Episode 51 Commander of the Occupation Forces

Since 1596, the Dutch flag has been flying over Batavia for more than 124,000 days before being lowered on March 1, 1936.

Of the 18,000 men of the Ming Army's expeditionary division, more than 1,000 were officers and soldiers of the People's Guard. These people naturally became Xiang Xiaoqiang's henchmen in Batavia. After four hours of fighting in the afternoon, the Ming army had taken control of the city of Batavia and its environs, the part west of the Citaron River, almost one-sixth of the entire island of Batavia. Now about 12,000 Ming troops are stationed on the west bank of the Zhitaron River, defending and setting up pontoon bridges in preparation for the next day's offensive. About 6,000 Ming troops remained in the city of Batavia to control the situation.

Xiang Xiaoqiang, as the minister of the Ming Empire, is also a lieutenant general, and has the highest official rank (the commander of the aircraft carrier fleet is a vice admiral, and he is only on par with him). In addition, of the 6,000 Ming troops in Batavia, four or five hundred were the People's Guards under his direct command. So now, Xiang Xiaoqiang has become the supreme ruler of Batavia and even the East Indian Ming Army-controlled areas.

On the first night after the occupation, Xiang Xiaoqiang ordered Batavia to impose martial law. Locals and Chinese are not allowed to go out. A large number of gendarmes patrolled the streets. He intends to restore security and order in Batavia as quickly as possible. He didn't want to see the usual murders, robberies, rapes, and revenge on the locals that were the usual chaos on the first night after the occupation. Especially after just experiencing two anti-Chinese riots, the local Chinese and the Ming army are in hatred, and if it is not well controlled, it will be a Batavia massacre.

It's not that Xiang Xiaoqiang is unwilling to avenge the Chinese, but it must be organized and controllable, and that kind of out-of-control and chaotic situation is absolutely not allowed. Especially now that the Ming Dynasty is reaching out to the territory of other countries in the South Seas for the first time, and no matter what the reason, the Ming Dynasty is very sensitive to every move now. Now there are a large number of foreign envoys, businessmen, and journalists in Batavia, and every move of the Ming occupation army is watched by the whole world.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Fourteen Gege sent a telegram, and Fourteen Gege didn't know what the Ming government was going to do next. But she analyzed with Xiang Xiaoqiang that the Ming government would most likely not be too deep in the East Indies in the South Seas, and most likely would sign a treaty with the Netherlands soon, and would stop after getting enough benefits, and would not really eat the entire Dutch East Indies, an archipelago with more than 10,000 islands. The biggest possibility is that it is still a "classic package" of land cession + indemnity + garrison + economic rights.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also communicated a telegram with Zhu Yourong, although Zhu Yourong's analysis was not as specific as the fourteen grids, but her meaning was faint, and it seemed that she did not intend to swallow the Dutch East Indies.

Since I don't know what the Ming Empire will do with the East Indies, I don't know how much land to cut and which piece of land to cut, that is, I don't know whether Batavia under my feet will be "surnamed He" or "surnamed Ming" in the future. In this case, it is even more important to avoid sabotage and restore security and order as soon as possible. Maybe this will be Daming's own territory in the future.

……

So, on the first night of the Ming army's occupation of Batavia, a cocktail party was held at the Batavia Governor's Palace, and hundreds of invitations were sent.

In the empty, dark streets of Batavia, there were only two kinds of people: one was the military police of the Ming army, and the other was the one who went to the governor's palace with an invitation. During the day, I listened to the sound of gunfire and plane bombardment all afternoon, and at night I received invitations from the occupation army, so these people were very face-saving, and basically all of them came.

Compared with the luxurious Governor's Palace, the cocktail party was not luxurious, and the dishes were not very elaborate, mainly made by the chefs who were still staying in the Governor's Palace, as well as the military chefs of the Ming Army. It can be described as a mixture of Chinese and Western, elegant and vulgar, thick and thin, and the taste is not very good. Fortunately, the wine was not bad, and the good wines in the cellar of the Doge's Palace were brought out and bottled.

