1850 American Gold Tycoon

The fierce battle lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon. This fierce naval battle in the waters near Pontianak finally ended with the Dutch East Indies Fleet taking the lead in withdrawing from the battlefield.

Liang Yao ordered the fleet to pursue for a while, then returned to the battlefield and began to clean the battlefield, counting casualties and results.

In this naval battle, Liang Yao's biggest loss was the clipper ship requisitioned from the private sector.

Although these clipper ships have been carefully selected, they are civilian ships in relatively good condition.

But after all, it is still a civilian ship, and its protective capabilities are extremely limited. Unlike a wooden-hulled warship wrapped in cast iron armor, it can continue fighting as long as there is not much loss of personnel after a few rounds of shelling.

Of the 18 clipper ships participating in the battle, 4 were directly sunk, 6 were seriously damaged, and the remaining clipper ships were basically injured.

As for the loach boats, 2 of the 8 loach boats that participated in the battle were directly sunk, 3 were seriously damaged, and the remaining 3 loach boats were slightly damaged.

The situation of the four battleships is slightly better, but not much better.

The Roland and Chaoyong were seriously injured and needed to return to Xiangshan for overhaul to regain their combat effectiveness.

Liang Yao's flagship, the Bold, was moderately injured. As long as the lost crew was replenished, it could still barely fight.

The Yang Wei was in the best condition. It was only slightly injured and suffered little personnel losses, so it could continue to fight.

In terms of results, three enemy sailing battleships were sunk in this battle, including two sixth-level sailing battleships and one fourth-level sailing battleship. One enemy steam battleship and one fifth-level sailing battleship were captured.

Three civilian merchant ships recruited by the Dutch and Indian authorities were directly sunk, four were captured, and countless people were injured.

After a high-intensity firefight for most of the day, unless they ran away before the fighting started, it was impossible not to be injured, but the degree of damage to the ships was different.

The human casualties were even more shocking. Before the war, the number of crew members participating in the war was 3,400.

After this battle, only less than 2,500 crew members were able to continue to participate in the subsequent military operations.

366 sailors were killed or missing, and 541 suffered moderate or higher injuries.

The crew members like Liang Yao who suffered some skin trauma and could continue to participate in military operations have not been included in the statistics.

The Dutch crew casualties were estimated to be about the same as our own, perhaps slightly lower.

Judging from the cannon fire that became increasingly sparse as the battlefield came to an end, the Dutch casualties were not much better. There were 318 dead bodies of Dutch sailors recovered.

Since it was the Dutch who took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield first, Liang Yao also captured 371 Dutch sailors on the battlefield. Counting these captured personnel, the Dutch's personnel losses were even worse than Liang Yao's.

After all, Liang Yao still controlled the battlefield and could rescue the crew members who fell into the water and the crew members on the lifeboats. However, the crew members of the Dutch East Indies Fleet who failed to escape from the battlefield in time had no choice but to be captured if they wanted to survive.

Of course, if the losses of the Guangdong navy and pirates are also included in the statistics, the personnel losses will be greater on Liang Yao's side.

Admiral Hong Mingxiang of the Guangdong Navy and pirate leader Li Fengchun came to the Bold to ask Liang Yao for the balance.

The two incompatible characters, the Guangdong navy admiral and the pirate leader, stood together to demand the balance from Liang Yao, which made Liang Yao feel a little happy inexplicably.

Liang Yao took out his pen, signed two checks and handed them to the two of them: "There are Bank of America branches in Xiangshan and Guangzhou. You can use this note to withdraw the balance at any Bank of America."

The Guangdong Navy and the pirates persisted until the end and did not run away. They were very loyal. Their role completely exceeded Liang Yao's expectations.

Liang Yao originally only expected them to support the scene and act as cheerleaders, but unexpectedly they achieved good results.

The Guangdong Navy sank an armed merchant ship and captured a fifth-level sailing battleship. The pirates even captured two armed merchant ships.

Of course, their losses were also heavy. There were 860 people from the Guangdong Navy who accompanied Hong Mingxiang on the expedition, and 180 people were killed, and the injured were not counted.

One of the three Loach-class armed patrol boats brought out by Hong Mingxiang was directly sunk by the Dutch, and the other two were also injured to varying degrees.

There were 1,100 pirates who accompanied Li Fengchun on the expedition, and 286 were killed, and the injured were not counted.

Hong Mingxiang happily accepted the check handed over by Liang Yao. He also expected to use the money to subsidize the soldiers. Besides, he deserved the money, so there was no need to be pretentious.

Li Fengchun did not accept the check. Liang Yao thought that Li Fengchun felt that it was too dangerous to withdraw money in Xiangshan or Guangzhou, so he said to Li Fengchun: "If it is troublesome to withdraw cash in Xiangshan or Guangzhou, I can pay directly in US dollar gold coins."

"It would be great if we could pay in U.S. dollars. I wonder if Mr. Liang paid in California dollars?" Li Fengchun said happily.

The U.S. dollar coins of this era were real gold and silver coins, not banknotes, but also hard currency.

Of course, due to the country's influence, the US dollar is still not as strong as the British pound.

But the pirates are also willing to accept US dollars. After all, it is real money and the actual value is there.

