Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 341 40:1

  The news that the Queensland army was crushing the border reached the Governor’s House of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia (Jakarta), which immediately caused a flutter.

   "Presumptuous, really rampant, we must teach these Queenslanders a good lesson."

Sir Frederick-S-Jacob slapped the table angrily, knocking all the wine bottles on the table over, and falling to the ground with a "crash" crash, and the golden-yellow wine splashed out and spread. A rich and mellow wine aroma.

  Administrative Affairs Secretary Wen Baker frowned insignificantly. In the past two years, he has become accustomed to the incompetent rage of the Governor, but what good is this?

  If you lose, you have to admit it, and you have to stand upright when you hit your face.

  The governor is as stinky and hard as a stone in a pit. Borneo’s land is hard to bear. He is unwilling to give it to him. Multiple rounds of peace talks have repeatedly broken down, making European mediators impatient.

  What is the truth?

  From the history of Europe, the party who lost the war has always lost money and confessed its territory, and there has never been an exception.

  Do not say far away

  After the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Germany received a compensation of 5 billion francs in France. France ceded all of Alsace and part of Lorraine. Before the compensation was paid, Germany occupied 6 northern provinces of France.

   Lost the war, even if it is as strong as the European hegemon, France has to cede land and pay compensation. Why does the Kingdom of the Netherlands stand up?

  If you don’t bring troops to grab the Queenslanders directly, the heat of the war will escalate directly.

  Now that the Queenslanders have taken up about half of Borneo, the governor is still stubborn, unwilling to admit the cruel reality of defeat, and insists on carrying on the war.

  The large-scale war has been going on for a year and a half. The fire has burned to Borneo, Sulawesi, and in the future, it may burn to Java, which is the core interest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

  Is there no such possibility?

  Since His Majesty William I of the Kingdom of the Netherlands categorically rejected the marriage request of the British royal family twice, the relationship between the two royal families quickly faded and offended the always domineering British royal family. This is not a good thing for the small Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Everything……

  The newly appointed Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Lord Bacon, is also extremely passive, privately calling him "a circus clown in a ridiculous costume"...

  The war that lasted for nearly two years has become unbearable for the little Kingdom of the Netherlands. Colony income has been completely interrupted, domestic prices have skyrocketed, all industries have fallen, and people’s living standards have plummeted.

  "Your Excellency, there is another news that you should probably know."

   "Enough bad news, you can tell Wenbeck, I can deal with these well now, it can't affect my mood."

   "Oh...not bad news."

   "Really? Tell me..." Governor Sir Frederick S-Jacob raised his brows, reached out and took out another bottle of whiskey, opened the cap, and poured a glass for himself and Wenbeck.

"Thank you, Lord Governor." Wenbeck took a sip from the wine glass and said; "We just received a telegram that the new Governor General who succeeded you was suddenly seriously ill on the Suez Canal and must return to Amsterdam for treatment immediately. In other words, You have to continue this important task until a new successor arrives."

  Wenbeck also felt extremely helpless in this unexpected situation.

It must be the new governor who is shocked to hear that the situation in Borneo is deteriorating again. The Governor’s Mansion of the Dutch East Indies is no longer a big mud pool, but a bottomless abyss. Jumping down at this time will definitely be devastated. .

  Governor Sir Frederick S-Jacob has passed away the two prime ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and ushered in the third prime minister. The position of the governor is still firmly seated, and no one is even willing to take over.

  Really weird and weird!

  Perhaps the day the peace agreement was signed was the day when the most failed governor in the governor’s office of the Dutch East Indies left.

"Hmm, this is not too bad news, maybe we should have a toast." Governor Sir Frederick S-Jacob is now addicted to alcohol, and he takes a sip from his glass. There was an abnormal blush on his face; "Wembek, we have sufficient military power in Semuda. I also built fortress cannons for them, and gave Colonel Henry the support he could. May God bless and trust Henry. The colonel will bring me good news of victory."

