Rise of Australia

Chapter 426 The Australian-Dutch War
When Arthur received the news that the Battle of Verdun had started, it was already a day later, on November 11.

It is impossible for Arthur not to know what the Battle of Verdun represents. This is one of the cruelest battles in World War I in history. The number of casualties on both sides of France and Germany was as high as 70, second only to Britain and France. Battle of the Mu River.

Yes, although Verdun has been besieged, neither the British side nor the French commander-in-chief Joffre gave up launching the Battle of the Somme.

The Battle of the Somme will be the largest counteroffensive on the Western Front, and it can even dominate the direction of the Western Front war.

The Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun were also the two most brutal battles in World War I. The combined casualties of the two battles were as high as more than 200 million, and they could directly determine the war on the Western Front, and even the direction of the entire World War I.

Because the situation of the Battle of Verdun was so important, Arthur asked the Royal Security Intelligence Service to keep an eye on the direction of the Battle of Verdun, and to notify immediately of any changes.

Of course, Germany's launch of the Battle of Verdun is also a good thing for Australasia. After all, Britain and France are busy responding to the German attack, so Australasia will have better room for expansion and will be more important in the war. high.

The only remaining expansion direction for Australasia is the Dutch East Indies in the north.

Compared with Australasia, the Netherlands is an absolute soft persimmon, which can be handled by Arthur.

Europe is in the offensive and defensive battle of Verdun, and is still planning the Battle of the Somme, and its attention outside of Europe has been greatly reduced.

Even if the Netherlands is an ally of Britain and France, it is absolutely impossible for Britain and France to offend Australasia for the Netherlands, not to mention that the Netherlands is a neutral country and has a good relationship with William II's German Empire.

As a second- and third-tier country, the Netherlands still holds such a large-scale colony in the Dutch East Indies. Arthur felt that it was necessary to relieve the pressure on the Netherlands when they focused on their homeland.

On November 1915, 11, the third day of the offensive and defensive battle of Verdun, the Australasian Ministry of Defense urgently passed a proposal, which was named Operation Clearance by Arthur.

As the name suggests, this is an operation to combat anti-Australian forces in German New Guinea, and the scope also includes areas where anti-Australian forces have absconded, such as New Guinea controlled by the Netherlands, Sulawesi Island, Kalimantan Island and other areas.

A total of 7.2 people participated in the suppression operation, including the first division, the second division and the two colonial divisions.

After about a week of long-term preparations, in early December 1915, Australasia officially announced that in order to eliminate the anti-Australian forces that had fled from German New Guinea to various places, a more severe crackdown would be launched, and required The entire Dutch East Indies cooperated because the Australasian government suspected that the Dutch East Indies were involved in harboring anti-Australian forces and conspiring to overthrow Australasia's rule in New Guinea.

The evidence of the Australasian government is very sufficient, including not only the absconding route of some anti-Australian forces, but also the situation after these anti-Australian forces fled to the Dutch-controlled area.

In any case, the Dutch government and the Dutch East Indies can be regarded as mud falling in the crotch, not shit or shit.

No matter how the Dutch East Indies government argues, there are indeed many anti-Australian forces in the Dutch East Indies, and these anti-Australian forces have obtained a lot of weapons and equipment from the Dutch East Indies.

The Dutch government wants to negotiate, but the condition given by Australasia is to find out all anti-Australian forces and cede West New Guinea, Sula Islands, Bru Island, Seram Island, Misuou Island, and Obi Island Wait for the islands, or the wrath of Australasia will not be appeased.

But it is naturally impossible for the Dutch to agree to such harsh conditions. This is almost equivalent to dividing the Dutch East Indies into two halves. Big island too.

No matter how unresponsive the Dutch government is, at this time it has already understood that the goal of Australasia is not those anti-Australian forces, but the real goal is the land of New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies.

This is what the current Dutch cannot agree to. The Dutch East Indies is one of the few large colonies of the Dutch, and it is also the guarantee for the Netherlands to maintain its status as a second- and third-tier country in Europe.

If the Dutch East Indies were lost, the status of the Netherlands would be even lower than that of Belgium, and it would not even be considered a third-rate country in Europe, let alone the expectation of the Dutch people to unify the lowlands.

Even if the Dutch government can agree to Australasia's request, the Dutch people will never agree.

If the Dutch government surrenders without a fight, I am afraid that the angry Dutch people will be enough to overthrow the government and give the government a new look.

Therefore, even if the Dutch government is unwilling, it can only reject the request of the Australasian government with righteous words, and angrily criticize Australasia as a shameful blackmail.

It's a pity that national struggles in this era are inherently like this. The strong prey on the weak, the strong will still have rights and status, and the weak are only the targets of the strong.