Thanks to California's abundant gold and good casting technology, U.S. dollars minted in California are famous for their fine quality and excellent casting. They are the best among U.S. dollar coins.

Soon, under Liang Yao's instruction, Lin Sen led the crew into Liang Yao's cabin, counted a box of U.S. dollar coins, and then lifted the heavy box out.

"Master Liang, can I use the money to buy some guns and a captured armed merchant ship from you?" Li Fengchun said.

"I intend to hire you. If you are willing to be employed by me, I can provide you with guns and ships for free." Liang Yao looked directly into Li Fengchun's eyes.

"What does Mr. Liang want me to do?" Li Fengchun was a smart man and quickly reacted.

"Robbery the Dutch merchant ship." Liang Yao said.

The Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia were distributed on various islands, and sea routes were the lifeline for the Dutch and Indian authorities to maintain the rule of these colonies.

Allowing pirates to disrupt the Dutch routes would also force the Dutch to divide their forces to protect these routes and reduce their own maritime pressure.

Liang Yao thought it was worth spending some arms and money to hire these pirates.

Moreover, pirates can also do things that are inconvenient for Liang Yao to do directly.

"This is Li's job. Li is willing to be employed by Mr. Liang." Li Fengchun said with a smile.

In recent years, there have been more and more Western ships in Southeast Asia, and their equipment has become better and better. Life for pirates like them is not easy. It is the best thing to have a powerful force to provide them with protection and support. Li Fengchun does not Reason for refusal.

Hong Mingxiang walked to the gun turret, curiously looked at the new guns on the Bold, and asked Liang Yao: "Can I fire a few guns to add to the fun?"

Liang Yao nodded. After the loader finished loading, the gunner locked the wreckage of a nearby unmanned and shipless Dutch shipwreck, adjusted the parameters, and then explained to Hong Mingxiang how to fire the gun.

Hong Mingxiang fired the cannon and hit the wreckage of the Dutch shipwreck with just one shot. Hong Mingxiang fired two more cannons to get better at it, and praised: "What a cannon, what a cannon! This cannon is extremely accurate and the rate of fire is extremely fast. It’s the best cannon Hong has ever seen. When did you tinker with this kind of cannon?”

This is indeed the best naval gun in the world.

Without this cannon, Liang Yao would have lost this naval battle long ago.

The expression on Liang Yao's face became ugly when he thought that his fleet was equipped with the most advanced weapons and that his opponent with sail warships had such an ugly battle loss ratio.

One is because he was very dissatisfied with the navy's performance this time. Even with the superiority in technology and numbers, this naval battle was so difficult that it almost capsized.

Weapons are important, but the people who use them are more important. The foundation of the California Navy is too thin.

It was so difficult to fight against the Dutch colonial fleet, and there was no need to fight against the British and French fleets.

If you want to safeguard your rights and interests at sea, it will be imperative to tilt resources towards the navy in the future.

The second reason was that the pain in his arm, which had been scratched by sawdust, was gradually increasing. Liang Yao was so painful that he gasped for air.

Lin Senqing called the doctor who was amputating the wounded man's leg on the deck and re-treated Liang Yao's wound.

The ship's doctor handed over the work at hand to a carpenter and immediately ran over to treat Liang Yao's wound carefully.

After re-treating the wound, Liang Yao felt a little better and said to Hong Mingxiang: "I have been developing this cannon for several years. It was only successfully trial-produced at the end of last year."

"I lost a loach boat this time. This is the treasure of the Guangdong Navy. You have to sell me another one at a cheaper price. Of course, it would be great if my loach boat could be replaced with your new cannon. ." Hong Mingxiang said.

"If you can buy me new cannons, and when we land in Pontianak, will it be okay if I ask my supervisory battalion and Navy Bu Yong of the Guangdong Navy to help you fight?"

Liang Yao did not reveal the news of the attack on Pontianak to Hong Mingxiang. After all, no matter how good the relationship between Hong Mingxiang and him was, they were only people outside the California system. It was impossible for Liang Yao to reveal too much inside information to Hong Mingxiang.

However, Hong Mingxiang is not a fool. If he were really stupid, he would not be able to achieve the position of admiral of the Guangdong Navy.

Hong Mingxiang, who was born in the grassroots level of the Navy, was able to become the admiral of the Guangdong Navy. In addition to the support of Xu Guangjin, he himself was somewhat capable.

Liang Yao would not fight with the Dutch at sea for no reason. The fight with the Dutch in the sea near Pontianak was nothing more than to pave the way for the subsequent landing in Pontianak.

Hong Mingxiang could also guess this.

"Seriously?" Liang Yao asked.

The casualties of beach landing will not be small. Although Liang Yao specially organized a training exercise for beach landing before the war, the training exercise was only a training exercise after all, not actual combat.

Liang Yao didn't know how many casualties it would cost to capture Pontianak.

If Hong Mingxiang is willing to help again, his Western Brigade can also reduce casualties.

"really."

Seeing that Liang Yao agreed so happily, Hong Mingxiang regretted it. She would have put forward more conditions.

"It's a deal." Liang Yao smiled.

It was already sunset after cleaning the battlefield. It was too late to land today, so the soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment who were preparing to participate in the landing could only have a good rest and prepare to land in Pontianak tomorrow to liberate the compatriots in the Pontianak area.