   "Maybe..." Wenbeck replied ambiguously.

  To be honest, he doesn’t have much confidence in it.

  After the Royal Dutch Navy's fleet lost its dominance of the sea, the Queensland army can continuously send reinforcements to the front lines. As long as they are willing to pay the corresponding price, there will be no unbreakable fortress.

After two glasses of wine, the governor’s spirit was invigorated again, and he asked in a pleasant tone; “Today is really a good day. I remember I invited Sir Kapitan Sheng Yeyun. There are both bad and good Chinese. Our loyal friend Sir Sheng Yeyun always brings me a good mood every time he comes to the Governor's Mansion."

  "Please wait a moment, Lord Governor, I'll go and ask." Wenbeck put down the wine glass in his hand and turned to go out.

   Soon, he brought Sir Sheng Yeyun back to the Governor’s office.

  Governor Frederick S-Jacob saw Sheng Yeyun laughing and stood up to give him a hug; "Welcome, my friend, what good news has you brought to us today?"

   "Honorable Governor, I have two good news for you."

   "Oh... two good news, I can't wait."

  Sheng Yeyun smiled slightly, hung the ivory-carved cane on his right arm, put his right arm on his chest and performed a gentleman's courtesy, and said respectfully;

"The first good news is tax increase. You know that as the Kapitan who manages the Batavia Chinese and other indigenous peoples, the Governor's Mansion will entrust the tax package to me. I must pay attention to those poor ghosts and cunning. The businessman can live up to the trust of the Governor.

  This month, Batavia’s business tax, profits tax and poll tax can all add up to 172,000 Dutch worth, an increase of two and a half over the same period last year.

  With sufficient financial resources, we can buy more guns and ammunition, arm more soldiers, and completely defeat the greedy Queenslanders.

  Although I am a Chinese, I am ashamed to be with you. "

"Oh...your friend, what you said is so good, this is indeed very good news." Frederick S-Jacob liked to hear such words, opened his mouth and laughed, smoothly. He touched the whiskey bottle again and poured a glass for each of the three present.

  This wine-smelling governor, the highest official of the Dutch East Indies, who represents the image of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is really helpless!

"The second piece of good news is to tell the Governor. In order to support the battle ahead, I have mobilized the Batavia Chinese Chamber of Commerce to donate money and train a volunteer team of 450 people, 150 of which are from the Sheng family. , Cough cough...that is, I came out with my bag, please believe me, these are all carefully selected lads who dare to fight and dare to kill the best, as long as they need to be able to pull on the front line to participate in the battle, severely strike down the Queensland invaders, and maintain Kingdom interests."

   "Oh Meiga... is this true, Mr. Sir?"

"Yes, dear Governor, there is no end of eggs under the nest. My heart is closely linked to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and foreign enemies are never allowed to insult. This is a small gift I offer to you. Let’s talk about it."

   "God, it's really good news, let's have a toast together." Frederick S-Jacob raised the wine glass, then raised his head, "Tons, tons..." and went on.

  Wenbeck just took a polite sip. He suspected that the Governor-General used every opportunity to toast to satisfy his alcohol addiction. Otherwise, what would be the explanation?

  Sheng Ye Yun held the cup in both hands, and said solemnly; "The Governor is really bold, Ye Yun dare not fall behind, this glass of wine is also dry."

  After finishing speaking, he took up the wine glass, which was two or two, and he looked up and drank cleanly in one breath.

  This time Kung Fu

The Governor has already poured a few glasses of wine, and opened the second bottle of 750ml of whiskey. He filled the three of them with red face, and looked at Sheng Yeyun with bloodshot eyes and asked; "I." Dear friend, I know that you have a wise brain, and you can often express unique and unique insights. I very much hope that you can openly and honestly express your views on the current war. You don’t need to care about other people’s views, I just want to hear the truth. , Can we win this war?"

  Sheng Yeyun, who asked this question, was surprised, turning and thinking while holding the wine glass in his hand.

