() From the second day after the declaration of war, the number of ships on the Java Sea has significantly decreased. Not only did Dutch cargo ships dare not leave the port, but many ships from other countries who received the news no longer dared to dock at ports near Java Island. Most of them were temporary.
The route was changed and sailed to Sumatra or a Malaysian port in the northern part of Kalimantan.
While the Dutch in the Dutch East Indies were busy communicating with the country and discussing countermeasures, the landing fleet departing from Cam Ranh Bay had also arrived outside Balikpapan Port. For this purely commercial port, two ships
The heavy patrol did not waste any artillery shells. It was just a destroyer on the port waterway that shelled two gunboats flying the Dutch flag in the port. Then, the troop transport directly docked at the dock, and groups of federal troops came to the port.
Login started.
Not only did the landing not encounter any obstacles, but when the armored vehicles riding in the landing troops entered the city, they were welcomed by thousands of local Chinese people. It felt a bit like the U.S. military landing in Italy during World War II.
After occupying Balikpapan Port, except for the two battalions that landed, the remaining troops that have not disembarked will continue to the west and east under the cover of heavy cruisers, destroyers and submarines, along the
Along the coastline, we separately captured 5 other important ports.
As for why we only occupied the port and did not go deep into the interior, this is because the transportation in Kalimantan is very backward, most of the area is forest and swamp, and the local people are
The transportation problem must be solved by water transportation. Therefore, the federal army's plan is to first occupy the 6 small and medium-sized ports on the island, and then use small boats such as assault boats to move upstream from the river and gradually occupy the inland areas.
There is no need to occupy the several small cities near the river, as well as the remaining rainforest and swamp areas. There are no Dutch garrisons anywhere, and at most there are some natives living in them. There is no need to disturb them.
Faced with this unreasonable surprise attack by the South China Sea Federation, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch government were a little panicked. However, at this time, the Netherlands had no time to take care of itself. It surrendered to Germany at the beginning of the European War. This
Not to mention wanting to use the navy, even if it wants to dispatch some police officers, it still needs the consent of the German government.
Germany, as the occupying power, does not want the Dutch to mobilize troops to fight in the Far East. They are also worried about fighting on the east and west fronts. They wish that one person could be used as two people, so that they can help the Dutch seize territory.
Facing the aggressive offensive of the South China Sea Federation, the Dutch knew that they could not resist the attack of the South China Sea Federation with their few old warships and more than 10,000 soldiers in the Far East. And at this time, they remembered that it was
The South China Sea Federation had swallowed up the French Indochina the year before last, and its sudden attack on the Dutch East Indies this time was probably not just about Java's anti-Chinese issue.
The Dutch government has come to understand
Fu, quickly asked the Germans and British to help him intercede with the South China Sea Federation to see if the two sides could sit at the negotiating table and solve this problem. But the news from the British and Germans showed that the South China Sea Federation
The Federation is determined to beat He severely this time.
It’s not clear whether you beat them up and then leave, or beat them up and take over your house. Although neither the British nor the Germans are willing to let the South China Sea Federation develop too fast in the Far East, now
These two countries really don't have the energy to go to the Far East to meddle in their own business.
The United States, the other country that has free time to mind its own business, is now a little busy. In January 1917, the current President of the United States, Wilson, issued a "peace without victory" proposal to the warring countries in Europe, suggesting that Britain, France, Germany, and Russia sit down for negotiations.
And demanded that Germany return the two states of Alsace and Lorraine that France ceded to Germany during the Franco-Prussian War.
However, the Germans rejected President Wilson's proposal and ordered submarines to begin unrestricted submarine warfare from February 1st. This decision angered the United States, causing the United States to announce on February 3rd that it had severed diplomatic relations with Germany and began to prepare to participate in
this war.
Immediately afterwards, a series of great changes occurred in Russia. First, Rasputin, the favorite of the Russian Empress, was assassinated, and then in early March, hundreds of thousands of Janissaries in the Russian capital Petrograd rebelled. They massacred
He killed his own officers, and assisted the people to break into the palace and attack the prison. On March 15, Russian Emperor Nicholas II announced his abdication, and Prince Rov formed a temporary government.
