these months

The Governor's Palace of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia was in a dead silence, and the white governors who came and went were all solemn on their faces, and their brows could not be shaken with heaviness.

After coastal ports such as Batavia and Surabaya were once again devastated by Royal Navy fire, the newly restored port facilities were bombed to shreds, adding to the panic of the white community on Java.

They didn't know that the Tang Empire had no invasion plan to occupy Java Island for the time being, so they would naturally think of it;

After settling the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, will Java face a large-scale invasion by the Tang Empire? And the shelling of the port is just a prelude?

When disaster befalls you, no one can be calm.

The Governor's Palace received information from reliable sources

There is a high probability that the army of the Tang Empire will not land on Java Island and will not touch the elite land of the East Indies.

But who can say for sure?

What if the Tang Empire temporarily changed its mind?

Because of the Boolean question, Britain's relations with Western European countries, including the Netherlands and Germany, have fallen into cold and alienated relations, and have become no longer credible. Coupled with the blockade of information and the blockade of the Tang Empire, it was difficult to transmit the news, and the white community on the island was panicked.

The Governor's Office did not dare to place its hopes on the mercy of the enemy for the future of the East Indies, so it carried out two rounds of general military mobilization on the island of Java.

With the 31,500 garrisons on the island of Java as the mainstay, 276,000 white men were successively trained for 2~3 months, and the same number of indigenous servants were recruited.

In various cities and villages, construction of defensive fortresses and positions was carried out, and it looked like they were stubbornly resisting to the end.

"Your Excellency the Governor, we have done everything we can, but the current situation of all the soldiers is bound to be difficult to sustain for long. A large number of young and middle-aged laborers have been transferred out, which has seriously affected agricultural production, and the reduction of autumn grain output is a foregone conclusion. Sir Van Basten, the Deputy Governor, shook his head worriedly, the island was full of bad news now, and everything was terrible.

He couldn't help but go on, saying; "At that time, the lack of food will inevitably cause turmoil on the island, and there is no need for the Tang army to invade, and Java Island will be in chaos first."

Governor Poce's sideburns were noticeably much whiter, and after hearing this, he let out a long sigh and said;

"I can understand your concerns, Mr. Sir, but we cannot afford to relax our preparations for war now, which is the most urgent matter at the moment.

As the Queen's Colonial Governor, I have the sacred duty to guard the Territory and repel any intruding enemies.

As for what you're worried about, unfortunately, these are extraordinary times.

We don't pay too much attention to those indigenous people, the culprits of all this are the greedy Tang people, we can only pray for God's blessing! ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, I would like you to explain to His Excellency Balde, the Colonial Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the predicament we are facing, in the blockade of the enemy's mighty fleet. Without external or internal help, we will not be able to last long. ”

"The Royal Government is also actively engaged in diplomatic actions and has already put forward a request for armistice negotiations. As long as you persevere, you can see the dawn of victory. ”

"Really?" Sir Van Basten shook his head disapprerovingly, took a sip of the wine glass in his hand, and said with some pessimism; "I wonder what's going on in the minds of those people in the Royal Government? Looking at the history of colonial expansion in the Tang Kingdom over the past half century, the land swallowed by whales has never been spit out. Putting forward preconditions for the return of the occupied territories is simply an insult to the intelligence of the Easterners. ”

"This is just a negotiation tactic, after all, no one is willing to lose the foundation laid by their ancestors, and no one wants to become a sinner of the nation." Governor Pose smiled wryly and explained a few words to the Royal Government.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a full constitutional monarchy, the greatest power of the state is in the cabinet and parliament, and the royal family only exists as a national symbol, and it is difficult to interfere in important decisions.

Because of this

The government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands must take into account the patriotic sentiments and tendencies of the people, and any weakness and humiliation of the enemy will arouse the anger of the people.

This will inevitably lead to the collapse of the cabinet, and those in power will henceforth be labelled capitulationists, which is tantamount to political suicide in Dutch politics.

Therefore, on the one hand, the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands hopes to start peace talks as soon as possible to free the more than 50,000 white prisoners of war who are in prison.

The families of these people were spread across almost every province of the Netherlands, and they exerted great pressure on the government to rescue their relatives from the dying hard labor camps of the Tang Kingdom.

On the other hand, dominated by strong nationalist sentiment in the country, the cabinet has little room for concessions.

A combination of factors led the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to put forward an unbelievable precondition for peace negotiations;

That is, the Tang State should return the occupied islands of Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan in advance before the next armistice negotiations can be launched.

