At 4:20 a.m. on February 28, the Gonggong battlecruiser squadron arrived 10 nautical miles north of Batavia Bay and began patrolling on standby.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiu Qiu had already jumped up. It was still dark before dawn outside. They burned the light of day in the bedroom, spread out the map, watched the radio, and contacted Nanjing. On the other hand, they analyzed the Ming fleet and Batavia.

Comparison of firepower of shore artillery.

The Ming Dynasty fleet dared to approach Batavia Bay with the help of the battlecruiser Gonggong. Batavia's shore artillery batteries were mediocre. First of all, Batavia was surrounded by plains for dozens of kilometers, and there was no way for the shore artillery to be used.

In a condescending place, the fort had to be built on flat ground. In this way, the field of vision and range were greatly reduced. Moreover, Batavia's shore artillery itself was only six German 150mm cannons from World War I, with a maximum range of only 18,000.

About a thousand meters. This was after the end of World War I. As the victorious country, the Netherlands received compensation from Germany to replace the original old-fashioned cannon from the late 19th century.

The Gonggong cruiser has eight 305mm cannons with a maximum range of 32,000 meters. It can do whatever it wants beyond the range of the shore artillery. More importantly, it does not need to engage in bombardment with the shore artillery.

To shoot accurately, just make sure the shells can land in the city.

"Xiao Qiang," Qiu Qiu pulled his sleeve, showing a hint of nervousness, "We may also be hit by artillery shells."

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said: "Not bad."

Qiu Qiu said uneasily: "The Chinese's homes may also be bombed."

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded: "Yes! The Chinese may also be shelled, and the Chinese also need to take risks. But I dare say that if you let them choose, they will definitely choose to let the Ming fleet fire. Are you right?"

Qiu Qiu looked at him and said firmly:

"Xiaoqiang, you are right. They will definitely choose to let the Ming fleet fire. Because..."

Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:

"Because they would rather risk dying with those beasts than see their motherland, which had just become tough and dared to protect their motherland, just die out like this. Now after this tragedy, the Chinese in Batavia

There are already too many families that are not intact. When they were hacked to death and raped, they were forced to watch their relatives being hacked to death. When they were raped, they wished that the cannonballs of the Ming Dynasty fleet would fall on them.

By your side, let yourself and those beasts perish together! Will they be cowardly now? Humph, absolutely not!"

Qiu Qiu swallowed and continued:

"Well... I want to say that that's because every Chinese neighborhood has our spies, reporting detailed coordinates to the fleet so that the cannons can avoid..."

Xiang Xiaoqiang was impassioned for a long time, and then he looked at her blankly.

"Yes, that's it." Qiu Qiu's face was a little feverish, and she was a little regretful that she didn't cooperate with her husband's sensationalism. "Generally, fleets bombard large cities in enemy countries like this... What if they bombed randomly? What if they bombed foreign countries?

What should the consulate do?”

At this time, the light on the radio station came on. Qiu Qiu hurriedly put on her earphones to receive the message, and then immersed herself in translating it. After a while, she finished the translation and handed it to Xiang Xiaoqiang with a serious look on her face.

This is an ultimatum. If the Dutch government does not accept the conditions proposed by the Ming government before six o'clock, the Ming Empire will declare war on the Netherlands and begin bombarding Batavia.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at his pocket watch and saw that it was already half past four. There was only one and a half hours left.

He jumped up, ran outside, and banged on the door of another bedroom. He woke up the former secretary of the Ming Dynasty Consulate in Batavia and asked him to call the Governor's Mansion and inform them that at 4:50

Meeting with Ming Dynasty representatives, there is something important.

After making the phone call, he asked the Nuremberg consul to prepare a car for his people and asked the secretary to rush to the Governor's Palace with the ultimatum.

Immediately afterwards, Xiang Xiaoqiang was smoking in the room, looking at the clock on the wall, turning on the radio, and wandering around nervously.

At 5:20, the secretary came back.

"How about it?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang grabbed him and asked nervously.

The secretary shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "The governor accepted the ultimatum. His face was still so pale and he asked me to come back without saying anything."

He nodded to Xiaoqiang, took out a new cigarette from his cigarette tin, lit it against the butt of the cigarette, and held it in his mouth.

The room was filled with smoke. Qiu Qiu coughed twice and looked at him nervously.

Xiaoqiang was blowing green smoke from his nostrils, his eyes were red, and he was squinting at her, looking like a fire-breathing dragon.

"Qiu Qiu, get ready to plug your ears," Xiang Xiaoqiang breathed smoke evilly and laughed, "We're going to start firing soon."

Qiu Qiu stood up, nervously picked up a glass of water and drank it, then forced himself to smile and said:

"Xiaoqiang...you...you forgot that I am a soldier."

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled: "Well, that's good."

…

The clock on the wall read five-fifty-eight, and Xiang Xiaoqiang's pocket watch also read five-fifty-five. The radio had long been tuned to the Jinling Radio channel, but there was always a squeaking noise.

Suddenly, a burst of elegant and solemn music sounded from the radio. Then, the announcer said in a solemn tone:

"Citizens of the Ming Dynasty, let us now invite our beloved Queen to speak."

Both Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiu Qiu's hearts were in their throats. A few seconds later, Zhu Yourong's voice came out. She changed from the kind and gentle way she spoke in the past, and this time she was solemn and firm, announcing sentence by sentence:

"An hour and a half ago, our representative in Batavia submitted our country's ultimatum to the Dutch authorities. The deadline is six o'clock sharp this morning. So far, the Dutch government has not given a reply. Since it is now six o'clock sharp,

Therefore, on behalf of the Ming Empire, I declare to the Kingdom of the Netherlands that from now on, our two countries are in a state of war."

Then, the national anthem of the Ming Dynasty began to be played on the radio.

Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart boiled with excitement. This girl has declared war! She has finally declared war! She has finally come this far for the benefit of overseas Chinese!

What a bloody good girl!

Qiu Qiu suddenly pulled him:

"Listen quickly!"

There was a faint sound coming from the window. Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his ears to distinguish it. Qiu Qiu's ears were better and he said excitedly:

"It's the national anthem! Someone is singing the national anthem!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang rushed to the window, opened it, and listened.

The singing of "Mountains and Rivers of My Motherland" could be heard faintly nearby. It could be clearly heard that they were singing along with the singing on the radio. There were probably dozens of people near and far. They were all coming from nearby houses.

Xiang Xiaoqiang's chest felt hot, his nose felt sore, and tears immediately rolled down his face. He immediately started singing along, and even though he was still half-baked, he still sang with tears in his eyes. Qiu Qiu was behind him, holding his hand and singing in a low voice.

He sang together, singing and singing, also crying.

The smell of dead Chinese people on the street is still coming. Although the corpses have been almost cleaned up, the smell of these corpses still lingers and becomes stronger. It seems to prove that: crime does not follow the crime scene.

By cleaning, it can be covered up cleanly.

...More than two thousand innocent souls have not left yet, they are still in the sky above the streets of Batavia, waiting to witness this moment.

Gradually--

From far to near, the air above Batavia roared, and soon the scream became shrill.

Just as Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his head in fear, the ground trembled, and an earth-shaking loud noise came from several hundred meters away.

He hugged Qiu Qiu tightly and squatted under the window sill.
Chapter completed!