Borneo

Sanmalinda Port

The Red Mountain Dragon Flag is flying high at the entrance of a two-story Nordic high-top building. It is now the Joint Command of the Occupy Army. The Joint Fleet Commander He Fang and the Landing Force Commander Yuchi Shouzhu led a group of staff to work here, which is conducive to the coordination of joint operations between the two sides.

On the west side of the second floor, in the Fleet Commander's Office

He Fang stood in front of the huge sea chart with his hands behind his back and stared at him for a long time, his heart seemed to be pressed against a heavy stone, and a solemn expression on his face.

In the Naval Battle of Malacca, most of the sailing fleets of the Royal Dutch East Indies Fleet were defeated and a brilliant victory was achieved, but the main force of its fleet still existed.

The emergency command message sent by Red River Valley is very clear, requiring the joint fleet not to fear strong enemies, to actively seek opportunities for decisive battles, to break the current stalemate of maritime competition, and to strive to seize the initiative.

The last sentence of the message was particularly touching;

At this moment of life and death, I hope that all of you will work together to fight the enemy bravely.

He was tying up with thousands of burdens, but it would be strange if He Fang could laugh at this time. His eyes were at the location of Sishui Port on the map and pondered for a long time.

Java Island is the essence of the entire East Indies. Although it covers an area of ​​only more than 130,000 square kilometers, it gathers nearly 80% of the population of the entire East Indies. In history, there have been many indigenous dynasties, including pepper, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. It was famous for its specialties, and once had the price of gold. The spice trade brought huge economic benefits to the Dutch colonists every year.

The Dutch East Indies Governor's Office has always been located in Batavia (Jakarta) on Java Island. It is also the center of the entire Dutch colonial rule. Surabaya Port is an important seaport in northeastern Java Island, and it is far away from the Sanmalinda Port through the Java Sea.

On April 1, after the joint operation of sea and land raided Sanmalinda Port, the "Seven Provinces" led a group of sail warships to return urgently, and hid in Sishui Port, staring at the joint fleet like an experienced old wolf, ready to wait for an opportunity to pounce on and take a bite.

If the two fleets confront each other upright, He Fang is not afraid of this strong opponent. With the speed and artillery advantages of the new Steam Iron Craft Fleet, Alice has at least 60% chance of winning.

But the problem is that the Royal Dutch Task Force is not in a hurry to seek war, they are waiting for the arrival of powerful aids from Europe.

Without further ado, we will take the initiative to seek war.

The 2650-ton steamship waisted iron ship "Seven Provinces" "Iowstein", the 1470-ton light cruiser "Furious" and "Courage", and the 1150-ton steamship "Lupev", plus more than ten sail warships led by the "Netland Giant", the Royal Dutch Task Force can organize a very powerful maritime force to overwhelm the joint fleet.

In this case, the chances of winning of the Queensland United Fleet will be reduced sharply from 60% to less than 30%.

Even though the Dutch Kingdom is dying and its fleet is outdated, it is not something that a local feudal lord and noble can easily challenge.

Never doubt the foundation of a former marine overlord, and the rotten ship has three kilograms of nails.

It may not have more funds to purchase 10,000-ton steam iron armored battleships to maintain the huge fleet size, but its deep naval heritage cannot be underestimated. The excellent seafarers' qualities and the strong desire of the Dutch officers and soldiers to avenge their previous shame are enough to play a decisive role in the stalemate naval battle.

The latest news shows;

The Iowstein from Europe led a mixed fleet of Furious and Courage, as well as two coal ships and two arms ships, passing through the Suez Canal on May 7 and is heading towards the East Indies.

There are only three options in front of it;

First, defeat each one.

Second, seek a decisive battle before the European reinforcement fleet arrives as soon as possible to prevent long nights and dreams from happening.

Third, after the Dutch fleet merged, they relied on Sanmalinda Port and Chayapura Port to deal with the enemy and found an opportunity to annihilate the enemy.

The first two options are positive options, while the third option is helpless. You can only look for opportunities in a secret way. As for whether the enemy will give you this opportunity, only God knows.

In other words, give up the initiative and let the destiny be in the hands of the enemy.

This is unacceptable to the United Fleet, so the third option can be basically excluded.

