borneo

Port of Sammarinda

A two-story Nordic-style high-roofed building with the Red Mountain Dragon Flag flying high at the entrance is now the joint headquarters of the occupation forces, and the commander of the combined fleet, He Fang, and the commander of the landing force, Chi Shouzhuo, and a group of staff officers are all working 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 nautical chart and stared for a long time, his heart was like pressing a heavy stone, and he had a solemn look on his face.

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

The emergency directive telegram sent by the Red River Valley was very clear, urging the Combined Fleet to take the initiative to seek an opportunity for a decisive battle without fear of a strong enemy, and strive to break the current stalemate situation of maritime confrontation and strive to seize the opportunity.

The last sentence of the message was particularly moving;

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

With thousands of burdens in one, it is strange that He Fang can laugh at this time, his gaze stayed on the location of Surabaya Port on the map, and he pondered for a long time.

Java Island is the essence of the entire East Indies, although the area is only more than 130,000 square kilometers, but gathered nearly eighty percent of the population of the entire East Indies, there have been a number of indigenous dynasties in history, the specialty pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon is famous, once the price was compared to gold, the spice trade brought huge economic benefits to the Dutch colonists every year.

The Governorate of the Dutch East Indies has always been located in Batavia (Jakarta), the center of Dutch colonial rule, and the port of Surabaya is an important seaport in the northeastern part of Java, across the Java Sea from the port of Samarinda.

On 1 April, after the successful surprise attack on the port of Sammarinda by a joint operation on land and sea, the "Seven Provinces" led a group of sail warships to return urgently, and then hid in the port of Surabaya, staring at the combined fleet like an experienced old wolf, ready to wait for an opportunity to pounce and take a bite.

If the two fleets face off in a dignified duel, He Fang is not afraid of this strong opponent, with the speed and artillery superiority of the new steam ironclad fleet, the side has at least a 60% chance of winning.

But the problem is that now the Royal Dutch Task Force is not in a hurry to fight, they are waiting for reinforcements from Europe to arrive.

At that time, there is no need to say more, but will take the initiative to fight.

Bringing together the 2,650-ton steamship "Seven Provinces" and "Iostein", the 1,470-ton light cruisers "Fury" and "Courage", and the 1,150-ton steamship "Lupef", plus more than a dozen sail warships led by the "Dutch Giant", the Royal Dutch Task Force can organize a rather formidable maritime force to overwhelm the combined fleet.

In such a decisive battle, the odds of victory for the Combined Queensland Fleet would be drastically reduced from sixty percent to less than thirty percent.

Even though the Dutch kingdom was in the twilight of the sun and its fleet was outdated, it was not something that could be easily challenged by a local feudal lord and noble.

Never doubt the heritage of a former ocean hegemon, there are still three pounds of nails in a rotten ship.

It may not have the funds to purchase 10,000-ton steam-ironclad battleships to maintain a large fleet, but its deep naval heritage should not be underestimated, and the quality of its seafarers and the strength of the Dutch officers and men were enough to play a decisive role in a stalemate naval battle.

The latest news shows;

The mixed fleet of "Epochstein" from Europe, led by the "Fury" and "Courage", as well as two coal carriers and two munitions ships, had already passed through the Suez Canal on 7 May and was heading for the East Indies.

There are only three choices in front of them;

First, each one is broken.

The second is to seek a decisive battle as soon as possible before the arrival of the European reinforcement fleet, so as to prevent long nights.

Third, after the Dutch fleet was merged, it relied on the ports of Samarinda and Jayapura to maneuver with the enemy and seek opportunities to destroy the enemy.

The first two options are positive options, and the third option is a helpless move, and the front bar can only be secretly looking for opportunities, as for whether the enemy will give you this opportunity, only God knows.

That is, to give the initiative to others, and the fate is in the hands of the enemy.

This is unacceptable to the Combined Fleet, so the third option can be largely ruled out.

The second option, seeking a decisive battle as soon as possible before the arrival of the European reinforcement fleet, became one of the key directions for the Queensland Combined Fleet's realistic choice.