Historically, many historians and politicians have different views on the United States' participation in the war. Among them, British Labor Party leaders Macdonald and Churchill both believed that it would be a good thing for Europe if the Americans did not participate in the war.
In the next day, Britain and France may have made peace with Germany. Russia will not collapse, and the revolution will not come forward. Similarly, Italy will not have fascism. If Germany does not sign the Treaty of Versailles, Nazism will not
Taking root in Germany. If these "isms" did not take root in Europe, it might have saved tens of millions of lives in the late stages of World War I and World War II.
In this series of great changes, the Far Eastern War between the South China Sea Federation and the Dutch seemed so unworthy of mention. Except for a few countries, Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which paid a little attention at the beginning, no one paid any attention to it anymore.
While European and American countries were busy escalating the war, the federal landing force and navy were not idle either. On February 11, five submarines from the blockade fleet fought a beautiful ambush at the east exit of the Sunda Strait.
, three Dutch warships that passed through the Sunda Strait from southern Java and wanted to return to Batavia were in
Just after sailing out of the strait, they were ambushed by a submarine. Two armored cruisers sank directly, and a destroyer was injured. It had to rush to the coast on the south side of the strait. After this ambush, the Dutch Navy in the Dutch East Indies
It can no longer pose a substantial threat to the fleet and landing force of the South China Sea Federation.
With no worries at all, the landing fleet divided into two groups within five days, occupied all the Dutch ports on Kalimantan, and began to use the rivers on the island to drive flat-bottomed assault boats to form a search force.
, proceeding upstream.
During the landing operations, the commander responsible for commanding the 1st Mountain Division found that the garrison and defense capabilities of these ports were extremely poor. Most ports did not have decent shore artillery and garrison, so the commander gave full play to his
The 2,000-man landing force did not land on Kalimantan Island, but boarded a troop transport ship and turned eastward.
Conveniently, they also occupied two ports on Sulawesi. However, because Sulawesi is a volcanic island, the terrain is very complex. Most of the island is covered with mountains and dense forests, with few plains and few residents.
It was very rare, so the troops who landed on the island did not explore the hinterland of the island, but only occupied the two ports and used them as a temporary garrison.
On the tenth day after the declaration of war on the Netherlands, half of the Dutch East Indies had fallen into the hands of the South China Sea Federation. Although it was only a preliminary occupation, most of the major ports and ports on Kalimantan and Sulawesi were occupied.
The city had fallen into the hands of federal troops.
Now, there are only two larger islands left in the Dutch East Indies, Sumatra and Java. The other part of the Dutch East Indies is New Guinea in the west, but that island is covered with mountains, rivers and swamps.
, the forest coverage rate has reached 80%, which is very unsuitable for human habitation. There are more animals on the island than people. Except for the Germans building a supply port there, there is no value at all.
In fact, Liu Fu's original plan was to take advantage of the weakness of European countries and use Java's excuse to exclude China to occupy Kalimantan and further control Malacca's seafood and the Sunda Strait, the two main sea lanes connecting the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
, but once the war started, Liu Fu found that both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and himself had overestimated the Dutch.
There are only more than 1,000 Dutch troops on the island of Kalimantan, and they are stationed in 7 or 8 places. Not to mention the local indigenous troops. The weapons in their hands are mainly machetes for chopping bananas, and a few are equipped with guns.
Most of them were matchlock guns. To the federal army, they were no different from a group of farmers.
Moreover, these tropical people have very mild tempers and loose personalities, making them very unsuitable for being soldiers, because they surrender collectively when encountering pressure or minor setbacks, and they are also very cooperative in helping the federal army guide the way and carry supplies. Their purpose is actually to
In order to get some liquor as a reward from the federal army, in their opinion, it didn't matter who ruled it, they didn't drink it until they were half-drunk, and then lay down on the leaves to sleep comfortably.
