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 speculate, it was better to announce it directly, rallying Australasians to unity and public outrage.

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

For peaceful Australasia, 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 Australasians.

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

The naval size of Australasia might not be worth mentioning compared 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 Australasia.

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

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

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

However, if the lives of those Australasians were to be seriously jeopardized, even if the government deployed a large 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 Suvilasi Sea and the northern part of the Wangjiaxi Strait, right in the east of the British-controlled Kutai Sultanate and the west of the Bolang Menggongduo Kingdom.

Due to its location at the junction of two seas and belonging to different indigenous forces on both sides, this area of islands 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 islands at the junction of the two coasts, which made these places the pirate bases of choice.

Heading west along the Bolang 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 islands on the east coast of the Kutai Sultanate.

There was a small peninsula protruding from the east coast of the Kutai Sultanate that formed a small bay, and several large and small islands in the bay formed a not-too-large archipelago.

These pirate forces were usually stationed on these islands, 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 Australasians were, Minister Kent dared not act on his own to avoid unnecessary casualties.

To prevent the Bolang Menggongduo Kingdom from informing the pirates, Minister Kent ordered the army to exterminate all the royal and noble families of the Bolang 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 Australasian 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 the commanders of the army and navy and held a small meeting.

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

Although the Australasian merchant ships were not equipped with any escort forces, Australasia did not have a gun ban. It was common 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 successfully 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 the largest island in the bay, and ordered: “Tonight, the Guards will stealthily infiltrate the island and locate the captured Australasians. Once found, your mission is to protect their safety and prevent any casualties.”

“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 immediately land on all the islands and leave no pirate alive. I don’t want to see any living person on these islands.” Minister Kent nodded satisfactorily and continued.

Minister Kent’s only concern was the safety of the Australasian citizens on the islands. As long as their safety could be guaranteed, it would be time for the Australasia Army to launch an offensive.

Now was also the time to test the training results since the last 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 island’s coastline on small sailboats under the cover of darkness.

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

After silently landing on the island, the Guards soldiers only then realized that there were hardly any defenses on the coast of the island.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Almost all the pirates were gathered in the fishing village, with the captured Australasians 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 village, the Guards Platoon 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 Australasians, the soldiers only needed to deal with less than 20 people to ensure the safety of the Australasians.

“Each of you is to take a target, even if you can’t ensure a one-shot kill, you must make the target lose its combat capability. First, Second, and Third Squads divide the targets according 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 Platoon Leader ordered.

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

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

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

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

After determining their individual tasks, the soldiers adjusted their weapons one by one, loaded them, and began carefully aiming according 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 Platoon Leader asked once more before the mission commenced.

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