The reason why He Fang has not moved for a long time is that the location of Surabaya Port is too tricky, which makes people feel that they have no way to start, which is very tricky.

Surabaya Port is the second largest city on the island of Java, with a population of about 400,000, it is located in the northeast corner of the island of Java, at the intersection of the Madura Strait and the Surabaya Strait "L" shape, facing the island of Madura, and is also the capital of East Java Province.

On the island of Java, Batavia, the largest city, is located in the westernmost part of the island, and Surabaya, the second largest city, is located in the easternmost part of the island.

If the Combined Fleet were to enter from the north, it would have to pass through the narrow Madura Strait, which was about 45 kilometers long, and only three or four kilometers at its narrowest point, which was completely within the blockade of shore artillery.

In such a narrow place, the combined fleet will not be able to give full play to its speed superiority, and will inevitably face the double blow of the enemy's shore artillery coverage and fleet artillery fire, which the wise will not take.

If the Combined Fleet entered from the east, it would have to pass through the wider Surabaya Strait, but unfortunately the port of Surabaya is located in a relatively narrow position in the Madura Strait, and the sea near it is no more than 7 kilometers wide.

If it is to control the steam ironclad battleship with rough skin and thick flesh, the Queensland Combined Fleet may have the capital to break through, but unfortunately, He Fang's subordinates are a group of crispy skins, and when the other party refuses to fight, there is basically nothing to do.

The only solution was to fight a combined land and sea operation, send a mixed fleet to land behind the Madura Strait, use land forces to uproot the defensive fortresses of the Dutch colonists, clear the enemy shore artillery threat, and fight to the death.

As soon as this combat plan was proposed, it was immediately rejected by the commander of the Shangri-La garrison, Chi Shouchou.

Are you kidding?

The Shangri-La garrison had only the first and second regiments plus half an artillery regiment and a few thousand militiamen, while the opposite island of Java was the base camp run by the Dutch for more than 200 years.

With the existing strength of the Dutch, it was of course impossible to hold the island of Java airtight.

But as soon as they reacted to resist the initial offensive, the landing force would be surrounded by a steady stream of troops, including the Royal Dutch Army, indigenous servants, and a militia mobilized by native-born whites.

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

This will not work, that will not work, who will set their sights on the Strait of Malacca, now only the first "individual break" option is still possible.

He was thinking about it, when he heard a commotion outside, he walked to the window and looked out, only to see a large group of heavily armed militiamen escorting a long procession of carriages down the street, with a happy smile on his face.

This is the militia and the military went to clear the countryside, and returned with rice, grain, spices, and goods seized in the country manor, and it seems that the harvest is very good.

Follow the orders of the upper peak; Completely remove the colonial imprint of the Dutch.

Immediately after the landing force occupied Samarinda, they blockaded this important town, destroying all the Dutch colonial institutions, killing some of the recalcitrant troops and local whites, and confiscating the property as spoils of war.

Some of the captured military and colonial personnel were imprisoned, and a strict curfew was imposed on the entire town, killing many armed men who tried to resist in the process, and completely taking control of this important town.

On this basis

The military released some of the indigenous prisoners in the prison, and they led the militia to clear the white plantations around Samarinda.

White plantations were a very important part of the colonial economy of Samarinda, with hundreds of plantations scattered throughout the area around Samarinda.

The white Dutch plantations controlled the economic lifeline of Samarinda and its surrounding areas, and their economic influence was enormous, enslaving many indigenous laborers and Chinese to serve them and making huge profits from them.

These white plantations involved rubber, spices, rice, palm oil, sisal, coffee, tobacco, and much more, and the precious cinchona, which was also widely cultivated in these plantations.

In the Dutch East Indies, there was a completely agricultural plantation economy, basically no industry, still in the stage of private small workshops, and the plantation model dominated the economy, of which the white Dutch descendants accounted for more than eighty percent.

These plantations were the first targets that had to be removed if the Dutch colonizer mark was to be eradicated.