  Obviously... he didn't want to tell the truth.

Wenbeck said seriously; "Sir Sheng, from our years of getting along, we can see that you are dedicated to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and are our loyal friend and partner. But because of this, I hope you can tell the truth in your heart. Come out, you have to know...This is related to the well-being of millions of people."

This is very important. Sheng Yeyun was originally a long-sleeved businessman who was good at dancing. He had a quick thinking and a eloquent heart. He was able to discover Queensland's terrible war potential from Guangjitang, and he was keenly aware that the immigrants were Queensland, Australia. The key point is that there has never been a shortage of smart people in this world.

  He knows the problems of Wen Baker and the Governor’s House today. Compared with the Governor of today, he pays more attention to the relationship with Wen Baker, the undersecretary of government affairs.

  Iron bureaucrat, governor of water.

A governor is only 3 to 4 years, and two governors is only 8 years. Wenbek has served in Batavia for 17 years. From a grass-roots clerk all the way to an undersecretary of administrative affairs, he will have to deal with in the future. .

   ponder for a moment

  Sheng Yeyun raised his head and saw Governor Frederick-S-Jacob and Wenbeck staring at his face, as if they could not get an answer.

   unavoidably sighed and said;

   "Since your Excellency the Governor and the Vice-Officials insist on making me show your ugliness, I would take the liberty to comment a few words, please correct me."

   "Even if I speak freely, I want to hear the truth..." Governor Frederick S-Jacob was so sober at the moment, how could he be half drunk?

Sheng Yeyun sighed sadly and said;

   "Ah... I'm not hiding from the two adults. The current war is widely known, and relevant reports and news are flying all over the sky. There are people from various positions, and no one can convince anyone.

   Putting aside the surface disturbances and looking at the essence, I feel that the prospects are not optimistic. The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous to us.

  To sum up, there are three;

  Article one, the kingdom’s army has been exhausted for a long time. The Aceh War has entered its 13th year, and the war with the Queenslanders has entered its third year since December last year, and there is still no possibility of a break.

  The soldiers are war-weary, and the people of the kingdom are war-weary. From the prime minister to the bureaucrats below, they all want to end this endless process of war as soon as possible.

  The second article;

  True speaking, this is the war between the Governor's House of the Dutch East Indies and the Earl of Queensland. From the perspective of the potential of the war between the two sides, our side does not have the advantage.

  This is divided into two parts, one is the population and the other is the economy.

As of 1882, the total population of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was less than 3.8 million. Due to non-stop participation in overseas colonial wars, the population showed more women than men, especially the young and middle-aged men. The population of men between 18 and 35 was only nearly 500,000. A war has been involved in close to one-tenth, which is an extremely terrifying ratio.

  In fact

As the governor’s palace in direct confrontation with Queensland, it ruled the vast East Indies with 2,400 public employees, an army of more than 26,000, and more than 200,000 white ethnic groups. If other indigenous ethnic groups are not counted, the entire state of Queensland will be confronted with **** alone. , The difference in strength is even greater.

  Look back at Queensland

Due to a large number of young and strong male immigrants, Queensland has a population of more than 3.3 million people, of which more than 700,000 are women, more than 100,000 are children under the age of 7, and the rest are all between the ages of 16 and 35. The proportion of young men is surprisingly high, with a total of more than 2.4 million.

  Compared with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it is close to a ratio of 5:1, which is a big gap.

  Compared with the East Indies, among the more than 200,000 white ethnic groups, no more than 60,000 people from 18 to 50 years old can take up a gun to fight. Now we have mobilized 20,000 white militiamen, which is almost to the limit.

But compared with Queenslanders, 2.4 million to 60,000, the ratio is 40:1. The gap is too big to make up. Queenslanders can obviously bear a heavier cost of casualties and continue the war until they achieve their goals. .

From an economic point of view, the Earl of Queensland is the world’s richest farmer and industrialist. The economy of Queensland is clearly industrialized. The service industry is a typical industrialized economy.

