Chapter 427 Great Disparity in Strength
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies at the time was Earl Alexander William Frederick Attenborough, who also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch East Indies.
Although it seems that the military and political affairs are in control, in fact, only Governor Alexander himself knows that his life is actually not easy.
Although the status of the Dutch was still transcendent in the Dutch East Indies, it was equivalent to having nearly 40 million slaves under Governor Alexander who could be oppressed.
The Dutch almost didn't care about the life and death of the colonial natives. They could seize the natives' property, wives and daughters at will. Trample on their dignity and take away their lives.
But the land is not as peaceful as it seems. The guarantees provided by Britain and France do not seem to be very effective, and Australasia has its eyes on this land.
Within the Dutch East Indies, there are more than 40 million indigenous people with hundreds of ethnic groups. The relationship between these ethnic groups is very complicated, and the relationship between the indigenous forces composed of these ethnic groups is also very complicated.
The orders of the Dutch East Indies colonial government were not so effective in some indigenous countries. The only areas that the Dutch East Indies could really control were most of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and part of Sulawesi.
The entire Dutch East Indies has more than 10,000 islands, but except for some larger islands, other islands are not under the control of the Dutch East Indies.
Although this seems a bit strange, after all, the Dutch are more developed and powerful European countries than the local indigenous people.
What's more, the Dutch have ruled this land for hundreds of years. Logically speaking, even if they have not assimilated all of these people, they should have controlled most of the area and achieved proper management.
But in fact, if you compare the Netherlands mainland and the Dutch East Indies unilaterally, you can find that the biggest problem for the Dutch is the phenomenon of snakes swallowing elephants.
The Netherlands now only has a population of over 6 million, but the population of the Dutch East Indies has reached over 40 million, which is nearly seven times the total population of the Netherlands.
It is simply impossible to achieve the idea of assimilating more than 40 million indigenous people with a population of more than 6 million.
Even now, the Dutch East Indies have a large number of sultanates. These sultanates have considerable autonomy, and some even do not obey the rule of the Dutch East Indies at all.
To rule this land with a population of more than 40 million, the Netherlands has more than 100,000 combat troops in the Dutch East Indies, including more than 30,000 regular troops and more than 100,000 indigenous troops.
But it is obvious that this army is completely insufficient to properly govern a population of 40 million.
In addition, the navy controlled by the Dutch East Indies colonial government was very small, even smaller than the navy of the previous six Australian colonies combined.
Under such circumstances, the Dutch East Indies government could not properly control the more than 10,000 islands in the territory. Rebellions occurred frequently in the Dutch East Indies. Frequent rebellions gave the Dutch a headache, but they were helpless.
According to data from the Royal Security Intelligence Service, there are as many as 17 indigenous sultanates in the Dutch East Indies. The larger sultanates have a population of millions, and the smallest sultanate also has hundreds of thousands of indigenous people.
Sulawesi, in particular, has five indigenous forces. These indigenous nations controlled most of Sulawesi, greatly weakening the Dutch rule in Sulawesi.
This also led to the fact that although the Dutch were sitting on tens of millions of indigenous property, these indigenous people could not make good use of it at all.
As long as the Netherlands is a country with a population of tens of millions, or the Netherlands is closer to the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands can make better use of the Dutch East Indies.
Of course, even so, the Netherlands can still obtain a large amount of benefits from the Dutch East Indies every year, including rubber, grain and other economic products.
The Netherlands is slightly stronger than Belgium precisely because it controls the Dutch East Indies, which can generate nearly 10 million pounds in revenue for the Dutch government every year.
After the Australasian government announced the clearing operation, Governor Alexander was already closely planning the defense of the Dutch East Indies, and temporarily strengthened the defense forces of the entire Batavia.
As the core area of the Dutch East Indies, Java Island has a Dutch division and more than 60,000 indigenous troops, with a defense strength of about 80,000.
If you look at the number of soldiers alone, Batavia's defenders are about twice as many as the Australasian army, and they have an absolute advantage in terms of numbers.
But the war is not just based on numerical superiority, but the number of military equipment, artillery, and aircraft, the Dutch defenders are far behind the Australasian army, not to mention the fact that Australasia continues to send supplies. The Netherlands is thousands of miles away from here, and the fastest transportation time takes more than a month.
Another point is that the size of the Dutch army lags far behind that of Australasia. Moreover, after Australasia officially declared war, Arthur called King George V and requested that a line of defense be set up in the Suez Canal area to block the Dutch transport fleet from going south.
