Chapter 255 The Dilemma of Surabaya Port

  Borneo

  Samarinda Port

A two-story Nordic-style high-roof building is flying the Red Mountain Dragon Flag high above the door. It is now the joint command of the occupying forces. The joint fleet commander He Fang and the landing force commander Wei Chi Shouzhuo led a team of staff members. The office is here, which is conducive to the coordination of joint operations between the two sides.

  West side of the second floor, in the Fleet Commander’s Office

  He Fang stood in front of the huge sea chart and stared at him for a long time, his heart was like a heavy rock, and his face was solemn.

In the Battle of Malacca, most of the sailing 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 remained.

  The emergency command message sent by the Red River Valley is very clear, requiring the joint fleet to not be afraid of powerful enemies, actively seek opportunities for decisive battles, and strive to break the current stalemate in the maritime battle, and strive to seize the opportunity.

  The last sentence of the message is particularly moving;

  At this moment of life and death, I eagerly hope that the kings will work together and fight the enemy courageously.

  The body is composed of thousands of burdens. It is strange that he can laugh at this time. His eyes stayed at 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 its area is only more than 130,000 square kilometers, it has gathered nearly 80% of the population of the entire East Indies. There have been many indigenous dynasties in history, specializing in pepper, nutmeg, and cloves. Cinnamon is well-known and once more expensive than gold. The spice trade brings huge economic benefits to the Dutch colonists every year.

The Governor’s House of the Dutch East Indies has always been located in Batavia (Jakarta) on the island of Java, which is also the center of Dutch colonial rule. The Port of Surabaya is an important seaport in the northeastern part of the island of Java, separated from the Java Sea and Samalin. Dagang is far away.

After the successful raid on the port of Samarinda on April 1st, the "Seven Provinces" led a group of sailing warships and hid in the port of Surabaya, staring at the joint fleet like an experienced wolf, preparing Waiting for the opportunity to rush forward and take a bite.

  If the two fleets are in an upright confrontation, He Fang will not be surprised by this strong opponent. With the speed and artillery advantage of the new steam armored fleet, the already has at least 60% chance of winning.

  But the problem is that the Royal Dutch Task Force is not eager to fight, they are waiting for strong aid from Europe to arrive.

   Needless to say then, instead, they will actively seek war.

The 2650-ton steamship "Seven Provinces" "Ihostein", the 1470-ton light cruisers "Fury" and "Courage", and the 1,150-ton steam ironclad "Lupperf", plus With more than ten sailing warships headed by the "Netherlands Giant", the Royal Dutch Task Force can organize a rather powerful maritime force that can overwhelm the combined fleet.

  In this decisive battle, the Queensland United Fleet’s odds of winning will be drastically reduced from 60% to less than 30%.

   Even if the Kingdom of the Netherlands is at sunset and the fleet is outdated, it is not something that a local feudal lord and noble can easily challenge.

  Never doubt the background of a former marine overlord, there are still three catties of nails in the rotten ship.

It may not have more funds to purchase a 10,000-ton steam iron-clad battleship to maintain a huge fleet, but the deep naval heritage cannot be underestimated. The excellent quality of seamen and the strong desire of the Dutch officers and soldiers to be shameful are enough to be stalemate Played a decisive role in the naval battle.

  The latest news display;

"Ihostein" from Europe led a mixed fleet of "Furious" and "Courage", as well as two coal carriers and two munitions ships, which passed through the Suez Canal on May 7 and is moving towards Coming from the direction of the East Indies.

  There are only three choices in front of where to put it;

  One, each defeated.

  Secondly, seek a decisive battle as soon as possible before the arrival of the European reinforcement fleet to prevent nights and dreams.

   Third, after the Dutch fleet merged, relying on the ports of Samarinda and Jayapura to deal with the enemy, looking for opportunities to wipe out the enemy.

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

  In other words, the initiative is handed over to others, and the fate is in the hands of the enemy.

  This is unacceptable for the combined fleet, so the third option can basically be ruled out.

  The second option, seeking a decisive battle as soon as possible before the arrival of the European reinforcement fleet, has become a realistic choice for the Queensland combined fleet and one of the key considerations.

  The key reason why He Fang has not moved is that the location of Surabaya Port is too tricky, which makes people feel like they have nowhere to start, which is very tricky.

