagang Company and other Chinese resistance companies have been squeezed out of the coast, and they are unable to provide Liang Yao with a port to berth his ships. Liang Yao could only win one port by himself.

Liang Yao's number of people on this expedition was as high as 9,000. If he wanted to satisfy 9,000 people, he had to win a port, a port that could berth large ships.

In the West Borneo region, there are two ports suitable for landing.

One is Sarawak in the north, and the other is Pontianak in the west.

From a purely geographical perspective, Sarawak in the north seems to be a more ideal landing place.

Compared with Pontianak, Sarawak is farther from Batavia, and ships of the Dutch and Indian authorities patrol the waters near Sarawak less frequently.

However, from a political perspective, Sarawak is not a suitable landing location.

In 1842, the British James Brooke declared Sarawak to be an independent kingdom from Brunei - the Brooke Dynasty. The British authorities immediately declared the Brooke Dynasty as its protectorate. Sarawak was actually a British protectorate.

The United States also recognized the legitimacy of the Brooke Dynasty in Sarawak. Liang Yao was not stupid enough to offend the British and create another strong enemy for himself.

Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, the only option for Liang Yao was Pontianak.

At this time, although Pontianak barely maintained its independence in name, it was controlled by Sultan Al Qadri of the Pontianak Sultanate.

But in fact, the Pontianak area is already the back garden of the Dutch and Indian authorities. The Sultan of Alkadri was nothing more than a puppet supported by the Dutch and Indian authorities.

The Dutch and Indian authorities also attached great importance to Pontianak. Colonel Andersen, the general of the Royal Dutch East India Army who was responsible for destroying the Dagang Company and other Chinese resistance companies, was based in Pontianak.

The composition of the garrison guarding Pontianak was very complex, including not only the Royal Dutch East India Army, but also troops from the Pontianak Chiefdom and troops from the Lanfang Company wearing Qing Dynasty green camp-style military uniforms.

However, because the combat effectiveness of the chiefdom's troops has always been worrying, the core garrison force of Pontianak is actually a regiment of colonial troops of the Royal Dutch East India Army, and an armed force of the Lanfang Company responsible for assisting defense.

A second lieutenant of the Royal Dutch East India Army on duty at the Pontianak dock saw a foreign ship sailing into Pontianak and ordered Elvis to stop the ship for inspection.