This led to the fact that the negotiations had not even begun, but had already ended.

The attitude of the Tang Empire was extremely tough, and its willingness to take the initiative to promote armistice negotiations was not strong and active, and it had already begun to build a large-scale new occupied area.

Looking at this way, there is no intention of returning it at all.

Such an outcome is neither the best nor the worst, and the current Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands can barely accept it.

The reason is simple

As a result, the armistice negotiations dragged on, and there is no sign of a resumption in sight, but the term of office of the current Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is just over two months away.

The current government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands lost the last general election at the end of the century because the Dutch voters were dissatisfied with the loss of the colonial wars and the loss of the city.

As long as these few months have passed, the mess will be handed over to the next cabinet to give a headache, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?

The current cabinet no longer has to worry about land reparations, nor does it have to worry about being labeled as a capitulationist, so as to completely cut off the road to politics.

After a few years, it's time to re-elect it.

The most unfortunate is the Java colony, which has been repeatedly bombarded by the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire and is tightly sealed, the people of the island have endured the suffering of war, and the white colonists are trembling and unable to sleep at night under the current fear of the great enemy.

Governor Pose knew what was at stake, but there was only so much he could do.

At present, it is necessary to keep Java, the essence of the East Indies, at any cost, even if the blood of the local natives is drained.

As for the rest...... I don't have time to think about it for the time being.

The native of the Tang Empire

New Capital City Song (Philadelphia)

On May 1, the last year of the 19th century, coinciding with the 53rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the emperor announced the official relocation of the capital to Philadelphia and held a series of grand celebrations.

The new seat of the imperial government, the Clouds, the Parliament Building and many government buildings have been officially opened, and major projects such as the Royal Museum of Art of Chaoge, the National University of Chaoge, and the Royal Academy of Administration have also held inauguration ceremonies, which have also attracted a wave of popularity.

More than ten days have passed

In the streets and alleys of Chaoge City, you can still see the traces of grand celebrations, and the endless street lamps on Glory Street and Triumph Street are all hung with bright red lanterns, and the lights on both sides of the road are colorful.

In the lush green belt, there are also firecracker crumbs and streamers set off during the celebration, showing that this is an unprecedented scale of capital relocation ceremony.

On the site of the lush Fairmont Park

The new palace is located in the shade of countless towering trees, neither showing mountains nor dew, far less magnificent and imposing than the Daming Palace, and even the pattern of the three major halls of the Zhengchao is much smaller.

As a matter of fact

Removing the Taiye Pool and Wanshou (homonym, the same as "beast") Mountain, which covers a very wide area, the new palace is not much less than the palace houses of Daming Palace, and the layout is more compact and beautiful, and there is a lot of good things inside.

Due to the short time, the construction of the new palace is only less than 1/4 completed, mainly because the three major halls of the Zhengchao Dynasty and part of the East Palace buildings have been completed, which can be inhabited.

The emperor has already settled in the East Palace, but he only brought a dozen young and beautiful concubines, and he has no plans to stay for a long time.

At the end of the year, he was ready to return to Chang'an, the western capital.

In the Diligent Palace

The newly built palace also has a faint fragrance of nanmu, where Emperor Richard was receiving his cabinet members for a routine audience.

It's different from what it used to be

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Tang Li Gan also attended the regular Imperial Council, and his seat was under the throne, which was a distinguished position below one person and above billions of subjects.

In addition to internal affairs, the important matters of state affairs discussed by the court are, of course, the affairs of the new colonies of the East Indies, as well as the increasingly serious problem of the Boers in South Africa.

Field Marshal Mak Hsiao-cho, Minister of War and Chief of Staff, and Lord Liu Daqing, Minister of the Colonies, respectively reported on the military progress of the expeditionary corps and the construction of the new colony, as well as future plans and prospects.

"Zhu Aiqing is thoughtful, acts properly, spreads the glory of the empire beyond the waves, and inherits the splendid civilization of China, I am very gratified."

After listening to the report, Emperor Richard nodded in approval.

In recent years, Emperor Richard has rarely expressed his opinions on specific matters, and most of them are mainly cabinet resolutions, which has greatly strengthened the voice of the cabinet and parliament.

The East Indies Expansion and Colonization War was a major military operation led by the Imperial Cabinet, with the tacit approval of His Majesty the Emperor.

There is a reason why as many as 168,000 troops were mobilized before and after, especially with the Second Corps of the Royal Praetorian Guard as the main force.

