Chapter 236: Chapter 221: Actions in the Darkness of Night


    April 7, 1907, the fourth day since the pirate looting incident.


    Ultimately, the incident could not be concealed. Instead of letting the people specte, it was better to announce it directly, rallying Austrsians to unity and public outrage.


    The Victoria Newspaper and Austrsia Daily widely reported the news of two Austrsian merchant ships being looted by pirates, and it quickly became a topic of discussion among the majority of Austrsians. It sessfully aroused public outrage, demanding that the government dispatch the military immediately to deal with the pirates and rescue the captured Austrsian citizens.


    For peaceful Austrsia, such news was enough to shock the entire nation and its people.


    The day after the news report, Prime Minister Evan organized a public meeting, announcing that immediate action would be taken to protect the lives and property of Austrsians.


    At the same time, the royal family and Arthur stated that they would do everything they could to defend the lives and property of Austrsians, retaliate against all those involved in the looting, and promise to deploy the Guard Division and the navy.


    The naval size of Austrsia might not be worth mentioningpared to other powerful nations, but it was absolutely top-tier in Oceania and Southeast Asia.


    Deploying the Guard Division and the navy to eliminate pirates was the strongest assurance that the power of Arthur could provide.


    Even if the pirates had the support of other countries, they would never be a match for Austrsia.


    The decisive response from the government, the royal family, and Arthur dispelled much of the anger of the people of Austrsia, but it drew more attention to the pirate incident.


    Both the government and the royal family, as well as Arthur and the people of Austrsia, were waiting for the oue of the handling of this pirate incident.


    If the looted Austrsians could be rescued, it would prove that Arthur’smitment to protect citizens’ lives and property was real and that he would really use national power to aplish this.


    However, if the lives of those Austrsians were to be seriously jeopardized, even if the government deployed arge number of troops, it would cause serious damage to the prestige of the royal family and the government.


    Minister Kent also understood the severity of the situation. After obtaining detailed information about the pirates’ whereabouts, he immediately led the fleet and the military to the area where the pirates might be located.


    The pirate base was located in the southern part of the Suvsi Sea and the northern part of the Wangjiaxi Strait, right in the east of the British-controlled Kutai Sultanate and the west of the Bng Menggongduo Kingdom.


    Due to its location at the junction of two seas and belonging to different indigenous forces on both sides, this area of inds was more likely to breed some rebellious forces.


    Neither the indigenous forces on both sides had the capacity to manage it, nor did the Dutch East Indies have the energy to explore these small inds at the junction of the two coasts, which made these ces the pirate bases of choice.


    Heading west along the Bng Menggongduo Kingdom, it took only a few hours to approach the Kutai Sultanate, located in Borneo.


    Of course, the fleet’s destination was not the Kutai Sultanate but the small inds on the east coast of the Kutai Sultanate.


    There was a small penins protruding from the east coast of the Kutai Sultanate that formed a small bay, and severalrge and small inds in the bay formed a not-toorge archipgo.


    These pirate forces were usually stationed on these inds, and when they had good harvests, they were simple fishermen. But if the harvest was not good, they became life-threatening pirate gangs.


    As it was unclear where the captured Austrsians were, Minister Kent dared not act on his own to avoid unnecessary casualties.


    To prevent the Bng Menggongduo Kingdom from informing the pirates, Minister Kent ordered the army to exterminate all the royal and noble families of the Bng Menggongduo Kingdom and destroy all their fishing boats and small vessels.


    Minister Kent couldn’t care about the lives and deaths of the indigenous fishermen, but if one Austrsian was killed or injured, it would not only be Minister Kent but also Arthur’s prestige that would suffer a loss.


    Of course, as a precaution, Minister Kent ordered the navy to form a long and narrow encirclement line to eliminate any possibility of ships approaching the bay.


    “Gentlemen, let’s discuss it! We have already identified the location of the pirates, but we still can’t determine where those captured people are.” Before starting the operation, Minister Kent gathered all themanders of the army and navy and held a small meeting.


    “These small inds should be impossible, Mr. Minister,” said a navy captain, “These inds are too small, and they can only amodate a certain number of people. This means that these small inds are probably those small pirate gangs. They shouldn’t have the guts to loot our merchant ships.”


    Although the Austrsian merchant ships were not equipped with any escort forces, Austrsia did not have a gun ban. It wasmon for someone on a merchant ship to carry a gun for defense.


