Chapter 426 The Australian-Dutch War

When Arthur received the news that the Battle of Verdun had begun, it was already one day later, November 28.

It is impossible for Arthur not to know what the Battle of Verdun represents. It was one of the most brutal battles in World War I in history. The number of casualties on both sides of France and Germany was as high as 700,000, second only to the premeditated attack by Britain and France. Battle of the Mu River.

Yes, although Verdun had been besieged, neither the British nor the French Commander-in-Chief Joffre gave up launching the Battle of the Somme.

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

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 reached more than 2 million, and they could directly determine the war on the Western Front, and even the direction of the entire War.

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

Of course, Germany's launch of the Battle of Verdun was also a good thing for Australasia. After all, Britain and France were busy dealing with the German attack, so Australasia would have better room for expansion and its importance in the war would be greater. high.

Australasia's only current expansion direction is the Dutch East Indies in the north.

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

Europe is currently engaged in the offensive and defensive battle of Verdun, and is still planning the Battle of the Somme, so its attention outside of Europe has been significantly 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 sake of the Netherlands, not to mention that the Netherlands is a neutral country and has a good relationship with Wilhelm II's German Empire.

As a second- and third-rate country, the Netherlands still controlled such a large colony in the Dutch East Indies. Arthur felt it was necessary to relieve the pressure on the Netherlands while they focused on their own homeland.

On November 29, 1915, the third day of the Battle of Verdun, the Australasian Ministry of Defense urgently approved a proposal, which Arthur named Operation Clearance.

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

A total of 72,000 people participated in the clearing operation, including the First Division, the Second Division and the two colonial divisions.

After a long preparation of about a week, 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, it would launch a relatively severe crackdown 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 subvert Australasian rule in the New Guinea region.

The Australasian government has abundant evidence, including not only the escape routes of some anti-Australian forces, but also what happened after these anti-Australian forces fled to areas controlled by the Netherlands.

In any case, the Dutch government and the Dutch East Indies are like mud in their crotch, either shit or shit.

No matter how much the Dutch East Indies government defends it, 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 conditions given by Australasia are to either uncover all anti-Australian forces and cede West New Guinea, Sula Islands, Bru Island, Seram Island, Misuo Island, Obi Island Islands and other islands, otherwise the wrath of Australasia will not subside.

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. The Dutch rule only covers Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Sulawesi. A big island.

The Dutch government, no matter how slow its response, had already understood at this time that the goal of Australasia was not the anti-Australian forces, but the real goal was the lands of New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies.

This is something that the current Dutch cannot agree to. The Dutch East Indies are one of the few large colonies of the Dutch, and it is also the guarantee for the Netherlands to remain a second- and third-rate country in Europe.

If the Dutch East Indies were lost, the status of the Netherlands would be even lower than Belgium. It would not even be considered a third-rate country in Europe, let alone the Dutch people's expectations of unifying 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, the angry Dutch people may be enough to overthrow the government and change its appearance.

Therefore, even if the Dutch government is unwilling, it can only righteously reject the Australasian government's request and angrily accuse Australasia of being a shameful blackmail.

It is a pity that the national struggle in this era is like this. The weak will eat the strong. The strong will still have rights and status, and the weak will only be the targets of carving up by the strong.

Even though the Netherlands sent requests 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 the strength to break through the British and French fleet blockade and go to Australia and Australasia to fight.

Let’s not talk about whether Germany has the ability to do this. Even if Germany has sufficient fleet and strength, it will not offend Australasia for the sake of a Netherlands that is close at hand.

Needless to say, Britain, France and Russia, as they and Australasia are the four major powers of the Allied Powers, naturally have much better relations than the Netherlands, which is not a member of the Allied Powers.

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

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

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

As for the United States, another great power besides Europe, although the United States currently has the strength to fight against independent Australasia, Australasia belongs to the Allied Powers. The four major powers of the Allied Powers have mutual aid agreements. It is impossible for the United States to fight for the Netherlands and The Allies 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 7, 1915, the Australasian offensive officially began.

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

The entire clearing-out plan was divided into two groups. The western route included the First Division and a Colonial Division, totaling 36,000 people. They crossed west from the royal territory and landed directly on Java Island, the core of the Dutch East Indies.

The east route went west from the New Guinea area controlled by Australasia. After occupying the entire New Guinea island, it successively occupied the islands in the Banda Sea and the Suwela West Sea.

The entire Dutch East Indies had more than 40 million indigenous people, which was extremely difficult to rule. Therefore, Arthur's initial purpose was not to completely annex this land, but to find important strategic areas for annexation and to indirectly control other areas.

Especially the island of Java, the heart of the Dutch East Indies. The island of Java was the most populous part of the Dutch East Indies, a status quo that continued into later generations.

Even in later generations, Indonesia as a whole only had a population of more than 200 million, but a small island of Java accounted for about 150 million, which is no exaggeration.

Judging from the current population ratio, Java is home to at least 20 million indigenous people. The population is larger than the total population of Australasia, but the total area is less than 140,000 square kilometers. The population density is far higher than that of Australia. Lasia.

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 controlled this land for hundreds of years and still could not assimilate the indigenous people.

Although there was an issue of population size, the assimilation of the natives of the Dutch East Indies was far more difficult than usual.

In addition to Java, which has an indigenous population of nearly 20 million, the other three major islands in the Dutch East Indies, Sumatra, has a population of nearly 8 million, Sulawesi has a population of 5 million, and Kalimantan has a population of 2 million. One of the areas with the largest indigenous distribution.

Compared with the entire 786,000 square kilometers of New Guinea, which has less than 4 million indigenous people, the indigenous people in these areas are too widely distributed and the indigenous base is too large to be suitable for rule.

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

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

Both World War I and World War II required a large amount of cannon fodder, and the indigenous people in the Dutch East Indies were very suitable.

The war in Australasia implemented the principles set by Arthur, preferring to spend more money rather than cause more casualties.

First, the fleet carried out major bombings on Java Island and Dutch-controlled New Guinea, bombing the coastal defenses and cities in these areas. Then it was the army's turn to land on the beach.

While landing on Java Island, Australasia also dispatched hundreds of aircraft to continue bombing Java Island and Batavia. The Dutch army was tired of avoiding the bombing and had no chance to attack the landed Australian troops. The Rasian army attacks.

While the fleet and aircraft took turns to carry out major bombings, with the Colonial Division taking the lead, the army quickly successfully landed on Java Island and launched attacks on several major cities in Java Island.

The largest city in Java was Batavia, which later became Jakarta. It was the capital of the Dutch East Indies and the seat of government for the entire Dutch East Indies colony.

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

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