The Rise of Australia

The large-scale rebellion in the Dutch East Indies has attracted a lot of attention from around the world and is considered one of the biggest news.

But Britain and France, who knew the inside story, would naturally not take any action. After all, this was considered a compromise between the great powers, and the interests of the Dutch East Indies had already been given to Australasia.

But this does not mean that no country except Britain and France has ideas about the Dutch East Indies.

The island countries were the first to take action. As the second closest country to the Dutch East Indies, the island country also coveted the Dutch colonies.

All this is because the island country's mainland area is not large and its resources are relatively scarce, which has led to the island people's great ambitions in terms of land and resources.

Although part of the Dutch East Indies has been annexed, the remaining three islands still have extremely rich economic value. It is impossible for the people of the island country not to be tempted.

However, because of the threat from Australasia, the islanders were smart enough not to directly conflict with Australasia. Instead, they chose to directly contact the Netherlands, the owner of the Dutch East Indies, and asked the Dutch if they needed support.

Although the islanders spoke very sanctimoniously when they contacted the Dutch, it is impossible for the Dutch government not to know what the islanders were thinking.

The islanders also underestimated the Netherlands' determination to hold on to the Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands not only simply rejected the islanders' proposal, but even expressed dissatisfaction with the islanders' behavior.

Speaking of which, island countries, a powerful country, do not have that much of a deterrent effect on small and medium-sized European countries. They even have no deterrent effect on most European countries.

This is no joke. The geographical location of the island country and the completely different race from European countries make this country not popular with mainstream European countries.

Although the military strength of the island country is indeed at the level of a great power, the respect it receives in Europe cannot be regarded as a great power so far.

The reason why these European countries are confident is actually that the island countries are too far away from Europe and it is impossible to enter Europe.

Among other things, the European powers will not allow the power of island countries to expand into Europe, because this will also pose a threat to themselves.

The fact that the islanders approached the Dutch government but were rejected by the speed of light quickly spread to Australasia. Although the Netherlands did not come together with the island country, this did not prevent Arthur's good impression of the island country from decreasing again.

Of course, the good impression is originally negative, and there is nothing to reduce it. However, this also strengthened Arthur's ambition to eliminate this country, at least to make this country a big mark in the history of the 20th century, and to make them an indelible contribution to the development of nuclear weapons.

Although the trajectory of the island country did not succeed, the attention of other powers also forced Australasia to speed up its actions in the Dutch East Indies to ensure that the Dutch East Indies could smoothly come under the control of Australasia.

1. After a period of preparation, several indigenous forces on Java Island gathered more than 30,000 troops. In conjunction with more than 10,000 troops quietly transported from Sumatra Island, a total of more than 40,000 troops launched an attack on Batavia.

It was also on this day that full martial law was instituted in Batavia. When the indigenous rebellion reached Batavia, the colonial capital, it meant that the rebellion was so serious that the colonial government could no longer control it alone.

However, martial law remained martial law, and the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies was quite satisfied with Batavia's defense.

Because indigenous rebellions often broke out in East India, as the capital of East India, Batavia had hundreds of artillery pieces, dozens of heavy machine guns, and ammunition reserves that could last for several months.

Coupled with the more than 20,000 troops stationed in Batavia, it was enough to delay the attack of more than 100,000 natives for at least three months.

Generally speaking, these three months are enough time for Dutch support to arrive. This is why the Netherlands has controlled the Dutch East Indies for hundreds of years without major crises.

According to news from the Netherlands, reinforcements can arrive in about half a month at the earliest, which also means that Batavia will not be in any danger if it only needs to hold on for half a month.

The Governor of the Dutch East Indies could even laugh out loud when he thought about Batavia's existing reserves of supplies and ammunition.

As long as he could resist the attack of the natives, wait until the reinforcements arrived, then launch a counterattack against the natives, and quickly wipe out the rebellion, he even felt that his title could be promoted by one level.

In a small country like the Netherlands, it is not easy to upgrade your title. The current Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Dirk Faulk, is far less famous than his two previous governors.

Whether it was Governor Alexander or Governor John, after they returned to the Netherlands after their success, their titles were promoted by one level.

After all, it is one of the few large colonies of the Netherlands. The Dutch East Indies' status to the Netherlands is no less important than India's status to the British Empire.

Every governor-general of the Dutch East Indies will receive awards from the government and the royal family after returning home. Generally speaking, the title of baron cannot be lost.

Governor Dirk is even thinking about the title of earl. If this rebellion can be successfully put down, his prestige in the Dutch East Indies will surpass the previous two governors in one fell swoop, and he will also become the first Dutchman (except the royal family) to be enfeoffed as a count in the 20th century.