In the brightly lit hall, the guests who came to the reception were not only senior officers of the Ming army and navy, officers of the People's Guard who stayed in the city, but also many other guests specially invited to Xiaoqiang: diplomats and their wives from various countries who had not yet been evacuated, local wealthy Chinese businessmen and celebrities, representatives of the branches of major newspapers and broadcasters in Batavia, representatives of the International Red Cross, and even senior Dutch military officers who had surrendered......

Xiang Xiaoqiang wore a general's summer dress with a People's Guard medal, a medal on his chest and a sword hanging from his waist, and Qiu Yu also wore a navy skirt and military dress and a medal. As soon as the two appeared in the hall holding each other, a magnesium light immediately shone brightly.

The commander of the People's Guard, Xiang Xiaoqiang, is back.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said a few words in the hall. First of all, he welcomed everyone, although it was the first night of the occupation, but as everyone saw on the way here, Batavia was now safe...... Although it can't be done without leaving the road untouched and not closing the house at night, it can be regarded as orderly...... None of the things that everyone feared came up, and now there are gendarmes patrolling every street in Batavia...... We apologize for the inconvenience that martial law has caused to everyone's lives, but I hope you can understand that it is also for everyone to have a safe environment......

Then, on behalf of Her Majesty the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, Xiang Xiaoqiang once again solemnly promised to the envoys of various countries that the military operation of the Ming Dynasty in the East Indies was all about protecting the safety of the expatriates and seeking justice for them, and the Ming Dynasty would definitely try its best to protect the interests of other countries within this scope, and the Ming Dynasty would definitely compensate for the losses caused to other countries as a last resort. Although the Ming Dynasty formed a certain military build-up within the East Indies, it did not pose any threat to other countries.

However, Xiang Xiaoqiang turned to the front and said very seriously that although the Ming army is a civilized army, civilization does not mean that it is submissive, civilization does not mean that justice is not done for the thousands of Chinese who died tragically and were brutally humiliated, and it does not mean that those thugs who participated in the atrocities and had blood on their hands can go unpunished. The Ming Dynasty has always recognized dual nationality, and these Chinese who have been brutally killed and humiliated are all Ming nationals in Batavia and are all Ming citizens. It is rare in the modern history of the world that a citizen of a country has been killed, humiliated, and robbed by thousands or thousands of people on the territory of another country. In any other country, there is no second choice but to send troops to war, protect them by force, and seek justice for them. I believe everyone can understand this.

Then Xiang Xiaoqiang said that the total number of Chinese who were slaughtered and humiliated was about 3,500-4,000, and according to common sense calculations and a large number of eyewitnesses at the time, the number of local mobs involved in the violence should be several times this number. But we are very merciful and generous, and the number of murderers we may punish will not exceed the number of Chinese victims. Although there are many more murderers involved in the violence......

Xiang Xiaoqiang's statement is equivalent to counting the number of women who were only raped into the number of people who need to pay for their lives. And when he said this, it sounded extraordinarily merciful, as if he had suffered a great loss.

Then Xiang Xiaoqiang said bitterly that a few days ago he was on the boat and suddenly heard the shock and grief of Batavia's nightmare. At that time, he was immersed in happiness and was on his honeymoon with his new wife in Europe. He also talked about the famous broadcast at that time: the last broadcast of Miss Zhou Rumei, the female anchor of the Voice of Nanyang, was discovered by the local mob and forced to jump off the building to commit suicide when she was the first to expose the atrocities to the world.

He said bitterly, and Qiu Yu beside him gently wiped his tears. Soon the atmosphere infected the entire hall, and many of the female dependents of foreign envoys took out their handkerchiefs to wipe their tears, and some Chinese female dependents cried even more sadly. Many of their daughters and sisters have already suffered catastrophes, and they are not even as lucky as Miss Zhou.

Then, Xiang Xiaoqiang told the story of the family of the Ming consul in Batavia. He was engaged in talking about the horror of the discovery of the body - something that could no longer be called a "body". Speaking of the most painful part, Xiang Xiaoqiang, a young general, couldn't help but have red eyes, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his eyes. For a time, the entire hall, the upper echelons of the countries of Batavia, were immersed in sympathy for civilization and hatred for barbarism.

