Chapter 402: Battle Results and Casualties

The fierce battle lasted until 3 pm. The Dutch East Indies fleet was the first to withdraw from the battlefield in the waters near Pontianak.

Liang Yao ordered the fleet to pursue the enemy for a while and then returned to the battlefield to clean up the battlefield and count the casualties and results.

In this naval battle, Liang Yao suffered the most losses from the clippers requisitioned from the civilian population.

Although these clippers were carefully selected and selected as civilian ships in relatively good condition.

But after all, they were still civilian ships with extremely limited protection capabilities, unlike wooden warships wrapped in cast iron armor, which could continue to fight as long as the loss of personnel was not large after several rounds of bombardment.

Four of the 18 clippers participating in the battle were directly sunk, six were seriously injured, and the remaining clippers were basically injured.

As for the loach ships, two of the eight participating loach ships were directly sunk, three were seriously injured, and the remaining three loach ships were slightly injured.

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

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

Liang Yao's flagship, the Bold, was in moderate condition. As long as the lost crew was supplemented, it could still fight.

The best situation was the Yang Wei, which was only slightly injured and had little loss of personnel, so it could continue to fight.

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

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

After most of the day's high-intensity artillery fire, unless you run away before the battle, it is impossible not to be injured, but the degree of damage to the ship is different.

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

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

366 crew members were killed or missing, and 541 crew members suffered moderate or above injuries.

Crew members like Liang Yao who suffered some skin injuries and were able to continue to participate in military operations have not been counted.

The Dutch crew casualties are estimated to be comparable to their own, or slightly lower.

Judging from the increasingly sparse sound of artillery at the end of the battlefield, the Dutch casualties would not be much better, with 318 Dutch crew bodies salvaged alone.

Since the Dutch took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield first, Liang Yao also captured 371 Dutch crew members on the battlefield. Counting these captured personnel, the Dutch personnel losses would be uglier than Liang Yao.

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 lifeboat, while the crew members of the Dutch East Indies Fleet who failed to escape the battlefield in time could only be captured obediently if they wanted to survive.

Of course, if the losses of the Guangdong Navy and the pirates are also included in the statistics, the loss of personnel is still greater on Liang Yao's side.

Guangdong Navy Admiral Hong Mingxiang 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 ask Liang Yao for the balance, which made Liang Yao inexplicably feel a little funny.

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

The Guangdong Navy and the pirates persisted to the end and did not run away. They were very righteous. The role they played was completely beyond Liang Yao's expectations.

Liang Yao originally only expected them to support the scene and act as a cheerleader, but he didn't expect them to achieve good results.

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

Of course, their losses were also heavy. There were 860 people from the Guangdong Navy who followed Hong Mingxiang to the expedition, 180 of whom were killed and countless were injured.

Of the three loach-class armed patrol boats brought by Hong Mingxiang, one was directly sunk by the Dutch, and the other two were also injured to varying degrees.

There were 1,100 pirates who followed Li Fengchun to the expedition, 286 of whom were killed and countless were injured.

Hong Mingxiang happily took the check handed over by Liang Yao. He was still hoping to use this money to provide pensions to the soldiers. Besides, this money was what he deserved, so there was no need to be shy.

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

"If it can be paid in US dollars, it would be great. May I ask if Mr. Liang paid California dollars?" Li Fengchun said happily.

The US dollar coins of this era are real gold and silver coins, not paper money, but also hard currency.

Of course, due to the influence of the country, the US dollar is still not as hard as the British pound.

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

Thanks to California's abundant gold and good casting technology, the US dollar minted in California is famous for its good color and excellent casting, and is the best among US dollar coins.

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

"Mr. Liang, can I use this money to buy some guns and cannons from you, and buy another captured armed merchant ship?" Li Fengchun said.

"I am interested in hiring you. If you are willing to be hired 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 reacted quickly.

"Robbery of Dutch merchant ships." Liang Yao said.

The Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia are distributed on various islands, and the sea routes are the lifeline of the Dutch-Indonesian authorities to maintain the rule of these colonies.

Letting pirates harass the Dutch routes can also force the Dutch to divide their troops to protect these routes and reduce their own maritime pressure.

Liang Yao thinks it is worthwhile to spend some arms and money to hire these pirates.

Moreover, pirates can do some things that Liang Yao is not convenient to do directly.

"This is Li's job. Li is willing to be hired by Mr. Liang." Li Fengchun smiled.

In recent years, there are more and more Western ships in Southeast Asia, and their equipment is getting better and better. The pirates are not having a good time. There is a strong force to provide them with protection and support. This is the best thing. Li Fengchun has no reason to refuse.

Hong Mingxiang walked to the turret of the naval gun, curiously looked at the new gun on the Bold, and asked Liang Yao: "Can you fire a few shots to help cheer us up?"

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

Hong Mingxiang fired the gun, and the naval gun hit the wreckage of the Dutch shipwreck with just one shot. Hong Mingxiang fired two more shots to satisfy his desire, and exclaimed: "Good gun, good gun! This gun is extremely accurate and has a very fast firing rate. It is the best gun Hong has ever seen. When did you come up with this kind of gun?"

This is indeed the best naval gun in the world at present.

If it weren't for this gun, Liang Yao would have lost this naval battle long ago.

Thinking that his fleet was holding the most advanced weapons and the opponent of the sailing warship had such an ugly loss ratio, Liang Yao's expression also became ugly.

First, he was very dissatisfied with the performance of the navy. With the advantage in technology and numbers, the naval battle was so difficult that the ship almost capsized.

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

It was so difficult to fight the Dutch colonial fleet, and there was no need to fight against Britain and France.

If you want to protect your rights and interests at sea, it is imperative to tilt resources to the navy in the future.

Second, the pain in the arm that was scratched by sawdust before is gradually coming up, and Liang Yao is in pain.

Lin Senqing called the doctor who was sawing the leg of the wounded on the deck to come over and treat Liang Yao's wound again.

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

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

"I lost a loach boat this time, which is the treasure of the Guangdong Navy. You have to sell me another one at a lower price. Of course, it would be even better if my loach boat can be replaced with your new gun." Hong Mingxiang said.

"If you can replace my new gun with your new gun, I will let my Du Biao Battalion and the Guangdong Navy's navy Bu Yong help you fight in the battle of landing in Pontianak, and there will be no problem?"

Liang Yao did not tell Hong Mingxiang about the news of attacking Pontianak. After all, no matter how good Hong Mingxiang's relationship with him was, he was just a person outside the California system. Liang Yao could not tell Hong Mingxiang too much inside information.

But Hong Mingxiang was not a fool. If he was really stupid, he would not be able to be the admiral of the Guangdong Navy.

Hong Mingxiang, who came from the grassroots of the navy, was able to become the admiral of the Guangdong Navy. In addition to Xu Guangjin's support, he also had some ability.

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

Hong Mingxiang could guess this.

"Really?" Liang Yao asked.

The casualties of beach landing would not be small. Although Liang Yao specially organized beach landing training exercises before the war, training exercises were just training exercises after all, not actual combat.

Liang Yao had no idea how many casualties would be paid to take Pontianak.

If Hong Mingxiang was willing to help again, his Western Brigade would also have fewer casualties.

"Really."

Seeing that Liang Yao agreed so readily, Hong Mingxiang regretted it very much. He should have put forward more conditions earlier.

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

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