The second option, seeking a decisive battle before the European reinforcement fleet arrives as soon as possible, becomes a realistic choice for the Queensland United Fleet and one of the key directions to consider.

The key to the reason why the situation has not moved for a long time is that the location of Sishui Port is too tricky, which makes people feel like they are unable to start, which is very difficult.

Sisai Port is the second largest city in Java with a population of about 400,000. It is located in the northeast corner of Java Island, at the "l" junction of the Madura Strait and the Sura Strait. It faces Madura Island and is also the capital of East Java Province.

On Java Island, Batavia, the largest city in the largest city, is located at the westernmost point of the island, and the second largest city in the eastmost point of the island, close to Bali, which is quite tricky.

If the joint fleet enters from the north, it must pass through the narrow Madura Strait. The Madura Strait is about 45 kilometers long, and the narrowest place is only three or four kilometers, completely within the blockade of shore artillery.

In such a narrow place, the joint fleet cannot exert its speed advantage at all. It will inevitably face the double blow of enemy shore artillery coverage and fleet artillery fire, which the wise will not take.

If the joint fleet enters from the east, it must pass through the wider Sishui Strait. Unfortunately, Sishui Port is located in a narrower position in the Madura Strait, and the nearby sea surface is not more than 7 kilometers wide. The above problems also exist.

If he was to control a steam iron armored battleship with thick skin, the Queensland United Fleet might have the capital to make a breakthrough, but unfortunately, he was all under a group of crispy skins. He was basically helpless when the other party refused to fight.

The only solution is joint combat between sea and land, sending a mixed fleet to land behind the Madura Strait, removing the Dutch colonists' defense fortress through army forces, clearing the enemy's shore artillery threat and fighting to the death.

Once this combat plan was proposed, it was immediately denied by Shangri-La garrison commander Yuchi Shouzhuo.

What a joke?

The Shangri-La Garrison only has the first regiment and the second regiment, half an artillery regiment, and thousands of militias. On the other side, Java Island is a base camp that the Dutch had run for more than 200 years. Not to mention the sturdy fortifications, the population advantage that makes people feel irritated is enough to make people retreat, and the strength of the war cannot be underestimated.

With the existing Dutch troops, of course it is impossible to keep Java Island airtight.

But as long as they react to resist the initial offensive, there will be a continuous stream of troops surrounding the landing forces, including the Royal Dutch Army, the indigenous minions, and the militia mobilized by native white people.

The Shangri-La garrison is really not enough to fill the gaps.

This is not possible, nor that is not possible. He Fang turns his attention to the Strait of Malacca. Now there is only the first option to "break each" and there is still a possibility of realization.

He Fang was thinking about it when he heard a noise outside. He walked to the window and looked out. He saw a brigade of militia carrying live ammunition escorting a long carriage on the street, with a smile of joy on his face.

This was the militia and the military went down to clear the countryside, full of rice, grain, spices, and property seized in the countryside manors, and it seemed that the harvest was quite good.

Follow the orders of the upsurge; completely remove the colonial imprints of the Dutch.

After landing troops occupied Sanmalinda, they immediately blocked the important town and destroyed all the Dutch colonial institutions. Some stubborn troops and local white people took ruthless action to kill them. The relevant property was confiscated as spoils.

Some prisoners of military personnel and colonial institutions were detained in a concentrated manner, and a strict curfew was imposed on the entire town. During the implementation, many armed personnel who tried to resist were shot and completely controlled this important town.

On this basis

The military released some of the indigenous prisoners in the prison. They led the militia to cooperate with the operation and divided them into several routes, and began to clear the countryside of the white plantations around Sanmalinda.

In the colonial economy of Sanmalinda, white plantations are a very important component, covering the surrounding areas of Sanmalinda, reaching hundreds of them.

The Dutch white plantations control the economic lifeline of Sanmalinda and its surrounding areas. They have huge economic influence and enslave many indigenous laborers and Chinese to serve them and make huge profits from them.

These white plantations involve rubber, spices, rice, palm oil, sisal, coffee, tobacco, etc. What is particularly surprising is the precious cinchona cream, which is also widely planted in these plantations.

Within the Dutch East Indies, it is a complete agricultural plantation economic model, with basically no industry and still staying in the stage of private small workshops. The plantation model occupies the economic dominance, among which the Dutch white descendants account for more than 80%.

