Guanghou is the time of day when the sun is at its strongest. Temperatures are also at their peak.

In these temperatures, even standing under the awning on the deck can make you sweat. Make the practice harder.

This mystery, under the awning on the foredeck of a warship. A group of Chinese sailors were working shirtless, some arranging the cables, others tending to the oak deck under the command of an officer, using seawater to cool the warship's hull, which was so hot. There are also a few cauldrons on the deck, which should be filled with mung bean soup to relieve the heat of the officers and soldiers.

This is not only a test of physical strength, but also a test of will, and the reason why this time was chosen to carry out training and warship maintenance work is to exercise the will of the soldiers, and as the commander of the fleet. Rupin is now also standing in the sun to be tested.

Lu Ping stood behind the main turret on the foredeck, there was no awning, and the sunlight was so strong that it was impossible to open one's eyes. Lu Ping had no choice but to squint his eyes and search the sea reflecting the sun, where a maritime search and rescue exercise was underway, and more than 100 officers and men were carrying out training in the sunlight on more than 10 boats.

At the same time, the training of the artillerymen also began, and soon, Lu Ping walked onto the bridge of the ship, condescendingly coordinated the seven exercises, and instructed the staff officers to write and draw on the charts and formulate sea tactics.

The first phase of the practice was over quickly. Lu Ping went to the deck, as usual, to check the maintenance of the main and secondary guns by the artillery, and under the strict supervision of the fleet commander, no one dared to do anything perfunctory. All the scraping was done very well, even in the most strenuous engine room scraping.

Without waiting for Lu Ping to rush to the engine room to check the lifting exercise, a tugboat sailed over from the port wharf and stopped next to the ocean-going assault ship "Green Forest". A gangway was lowered on the tugboat, and several people got on the board, scraped towards the "Green Forest", and quickly followed the gangway to the foredeck of the warship.

The Chinese consul in Batavia, Shi Zhaoji, and several consulate staff members came over. After boarding the warship, an adjutant led them to the captain's room, where they sat blowing electric fans and drinking herbal tea, and they did not speak to the fleet commander until Lu Ping finished his tour of the engine room.

"Commander Lu, this is a telegram just taken by the center, according to the order of the telegram, we must rush to Sumatra as soon as possible to carry out the "transfer and resettlement of expatriates."

Seeing Lu Ping's face, Shi Zhaoji didn't say much wordy, and after a few words of greeting, he handed over a telegram to Lu Ping for a look.

"It's finally time to leave Batavia."

Lu Ping breathed a long sigh of relief and read the telegram carefully.

The Green Forest and the Red Eyebrows have been in Batavia for almost a week, during which time they have hosted thousands of local celebrities; Most of them were overseas Chinese in the South Seas, a few were officials of the Dutch colonial authorities, and even the captain of the British cruiser that followed the Chinese fleet to Batavia was invited to board the ocean-going assault ship "Green Forest" as a guest as commander of the Chinese fleet. Lu Ping did a good job of socializing in all aspects, but he had long been tired of this boring entertainment, and if it weren't for the strict orders of the Admiralty, he might have led the fleet out of the port of Batavia a long time ago, and in his opinion, even going to sea to practice was much more meaningful than serving as a guest house in the port.

Now the center finally ordered the end of the "goodwill visit" to Batavia and agreed to set sail for the fleet. It is no wonder that Lu Pingru was pardoned.

Shi Zhaoji is obviously more anxious to leave Batavia than Lu Pin, but even as a diplomat, he knows very well that warships like "Green Forest" and "Red Eyebrow" are not able to anchor when talking about cobalt, which requires some preparations, after all, this telegram from the center came very suddenly, without any prior warning, so the vegetable reserves on the warship are not sufficient, and before setting sail, the warship must replenish some fresh vegetables.

This is the work of using warships to replenish fresh vegetables. Shi Zhaoji rushed to the Dutch governor's palace with Lu Ping to bid farewell to the Dutch governor, which was a necessary diplomatic etiquette.

When they arrived at the Dutch Governor's Palace, Shi Zhaoji and Lupin informed the Dutch Governor of the imminent departure of the Chinese fleet from Batavia, and also informed the destination of the fleet at the same time. It was learned that the Chinese fleet was about to leave Batavia. The Dutch governor breathed a sigh of relief, though he understood. The reason why the Chinese fleet left Batavia was to prepare to rush to Sumatara Island to protect the Chinese diaspora, and Sumatra, as a province of the Dutch East India colony, was equally important to the Netherlands, but compared to Batavia, Sumatra is a wild area, and it is much better for the Chinese fleet to go there than to stay in Batavia all the time, at least the Dutch Governor can sleep peacefully, otherwise, Mr. Governor will have a nervous breakdown in the face of the powerful millimeter main guns of the two ocean-going attack ships all day long.

Sumatra is an island, located in the north of Java, which is an important transit point connecting China and India on the maritime trade route, as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China, the city-states of Sumatra sent envoys to China, and during the Ming Dynasty, there were large-scale Chinese settlements on Sumatra. In terms of size, it even surpassed the Chinese settlements of Java at the same time, where the Chinese settlers mainly engaged in commerce, gold, silver, camphor, ivory, rattan, kapok, wood carvings, spices, imitation fabrics were all important commodities to and from the sea routes, and these permanent settlements weaved a close-knit trade network together with the trading posts scattered throughout the South Seas at that time. If these Chinese immigrants could get official support, perhaps the history of the modern South Seas would be completely rewritten, but unfortunately, the Chinese did not seize this opportunity, but gave it to the Westerners, and it was the Dutch who eventually occupied the East Indies and colonized the area.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Nanyang Hua VIII... It is an important local ethnic group. In addition to business, business! Outside, the Chinese are pregnant in the spider public plantation industry. The main settlements are concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of Sumatra, the western part of Borneo, the western and eastern parts of Java, and the Maluku Islands.

