Chapter 626: Battle of Batavia

The large-scale rebellion in the Dutch East Indies has attracted a lot of attention from all over the world, and it is one of the biggest news in the second half of 1925.

But Britain and France, who know the inside story, will naturally not take any action. After all, this is also a compromise between the great powers, and the interests of the Dutch East Indies have long been given to Australasia.

But this does not mean that no country except Britain and France has any ideas about the Dutch East Indies.

The first to take action is the island country. As the second country closest to the Dutch East Indies, the island country also covets the Dutch colony.

All this is because the island country’s land area is not large and its resources are relatively scarce, which makes the islanders have great ambitions in terms of land and resources.

Although part of the Dutch East Indies has been annexed, the remaining three islands still have extremely rich economic value, and it is impossible for the islanders to say that they are not tempted.

However, because of the threat of Australasia, the islanders wisely did not confront Australasia head-on, but chose to directly contact the Netherlands, the owner of the Dutch East Indies, and ask the Dutch if they need support.

Although the islanders spoke very sanctimoniously when contacting the Dutch, the Dutch government could not be unaware of the islanders' ideas.

The islanders also underestimated the Netherlands' determination to defend the Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands not only rejected the islanders' proposals straightforwardly, but also expressed dissatisfaction with the islanders' behavior.

Speaking of which, the island country, a powerful country, does not have such a strong deterrent effect on small and medium-sized European countries. Even for most European countries, the island country has no deterrent effect.

This is not a joke. The geographical location of the island country and the completely different race from European countries make this country unpopular among mainstream European countries.

Although the military strength of the island country is indeed at the level of a great power, the respect it has received in Europe so far cannot be regarded as a great power.

The reason why these European countries are confident is actually that the island country is too far away from Europe and it is impossible to attack Europe.

Apart from anything else, the European powers will not allow the island country's power to expand to Europe, because this will also pose a threat to themselves.

The news that the islanders approached the Dutch government but were rejected at the speed of light soon spread to Australasia. Although the Netherlands did not get together with the island country, this did not prevent Arthur's favorability towards the island country from decreasing again.

Of course, the favorability was originally negative, and there was nothing to reduce. However, this also strengthened Arthur's ambition to destroy this country, at least to make this country a big book in the history of the 20th century, and make them an indelible contribution to the development of nuclear weapons.

Although the trajectory of the island country did not succeed, the attention of other powers also forced Australasia to speed up its actions in the Dutch East Indies to ensure that the Dutch East Indies could smoothly come under the control of Australasia.

On September 23, 1925, after a period of preparation, several indigenous forces on Java Island assembled more than 30,000 troops, and cooperated with more than 10,000 troops quietly transported from Sumatra Island, a total of more than 40,000 troops launched an attack on Batavia.

It was also on this day that Batavia launched a full martial law. When the indigenous rebellion reached Batavia, the capital of the colony, it meant that the rebellion had become so serious that even the colonial government could no longer control it alone.

However, martial law was still martial law, and the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies was quite satisfied with Batavia's defense.

Because indigenous rebellions often broke out in the East Indies, as the capital of the East Indies, Batavia had hundreds of artillery pieces, dozens of heavy machine guns and enough ammunition reserves to consume several months.

In addition, the more than 20,000 troops stationed in Batavia were enough to hold off the attack of more than 100,000 indigenous people for at least three months.

Generally speaking, these three months were enough for the Dutch support to arrive, which was why the Dutch had not experienced a major crisis in the hundreds of years of their control over the Dutch East Indies.

According to the news from the Netherlands, the reinforcements could arrive in about half a month at the earliest, which also meant that Batavia would not be in any danger as long as it held on for half a month.

Thinking of the existing supplies and ammunition reserves in Batavia, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies could even laugh out loud.

As long as he could resist the attack of the natives, wait for the arrival of reinforcements, and then launch a counterattack against the natives and quickly put down the rebellion, he even felt that his title could be upgraded by one level.

In a small country like the Netherlands, it is not easy to upgrade the title. The current Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Dirk Fok, is far less famous than his two predecessors.

Whether it is Governor-General Alexander or Governor-General John, their titles were upgraded by one level after they retired and returned to the Netherlands.

After all, it is one of the few large colonies of the Netherlands, and the status of the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands is no less than that of India to the British Empire.

And every Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies will be rewarded by the government and the royal family after returning to his country. Generally speaking, a baron's title is inevitable.

Governor-General Dirk is even dreaming of the title of earl. If he can successfully quell this rebellion, his prestige in the Dutch East Indies will surpass the previous two governors-general in one fell swoop, and he will also become the first Dutchman (except the royal family) to be enfeoffed as an earl in the 20th century.