This is mainly due to the fact that the provinces of Paradise, the Kingdom of Luzon, the Kingdom of Cebu, and the Kingdom of Mindanao are all under the royal sphere of influence and have a strong military presence.

Mobilizing troops nearby saves time, effort, and military expenditure, and the effect is not bad at all.

Of course

According to the tacit understanding between the royal family and the imperial government before the war, the occupied Kalimantan Islands belonged to the royal family of the Tang Empire and could be used to divide the vassal states.

The Sumatra Islands are located on the southern side of the Strait of Malacca and are the only passage through which the Pacific Ocean communicates with the Indian Ocean, so it is directly under the jurisdiction of the empire in Sumatra.

Although the Sulawesi archipelago covers a vast area, it has little potential for development due to its sparse population, and the empire has set up an overseas zone in the area.

This is only a plan for the future, and the current conditions are not yet ripe.

The Prime Minister, Duke Pan Shouguo, stood up and clenched his fists;

"Your Majesty;

After repeated deliberations, the Cabinet concluded that although the East Indies had initially achieved its pre-war goals, it was plagued by long-term international disputes.

Stemming from the self-restraint of the Empire, the Kingdom of the Netherlands had unrealistic delusions on the East Indies and tried to procrastinate.

In their opinion

The East Indies is the Tang Dynasty's version of the Boer problem, which, after fermentation for a long enough time, is enough to win the sympathy of European countries for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and form a strong international pressure on the Tang Empire.

In light of this

The Imperial Government believed that Plan B should be decisively launched to further occupy the line from Bali to East Timor on the eastern side of the Java archipelago, and to bring the flames of war to the doorstep of the main island of Java.

Only by exerting maximum pressure and promoting peace through war can the East Indies end as soon as possible and usher in the expected armistice and peace talks.

If the empire were to tie its own hands, it would not be conducive to resolving the territorial dispute over the East Indies.

The longer the small wound drags on, the ulcer will inevitably grow bigger and bigger, and the implementation of the European powers will free up their hands to enter the game one after another, which may incur the danger of not being able to end the game. ”

This......

Further occupation of the Bali-East Timor line?

Emperor Richard instantly understood what the prime minister meant, and couldn't help but ponder;

Bali is a subsidiary island of the Java archipelago, and it is a chain of islands with a length of more than 1,270 kilometers from Bali to Timor-Leste, which is much wider than the main island of Java.

If this more than 1,000-kilometer island chain is cut, then the main island of Java will become an isolated island surrounded by the territory of the Tang Empire.

The Tang Empire's troops are located in Bali, which is equivalent to the Bali Strait, which is only separated by more than ten nautical miles, like a sharp knife against the back of Java Island, and the security environment is unprecedentedly bad.

From Kalimantan, which is hundreds of kilometers away, to Bali, which is more than 10 kilometers away, the Tang Empire's army is pressing forward step by step, which is the meaning of extreme pressure.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands, in an attempt to procrastinate, will have to consider whether it can afford the grave consequences of the full occupation of the island of Java.

As long as you are not stupid, whether you completely lose your wealth, or keep some chips and leave, you must make a decision between the war and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Looking at it this way, it seems to be a trick?

Emperor Richard did not have any ready-made historical experience to draw on, but with his rich experience in governance, he knew that he should not hesitate to make decisions and miss opportunities in military affairs.

"Since the war in the East Indies is led by the government, then let it go. However, it is necessary to pay attention to policy coordination with London to avoid miscalculations on both sides. ”

Speaking of which

Emperor Richard thought for a moment and added;

"It is advisable to move forward with the attack on Bali, and to allow sufficient time for the European side to react.

Judging by the current international situation

Britain's main focus is on the Boer issue in South Africa, and there is no time to pay attention to the East Indies for the time being, and the response to the related issues may be slow or even contradictory.

The German hand on which the Dutch depended could not be stretched that long, and there was still plenty of time on the part of the Reich.

The opportunity for this change should be that after the outbreak of the Boer War in South Africa, if the war goes well, the East Indies issue could become a long-term complication.

If the war is unfavorable or even if the British army suffers heavy losses, then ...... It may be rare good news for the East Indies to be settled once and for all.

International affairs are by no means isolated, but interlinked, affecting the whole body.

Calmly examine the international situation and take the right action at the right time, and you can get twice the result with half the effort! ”

"Your Majesty is sage, and there is no reason for the ministers to be disrespectful." The ministers collectively stood up and replied. (End of chapter)