The army in charge of Qingxiang had a contract in one hand and a sword in the other, forcing the white plantation owners to make a choice;

One option was to abandon allegiance to His Majesty William III of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in favor of the new conquerors, publicly declare their allegiance to Queensland in the newspapers, and pay a large security tax.

For the hardened Nordics, this is tantamount to betraying their homeland, no less humiliating than extremely humiliating, and few people are willing to do so.

Another option is to sell the plantation at a low price and get out of the house with a sum of money.

As most of the buyers of the army went to the countryside from the British mainland, the consortium behind it was faintly involved in some big nobles, who took advantage of the war to pour into the plantations in the countryside of Sammarinda, and bought the plantations at an incredibly low price, which was completely an act of robbery.

These hard-boiled consortia even borrowed large sums of money from Huitong Bank to buy plantations at low prices during the war, and they took advantage of the fire to buy the plantations that the Dutch had painstakingly managed almost at the price of cabbage with the tacit cooperation of the occupying forces.

Anyone who chooses to resist by force is considered an enemy and is immediately and mercilessly suppressed and his property confiscated.

In this era of big fists, the sword and gun in the hand is the truth.

For more than a month

There were many white plantation owners who could not see the situation clearly, and the fate was not to be seen, and the long convoy of horses and trucks escorted back by the militia was the best note.

The Red River Valley allows consortiums with the background of the British aristocracy to come in and take a piece of the pie and make huge profits, which is to use practical interests to tightly bind them to themselves and share prosperity and disgrace.

On the other hand, the Earl of Queensland is still young, and he is also using the potential influence of the London nobility to relieve pressure on himself.

Both sides take what they need and cooperate tacitly.

Li Fushou's appeal is simple; Now that London has stood by and watched, it is better to sit idly by and watch to the end.

The Red River Valley does not expect London to come forward to carry the mines for itself, this hope has long been dashed, but it cannot be biased towards the side of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as long as it can remain neutral, and everyone will finally speak by strength.

The logic is clear;

Shangri-La Island was the first territory discovered and declared by the Earl of Queensland to have inviolable rights and interests that have been recognized by the British Colonial Office and widely recognized in the European community.

The Dutch and Spaniards do not approve of it, but that is not the mainstream opinion of international public opinion, and the right to speak internationally 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 are also internationally recognized.

Now the question arises, since the Kingdom of the Netherlands can send troops to invade Shangri-La territory, the Earl of Queensland can also send troops to invade Borneo.

At this time, don't be reasonable, and don't shout at who invades whom? It was just the groans of the weak, and it didn't help.

Now it depends on whose fist is big and the body is hard, no matter how you pick up Wang Baquan's fist to win first, and then talk about it, first occupy more territory, this will never be wrong.

Even if the weak occupy the commanding heights of truth and morality, they actually do not play much role, and if they lose the war, they will lose everything, but they will be looked down upon.

This is the law of the jungle in international politics at the end of the 19th century, and although it is somewhat cruel, it is an unchangeable reality.

What you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiating table.

This month

Almost every three or five days, a large army of booty was escorted to Sanmarinda, from grain, gold and silver to all kinds of precious specialties, bringing a huge amount of supplies to the landing force, enough for tens of thousands of troops to use for a year and a half.

Most of the Dutch plantations were forcibly acquired, and a small number were wiped out because of stubborn resistance, and only a very small number of white plantation owners chose to give up their allegiance to King William III of the Netherlands, and instead published a solemn declaration of allegiance to the Earl of Queensland in the newspapers.

This kind of Erwuzai cut off his own back road, and the landing force naturally did not impose a difficulty, and after leviing a heavy tax, they let it go, and kept their plantations.

In the area around Samarinda, there are fewer than 20 white plantation owners who have wisely chosen to bow their heads and admit defeat, accounting for less than 10 of them.

Most of the others, having taken a sum of money, will leave on a British merchant ship that has recently bound for Batavia, and will never have a chance to return.

How is it possible to eat something in the stomach of the British, and expect to take it out again?