Chapter 430 Collapse, Peace Talks

December 10, 1915, is now the second day of the attack on Batavia.

Although the collapse of the natives led to the quick loss of the first line of defense in Batavia, these large numbers of natives did delay the time for the Australasian army to attack the second line of defense in Batavia.

At present, the ratio of the Dutch army to the Australasian army has become 1:2. Not only has the Dutch advantage disappeared in an instant, but the number of people has also become very disadvantageous.

At present, there is only one Dutch division and a small number of reserve troops stationed on the second line of defense, and the total number of these troops will not exceed 20,000.

And Australasia has a fully staffed first division and a colonial division with few casualties, and the number of combat 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 been trained for a long time and equipped with more luxurious equipment.

Although the army maintained an absolute advantage in numbers, Division Commander Silvio still adhered to the absolute principle of firepower being king, and used a large number of aircraft and artillery for fire suppression. Only after a large bombing would the army be sent to launch an attack.

The Dutch army was overwhelmed by Australasia's strategy of bombing and charging from time to time, but there was nothing they could do.

Once the army showed up in the position, the enemy's circling aircraft and a large number of artillery deployed in the air would always spit out flames, giving the soldiers on the position a fatal blow.

But if the soldiers did not show up in the position for a long time, the enemy's assault troops would soon approach the position, and the position could be breached at any time.

These Dutch soldiers were not considered the elite of the Netherlands, and it was almost impossible to expect them to defend this line of defense to the death.

If it were not for Ambassador Renault's high-pressure policy in the rear and strict supervision of all Dutch soldiers, I am afraid that some Dutch soldiers would have wanted to surrender.

Of course, no matter how harsh the policy was, it could not stop the Dutch from being defeated.

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

On the evening of December 10, the Australasian army successfully occupied two defensive positions, guarded all the 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 militarily controlled the entire Dutch East Indies colonial government.

This is not over yet. The entire Java Island is not just Batavia. Division Commander Silvio plans to take a simple rest in Batavia, and then send the main force to control the entire Java Island.

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

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

Because of its small size and weak power, the Netherlands could not control these indigenous countries very well. This also made the more than ten indigenous forces in the Dutch East Indies one of the hidden dangers for the Netherlands to control this colony.

First of all, because of the existence of these indigenous forces, many indigenous peoples will escape to these sultanates.

And as long as these indigenous forces exist, the indigenous residents of the occupied territories will not have a good impression of the colonists.

And these indigenous forces are not only the psychological support of the indigenous people, but also can provide equipment and weapons support to some indigenous people, and conspire to subvert the rule of the entire colony.

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

Even if they can be temporarily made to submit to the rule of Australasia by force, these indigenous countries of different species and origins will never be in the same mind with the Australasia government.

Therefore, these troops attacking the Dutch East Indies also have a secret mission, which is to eliminate the top leaders of these indigenous sultanates as much as possible, so that Australasia can easily control these sultanates and incorporate them into Australasia's future colonies.

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

These two indigenous forces are the Solo Sultanate and the Yogyakarta Sultanate. This was once a unified Mataram Sultanate, but it was gradually divided by the colonial government and eventually formed two relatively weak indigenous countries that could only rely on the rule of the Dutch East Indies.

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

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

If we look at the population of Java Island in later generations, which exceeds 140 million, the area ruled by these two sultanates may accommodate at least five million people.

It is hard to imagine that this land of only more than 100,000 square kilometers can accommodate nearly 150 million people.

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

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

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

Resource mining, industrial development, economic growth, domestic construction, and even medical care, education, and other aspects related to people's lives all require a large population and talents.

Only with a population can there be talents, and only with talents can a country develop and become stronger.

This also determines a truth that a country with a sufficient population is not necessarily strong, and 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 more than 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 you can assimilate these indigenous peoples in the Dutch East Indies, Australasia will definitely be able to develop stronger in a short period of time, and even compete with the United States for the top three in the world when Britain and France are greatly damaged by the war.

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

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

But the question is, why assimilate these indigenous people when the population is hundreds of millions?

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

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

This also led to the fact that although the area of ​​New Guinea Island is not small, the Dutch army, even the indigenous army, is not large, and there is only one colonial division in total.

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

Although the Eastern Front's artillery and aircraft numbers were far behind those of the Western Front, the Dutch colonial division had fewer artillery pieces, and even the quality of its rifles was uneven.

After two days of continuous attacks by the Australasian Army, the Dutch colonial division soon could not hold on and formally surrendered to Australasian.

On December 12, 1915, the Australasian Army began to land on Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Sumatra.

If there is 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 large and small archipelagos and island chains distributed near these islands have a combined area that is not as large as any of the four major islands.

At present, the Australasian Army has controlled Java and New Guinea, and it can be said that it has controlled most of the Dutch East Indies colony.

I believe that the Dutch government will soon be unable to sit still after hearing 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 on Sulawesi was annihilated by the Australasian army, the government finally received a request for peace talks from the Netherlands.

So far, the Australasian army has initially controlled Java and New Guinea, and has landed on Sulawesi and Sumatra.

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

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

After all, most of the Dutch colonial troops have been wiped out by Australasia, and the Netherlands has no ability to resist in the Dutch East Indies.

In this case, even if peace talks are held, it is up to Australasia to decide. Anyway, all countries support the expansion of Australasia. As long as there is no interference from the great powers, the Netherlands can only become a fish to be slaughtered by Australasia in such a situation.

After discussions between the two governments, it was finally decided to formally start peace talks on the Dutch East Indies after 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 party.

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