Chapter 430 Collapse, peace talks

December 10, 1915, was already the second day of the attack on Batavia.

Although the collapse of the indigenous people caused Batavia's first line of defense to quickly fall, these large numbers of indigenous people did delay the Australasian army's attack on Batavia's second line of defense.

At present, the numerical ratio between the Dutch army and the Australasian army has become 1:2. Not only did the Dutch's numerical advantage disappear in an instant, they even became very disadvantaged in numbers.

Currently, only one Dutch division and a small number of reserve troops are stationed on the second line of defense. The combined number of these troops does not exceed 20,000.

Australasia has a fully equipped First Division and a colonial division with few casualties, and the number of combatable soldiers is still as high as more than 32,000.

Although the Dutch army is more elite than the indigenous army, it is also quite limited, and its combat effectiveness is completely inferior to the first division that has undergone long-term training and is more luxuriously equipped.

Although he maintained an absolute advantage in terms of numbers, Division Commander Silvio still adhered to the absolute principle that firepower was king and used a large number of aircraft and artillery to suppress firepower. Only after carrying out a major bombing would he send troops to attack.

The Dutch army was overwhelmed by Australasia's strategy of sometimes bombing and sometimes charging, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Once the army emerges from the position, the enemy's hovering aircraft and large numbers of artillery will always spit out their tongues of fire, dealing a fatal blow to the soldiers on the position.

However, if the soldiers do not show their heads in the position for a long time, the enemy's assault troops will soon approach the position, and the position may be breached at any time.

These Dutch soldiers are not considered the elite of the Netherlands. It is almost impossible to expect them to defend this line of defense to the death.

If Ambassador Reno had not adopted a high-pressure policy in the rear and strictly monitored all Dutch soldiers, I am afraid that some Dutch soldiers would have wanted to surrender.

Of course, no matter how harsh the policy, it could not prevent the Dutch from defeating the general trend.

After more than half a day of bombing and offensive and defensive battles, more than half of the Dutch troops on the second front were killed or wounded, and the Dutch troops were forced to raise the white flag.

On the evening of December 10, the Australasian army successfully occupied two defensive positions, took custody of all Dutch troops, and confiscated their weapons and military equipment.

The next day, under the watchful eyes of many natives, the Australasian army officially entered Batavia and took military control of the entire Dutch East Indies colonial government.

This is not over yet, the entire Java Island is not limited to Batavia. Division Commander Silvio planned to conduct a simple rest in Batavia, and then send the main army to control the entire island of Java.

Of course, it is impossible to control the entire Java Island with an army of more than 30,000 people. Rather than controlling the entire Java Island, it is better to control several larger cities and indigenous tribes on the Java Island.

Occupying part of the Dutch East Indies, Australasia will also face the same problem as the Netherlands, which is the disposal of the numerous sultanates on this land, that is, the disposal of those indigenous forces and tribes.

Because the Netherlands is small and weak, it cannot control these indigenous countries well. This also made the more than ten indigenous forces in the Dutch East Indies one of the hidden dangers to the Dutch control of this colony.

First of all, because of the existence of these indigenous forces, many indigenous people will abscond to these sultanates.

Moreover, as long as these indigenous forces exist, the indigenous residents of the occupied territories will no longer have a good impression of the colonists.

These indigenous forces are not only the psychological support of the indigenous people, they can also provide equipment and weapon support to some indigenous people, and conspire to subvert the rule of the entire colony.

In general, at least within the territory of Australasia, these indigenous sultanates are still quite harmful.

Even if they could be temporarily made to submit to Australasian rule by force, these indigenous countries of different species and origins would never be of the same mind as the Australasian government.

Therefore, these armies attacking the Dutch East Indies also had a secret mission, which was to eliminate the top leaders of these indigenous sultanates as much as possible, so that Australasia could easily control these sultanates and incorporate them into Australasia in the future. of colonies.

There are currently two sultanates on the island of Java, both of which are dependent on the rule of the Dutch East Indies and are regarded as vassal states of the Netherlands.

These two indigenous forces are the Sultanate of Solo and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. This was once a unified Sultanate of Mataram, but it was gradually divided by the colonial government and eventually formed two relatively weak ones that could only rely on the Netherlands. Aboriginal nations ruled by the East Indians.

Although these two sultanates only occupy about one-twentieth of the total area of ​​Java Island, the combined population of the Sultanate of Solo and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta has already exceeded one million.

