novelAbuy Chapter 66 Something Happened in Java
Chapter 66 Something Happened in Java
Four o'clock in the morning in the Persian Gulf.
Chen Feng was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door. He didn't turn on the light, but sat up straight in bed—an instinct he had developed during his three years in exile.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Uncle Wang walked in, holding an oil lamp. There was no sign of sleepiness on the old man's face, only a deep, sorrowful solemnity.
"Young Master, an urgent telegram from the 'Restoration Ship'." He placed a translated telegram on the bedside table. "Something's happened in Java."
Chen Feng picked up the telegram and read it by the light of the oil lamp. He read very quickly, but his finger paused for a moment when he saw the number "forty-seven people".
Then he continued reading and saw Li Te's request for instructions, and the sentence "If we do not come to the rescue, we fear we will chill the hearts of 300,000 overseas Chinese; but if we act without authorization, we may disrupt the overall plan."
"That's Li Te for you," Chen Feng said in a low voice. "He's pushed the hardest decision onto me when faced with a dilemma."
Uncle Wang stood aside without saying a word. He knew that there was no need for him to speak at this time.
Chen Feng threw off the covers, got out of bed, and walked to the window. Outside, the lights of Dubai Port were still on—they were the night shift workers at the dock rushing to finish their work, the three shifts at the power plant, and the heartbeat of this newborn nation that never stopped, 24 hours a day.
"Uncle Wang," he asked, his back to the old man, "if it were you, what would you choose?"
Uncle Wang was silent for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "I don't understand those grand strategies. But I remember, three years ago when we left Pontianak, an old lady on the dock grabbed my hand and asked, 'Uncle Wang, will you come back?' I said yes. She then asked, 'Then... how long will it take?'"
He paused, his voice slightly hoarse:
"I was speechless. Because I didn't know. Back then, we had nothing but 300,000 mouths to feed and a barren desert."
Chen Feng turned around and looked at the old man.
"And then?" he asked.
"Later, the old lady took a small cloth bag from her bosom and handed it to me," Uncle Wang said. "Inside were three silver dollars she had saved up all her life. She said, 'Uncle Wang, take this money. Buy the young master something good to eat. You must live, you must build a big ship, you must come back... you must let us, before we die, see the yellow dragon flag flying again.'"
The room fell silent, save for the crackling sound of the burning oil lamp wick.
Chen Feng walked to his desk and sat down. He spread out a new telegram sheet, picked up his pen, and dipped it in ink.
"Uncle Wang," he said as he wrote, "do you know why we built these ships?"
"To go home."
"Yes, for the sake of going home." Chen Feng continued writing, "But going home is not just about geographical distance. What is home? It's a place you can go back to complain when you've been bullied outside. It's a group of people who can stand up for you and seek justice when your brothers and sisters have been beaten."
After writing the last word, he put down his pen and pushed the telegram in front of Uncle Wang.
"If we stand idly by while our fellow Javanese are killed today, because of the 'strategic overall situation,' what's the point of building these ships? We keep saying we want to go home, but we can't even protect our living families. Even if we do return to Borneo, can that place still be called home?"
As Uncle Wang read the telegram, his eyes slowly reddened.
The telegram was very simple:
[To Captain Li Te of the Guangfu Ship, Top Secret]
The telegram has been received. The change of plans is approved; proceed to Java at full speed.
The principles are as follows:
First, protecting the lives and safety of overseas Chinese is the primary task.
Second, actions can be gradually escalated, but must be kept under control. Do not initiate fire unless the other party makes the first move.
Third, demonstrate our authority and know when to stop. We must make the Dutch remember the pain, and also let all overseas Chinese see the light.
The specific measure is up to you to decide on the spot.
The motherland and 300,000 compatriots are your support.
Also: Operation codename: "The Beginning of the Return Journey".
Chen Feng, 04:12
"Send it out," Chen Feng said. "Use it with the highest priority. Also, notify Chief Engineer Liu and Li Mingyuan that there will be a meeting in an hour. We need to be prepared for the worst—if the Dutch don't back down, if the British take this opportunity to cause trouble, we need to have a response plan."