This is not the case in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Industry accounts for no more than 10% of the economy. In addition to colonial income, the main source of economy comes from fishing, agriculture and commercial trade. This will greatly weaken our ability to launch continuous wars. Consider the consequences of war more from the perspective of a businessman.

  The third article;

The background of the Government House is the full support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the reason why the Queenslanders dare to fight us and covet the vast and rich territory of the East Indies is not without the secret indulgence of the British Empire.

  The British Colonial Department was the first to recognize that the Earl of Queensland first discovered and possessed relevant rights and interests in Shangri-La Island, which was the starting point of this war.

  From this perspective, it’s hard to say that the British Empire stayed aloof. Even if the Netherlands was willing to protect its rights from soldiers to people, the real gap lies here, so I am very optimistic about the future prospects of war. "

  The office where I was talking was completely silent, and the atmosphere became extremely solemn.

  After a while

  Governor Frederick S-Jacob asked quietly; “Since you know you are going to lose, why do you spend a lot of money to train a team of volunteers to stand up for the battle? Isn’t this taking money to fight the water?”

"My Excellency Governor, I am doing my best to obey my destiny. To tell the truth, I cannot allow the Earl of Queensland to tarnish the reputation of the Chinese for hard work, hard work, gentleness and courteousness. This careerist is a strange species, and everyone should be condemned." Here, Sheng Yeyun looked resentful.

  Governor Frederick S-Jacob and Wenbeck looked at each other, and the same loneliness could be seen in each other's eyes.

  Although he is not optimistic about the prospects, he always has the fluke idea in case of a comeback.

  Hearing these reasonable and well-founded words, the whole child poured cold water from head to toe, and there was no trace of luck.

  40:1 Hey, what do you use to play with people?

  "I pray to God sincerely and ask you to forgive me for my sins." Governor Frederick S-Jacob muttered a word and drew a cross on his chest.

  Although he realized that 90% of this war might be lost, he did not turn his head back when he opened the bow. The two sides clearly showed that they were fighting hard and couldn’t stop talking about anything. They wanted to fight the war.

  If a big victory can be achieved, it may be the best opportunity to end this **** war.

  Wenbaker, who had no time to worry about the nagging governor, pulled Sheng Yeyun's sleeve and asked; "Sir Sheng, you are the smartest person I have ever seen. Is there any way to reverse the current war?"

   "My lord, I am not very proficient in the military, I am afraid that I can't tell you the idea and make me laugh generous."

   "It's okay, we just have a small chat."

"Uh...it's like this. When I have nothing to do, I will read some previous stories and historical books. I remember that there was a military expert named Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period of China. In the battle of Po, the powerful Cao Jun lost his helmet and armor. Of course, these are all military stories from ancient times. Just listen to it."

   "Fire attack?"

  Wenbeck was shocked. It is not easy to launch a fire attack in the tropical rainforest, but it does not mean it is not feasible.

  As long as there is a large amount of flammable gasoline, the quantity reaches more than ten or even dozens of tons, it can ignite the wet rain forest area. The raging fire will dry all the nearby forests and become a new ignition point.

  This is how wasteland burns in tropical rainforest areas. The large amount of toxic smoke caused by burning can make people trapped in the jungle lose their sense of direction and eventually die.

Batavia has enough gasoline reserves. The problem now is that it cannot be shipped in. The coastal waters around the port of Semuda are tightly sealed by the Queensland United Fleet. Not to mention a three-masted sailboat or a dhow, now a fly Can't fly in.

  　 I have been criticized for the abnormal update. Mr. Grape must seriously correct it. The 5000-character chapter apologizes. I wish everyone a happy life. I am embarrassed to ask for tickets. Let's go!

  　　 Finally, let’s talk about a little thing. This Sheng Yeyun is a very good friend of mine. He insisted on letting me write him in the novel, so he almost...

  (End of this chapter)