This is also the characteristic of Java, a populous island. The population of any small piece of land is a shocking number.

If we look at the population of Java in later generations, which was more than 140 million, the area ruled by these two sultanates would probably accommodate at least 5 million people.

It is unimaginable that this land of only more than 100,000 square kilometers can accommodate a population of nearly 150 million.

The maximum population that the entire Australian region can accommodate is estimated to be only about 200 million.

Even if all the current land area of ​​Australasia were added together, within a reasonable range, the maximum population that could be accommodated would not exceed 300 million people.

Sufficient population is a prerequisite for becoming a powerful country, and it is also a manifestation of a country's strength and development.

Resource extraction, industrial development, economic growth, domestic construction, and even medical care, education, etc. that are related to people's lives all require a large number of people and talents.

Only with population can we have talents, and only with talents can a country develop and become stronger.

This is also destined to be a truth. A country with a sufficient population does not necessarily have a strong population. A strong country must have a sufficient population.

If the population limit of a regional power is more than 10 million, then the population of a regional hegemon must be at least 30 million.

If you want to maintain the status of a great power in the next few decades or even hundreds of years, a population of more than 50 million, or even hundreds of millions, is only a basic condition.

If these indigenous people in the Dutch East Indies can be assimilated, Australasia will definitely develop stronger in a short period of time, and even compete with the United States for the top three spots in the world when Britain and France are greatly damaged by the war.

But unfortunately, these populations in the Dutch East Indies are basically indigenous people who are difficult to assimilate. These indigenous people have beliefs that are completely opposite to those of Australasians. Coupled with the differences in skin color and culture, it is impossible to assimilate in a short time.

Unless you have a country with a population of hundreds of millions and spend decades of hard work, you may be able to assimilate all these indigenous people.

But the question is, with a population of hundreds of millions, why do we still want to assimilate these indigenous people?

Compared with the Western Front's attack on Java Island, the Eastern Front's attack on New Guinea was actually more successful.

A considerable part of the more than 100,000 troops in the Dutch East Indies were deployed on the island of Java. There are also many deployed in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

This also led to the fact that although the island of New Guinea is not small, the Dutch army, even the indigenous army, is not large, with a total of only about one colonial division.

A Dutch colonial division faced the Second Australasian Division and a colonial division. With a comprehensive disadvantage in terms of numbers, combat effectiveness of soldiers and equipment, the fate of this Dutch colonial division can be imagined.

While the Eastern Front lagged far behind the Western Front in terms of artillery and aircraft numbers, the Dutch Colonial Division had even fewer artillery pieces, and even the quality of its rifles varied.

After two consecutive days of strong attacks by the Australasian army, the Dutch colonial division soon became unable to hold on and formally surrendered to Australasia.

On December 12, 1915, Australasian troops began landing on Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Sumatra.

If you have a map of the Dutch East Indies colony, you can actually find that the most important areas of this colony are these large islands.

The combined area of ​​the large and small archipelagos and island chains scattered near these islands is not as large as any of the four major islands.

At present, the Australasian army has controlled the islands of Java and New Guinea. It can be said that it has controlled most of the Dutch East Indies colonies.

I believe that the Dutch government will soon become restless after learning the news. After all, if the Australasian army is allowed to continue its attack, the Netherlands will lose more than half of the Dutch East Indies.

On December 15, 1915, after a colonial division in Sulawesi was annihilated by Australasian troops, the government finally received a request for peace talks from the Netherlands.

So far, the Australasian army has initially taken control of Java and New Guinea, and has carried out landings on Sulawesi and Sumatra.

If the Dutch telegram arrived a few days later, I am afraid that the entire island of Sulawesi and Sumatra would be controlled by Australasia, and only half of Kalimantan would be left in the Dutch East Indies.

The Australasian government naturally agreed to the Dutch request for peace talks.

After all, most of the Dutch colonial army had been wiped out by Australasia. In the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands no longer had any ability to resist.

Under such circumstances, even if peace talks are held, Australasia will have the final say. Anyway, all countries support the expansion of Australasia. As long as there is no interference from the great powers, the Netherlands can only become the prey of Australasia in this situation.

After discussions between the two governments, it was finally decided to formally launch peace talks on the Dutch East Indies after the arrival of the new year.

Before the peace talks, the current situation in the Dutch East Indies will be militarized according to the areas occupied by each.

The first update of 3000 words, please vote for me and support!