Surabaya Port is the second largest city on Java Island, with a population of about 400,000. It is located at the northeast corner of Java Island, at the "L"-shaped intersection of Madura Strait and Surabaya Strait. It faces Madura Island and is also East Java Province. Capital.

  On Java Island, Batavia, the largest city, is located on the westernmost side of the island, and Surabaya, the second largest city, is located on the easternmost side of the island, close to Bali, which is quite tricky.

If the   combined fleet enters from the north, it must pass through the narrow Madura Strait. The Madura Strait is about 45 kilometers long, and the narrowest place is only three to four kilometers, and it is completely within the blockade of shore artillery.

  In such a narrow place, the combined fleet cannot take advantage of speed at all. It will face the double blow of the enemy’s shore artillery coverage and fleet artillery fire, which is unacceptable for the wise.

If the   combined fleet enters from the east, it must pass through the wider Surabaya Strait. Unfortunately, the Surabaya Port is located in a relatively narrow position in the Madura Strait, and the nearby sea is no more than 7 kilometers wide. The above problems also exist.

  If it is to control the thick-skinned steam iron armored battleship, the Queensland United Fleet may have the capital to fight hard, but it is a pity that He Fang is under a group of crispy skins, and when the opponent refuses to fight, he is basically helpless.

  The only solution is to join land and sea operations, send a mixed fleet to land behind the Madura Strait, and use army troops to remove the Dutch colonists’ defense fortress and clear the threat of enemy shore artillery.

  As soon as this combat plan was put forward, it was immediately rejected by the Shangri-La garrison division commander Wei Chi Shouzhuo.

  What's the joke?

The Shangri-La garrison had only one regiment and two regiments plus half an artillery regiment, and thousands of militiamen. On the opposite side of the island of Java was the Dutch base camp for more than 200 years, not to mention the strong fortifications. Those demographic advantages that make the scalp numb are enough to make people retreat, and the strength of war should not be underestimated.

  With the existing forces of the Dutch, it is of course impossible to keep Java Island airtight.

  But as long as they react to withstand the initial offensive, there will be a steady stream of troops surrounding the landing forces. There are Royal Dutch Army troops, indigenous servants, and militias mobilized by native whites.

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

  Neither does this, nor does that work. Where can we set our sights on the Strait of Malacca? Now only the first "Each Break" option is still possible.

He Fang was thinking about it, when he heard the noise outside, he walked to the window and looked out, only to see the brigade of militiamen with live ammunition escorting a long line of carriages walking down the street with a joyful smile on his face. .

  This is when the militiamen and the military have gone to clear the country. They returned with the rice grains, spices, and belongings seized in the country manor. It seems that the harvest has been very good.

  Follow the orders of Shangfeng; completely remove the colonial mark of the Dutch.

After the landing forces occupied Samarinda, they immediately sealed off this important town and destroyed all the Dutch colonial institutions. Some recalcitrant troops and local whites were brutally killed, and the related property was confiscated as trophies.

  Part of the captured military personnel and colonial organization personnel were centrally detained, and the entire town was under strict military control of the curfew. During the implementation, many armed personnel who tried to resist were killed and completely controlled this important town.

on the basis of

  The military released some of the indigenous prisoners in the prison. They acted as the lead party and led the militias that coordinated the action into several routes, and began to clear the villages of the white plantations around Samarinda.

  In the colonial economy of Samarinda, white plantations are a very important part of the colonial economy. There are hundreds of plantations all over the area around Samarinda.

  The Dutch white plantation controls the economic lifeline of Samarinda and its surrounding areas, and has a huge economic influence. It enslaves a large number of indigenous laborers and Chinese to serve it, and earns huge profits from it.

  These white plantations involve rubber, spices, rice, palm oil, sisal, coffee, tobacco and so on. What is particularly surprising is the precious cinchona frost, which is also widely planted in these plantations.

  In the Dutch East Indies, it is a complete agricultural plantation economic model. There is basically no industry, and it is still at the stage of private small workshops. The plantation model occupies an economic dominant position, of which Dutch whites account for more than 80%.

  To completely remove the marks of the Dutch colonists, these plantations are the primary goal that must be removed.

