I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 294: Do the cruelest thing and receive the cruelest beating (Happy New Year)

What the Dutch are worried about now is not how it will end, but whether the Dutch East Indies can be saved.

As the most important overseas colony of the Netherlands, the role of East India to the Netherlands cannot be overstated as a lifeline.

The Netherlands, which owns the East Indies, can barely be classified as a second-rate country in Europe.

Losing the East Indies would mean that the Netherlands would lose all its fig leaves and be completely marginalized.

Speaking of which, the Netherlands is also very helpless.

The Aceh Sultanate has the support of the Russian Empire behind it, which is completely different from the colonial indigenous tribes who are like rootless duckweeds.

Even if the Netherlands did not go back on its promise, after the Aceh Sultanate became stronger, the Netherlands would still be unable to maintain its colonial rule in East India.

The Russian Empire was not easy to deal with.

Since Holland believes in the law of the jungle, George treats his Dutch cousin according to the law of the jungle, allowing his Dutch cousin to experience the cruelty of the adult world.

Since this compensation was paid in the form of materials, it has not actually been paid yet.

"Don't be so hasty to refuse. My price is valid for a long time. Come back to me when you think it's appropriate."

See clearly it's time to leave.

"Duke, if the Aceh Sultanate stops attacking, we can give up the entire Sumatra Island."

After the Third Aceh War, the Dutch East Indies paid 4500 million Dutch guilders as compensation to the Aceh Sultanate.

Once the Aceh Sultanate breaks through the Sunda Strait, Dutch colonial rule in East India will completely collapse.

George was not only willing to buy East India, but also allowed the white East Indians to take their property with them when they left East India.

"Duke, this is impossible!"

After capturing Palembang, the Aceh Sultanate has swept across the entire island of Sumatra, with only the Sunda Strait in between from Java Island, where Batavia is located.

If you are unwilling to leave, then this condition no longer applies.

Then the Australian army retreated to the Lion City, which was the failure of the British army's second siege.

Brugen's face was livid and he gritted his teeth.

Bruggen knew that his time was limited and directly showed his trump card.

"Bruggen, let's make a deal. Why don't you sell East India to me for 4500 million Dutch guilders? Then the Aceh Sultanate will no longer be your trouble."

Compared with the Dutch, the British have more backbone.

George's offer was a complete humiliation to the Netherlands.

The narrowest point of the Sunda Strait is only 20 kilometers, and anyone with good water quality can swim across it. With its superior navy, the Dutch East Indies can guarantee the safety of the Sunda Strait for the time being. No one can say for a long time.

You have already offended your Dutch cousin to this extent, and it would be too hypocritical to talk about being a human being.

George really didn't keep a secret as a man, but sent Buddha to the West.

If the defeat of Xiangfei City by the Strait Squadron is regarded as the first failure of encirclement and suppression.

Now old debts have not been settled and new debts have been added.

After repelling the second siege by the British army, the Justice Company finally no longer kept a low profile. In just one month, it successively eliminated the surrounding kingdoms and princely states protected by the British. By the beginning of September, only the Straits Settlements in the entire Malay Peninsula were still under Under British control.

The Straits Settlements originally consisted of the Lion City, Penang, Malacca, and Labuan on the island of Kalimantan.

Two years ago, Labuan was incorporated as part of North Borneo, leaving the Straits Settlements with only Lion City, Penang, and Malacca.

The distance between Malacca and the Lion City is relatively close, and the location is more important.

Penang is an island named after its abundance of betel nuts. It covers an area of ​​about 293 square kilometers and is located in the northwest of the Malay Peninsula, across the sea from Aceh and about 600 kilometers from the Lion City.

Penang is only 4 kilometers away from the narrowest point of the Malay Peninsula. It is the most important trade transit station in the Malay Peninsula. Most of the tin and rubber produced in the Malay Peninsula are shipped to the United Kingdom through Penang.

A chaotic Malay Peninsula is most beneficial to British colonial rule.

The Justice Company unified the Malay Peninsula, and British colonial rule was seriously threatened. The Straits Squadron transferred all warships to Penang to defend Penang to ensure Penang's security.

Like the Aceh Sultanate, the Justice Company also has no navy.

But 4 kilometers can't stop Justice Company at all.

The Justice Company showed no mercy to the British. On September 9, the British camp on Getong Island was attacked. All 15 British and Indian troops were killed. The camp was looted and then burned. The lighthouse on the island was also burned. Blow up.

Of the 65 officers and soldiers, only 2 were real British. This loss was negligible to the British Empire.

However, the bombing of the lighthouse directly threatened the safety of the waterway, which was absolutely unacceptable to the British government.

At the end of September, as British reinforcements arrived in the Lion City, the British army launched another attack on the Malay Peninsula.

Compared with the second siege, the British army was more fully prepared this time, dispatched more troops, and adopted the method of building bunkers and advancing step by step in an attempt to completely strangle the Justice Company.