To tell the truth, it is unique in the history of world diplomacy that a country's diplomatic envoys are tortured and killed in such a way that their entire families are wiped out, and their wives and daughters are subjected to the most inhumane humiliation. Everyone knew in their hearts that if they really wanted to fight, this was enough. And other countries can't say anything.

Then, Xiang Xiaoqiang described vividly how the governor did not act, and even in order to blackmail himself, he actually took the Chinese in Batavia as hostages and deliberately connived at the local mob. And every time he risked his life through the rioting city to the governor's palace to ask the governor to take action, the governor was either bathing or seeing a dentist. In view of the outrageous actions of the governor, the Ming army decided to arrest him on the arrest list. But the Ming army assured that he would get a fair trial.

……

At about eleven o'clock in the evening, after the dinner, Xiang Xiaoqiang sent troops to escort the guests back. He lay tired on the couch, looking at the resplendent and empty hall, feeling contented.

Tonight's dinner was a great success, it was a public relations operation for the Ming army, the purpose was basically achieved, and the effect was very good, especially with so many reporters.

Tomorrow, we can start arresting people en masse. The possible negative effects have been minimized at tonight's dinner.

……

At dawn on March 2, the sky was again filled with the whistling of airplanes. The fighters and dive bombers of the Ming army swept past one by one and flew eastward in formation. At the same time, the 12,000 Ming troops assembled on the west bank of the Citaron River also crossed the pontoon bridge and marched deep into Batavia.

In view of the fact that the landing of the Ming army on the first day of Batavia Island and the battle went very smoothly, the second group of the Ming expeditionary force set sail again. This time the forces were much larger, and they were mainly troop carriers and supply ships, and there was no such strong fleet configuration as the first. This time the strength was three divisions and 54,000 men. Together with the first group of 18,000 men, they would form an East India Expeditionary Force.

The increase in troops was mainly to ensure that the strength of the Ming Dynasty in the South Seas was sufficient to control Batavia Island. Batavia is a small island, and there are thousands of remnants of Dutch stragglers who are not a cause for concern. It is easy to capture Batavia, but it will take a lot of troops to control it.

The East Indies had a population of tens of millions, and 70 percent of them were on the island of Batavia. Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang and other big cities could not be controlled by thousands of Ming troops. The reason why the Dutch were able to control the whole of the East Indies was because they had been operating here for hundreds of years and had a well-developed ruling machine. But the Ming can't do it now, and can only rely on military strength.

Xiang Xiaoqiang can now see clearly that the limit of Daming's attack is Batavia Island. It would be best if the Dutch sued for peace before taking Batavia. Otherwise, they will hold Batavia in their hands and negotiate terms with the Netherlands. Batavia Island is the political, economic, cultural, and demographic center of the East Indies, and taking Batavia Island is, to some extent, no different from taking the entire Dutch East Indies, and you can blackmail the Netherlands to your heart's content.

Batavia established the Provisional Military Management Committee of Batavia Island, and Xiang Xiaoqiang was appointed by Zhu Yourong as the chairman of the military management committee, temporarily in charge of the supreme power in the occupied areas.

Xiang Xiaoqiang started to act on the morning of March 2.

He first ordered the former police station in Batavia to resume operations, and ordered all the former Dutch authorities to return to their posts to "assist in law and order". So, by the afternoon, most of the police, both Dutch and local, had returned to their posts, and the police system was symbolically functioning.

Then, Xiang Xiaoqiang gave them a glorious and arduous task-

"Within a week, find out all the murderers involved in the massacre! The lower limit is 3000, and the upper limit is 4000! If we catch 4,000 people, we won't catch them! But if it's less than 3,000, I'll make up for a few of yours! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was in the governor's palace, pounding the table and roaring, and the spit sprayed on the faces of several high-ranking Dutch police officials in front of him. These people can be regarded as puppet officials under the "obscenity" of the occupying forces.

These high-ranking police officials understood that Xiang Xiaoqiang's eagerness to restore the operation of the police station was not to let them maintain law and order at all, but to let them be used as tools to arrest and kill people, so as not to get blood on the hands of the occupying army themselves.