"How prepared is our army? Are the soldiers ready?" Governor Dilk asked at the colonial government meeting as he looked at several division commanders of the Dutch East Indies Army with a smile on his face.

Generally speaking, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch East Indies and had jurisdiction over the colonial army.

This is why Governor Dirk is confident that he can get most of the credit. Under the premise of military and political control, if the Dutch East Indies can be successfully preserved, the credit will indeed be considerable.

"Everything is ready, Mr. Commander." Several division commanders nodded.

Governor Dilk nodded with satisfaction, looked at Fokker, who was in charge of logistics, and asked: "Are our food reserves sufficient? Can our weapons and ammunition reserves sustain a large-scale battle?"

"Mr. Governor, our current food reserves are enough for the government to use for more than a year. We currently have 20,000 rifles, 55 artillery pieces, 12 heavy machine guns, 30 million rifle bullets, 1 million artillery shells, and 550,000 machine gun bullets.

The reserves of these weapons and ammunition are enough for us to launch a large-scale battle. At least during the offensive and defensive battle of Batavia, we do not need to worry about the consumption of any weapons and ammunition. "Logistics officer Fokker smiled and nodded, saying with pride.

The weapons and ammunition mentioned here are only the reserves in the East India weapons warehouse, that is, additional weapons and ammunition.

If all the guns of the colonial army are included, the number of rifles in the Dutch East Indies has exceeded 100,000.

"Very good. Gentlemen, did you all hear it? Don't begrudge the consumption of bullets and cannonballs, let those damn natives understand that the Dutch are the masters of this land." Governor Dilk said with a smile: "If we can Defeat the natives attacking Batavia before reinforcements arrive, and I will personally request credit for you from Her Majesty the Queen."

Everyone understands how important the Dutch East Indies is to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and naturally understands what a huge contribution it will be if the Dutch East Indies can be defended.

Hearing Governor Dilk's promise to personally ask for credit from Her Majesty the Queen, the officers present breathed a little heavier and were obviously moved.

Although they are also the commanders of the colony, Queen Wilhelmina is not something they can meet if they want to. At least they need to be at the level of Governor Dilk to be qualified to see Her Majesty the Queen.

It is precisely because of this that these officers were very moved by Governor Dirk's proposal to personally ask for credit from Her Majesty the Queen.

Although the absolute monarchy is gone, Queen Wilhelmina still has a lot of say, and it is easy to promote one or two officers.

With the support of Queen Wilhelmina, their career in the army will be smooth.

Unlike Governor Dirk, who obviously came to the Dutch East Indies to gild, these colonial army division commanders were basically forced to come to the Dutch East Indies.

If you become the commander of a local division, who would want to be the commander of a colonial division?

Although they are both division commanders, there is a huge difference in rank, salary, or the degree of attention they receive from the government.

The local division commanders of the Netherlands are the top leaders of the Dutch military, and they have the opportunity to attack the cabinet and higher levels of the military.

As for these colonial division commanders, apart from being transferred to the mainland for their meritorious service, they can only wait for their term to end and then return to the country.

But this also means a lot of time is wasted. Although the Dutch East Indies were wealthy, compared to the mainland Netherlands, which had more developed and complete infrastructure, the Dutch East Indies were still as barren as a wilderness.

"Mr. Governor, we still have a brigade of troops in Batavia. Should we also join them in the defensive battle of Batavia?" A general in the military suggested.

The relationship between this general and Muhammad is relatively good. For such a great opportunity to massacre the indigenous people in exchange for credit, the general is obviously unwilling to give up his good friend.

"Are you talking about Muhammad?" As the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies and the Commander-in-Chief of East India, it was natural that Dilke would not know Muhammad.

However, Dilke, who considered himself a noble Dutchman, actually looked down on Muhammad. Muhammad's isolation in the government and military was largely due to Dilke's discrimination.

"Yes, Mr. Governor. Mohammed is also commanding the Dutch army. We have reason to believe in the loyalty of these soldiers." The general nodded.

Although he was not satisfied with Muhammad's ancestry, the general was absolutely correct in saying that these soldiers were also Dutch soldiers.

No matter what happened to Muhammad, the loyalty of these soldiers was relatively reliable. Although there are many indigenous and mixed-race people among them, after hundreds of years of assimilation, these people do not reject the rule of the Dutch government. Many mixed-race people even do not want to admit their mixed blood and consider themselves to be pure Dutch.

"Then let Muhammad attend the meeting. Defending Batavia is the most important thing at the moment. Muhammad's army still has a role. It can also allow him to confirm his loyalty to the kingdom by massacring the indigenous people." Governor Ke nodded, agreeing to the general's proposal.

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