Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Gerrit de Vries was even thinking about whether the Liberal Party could suppress the Socialist Party in the next general election starting in December 1882, adopt the model of joint government formation for the general election, invite the Christian parties to form a cabinet, and suppress the Socialist Party.

However, looking at the high-spirited Christian Prime Minister Lyndon in front of him, he knew better than to act too hastily.

Now that he has made up his mind, he will eliminate evil and bring more kindness in his eyes.

His eyes showed surprise at the right time and he said: "We have led the 20,000 coalition forces of the Thirteen-nation Group and have arrived in Guatemala?

Seeing Linden nodding, he said: "If this is the case, it can still withstand the opponent's attack, but Mexico has occupied too much territory by Austria-Hungary. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire starts to only defend but not attack, it will not be able to attack Mexico and It’s a big problem for the coalition forces.”

Lyndon: "Of course not, we have already formulated a second plan."

Gerrit De Vries said: "Second plan? Are you sure?"

"Okay" William IV waved his hand and said: "There are too many things involved in this, and I won't be able to explain it for a while. If Lord Grit wants to know more, you can talk to Linden after the Privy Council meeting. The Prime Minister needs to know more or the Military Commission of the Ministry of National Defense needs to know more.”

Any major transfers made by the Military Committee of the Netherlands Ministry of Defense must be recorded. As the former prime minister and hospital of the Netherlands and 15 people with the status of Privy Council members, Gerrit de Vries has the right to understand the current operation of the Netherlands. , even if it is operating externally, it can be understood.

"The Netherlands not only has interests in the Americas, but also other places that the Netherlands needs to pay attention to."

William IV: "Now let's talk about the situation in Southeast Asia. Mr. Fox, as the Dutch Minister of Defense, how do we deploy our troops in Sumatra?"

Fox has been the Christian Party's Minister of Defense since 1879 when Lyndon formed his cabinet. He is a staunch conservative. He has also served in the Dutch Ministry of Defense for more than 20 years and is familiar with the operations of the Ministry of Defense.

Seeing William IV's question, he immediately replied: "Due to the important geographical location, it also holds the key to the Strait of Malacca entering and exiting the South Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and it can also guard against the British garrison on the Malay Peninsula in the north. So we deployed there. Heavily guarded."

"Currently, the military has deployed two armies there with a total of 60,000 people, including 30,000 people from the 11th Army deployed in Medan and 30,000 people deployed in Palembang, Lampung Province."

William IV: "What is the naval situation?"

Fox followed: "10 second-generation submarines, 4 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 1 steam battleship, Medan, and 8 first-class sailing battleships have been deployed in Medan Port; the same 10 submarines have been deployed in Palembang. 2 heavy cruisers, 10 light cruisers, 6 second-class sailing battleships, and one steam battleship Palembang.”

Gerrit de Vries secretly said: 20 submarines, 6 heavy cruisers, 10 light cruisers, 8 first-class sail battleships, 6 second-class sail battleships, and 2 steam battleships. This deployment is quite powerful.

William IV asked: "Where is the part of the Kingdom of Siam in the Malay Peninsula that was assigned to us?"

In 1879, the Kingdom of Siam (later succeeded by Thailand) leased the Kingdom of Siam south of Bashu in the Malay Peninsula for 100 years to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Now the Netherlands rules there, and the north is close to the United Kingdom. Colonial Myanmar borders the British colony of Malaya to the south, which can be regarded as breaking the British peninsula in the middle.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Siam is naturally afraid that the British will attack there sooner or later. After all, it has a small land area, long coastlines on the east and west sides, and several natural and excellent ports such as Pottery, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Van Lun, and Chun in the eastern Nanyang. Peng, Bashu, and the ports of Sadun, Krabi, Phuket, Phang Nga, Ranong and other ports along the western Indian Ocean coast. Britain has long been drooling over these ports. Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Siam was very afraid of British ambitions, so it defected to the Netherlands early. In the end, it took advantage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and fell into the hands of the Netherlands.

This is also the reason why Britain launched a comprehensive attack on the Netherlands both internally and externally.

The Netherlands and the Kingdom of Siam hit it off under the British threat and formed a defense alliance against the British.

Fox: "Currently, our Ministry of National Defense has deployed a division (10,000 people) there in the Malay Peninsula." As for the navy, there are only sailing battleships, almost all of which are about to be phased out in the 1860s, such as the second, third, fourth and fifth levels. There are about 20 sailing battleships in total. In addition, we have established submarine ports of call in Songkhla and Phnom Penh. "

Hearing this, William IV breathed a sigh of relief.

Entering the Malay Peninsula is a relatively big step for the Netherlands. When the Dutch territory reaches the Malay Peninsula, the Netherlands has truly entered the eastern end of the Asian-European continent. The original Dutch territory in Western Europe is almost 60,000 square kilometers; The total area of ​​Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and East Oman in the Middle East is about 200,000 square kilometers; the Malay Peninsula in the Far East is about 110,000 square kilometers.

These three major Eurasian continents, with a total land area of ​​370,000 square kilometers, have become the basis of Dutch rule in Eurasia and a symbol of the sea power's squeeze on land power. Although it is not as ferocious as the British, and it often colonized tens of millions of square kilometers in India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, it is still a big achievement.

William IV: "British deployment in the Malay Peninsula?"

Fox: "There are currently 5,000 people stationed there, but there is also a fleet docked at the port of Malacca, with about 8 first-class sailing battleships and 4 to 5 second- and third-class sailing battleships. There are also two small fleets deployed in Malacca. The Port of Singapore and the Port of Kota Bahru in the southern part of Southeast Asia, the latter is watching every move of our Songkhla Port, and the Port of Singapore is nailed to the top position of Malacca entering the Southeast Asia. All ships entering and exiting are supervised by it. "As for the Port of Malacca, it keeps a close eye on ships passing through the strait."

One medium, two small, three fleets and 5,000 people are the distribution of British troops in the 140,000 square meters of territory. "

Wei "What about the part of the colony occupied by the British in North Kalimantan?" William IV said: "It is said that the British also attach great importance to it."

Fox: "Currently, it has 20,000 indigenous troops and only 5,000 British troops. The total number is 7,000, but it has the size of a medium-sized fleet and is headquartered in Bandar Seri Begawan."

"So, the UK is very concerned about that place." William IV frowned, and then said: "Now the whole world is staring at the situation in Latin America and Mexico, and we in the Netherlands are also watching whether we will send troops to Mexico. For frontline support, my plan is to use the Latin American troops of the Group of Thirteen to support Mexico as a cover, while our troops mobilize to land in Southeast Asia."

Gerrit De Vries' heart skipped a beat. He thought of something and looked at William IV with wide eyes.

In addition to him, others had the same idea almost at the same time, looking at William IV in disbelief.

I, William IV, made an astonishing statement at this time: "We can use Mexico or even the Latin American war to see if we can win Burma. As long as we win Burma and even Bangladesh, then everyone, at least our future generation will be safe." "