Even though the Netherlands sent a request to Britain, France, Germany and even Russia, no country was willing to help the Netherlands.

Needless to say, Germany is already at war with Australasia, and the Germans do not have any strength to break through the British and French fleet blockade and go to Australia and Australasia to fight.

Let alone whether Germany has the ability to do so, even if Germany has sufficient fleet and strength, it will not offend Australasia for the sake of a Netherlands that is close at hand.

Britain, France and Russia needless to say, they and Australasia are the four major powers of the Allied Powers, and their relationship is naturally much better than that of the Netherlands outside the Allied Powers.

Although the Netherlands is a European country, the Netherlands did not help the war, and even the relationship between the Netherlands and Germany was better.

Under such circumstances, Britain, France and Russia will naturally not offend Australasia for the sake of the Netherlands, and will even support Australasia's expansion in exchange for more support from Australasia to Europe.

There are still two great powers in Europe, but these two powers are even less likely to help the Netherlands against Australasia.

As for the United States, another power besides Europe, although the United States currently has the strength to fight against Australasia alone, Australasia belongs to the Allied Powers, and the four major powers of the Allied Powers have mutual assistance agreements. The Allied Powers went to war.

Therefore, after the Dutch worked hard to ask for help, they found that no country was willing to help them, not even a little bit of assistance.

Arthur didn't care so much. On December 1915, 12, the offensive in Australasia officially began.

Before the war, Australasia had expelled the Dutch ambassador and declared a state of war with the Netherlands.

The entire plan for the suppression was divided into two groups. The west route included the first division and a colonial division with a total of 3.6 people. They crossed from the royal territory to the west and landed directly on Java Island, the core of the Dutch East Indies.

On the other hand, the east route goes westward from the New Guinea area controlled by Australasia, and after occupying the entire New Guinea island, it will then occupy the islands in the Banda Sea and the West Sea of ​​Suvira in turn.

The entire Dutch East Indies has more than 4000 million natives, and it is extremely difficult to rule.Therefore, Arthur's goal at the beginning was not to annex this land completely, but to find its important strategic areas for annexation, and other areas can be indirectly controlled.

Especially the core of the Dutch East Indies, the island of Java.This area of ​​Java was the most populous part of the Dutch East Indies, and it remained so until later generations.

Even in later generations, Indonesia as a whole has a population of just over 2 million, but a small island of Java bears about 1.5 million, which is not an exaggeration.

According to the current population ratio, there are at least 2000 million indigenous people living in Java Island. The population size is larger than the total population of Australasia, but the total area is less than 14 square kilometers, and the population density far exceeds that of Australia. Lacia.

It is very difficult to manage such an area, not to mention that there are a large number of ethnic groups, various types of religions, different languages ​​and cultures, and it is very difficult to assimilate.

The Dutch have controlled this land for hundreds of years, but they still cannot assimilate these natives.

Although there is a problem of population size, the assimilation difficulty of the natives in the Dutch East Indies is far beyond ordinary.

In addition to Java, which has an indigenous population of nearly 2000 million, the other three islands in the Dutch East Indies, Sumatra has a population of nearly 800 million, Sulawesi has a population of 500 million, and Kalimantan has a population of 200 million. One of the areas with the largest number of indigenous peoples.

Compared with the entire 78.6 square kilometers of New Guinea, which has less than 400 million aborigines, the aboriginals in these areas are too widely distributed, and the aboriginal base is too large to be suitable for rule.

Of course, in addition to administrative control, it is also possible to rule these regions economically.

At present, these natives are not useless at all, at least during the war, they are qualified cannon fodder.

Both World War I and World War II required a lot of cannon fodder to fill, and the natives of the Dutch East Indies were very suitable.

The war in Australasia implemented the principles established by Arthur, preferring to spend more money than causing more casualties.

First, the fleet bombed Java Island and New Guinea controlled by the Netherlands, bombing the coastal defenses and cities in these areas, and then it was the turn of the army to land on the beach.

While landing on Java Island, Australasia also dispatched hundreds of planes to continue to carry out heavy bombing on Java Island and Batavia. The Lacian army launched an attack.

While the fleet and aircraft were bombarding in turn, the colonial division took the lead, and the army quickly landed on Java Island and launched an attack on several major cities in Java Island.

The largest city in Java is Batavia, later known as Jakarta.This is the capital of the Dutch East Indies and the seat of the colonial government of the entire Dutch East Indies.

The primary goal of the Western Front Army is to quickly capture Batavia and control the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies, so as to achieve the goal of capturing the thief first and the king first.

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(End of this chapter)