    These pirate gangs formed by Southeast Asian natives mostly had cold weapons and century-old muskets.


    To sessfully loot a merchant ship, at least dozens of pirates would have to surround the ship. Otherwise, the guns on the merchant ship would be enough to deal with them.


    Minister Kent nodded, looking towards thergest ind in the bay, and ordered: “Tonight, the Guards will stealthily infiltrate the ind and locate the captured Austrsians. Once found, your mission is to protect their safety and prevent any casualties.” n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    “Yes, sir!” The Commander of the Guard Division nodded calmly, without any questions or hesitation.


    “After locating our citizens, you can open fire freely. Upon hearing your gunfire, we will immediatelynd on all the inds and leave no pirate alive. I don’t want to see any living person on these inds.” Minister Kent nodded satisfactorily and continued.


    Minister Kent’s only concern was the safety of the Austrsian citizens on the inds. As long as their safety could be guaranteed, it would be time for the Austrsia Army tounch an offensive.


    Now was also the time to test the training results since thest expansion of the military. This time, not only did Minister Kent bring a Guard Division, but he also led more than a thousand men from the National Defense Third Division.


    At around 11 pm, a team of Guards soldiers quietly approached the ind’s coastline on small sailboats under the cover of darkness.


    The pirates’ defense was veryx, and due to the Guards soldiers not using any light sources, they were not discovered by the pirates.


    After silentlynding on the ind, the Guards soldiers only then realized that there were hardly any defenses on the coast of the ind.


    However, it was normal for these natives, who had just recently be pirates again, to not have defenses, considering their advantageous geographical position and many small inds nearby for defense.


    The Guards soldiersnded on the back of the ind, which was closer to Borneo and less likely to be discovered by the pirates on the ind.


    As they quietly approached the inner side of the ind, the Guards soldiers did not encounter anyone, which surprised them.


    But despite their surprise, the necessary caution was still in ce. As the soldiers cautiously neared the inner side of the ind, they were constantly on guard for possible signs of people.


    As it turned out, the soldiers’ caution was somewhat excessive. Reaching the fishing vige where the pirates were located, the soldiers were stunned to find not a single sentry or patrol post.


    Only after arriving at the fishing vige did the soldiers find that all the natives were gathered there, celebrating with about ten bound Austrsians nearby.


    The extent of the natives’ celebrations and their consumption of food indicated their excitement at the moment.


    In fact, it could be understood. These natives, living in famine, suddenly received hundreds of tons of grains, vegetables, and meats from two merchant ships, enough for them to enjoy a worry-free meal for several years.


    “toon Leader, what should we do?” A Guards soldier asked cautiously.


    Almost all the pirates were gathered in the fishing vige, with the captured Austrsians not far away.


    This made the situation somewhat tricky, as the soldiers needed to take out all the armed enemies in order to ensure the safety of the captured people.


    After carefully observing the situation in the fishing vige, the Guards toon Leader found that there were not many natives with their homemade guns, at most about a dozen men.


    In addition to the natives close to the captured Austrsians, the soldiers only needed to deal with less than 20 people to ensure the safety of the Austrsians.


    “Each of you is to take a target, even if you can’t ensure a one-shot kill, you must make the target lose itsbat capability. First, Second, and Third Squads divide the targets ording to those by the bonfire, holding firearms, and close to the hostages respectively. Remember, if the first shot misses, immediately take a second shot and approach our citizens.” The toon Leader ordered.


    The Lee-Enfield Rifle, equipped by the Austrsia Army, is the fastest firing rifle among all rifles in the world today.


    This allows Austrsian soldiers to quickly rotate and pull the bolt after firing the first bullet, achieving multiple shots.


    Of course, just in case, the Guards toon Leader still ordered the soldiers that if the first shot missed, they should quickly approach the Austrsian hostages and protect their safety with their own lives.


    This was the loyalty of the Guards, who were willing to sacrifice their lives wholeheartedly toplete all tasks assigned by Arthur.


    After determining their individual tasks, the soldiers adjusted their weapons one by one, loaded them, and began carefully aiming ording to the targets assigned by their Squad Leader.


    “Everyone, listen up. Immediately take your shot after hearing my gunfire. After the second shot, you must approach all hostages, understood?” The toon Leader asked once more before the missionmenced.


    “Understood!” All the soldiers responded in low voices.