Chapter 49: The Commercial Agent's Report (Part 1)

“We are the Fubo Army Coast Guard!” The voice, carried by the sea breeze, came intermittently. “You have entered our maritime security zone. Please stop your ship immediately for inspection! State your course, or we will take all necessary actions—”

Van der Lants called over a Chinese sailor and asked him to listen to what the other party was saying. At first, the sailor said he couldn’t understand what they were shouting, but when they started shouting in Cantonese, he understood and relayed the message to the commercial agent.

Van der Lants frowned. Stop for inspection? The Australians seemed to be very rampant in these waters, acting as if they were the masters of this sea. He couldn’t help but think of how the English always tried to seek dominance in the English Channel. This made the commercial agent very unhappy.

“Ignore them, sail straight into the strait!” he ordered the captain.

“Mr. Van der Lants! Their ship is faster than ours, and more agile…”

The other ship had cannons on its deck. With its speed and agility, it would not be difficult for it to evade the large ship’s cannon fire, use its low profile to get into the blind spots of the cannons, and then come alongside. The pirates who operated in the Mediterranean often used such small ships to capture large merchant ships several times their size. Even galleons with more than 30 cannons were not immune. Not to mention their clumsy “sloop.” The 8 cannons on their ship were good enough to scare off native pirates, but they might not be a match for such an enemy in a real battle.

Van der Lants considered for a moment and ordered, “Have this Chinese man shout back! We are a trade delegation from the Dutch East India Company on our way to Lingao. If they are indeed the Australians of Lingao, please ask them to guide us to Lingao. When we arrive in Lingao, we are willing to accept all inspections!”

The sailor shouted and yelled this message. After about ten minutes of back and forth, the other party seemed to understand their meaning. Van der Lants saw the bow of the cutter turn outwards. A moment later, a thick cloud of smoke and a flash of fire suddenly erupted from the small boat. Van der Lants, Gonzalez, and the others were stunned. While they were still in shock, a rocket shot straight into the sky, exploded, and released a cloud of blue smoke.

“What does that mean?” Van der Lants was greatly surprised.

“They are summoning their accomplices,” Gonzalez, being an old soldier, immediately understood the meaning of the suddenly fired rocket. “There must be several more of their ships in this area! Prepare for battle!” he roared nervously, drawing his sword.

A commotion immediately broke out on the ship. Sailors and soldiers rushed to their posts, ready to open fire at any moment.

Time passed minute by minute. Half an hour later, two more identical cutters appeared on the horizon. The three Type II single-masted patrol boats approached the “Magdeburg” in formation.

Gonzalez held a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. His expression was tense. It was clear that the other party was well-prepared. Just from the skill with which they maintained their formation, it was clear that they had practiced such naval coordination countless times. If these three ships launched a pincer attack, the “Magdeburg” would be captured in an instant! Gonzalez noticed that the enemy deck had 4 cannons, and there was also an unknown square box on the poop deck—probably also a type of cannon. In terms of cannon numbers alone, the “Magdeburg” was already at a disadvantage.

The three cutters were in a triangular formation, loosely distributed around the “Magdeburg.” The cannons on their decks had their covers removed. It was clear that once the battle began, the slow and weakly armed “Magdeburg” would not even have to wait for the enemy to come alongside; it would be overwhelmed by cannon fire alone.

Leib Trini was so scared that his face turned pale, and he dived back into the poop deck. Even an old soldier like Gonzalez knew that the situation was now completely under the control of the other party.

“The other party is requesting that we follow them. They will escort us to Lingao,” the captain, noticing the new flag signals hoisted by the other party, said. “What should we do?” he asked for instructions.

The commercial agent’s lips were tightly closed. The other party’s dominance at sea made him very unhappy. But he knew that this was not the time to fight for the Dutch right of free navigation at sea, just as the company would not fight for religious freedom in Japan.

He ordered, “Hoist the signal: we comply.”

The “Magdeburg” was “escorted” by the three patrol boats into the Qiongzhou Strait.

Report from Van der Lants, Junior Commercial Agent of the Dutch East India Company on the “Magdeburg,” to the Governor-General of Batavia, de Carpentier.