To completely remove the Dutch colonists’ marks, these plantations are the primary goals that must be removed.

The army responsible for clearing the countryside held a contract in one hand and a sword in the other, forcing the white planters to make a choice;

One option is to give up allegiance to His Majesty William III, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and surrender to the new conquerors, publicly declare his allegiance to Queensland in newspapers, and pay a considerable amount of security taxes.

For the tough Nordic people, this is equivalent to betrayal of the motherland, no less than extreme humiliation, and almost few people are willing to do so.

Another option is to sell the plantation you have at a low price and get out of here with some money.

As most of the acquirers who went to the countryside came from the British, the consortium behind them was faintly involved in some great nobles. They took advantage of the war to flood into the plantations in the countryside of Sanmalinda and bought the plantations at an incredible low price. This was a completely robbery.

These consortiums with strong backgrounds even borrowed a large amount of money from Huitong Bank to acquire plantations at low prices in the war. They took advantage of the situation and robbed them even more ruthlessly. With the tacit cooperation of the occupying forces, they almost acquired the plantations that the Dutch had worked hard at bargains.

Anyone who chooses to resist by force is regarded as an enemy and will immediately suppress it ruthlessly and confiscate its property.

In this era of fist-making, the swords and guns in your hands are the truth.

Over the past month

Many white planters who couldn't see the situation clearly chose to resist stubbornly, and naturally they didn't know that the long carriage full of goods was the best annotation.

The Red River Valley allows consortiums with great British aristocratic backgrounds to come in and get a share of the pie and make huge profits, which is to use actual interests to tie them together and share common prosperity and disgrace.

From another perspective, the Earl of Queensland is still a little bit, which is also using the potential influence of the London nobles to relieve stress.

Both sides will meet their needs and cooperate with each other.

Li Fushou's demands are very simple; since London has already stood by and watched, it would be better to just stand by and watch.

The Red River Valley does not expect London to stand up and carry the thunder for itself. This hope has long been shattered, but it cannot be biased towards the Dutch Kingdom. As long as it can be neutral, everyone will finally speak with their strength.

The logic here is clear;

Shangri-La Island was the first territory discovered and declared by the Earl of Queensland, and had related inviolable rights. This has been recognized by the British Empire's Colonial Department and has been widely recognized in European society.

The Dutch and the Spanish do not agree with it, but that is not the mainstream international public opinion. The international right to speak has always been in the hands of powerful countries, and now it is no exception.

vice versa

The East Indies, including Borneo, are Dutch colonies, which is also recognized internationally.

Now the problem is that since the Kingdom of Dutch can send troops to invade Shangri-La territory, the Earl of Queensland can also send troops to invade Borneo.

At this time, don’t say anything about reason, or you don’t have to call anyone to invade whom? That’s just a moan of the weak, and it will be useless.

Now it depends on who has a big fist and a hard body. No matter how you swing the turtle punch, you will win first. If you occupy more territory, you will never be wrong.

Even if the weak occupy the commanding heights of truth and morality, they actually do not play much role. If they lose the war, they will lose everything, and they will be regarded as the top-line.

This is the jungle law of the jungle that preys on the weak in international politics at the end of the 19th century. Although it is a bit cruel, this is an unchangeable reality.

Things that cannot be obtained on the battlefield are also not available on the negotiating table.

This month

Almost every few days, a brigade of trophy was sent to Sanmalinda, from food, gold, silver, and various precious specialties, which brought huge supplies to the landing troops, enough for tens of thousands of people to use it for a year and a half.

The Dutch plantations were also destroyed, and most of them were forcibly acquired, and a small number of them were eliminated due to stubborn resistance. Only a very small number of white planters chose to give up their allegiance to King William III of the Netherlands, and instead published a solemn statement in the newspaper, loyal to the Earl of Queensland.

This kind of Erwuzi lost his own way of retreat, so the landing troops would naturally not impose difficulties. They would levy another heavy tax and let them go, retaining their plantations.

In the surrounding areas of Sanmalinda, there are less than 20 white planters who are wisely choosing to bow their heads and admit defeat, accounting for less than 10%.

Most of the others took a sum of money and would leave in a sad way on a British merchant ship heading to Batavia recently, and there would be no chance to return.
Chapter completed!