Chapter 39： Fleet on Wake Island

Time goes back to February 15, 1862.

Pacific Ocean!

On Wake Island, a separate small island in the northern Marshall Islands, a Dutch Pacific Fleet consisting of thousands of people is temporarily docked on this island that has been flying the Dutch flag for less than 20 days, and is repairing the nearby coast.

"The Hawaiian Islands are almost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They are the largest secondary archipelago in the Polynesian archipelago. This archipelago and the gateway to the Tropic of Cancer have an area equivalent to one-third of our mainland area."

"How many islands are there in this Hawaiian archipelago, and is there a natural seaport that is most suitable for building a port for warships?"

"Yes, this island is called Kauai, where the natural harbor only needs a little construction to accommodate our current political fleet in the Netherlands. Hawaii is mainly composed of 8 islands, of which four are large and four are small. , and 124 small islands, surrounded by the sea and surrounded by family affairs and stone-cut minarets.The islands are Kauai, Nihau, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, Kahulawe Island, Big Island.

The natural harbour I mentioned just now is a small harbour on the west side of a small town called Honolulu in the southern part of Oahu Island in the western Hawaiian Islands. The local indigenous people rely on it to fish. "

Theo von Linden smelled the sea breeze from the Midway Island slowly blowing past his ears, and looked at the fleet in front of him with 1 Tier 1 sailing battleship, 3 Tier 3 battleships, and 1 Tier 4 battleship, plus 3 Tier 5 battleships. The fleet of 1,313 battleships totaled more than 4,100 men.

Open the introduction map of His Majesty William IV. There are many islands and reefs in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in Noda. The main part is the Polynesian Islands, one of the three major archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian Islands, which have more than 130 large and small islands, are very eye-catching on the map. Just like A string of pearls placed in a bathtub with clear water at a glance is very attractive to a soldier like Linden who has made the navy his life goal.

Linden looked at the rough map, almost east-west direction, Hawaii was equidistant from the United States and the United States.

In the north-south direction, with the Hawaiian Islands as the center, it is relatively symmetrical with the North American territory of the Tsarist Russia in the Alaska Peninsula in North America, the Fiji Islands just occupied by the Netherlands in the south, and the island of New Guinea in the west.

"The Hawaiian Islands are simply the best place for warships to stop. If the Netherlands can take him down, it will greatly increase their power in the Pacific Ocean. Even the Megatron Pacific and the South Pacific only need to be in the Pacific Ocean. It's just a matter of increasing investment on warships"

After Theo von Linden sighed, he turned to look curiously to the side, the French submarine expert Gerrit de Vries, who had been held captive by his design for more than 2 months, "Aren't you a submarine expert? Are you so familiar with this place?"

Gerrit De Vries did not answer immediately, but fell into bitter memories.

"At the end of the 18th century, the British Empire, which had risen through the first industrial life, was leading the wave of colonial expansion around the world. In 1778, a Frenchman Cook, while conducting a colonial expedition in the Pacific Ocean, accidentally discovered the existence of the Hawaiian Islands. After arriving on these islands, there was a conflict and the guests died in a foreign land, and the remaining crew took the record of the expedition back to Paris, leading more fleets to come here for exploration and trade."

Gerrit DeVries followed up: "Because it is too far from the surrounding continent, the natives in Hawaii have maintained a primitive tribal civilization for a long time, and they believed in Kapu religion and bound the islanders with canons. It also has a noble There are nobility, commoners, and slaves, but without their own writing, the inheritance is passed down by word of mouth. This is the life of our ancestors thousands of years ago, but unfortunately it was broken with the arrival of explorers.

As the French expedition team made a comeback, there were also those adventurers with a keen sense of smell from the British Empire, and even the Americans joined in. Unfortunately, the coordinates here were not found at that time, but later with the technology of other countries. More advanced, and soon found there.

"Although I don't know how you know how you communicated with King Kamehameh IV of the archipelago, I still thank you for His Majesty William IV and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for your sincere help, just like you As I said, the opportunity is fleeting, so this time, the Hawaiian Islands must be captured, and a fleet needs to be dispatched, and this fleet will be the permanent fleet in Hawaii in the future, so it will be arranged by His Majesty. , Pearl Harbor, must be the home of one of the most powerful fleet ports in the Netherlands."

Linden stretched out his hand, invited him and shook it. After Gerrit de Vries put his hand on it, he clenched it tightly. Lin waited and said, "The Dutch Navy needs your sincere participation, and I hope we can work together for even five years. , 10 years, we hope, to be able to work with you happily with Gerrit?"

Gerrit De Vries carefully observed Linden, Linden greeted him sincerely, and after a while, Gerrit De Vries nodded heavily and said, "I like the Netherlands. Fleet, now, I like the Kingdom of the Netherlands more, of course, I am more curious about the character of His Majesty William IV who is currently serving, what kind of person is he, and how can a great admiral like you worship him so much"

Linden laughed and said arrogantly, "I'm afraid you're worse than me when I see him, and you'll surrender."

Gerrit De Vries smiled and said, "I'll wait for the day to come."

"Actually, the Frenchman Cook who first landed on the Hawaiian Islands was actually my grandfather."

Linden was silent, everyone has a story, his grandfather should have too, so he understood why Gerrit De Vries was reluctant to tell more about his grandfather.

"For countries in the world who want to develop global trade and military layout Due to the vast area of ​​the Pacific Ocean, and cross-ocean voyages often need to supply fresh water and food on the way, the Hawaiian Islands have become the economic development of the United States. It has become an excellent supply and transit base. At the same time, it can form an island chain guarding the Pacific Ocean with the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in North America, Guam in the southeast of the Western Pacific, and the Philippines occupied by Spain. His Majesty said, just seize this The island chain can go through East Asia and Southeast Asia, and retreat can guard the Dutch sphere of influence in the South and South Pacific, so we have decided on this vote.”

"The order goes on and we set off. It is now 10:00 am on February 15, 1862. I want to see the Hawaiian Islands in our fleet within one day, which is 10:00 am on February 16, 1862. Appears in front of you, can you do it?"

"Yes" 4,100 people's voices resounded through the newly occupied Dutch island called Wake Island.

Immediately, as Theo von Linden took the lead in singing the national anthem "Ode to Wilhelm" that must be sung before the Dutch march, everyone including Gerrit re-boarded the fleet full of fighting spirit and set sail again. On to the next stop - the Hawaiian Islands!

........

The camera returns to Amsterdam.

William IV only said three words, but they were both surprised and delighted, and they all lost their composure, because William IV's three words hit their inner thoughts, no, it should be said that the entire Tsarist Russian Empire is now a bottleneck.

"Pacific Ocean!"

"To be precise, I want to help the Tsarist Russian Empire and get closer to the southern Pacific or Indian Ocean."

What?

The three looked at William IV face to face, not understanding why he mentioned the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Also, how can you help?