"Yes, young master." Uncle Wang picked up the telegram, walked to the door, then stopped. "Young master..."
"Um?"
"Aren't you worried about the British? Our original plan..."
"Plans are meant to be broken." Chen Feng walked to the window, watching the first light of dawn appear on the eastern horizon. "Uncle Wang, remember this: in the game of international politics, the most powerful move isn't playing by the rules, but having the ability to overturn the table at any time. The 'Restoration' ship going to Java is to tell everyone—we can now overturn Lanfang's table ourselves."
The conference room of the "Guangfu" was filled with smoke.
Eight people sat around a long table—Li Te, the deputy captain Lin Hai, the chief engineer Zhou Dayong, the gunnery officer Zhao Tieshan, the navigation officer Chen Qiming, and three department heads. Each had a cup of strong, bitter coffee in front of them, but no one drank it.
Li Te placed Chen Feng's reply in the center of the table.
"Have you all seen it clearly?" His voice was calm. "The President has authorized us to go to Java. There are three principles: protecting overseas Chinese is the top priority, escalation must be controlled, and we must demonstrate our authority."
The conference room was deathly silent.
A few seconds later, Chief Engineer Zhou Dayong spoke first: "Captain, if we sail at full speed to Java, do we have enough fuel? We just resupplyed in Mumbai, but the fuel consumption at 30 knots..."
"I've done the calculations," Lin Hai replied. "If we maintain a speed of 30 knots throughout, the remaining fuel after reaching Java will only be enough to sustain a 12-hour combat cruise. But if we use an economical speed of 28 knots, we can extend it to 20 hours. The first mate recommends the latter."
"I agree," said Zhao Tieshan, a 40-year-old gunner who had served in the Qing Dynasty's Beiyang Fleet. "Java isn't the open ocean; it doesn't need such high speeds. 28 knots is enough to crush any Dutch ship—if they dare to send one out."
"That's the problem," Li Te tapped the table. "Once we arrive, what do we do? We anchor outside the harbor and demonstrate? We send small boats ashore to pick them up? Or we shell the Dutch camp directly?"
Another silence followed.
"Captain," Chen Qiming whispered, "the Commander-in-Chief said 'Do not fire first.' So... we can only watch?"
"Watching?" Zhao Tieshan sneered. "Little Chen, you didn't understand the Grand Commander's words. 'Strike with authority, then know when to stop'—what does that mean? It means we can hold off on firing the first shot, but we must let the Dutch know that if they dare to fire a second shot, we'll raze their entire port to the ground!"
"Old Zhao is right." Zhou Dayong nodded. "Our ship has eight 381mm guns, and a single salvo can fire three tons of shells. How many salvos can the Dutch have with their limited military facilities in Batavia? They're not stupid; they can do the math."
Li Te listened to his subordinates' discussion, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.
"Lin Hai," he suddenly asked, "do you have any nautical charts of the Java Sea?"
"Yes!" Lin Hai stood up, walked to the wall, pulled back the curtain, and revealed a detailed map of the South China Sea. "This was prepared by the first mate before departure, covering all the major ports and shipping lanes from Malacca to northern Australia."
Li Te walked up to the nautical chart and pointed to the location of Batavia (present-day Jakarta).
"How deep is the water in the port?"
"The main channel is twelve meters deep at its deepest point, and we have a draft of eleven and a half meters, so we can go in, but the maneuverability is very limited," Lin Hai replied quickly. "I suggest we stop in the open sea and use our guns to cover the port area. Our main guns have a range of over 30,000 meters, which is sufficient."
"What about the Dutch defenses?"
"According to intelligence from three months ago," this time it was the intelligence officer who spoke. A young man wearing glasses named Xu Wen said, "the port of Batavia is home to an old pre-dreadnought of the Dutch East India Fleet, about 7,000 tons, with a main gun caliber of 240 mm and a speed of less than 18 knots. There are four coastal defense batteries, the largest with a caliber of 280 mm, but they are all antiques from ten years ago, with poor range and accuracy."
"In other words," Li Te concluded, "we have an absolute advantage in firepower. We have an absolute advantage in speed. As for protection... their pinpoint shots can't even penetrate our main armor belt."