Your Excellency,

I, in obedience to the orders of Your Excellency and our masters, have commanded the sloop “Magdeburg” to Lingao on the coast of Guangdong, China, to establish trade relations with the maritime group that occupies the area and calls themselves Australians.

God be praised, our voyage was very smooth. On Monday, February 3rd, at the entrance of a narrow strait, we encountered the warships of the Australian navy. These were small warships, very similar in appearance to the coastal cutters we often see in the English Channel, but more beautiful and faster than those ships. Each ship was equipped with cannons, and the sailors were well-trained.

The commander of these three warships demanded that we stop for inspection. I immediately refused. Under the prestige of the Prince and the Company, the commander did not insist on his demand, but requested that we sail with his fleet to Lingao. Because the Qiongzhou Strait belongs to the Australian sphere of influence—they call it a “maritime security zone”—unlicensed ships are not allowed to sail in this strait. Ships entering the strait for the first time must be escorted to Lingao to state their purpose.

Our ship was escorted by the three warships and arrived at the port of Bopu in Lingao that afternoon. The port of Bopu is a beautiful new town, said to have 1,000 households, and is garrisoned by 2 companies of infantry and some artillery. The port is very neatly built.

Particularly noteworthy is a huge stone pier in the bay, of an unimaginably large scale. The stone pier is built of lime and stone, and its top is very neatly constructed, wide enough for 10 cavalrymen to ride abreast. The foundation that extends into the sea is even wider. The sailors and soldiers on our ship were all amazed by it. Some said that this pier was not entirely artificial, but was built on top of naturally piled stones. Even so, this project can be called a miracle.

On top of the entire stone pier, there are at least ten cranes. Some are made of wood, and some are entirely of steel. Their sturdiness and grandeur left a deep impression on me. But the most peculiar thing is that only a few of these cranes use human or animal power. Most of the cranes are driven by a complex set of machinery, which in turn is powered by some kind of fire-powered machine that we could not understand—because we saw craftsmen continuously feeding coal into the furnace.

Besides the stone pier, there are several other wharves along the port. Each wharf has such cranes, and chimneys emitting black and white smoke can be seen everywhere. Many ships are anchored in the bay, most of them junks, but there are also some European-style ships. Opposite the stone pier, we saw the legendary great iron ship. Its size is indeed quite astonishing. The largest ships in Europe, whether British or ours, are not so huge. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to get close to observe this ship—because it is a restricted area, and even the locals of Lingao are not allowed to approach the ship without written permission from the Australians. The Australians call it the “Holy Ship”—its meaning is unclear.

All the houses in the port are built of stone or brick, well-constructed, and the streets are wide and flat. Before we dropped anchor, we saw groups of soldiers on the wharf, all armed with muskets. From their appearance, they looked more like a European army than an Asian one. Among them was a leading officer and his three companions. They were all sent by the so-called “Port Director of Bopu.” The port director did not show up due to illness, but he appointed a customs official to entertain us and provide as much care as possible.

When the “Magdeburg” entered the port, we fired a three-gun salute to the city, and the other party immediately returned the salute. We dropped anchor at the quarantine anchorage under the guidance of the warships. At this time, a customs official immediately boarded the ship. He had a clear order: we were to be quarantined on the ship for 20 days. During this period, no personnel were allowed to land. The ship would also be processed by them during this period.

The customs official asked us about our purpose in coming here and the number of people and types of cargo on board. I truthfully reported our mission. The other party showed great interest. However, he stated that before that, we must accept quarantine.

Then they sent a small team to board the “Magdeburg.” I think the attire and actions of this team are worth mentioning in the report.

All the personnel of the team wore a kind of one-piece coverall in the color of natural cloth, covering their entire bodies. They wore monk-like hoods, with only holes for the eyes. But the robes did not hang down to their legs but had trouser legs. The trouser legs were tucked into a kind of yellow, seemingly leather-made high-top boots, which were very clumsily made and looked ill-fitting.

The sleeves, trouser legs, and all openings were tightly bound with cloth strips. Even their eyes were covered with glasses made of glass. They all exuded a strange, peculiar smell that was very irritating to the nasal cavity. It reminded me of cities where plagues had occurred—which made me very worried. I repeatedly asked if a plague had occurred in this city. They assured me that it was just a preventive measure.