Chapter 1030

September 3rd.

On the sixth day after receiving the order, a team of one thousand men departed from Wales, escorting the exploration team from the Ministry of Minerals to New Guinea.

At the same time, Lei Ming, with eight thousand men, boarded ten warships and headed for Indonesia. In Indonesia, there was a city occupied by the British, named Newland.

This city formerly belonged to the Dutch. After being occupied by the British, the area within a hundred li (approximately 50 km) of Newland was the British sphere of influence.

His mission here was to control Newland. According to the intelligence provided by the court, there was a reason why the British went so far as to start a war with the Dutch to seize Newland.

This was because there was a very rich gold mine in the Newland region. And according to the information provided by the Ministry of Minerals, Indonesia was rich in mineral resources, especially coal, tin, aluminum, nickel, copper, gold, and silver. As for how the Ministry of Minerals found this out, he did not know and did not dare to ask.

After all, to people of his rank, the Ministry of Minerals was as mysterious as the secret guards. Everyone who entered the Ministry of Minerals had a clean background, and it was difficult to uncover its secrets.

And those who foolishly tried to spy on the Ministry of Minerals’ intelligence all came to a bad end.

“After controlling this place, the Empire’s steamships sailing in this region will no longer have to worry about supplies.”

Lei Ming looked at the heavily guarded city of Newland. As they landed, they were discovered by the British in the city.

However, in his opinion, the British heavy guard was not worth mentioning at all, because the current British firearms were more than a generation behind theirs.

Chang Yuzhu was more interested in the gold mine. He said, “Commander, if we take this gold mine, we can get a lot of merit points this time. When I return home, I can buy an estate.”

The soldiers were also very excited. The motivation for them to fight continuously overseas came from two sources: one was their loyalty to the Empire, and the other was the army’s eternal incentive policy.

A smile appeared on Lei Ming’s lips. He said, “In that case, let’s fight this battle beautifully. We should try to avoid casualties.”

Chang Yuzhu nodded. He pointed to the machine gun and said, “With this thing, the British will be scared to death. Commander, just wait and see the results.”

With that, Chang Yuzhu walked over to the artillery and talked with them for a while. He then discussed the attack strategy with the machine gunners and the regular soldiers.

In a short while, thirty-six artillery pieces roared in unison. The fierce artillery fire instantly covered the city gate of Newland.

In just an instant, the city gate of Newland collapsed with a bang.

Inside the city, the British garrison was already in a state of panic. Ever since the combined fleet was defeated and Singapore was occupied, they had been living in the shadow of war.

And now their nightmare had come.

“What is this?”

The immense power of the metal shells’ explosions instantly filled the British soldiers in the city with terror. They had never seen artillery with such immense power.

This was because the entire city gate was almost blown to pieces, something that even their most advanced artillery could not do.

But they had no time to think. After the city gate was blown up, the shelling did not stop. Shells whistled and landed in the city. With every explosion, a huge crater would appear on the ground.

The area around the crater was a no-go zone for life. No soldier could survive in this area.

There were only 5,000 British troops stationed in Newland. After a round of indiscriminate bombardment, the British army in the city suffered heavy casualties.

And this was only the first weapon that terrified them. After the artillery stopped firing, they heard the enemy’s charge bugle.

At this time, the surviving British soldiers on the city wall immediately prepared to counterattack. But as soon as they raised their heads, they heard the continuous “dah dah dah…” of gunfire.

They fell into a pool of blood before they could even react. The artillerymen on the city wall were even more miserable; they were the main targets of the machine guns.

Every time a soldier tried to use the artillery to counterattack, they would be shot and killed by the enemy’s continuously firing firearms. It could be said that the entire British army was being suppressed and could not even raise their heads.

The sound of the charge was getting closer and closer. The British army in the city could only abandon the city walls and enter the city, preparing to fight a bloody battle with the enemy.

But they miscalculated once again. After the soldiers with rifles entered the city, they were followed by soldiers pushing strange firearms.

Dense formations charging at the imperial soldiers were continuously falling under the sweeping fire of the machine guns. Leveraging the power of the machine guns, a team of twelve imperial soldiers entered the streets and alleys to eliminate the British soldiers.

The sound of grenades exploding rang out from time to time.

Under such a fierce offensive, the British did not hold out for long. A one-sided war was something that even the most disciplined army could not sustain for too long. An hour later, the British officers in the city, with the remaining one thousand men, surrendered to Lei Ming.

“General, there must be a gold mine here. Look.” After Lei Ming entered the city, Chang Yuzhu walked over excitedly. Behind him, soldiers were carrying three boxes.

Lei Ming glanced at the wooden boxes and had a plan in mind. He had the soldiers open them, and immediately, a box of glittering gold bricks appeared in front of him.

“According to the Governor of Newland, they were preparing to transport three boxes of gold bricks to India, and then from India to Britain.

After a pause, he took out a map. “We also found this while searching. These British people have explored many areas, and it has the locations of the minerals they discovered.”

Lei Ming took it and looked at it, his smile growing wider. “This thing is even more important than the gold mine. There are thirteen mineral locations on it.”

With that, he glanced at the Governor of Newland, who was squatting on the ground with his head in his hands, and said, “I will keep this map for you. If you have any other good things, hand them over now and you can suffer a little less. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for the consequences.”

The Governor of Newland was so terrified by the Empire’s artillery and machine guns that he had lost all courage. He said, “I have an important piece of intelligence for you, but on the condition that you release our families first.”

Lei Ming frowned. “You have no room for bargaining. If I were not a man of my word, even if I released your families, I could still arrest them again.”

“Fine,” the Governor of Newland said, disheartened. At this time, he handed a letter from Britain to Lei Ming.

Taking out the letter from the envelope, the interpreter said, “Commander, the letter says that the political situation in the Netherlands has changed due to pressure from France. The former prime minister has been forced out of office, and now the Netherlands has a new prime minister. The Dutch have now compromised with Britain and France. They are preparing to jointly oppose the Empire in Asia.”

Lei Ming’s brows furrowed deeply. He said, “This news is too important. Immediately send the news back to Qingzhou, and at the same time, have the warships and troops sailing in Southeast Asia be vigilant against the Dutch.”