The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 832 - 621: Indigenous Peoples

On September 4, 1925, Queen Wilhelmina issued a call to all discharged and laid-off veterans, asking them to reenlist in the military to participate in the suppression of the indigenous rebellion in the Dutch East Indies.

Queen Wilhelmina specifically promised that the military would not be arbitrarily disbanded after the suppression and that these veterans would enjoy their previous salaries upon returning to service.

For those retired and laid-off veterans, this counted as good news—after all, in the Netherlands affected by an unemployment surge, finding a high-paying and stable job was no easy task.

Soldiering was a profession with relatively stable wages in the Netherlands, and with the personal promise from Queen Wilhelmina, indeed, quite a few veterans reenlisted, sparking a surge in military recruitment.

To avoid misunderstandings with Australasia and to gain more time, the Dutch Foreign Minister proposed negotiations, requesting to extend the time frame for the rebellion’s suppression to over five months.

Minister Daize Taylor didn’t dare to make a decision on the Dutch’s request on his own and could only report it to Arthur.

"Extend the suppression to over five months?" Arthur looked at Minister Daize Taylor and asked, "Has the Dutch Government lost its mind?"

It was obvious that it was Australasia making demands on the Dutch, so how could the Netherlands have the audacity to counter with demands of their own?

"Tell the Dutch Government that if they do not take swift action, the Australasian forces don’t mind protecting their own people," Arthur said.

After sending Minister Daize Taylor away, Arthur called for Director Barty of the Royal Security Intelligence, giving new instructions: "Director Bartie, find a way to make the rebellion in the Dutch East Indies even more desperate.

Provide those indigenous peoples with a batch of weapons and equipment, and let the Dutch see the gap in strength between them and the indigenous peoples as soon as possible."

Declaring war directly before the one-month deadline would damage the prestige of Australasia.

After all, being a powerful nation was enough to invoke fear; being a bellicose nation keen on expansion would inevitably face opposition from other countries.

Especially since the Netherlands was a European monarchy, a war with them still required a legitimate excuse.

This was not only to appease the Australasians but also to soothe more Europeans.

"I understand, Your Majesty," Director Bartie nodded, agreeing.

This kind of work was something Director Bartie excelled at, and it was the best opportunity to demonstrate his capabilities.

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Fortunately, the Dutch East Indies were part of Arthur’s strategic plans, and a significant number of intelligence personnel were already positioned in the region.

Following Arthur’s orders, intelligence agents lurking locally quickly reached out to one of the indigenous rebellion factions to propose a collaboration.

"You want to cooperate with me?" Nurul Badri Hakala looked curiously at the person who approached him, asking with heightened interest.

"Certainly, Chief," Bob nodded, speaking matter-of-factly: "The Kingdom of the Netherlands is already weak; you are destined to be the Sultan of the new Sultanate. Why wouldn’t I work with you?"

Although the flu has reduced a significant portion of the Indigenous population, compared to the total Indigenous population of the former Dutch East Indies, such a reduction did not fundamentally weaken them.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the current Indigenous population of the Dutch East Indies is at least above 30 million, and very likely around 35 million.

This vastly exceeds Australasia’s own total population, which is why Bob said that Australasia was not interested in the Dutch East Indies.

After all, just controlling these 35 million people would be enough to give the Australasian Government a headache.

Hearing this from Bob, Nur Bradie Hakkarim nodded, finding this explanation quite acceptable.

The vast Indigenous population was the main reason the Netherlands had difficulty fully controlling the Dutch East Indies and it posed the same problem for population-scarce Australasia.

Nur Bradie Hakkarim was also aware of Australasia’s policies on New Guinea Island, which amounted to a complete expulsion of the Indigenous peoples.

But the question was, Sumatra Island, where they were located, had millions of Indigenous inhabitants, and neighboring Java Island had even more, over 20 million. How were they to expel Indigenous populations of such magnitude?

It was this very reason that made Nur Bradie Hakkarim quite confident in Bob.

"What support can you provide?" Nur Bradie Hakkarim asked with a hint of expectation.

Although the Indigenous rebellion had turned into massive unrest, because the Indigenous technology was not advanced, their army mostly used melee weapons and some firearms from over a hundred years ago, among other things.

Such weapons struggled to fend off the Dutch Military’s advancements, which is why Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies had persevered for so many years without falling.

Especially after the invention of machine guns, the Dutch found it even easier to suppress Indigenous revolts. A position only needed a few machine guns to stand unshakably, becoming the greatest hindrance to Indigenous advancement.

"2,000 Rifles, 200,000 bullets, five machine guns, five cannons, and some machine gun bullets, shells, and so on," Bob said with a smile, "This is just the first round of support. If it’s effective, there will be a second and third round in the future."

The support for the Indigenous had its limits, as Arthur found it hard to guarantee that these Indigenous would comply with Australasian rule in the future

Besides, the Australasian intelligence organizations had reached out to not just one Indigenous force. Taken together, the armies of many Indigenous forces were enough to trouble the Dutch East Indies.

Although Australasia’s support consisted of some obsolete Rifles and not the current advanced Lee-Enfield Rifle.

To the Dutch Government, already struggling to suppress the rebellions, the type of gun was no longer important.

Australasia’s actions were swift; on the same day that cooperation was achieved, some weapons and equipment had already been shipped to various Sultanates and Indigenous forces.

Of course, the routes for transporting these weapons and equipment were quite clandestine, with some even being transported by Airships to avoid detection by the Dutch Government.

Even if the Dutch Government did discover them, these Airships could easily be explained away as for civilian economic use.

The Dutch, lacking corresponding technology, had no better way to deal with these Airships in the sky.

They were not so irrational as to attack Australasian Airships, as it would be no different from declaring war on Australasia outright.