This also resulted in the Dutch fleet having to circle the entire Africa if it wanted to support the Dutch East Indies, greatly increasing the support time.
Under such premise, it would be impossible for the Dutch fleet to reach the Dutch East Indies in less than two months. Two months later, the war in the Dutch East Indies was over, and the Dutch came just in time to sign a contract.
In the city of Batavia, Governor Alexander's expression was not very good at this time.
Governor Alexander looked at the diplomat Renault who had just returned from Australasia and asked: "Ambassador Renault, how many troops can Australasia send?"
As the former Dutch diplomatic ambassador to Australasia, Ambassador Renault said: The level of understanding of Australasia must be higher than that of Governor Alexander and others, which is why Governor Alexander asked Ambassador Renault.
"It's not easy to predict, Mr. Governor. But since the war, Australasia has recruited at least 700,000 indigenous troops. Currently, there are only about 500,000 on the European battlefield. This also means that if Australasia is willing , they can send at least 200,000 indigenous troops at any time." Ambassador Reno shook his head, sighed slightly, and said to Governor Alexander.
Ambassador Reno's term began in 1908, and it has been nearly seven years now.
In the past seven years, Ambassador Renault has witnessed the development of Australasia with his own eyes. He naturally knows that the current Australasia is definitely not something that a small Netherlands can resist.
Watching Australasia evolve from a weak colony more than ten years ago to one of the most important powers, a major member of the Entente, and the overlord of Oceania, Ambassador Renault couldn't help but feel a little envious and jealous.
The process of Australasia's rise can be said to be very smooth, with the help of Germany, Britain and Russia. Before the European war, the biggest enemy was only the Netherlands, and it was the war initiated by Australasia.
Looking at the Netherlands in Europe, its rise requires the consent of Britain, France and Germany.
But it is obvious that none of these three countries are willing to have another great power appear in the lowland areas, not even a sub-powerful country.
The lowland areas can threaten the English Channel and the British coast, northeastern France, western Germany and the Ruhr area. Any movement here will attract the attention of the three major powers, and it is also an area where the three major powers are vying to win over.
It is no exaggeration to say that any choice made by the three people may offend one of the great powers, Britain, France and Germany.
This was a fatal blow to the Netherlands. Surrounded by these three major powers, the Netherlands had no hope of expansion in its homeland. The colony was still coveted by Australasia, and there was no hope of a comeback.
Look at Belgium, which claims to be a neutral country. Germany doesn't just fight whenever it wants. Thinking of this, Ambassador Renault couldn't help but sigh again, envious of Australasia's rise and superior geographical location.
"Damn it, send a telegram to the country immediately and ask the country to send at least 100,000 troops to support. Otherwise, the Dutch East Indies will not be able to resist the attack of the Australasian army." Governor Alexander did not pay attention to Ambassador Renault's sigh. Shi's attention has been completely attracted by Ambassador Renault's statement that Australasia has at least 200,000 combatable colonial troops.
Although they were only colonial troops, the natives were armed with thermal weapons that could cause fatal injuries if hit on the body.
What's more, Australasia also has a large number of artillery and aircraft, and Batavia can also be bombed by fleets on the sea, which is a fatal blow to the defender.
You know, naval guns are generally equipped with artillery with a caliber of 300 mm or more, which can cause huge damage to any defense.
Coupled with bombing from ground troops and the sky, every day of delay will cause a large number of casualties to the Dutch army.
"Yes!" Governor Alexander's men did not dare to hesitate and quickly tried to send a telegram to the Netherlands for help.
In fact, the Dutch government at this time was also suffering. They had received a clear reply from the British that they would not allow any Dutch-flagged fleet to pass through the Suez Canal.
This also means that the distance traveled by the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies has been increased by more than half. Even if the Netherlands transports aid immediately, it will have to wait at least two months to arrive.
However, the Dutch government did not disclose to the Dutch East Indies the fact that the Suez Canal could no longer pass, which expressed the government's order to defend Batavia and the entire island of Java at all costs.
The Dutch government also falsely stated that it had expedited the transportation of a large amount of supplies and that it would take less than a month at the earliest to arrive in Batavia.
However, the Dutch government said nothing about the navigation status of the Suez Canal and whether the Dutch transport fleet would be encircled and suppressed by the Australasian fleet in the Indian Ocean.
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(End of chapter)