"How is our army prepared? Are the soldiers ready?" At the colonial government meeting, Governor Dilke looked at several division commanders of the Dutch East India Army with a smile on his face and asked.

Generally speaking, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch East Indies and had jurisdiction over the colonial army.

This is why Governor Dilk is confident that he can get most of the credit. Under the premise of military and political control, if the Dutch East Indies can be successfully preserved, the credit will indeed be considerable.

"Everything is ready, Mr. Commander." Several division commanders nodded.

Governor Dilk nodded with satisfaction, looked at Fokker, who was in charge of logistics, and asked: "Are our food reserves sufficient? Can our weapons and ammunition reserves sustain a large-scale battle?"

"Mr. Governor, our current food reserves are enough for the government to use for more than a year. We currently have 20,000 rifles, 55 artillery pieces, 12 heavy machine guns, 30 million rifle bullets, 1 million artillery shells, and 550,000 machine gun bullets.

The reserves of these weapons and ammunition are enough for us to launch a large-scale battle. At least during the offensive and defensive battle of Batavia, we do not need to worry about the consumption of any weapons and ammunition. "Logistics officer Fokker smiled and nodded, saying with pride.

The weapons and ammunition mentioned here are only the reserves in the East India weapons warehouse, that is, additional weapons and ammunition.

If all the guns of the colonial army are included, the number of rifles in the Dutch East Indies has exceeded 100,000.

"Very good. Gentlemen, did you all hear it? Don't begrudge the consumption of bullets and cannonballs, let those damn natives understand that the Dutch are the masters of this land." Governor Dilk said with a smile: "If we can Defeat the natives attacking Batavia before reinforcements arrive, and I will personally ask for credit from Her Majesty the Queen."

Everyone understands how important the Dutch East Indies is to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and naturally understands what a huge contribution it will be if the Dutch East Indies can be defended.

Hearing Governor Dilk's promise to personally ask for credit from Her Majesty the Queen, the officers present breathed a little heavier and were obviously moved.

Although they are also the commanders of the colony, Queen Wilhelmina is not something they can meet if they want to. At least they need to be at the level of Governor Dilk to be qualified to see Her Majesty the Queen.

It is precisely because of this that these officers were very moved by Governor Dirk's proposal to personally ask for credit from Her Majesty the Queen.

Although the absolute monarchy is gone, Queen Wilhelmina still has a lot of say, and it is easy to promote one or two officers.

With the support of Queen Wilhelmina, their career in the army will be smooth.

Unlike Governor Dirk, who obviously came to the Dutch East Indies to gild, these colonial army division commanders were basically forced to come to the Dutch East Indies.

If you become the commander of a local division, who would want to be the commander of a colonial division?

Although they are both division commanders, there is a huge difference in rank, salary, or the degree of attention they receive from the government.

The local division commanders of the Netherlands are the top leaders of the Dutch military, and they have the opportunity to attack the cabinet and higher levels of the military.

As for the colonial division commanders, apart from being transferred to the mainland for their meritorious service, they can only wait for their term to end and then return to the country.

But this also means a lot of time is wasted. Although the Dutch East Indies are prosperous, compared to the Netherlands, where the infrastructure is more developed and complete, the Dutch East Indies are still as barren as a wilderness.

"Mr. Governor, we still have a brigade of troops in Batavia. Should we also join them in the defensive battle of Batavia?" A general in the military suggested.

The relationship between this general and Muhammad is relatively good. For such a great opportunity to massacre the indigenous people in exchange for credit, the general is obviously unwilling to give up his good friend.

"Are you talking about Muhammad?" As the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies and the commander-in-chief of the East Indies, it was naturally impossible for Dilke not to know Muhammad.

However, Dilke, who considered himself a noble Dutchman, actually looked down on Muhammad. Muhammad's isolation in the government and military was largely due to Dilke's discrimination.

"Yes, Mr. Governor. Muhammad is also commanding the Dutch army. We have reason to believe in the loyalty of these soldiers." The general nodded and said.

Although he was not satisfied with Muhammad's ancestry, the general was absolutely correct in saying that these soldiers were also Dutch soldiers.

No matter what happened to Muhammad, the loyalty of these soldiers was still relatively reliable. Although there are many indigenous and mixed-race people among them, after hundreds of years of assimilation, these people do not reject the rule of the Dutch government. Many mixed-race people even do not want to admit their mixed blood and consider themselves to be pure Dutch.

"Then let Muhammad attend the meeting. Defending Batavia is the most important thing at the moment. Muhammad's army still has a role. It just allows him to confirm his loyalty to the kingdom by massacring the indigenous people." Governor Ke nodded, agreeing to the general's proposal.

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