Being separated from the British Straits Settlements by the sea, Sumatra and Singapore were more easily accessible than between Sumatra and Java, although Sumatra was controlled by the Dutch colonists. The British influence here is also quite strong.

In the "Northeast Asian crisis" of that year. A large number of Korean laborers were imported into the British Straits Settlements, and although the Netherlands did not participate in the Korean anti-Japanese resettlement program of the "Far East Peace Commission", the ties between the British Straits Settlements and Sumatra were so close. As a result, there are also a large number of Korean labourers in Sumatra, most of whom are illegal immigrants, who, like those colonized in the British Straits, usually work as coolies on plantations and tin mines, and are closely associated with their compatriots in Singapore.

It is precisely for this reason that after the "Malayan Crisis", there was also turmoil in Sumatra, but it did not cause serious repercussions because of the lack of organization of the local Korean diaspora, but the Dutch colonial army still strengthened its control over the local situation, and it is precisely because of this that when the armed rebellion of the Korean diaspora in North Borneo occurred, the Dutch colonial army had a shortage of troops. Right now. China has reached an agreement with the Dutch East Indies colonial authorities, and before the crisis in Malaya is subsided, the Dutch colonial authorities have agreed to allow some Chinese refugees from Malaya to enter the Chinese settlements on Sumatra Island to escape the war, in exchange, China will act as an intermediary to mediate the conflict between the Dutch colonial army and the Korean rebels, so that the situation in Borneo can be stabilized as soon as possible, so as to avoid the complete collapse of Dutch rule over the region, in fact, due to the imposition of the "forced planting system" The aborigines of Borneo hated the Dutch colonial authorities very strongly, and it was only because of the lack of suitable opportunities that they did not organize an effective resistance, but now, with the armed rebellion of the Korean bridge people, the situation in Borneo has reached a very dangerous point, if it is allowed to continue. Dutch rule over Borneo would soon come to an end.

It is precisely for this reason that the Dutch East Indies colonial authorities so readily agreed to allow those Chinese from the British Straits Settlements to enter the settlement in Sumatra, and agreed that the Chinese navy would ensure the smooth progress of this overseas Chinese protection operation.

The Governor of the Dutch East Indies Colony was one of the parties to this agreement with the Chinese side, and as an insider, he certainly understood the consequences of this action, as more Chinese residents poured in. The ethnic ratio on Sumatra is sure to change dramatically, with more and more Chinese, and with their economic advantage, the Chinese will soon have an all-round advantage.

However, in this situation, even if they are drinking to quench their thirst, the Dutch colonial authorities can only choose to accept it, because they have no choice, and the situation in Europe does not allow them to make other choices.

Since there is no way to prevent the Chinese from implementing this plan to protect overseas Chinese, the only thing the Dutch governor can do is to send the plague god under his nose away as soon as possible. As long as this fleet leaves Batavia as soon as possible, even if this fleet is going to attack Sumatra, Mr. Governor can take care of it, because even the Dutch government has nothing to do about it, and what can a small governor of the East Indies colony do? It can only be said that the timing chosen by the Chinese is too good.

So, for the visit of Shi Juji and Lu Ping. The Dutch governor was not surprised, nor did he show any expression, and completed the diplomatic etiquette in order, and then sent the guests out of the governor's palace.

The Chinese guest walked away on the front foot, and a Japanese guest came on the back foot, none other than the Japanese government consul in Batavia.

The Japanese consul came and brought good news to the Dutch governor: fearing that the situation in Borneo would continue to deteriorate and cause violent turmoil in the entire South Seas, after consultations with the British and French governments, the Japanese government finally decided that the Japanese government could send Japanese troops to assist the Dutch East Indian colonial authorities in suppressing the Korean forces in Borneo with the consent of the Dutch government, but the specific action would not be until after Japan seized the German Pacific colonies.

The Dutch Governor expressed great interest in the Japanese consul's suggestion, especially after the Japanese reminded the Governor that Japan could contain the Chinese forces, and the Dutch Governor's interest was even stronger, so an urgent telegram was quickly sent to The Hague and handed over to the Dutch Government for final decision.

However, the Dutch government quickly called back and politely declined the Japanese government's "good intentions" for the simple reason that the Japanese government had also put forward conditions. According to this condition, the Dutch East Indies colonial authorities were supposed to bring in a large number of Japanese immigrants from Japan to settle in Borneo.

This condition is unacceptable to the Dutch government. The issue of North Korean immigration alone is enough for the Dutch government to have a headache, where can there be another issue of Japanese immigrants? Therefore, this condition of the Japanese government is unacceptable.

At the same time, however, the Dutch government also authorized the Governor of the East Indies Colonies to continue consultations with the Japanese government on this issue to see if he could use Japan's naval power to quell the chaotic situation in Borneo as soon as possible without harming Dutch interests, and more importantly, to bring in Japanese forces in this strategic game in the South Seas. to restrain an increasingly unbridled China. If you want to know what happened next, please log in to the muscle, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!