  The army responsible for clearing the township holds the contract in one hand and the sword in the other, forcing the white plantation owner to make choices;

  One option is to give up allegiance to His Majesty William III of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and instead surrender to the new conquerors, publicly announce in the newspapers his statement of allegiance to Queensland, and pay a large amount of public security taxes.

  For the hard-character Nordic people, this is tantamount to betraying the motherland, no less than extreme humiliation, and few people are willing to do so.

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

As the purchasers of the army going to the countryside are mostly from the British mainland, the consortium behind it faintly involves some big nobles. They took advantage of the war to flood into the plantations in the countryside of Samarinda and purchase the plantations at an incredible low price. An act of taking advantage of the fire.

These consortiums with a hard background even borrowed a lot from Huitong Bank to purchase plantations at low prices during the war. They took advantage of the fire and robbed them even more ruthlessly. With the tacit cooperation of the occupying forces, they almost bought the plantations that the Dutch had painstakingly managed at the price of cabbage. garden.

  Anyone who chooses to resist by force is regarded as an enemy, and he shall be ruthlessly suppressed immediately and his property shall be confiscated.

  In this era of big fists, the swords and guns in hand are truth.

  This past month

  There are many white plantation owners who can't see the situation clearly and choose to fight back. It will be clear that the militiamen escorted back to the long horse caravan full of goods is the best explanation.

  Red River Valley allows consortiums with a British aristocratic background to come in to share a piece of the pie and make huge profits. It is using actual interests to tightly tie it with itself and share prosperity and humiliation.

  From another perspective, the Earl of Queensland’s roots are still shallow, and this is also taking advantage of the potential influence of the great London aristocracy to decompress himself.

  Both parties take what they need and cooperate in a tacit understanding.

  Li Fushou’s appeal is very simple; now that London is already sitting idly by, it's okay to just sit idly by.

  Red River Valley does not expect London to take the initiative to carry thunder for itself. This hope has long been shattered, but it cannot be biased towards the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As long as it can remain neutral, it will be fine. Everyone finally speaks with their strength.

  The logic here is clear;

  Shangri-La Island was the first land that the Earl of Queensland discovered and declared that it had all the possessions and possessed relevant inviolable rights. This has been recognized by the Colonial Department of the British Empire and has been widely recognized in European society.

  The Dutch and the Spaniards do not approve, but that is not the mainstream opinion of the international public opinion. The international discourse power has always been in the hands of powerful countries, and it is no exception now.

vice versa

  The East Indies including Borneo is a Dutch colony, which is also recognized internationally.

  Now comes the problem. Since the Kingdom of the Netherlands can send troops to occupy the territory of Shangri-La, the Earl of Queensland can also send troops to occupy Borneo.

  Don’t say anything about reason at this time, and you don’t have to call someone to invade whom? It was just the moan of the weak, and it didn't help.

  Now it depends on who has the big fist and stiff body. No matter how you pull the Wangba punch, you will win it first, and then you will have to occupy more ground. This will never be wrong.

   Even if the weak occupy the commanding heights of truth and morality, they actually do not have much effect. If they lose the war, they lose everything, but they are looked down upon.

  This is the law of the jungle in which the weak and the weak in international politics at the end of the 19th century. Although it is a bit cruel, it is an unchangeable reality.

  What is not available on the battlefield is also not available on the negotiating table.

  This month

Almost every three to five, the brigade’s trophies were escorted to Samarinda, everything from grain, gold and silver to various precious specialties, brought huge supplies to the landing troops, enough for tens of thousands of troops to use for a year and a half. Long.

Most of the Dutch plantations were also destroyed by force, and most of them were forcibly acquired, and a small part was wiped out because of the stubborn resistance. Only a few white plantation owners chose to give up their allegiance to King William III of the Netherlands and published them in the newspapers instead. Published a solemn statement of allegiance to the Lord Earl of Queensland.

  This kind of twenty-five boys had their own way out, and the landing troops would naturally not impose embarrassment. After another heavy tax was imposed, they let them go and kept their plantations.

  In the area around Samarinda, there are fewer than 20 white planters who wisely choose to bow their heads and admit defeat, accounting for less than 10%.

   Most of the others took a sum of money, and will sadly leave on the British merchant ship that was going to Batavia recently, and there will be no chance to return.

  Eating something in the belly of the British, how can it be possible to expect to take it out again?

  (End of this chapter)