The Justice Company did not mobilize in large numbers to directly confront the British army as the British army hoped. Instead, it broke into pieces and adopted more thorough harassment tactics against the British army.

The Bristol Rifles from the British mainland became the first victim of the harassment tactics.

The Bristol Rifles arrived in the Lion City on August 8. After resting in the Lion City for nearly a month, they served as the vanguard of the British army and first invaded the Malay Peninsula. Yanni Partridge, the commander of the Bristol Rifles, hopes to find the main force of the Justice Company. Even if he cannot defeat the main force of the Justice Company, he can still hold them back until reinforcements arrive and completely eliminate the main force of the Justice Company.

On the second day after he invaded the Malay Peninsula, Partridge encountered a difficult problem.

Although the main force of the Justice Company was not found, attacks from the Justice Company were everywhere. The Bristol Rifles lost as many as 350 people within a week of entering the Malay Peninsula, which gave Partridge a headache. Like fighting.

"Yesterday morning we were attacked by a roadside bomb again. Six people died and 6 were seriously injured. There must be support from other countries behind these bastards, otherwise they would not have so many explosives."

Partridge's chief of staff, Bill Reynolds, was attacked from nowhere and was helpless.

Justice Company's style of play is disgusting and has no samurai style.

For Reynolds, the most reasonable way to fight is that Justice Company should line up and be shot by the British army.

As soon as the Bristol Rifles entered the Malay Peninsula, they were attacked by roadside bombs, losing nearly 150 men on the first day.

The next day, Partridge changed his tactics and sent engineers to clear mines to ensure the safety of the main force.

Justice Company didn't just ignore it, but someone was always monitoring it.

So the engineers clearing mines were sniped by Justice Company.

While chasing the snipers, the Bristol Rifles were attacked by roadside bombs.

This happened again and again, and the Bristol Rifles did not dare to advance quickly at all, and the daily advancement distance was only about 2 kilometers.

"It is because these bastards have the support of other countries behind them that we must resolutely eliminate them and let everyone see the consequences of opposing us."

Partridge's attitude was extremely resolute. Even if the Bristol Rifles were wiped out, Partridge would not back down.

"We must cut off the aid of these bastards before they can be completely eradicated."

Reynolds is right, but it's hard to do.

The terrain of the Malay Peninsula is complex, and it is almost impossible to completely block the peninsula.

The current method adopted by the British army is to build bunkers around the peninsula and gradually advance into the peninsula, squeezing the survival space of the Justice Company and completely strangling the Justice Company.

I won’t say whether this method is effective or not.

From a cost and benefit perspective, Major General Henry Bueller, who devised this plan, should be tried.

The Malay Peninsula is really not of much value to the UK, otherwise the UK would not implement a non-intervention policy towards the Malay Peninsula.

Those Indian soldiers in the British-Indian Army are easy to say. Whether they are killed in battle or disabled due to injuries, they do not need much pension.

White officers and soldiers from the UK and Australia have very high pensions.

The Malay Peninsula covers 23 square kilometers.

How long will it take to build bunkers all over the island?

How many troops are needed to control these bunkers?

How to ensure that these bunkers will not be counterattacked by the Justice Company?

The Justice Company has artillery, so hiding in a bunker is not safe.

Key key.

Even if Britain spends a huge price to completely kill the Justice Company.

So after a while, if another brave company pops up, what will we do then?

Again?

So for the British government, this is a bottomless pit where the costs and benefits are not proportional.

"No matter what, we have to defeat Justice Company first."

Partridge knew where the British army was in trouble.

Taking all factors into consideration, negotiation is almost the only way to resolve the crisis in the Malay Peninsula.

But before negotiating, the Justice Company must first be defeated, only then can negotiations be possible.

What Partridge didn't expect was that Justice Company had the ability to do more than just harass.

On October 10, the Bristol Rifles occupied a Malay village at the cost of more than ten people and used the village as a temporary camp.

All the Malays in the village had fled, but for the officers and soldiers of the Bristol Rifles, the village was in danger.

The only well in the village was poisoned, but luckily there was a river nearby to draw water from.

However, when taking water from the river, you will be threatened by malaria.

A soldier was bitten by a venomous snake while breaking into a house to search for property.

A soldier was shot to death by a crossbow. After inspection, it was found that it was a trap deliberately set by someone.

Two soldiers fell into a pit, and one was killed and the other injured by the wooden thorns at the bottom of the pit. The pit was cleverly designed so that if one person stood on it, it would not collapse due to lack of weight, but it could not bear the weight of two people.

After finally eliminating the traps in the entire village, the officers and soldiers of the Bristol Rifles thought they could finally have a good sleep.

As a result, they were shelled by Justice Company again at night.

Considering that the environment at night was more complicated, the officers and soldiers of the Bristol Rifles did not dare to leave the village and could only be beaten passively.

After dawn, statistics showed that 120 people of the 45-man company died in the shelling that night.

There is no doubt that the morale of the entire company was completely shattered.

(End of this chapter)