At the time, Alexander William Frederick Edinburgh, the Count of Edinburgh, served as the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch East Indies.


    Although it seemed that he had a firm grip on both military and political matters, only Governor Alexander himself knew that his days were actually not that easy.


    Even though the Dutch enjoyed a superior status in the Dutch East Indies, this meant that Governor Alexander had nearly 40 million ves to oppress under his rule.


    The Dutch barely had to concern themselves with the lives of the colonial natives; they could arbitrarily seize the property and wives of the Indigenous people, trample on their dignity, and deprive them of their lives.


    However, thend was not as peaceful as it seemed on the surface. The protection of Britain and France didn''t seem to be very effective, and Austrsia was eying the territory with great interest.


    Moreover, there were more than 40 million indigenous people within the Dutch East Indies, consisting of hundreds of ethnic groups. The rtionship between these ethnic groups was veryplex, and the rtionship among the indigenous forces formed by these ethnic groups was also veryplicated.


    The Dutch East India Colonial Government''s orders were not so effective in some of the indigenous countries, and the areas that the Dutch East Indies could truly control were only the majority of Java Ind, Sumatra Ind, Kalimantan Ind, and parts of Swesi Ind.


    There were more than ten thousand inds in the entire Dutch East Indies, but apart from somerger inds, the other inds were not under the control of the Dutch East Indies.


    Although this may seem strange, as the Dutch were a more developed and powerful European nationpared to the local indigenous people.


    Moreover, the Dutch had ruled thisnd for hundreds of years; logically speaking, even if they hadn''tpletely assimted these poptions, they should have controlled most areas and achieved proper management by now.


    However, in reality, if one were topare the Nethends itself with the Dutch East Indies, the biggest problem for the Dutch would be apparent – the phenomenon of a snake swallowing an elephant.


    There are only more than 6 million people in the Nethends to date, but the poption of the Dutch East Indies has reached more than 40 million, nearly seven times the total poption of the Nethends.


    Trying to assimte more than 40 million indigenous people with a poption of merely over 6 million is an impossible idea.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Even now, there are still arge number of Sultanates in the Dutch East Indies, which have considerable autonomy, and some even outright dismiss the rule of the Dutch East Indies.


    To govern thisnd with a poption of over 40 million, the Dutch had about 100,000bat troops in the Dutch East Indies, including more than 30,000 regr troops and 100,000 native troops.


    But obviously, such an army is far from enough to properly govern a poption of 40 million.


    Moreover, the naval scale of the Colonial Government of the Dutch East Indies is very small, even smaller than thebined naval size of the six Australian colonies before.


    In such a situation, the Dutch East Indies Government could not properly control more than ten thousand inds within its territory. Rebellions were frequent in the Dutch East Indies, causing headaches for the Dutch, who were powerless to do anything about it.


    ording to the information from the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, there are as many as 17 indigenous Sultanates within the Dutch East Indies, each with a poption of over a million, while the smallest Sultanate still has several hundred thousand indigenous people.


    Particrly on Swesi Ind, there were as many as five indigenous forces. These indigenous countries controlled more than half of Swesi Ind, greatly weakening the Dutch rule on the ind.


    This also resulted in the fact that, although the Dutch controlled the property of tens of millions of indigenous people, they could not make good use of them.


    If the Nethends were a country with tens of millions of people, or if the Nethends were closer to the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch could have made better use of the Dutch East Indies.


    Of course, even so, the Nethends still manages to obtain substantial benefits from the Dutch East Indies every year, including rubber, grain, and other economic products.


    The reason why the Nethends could be slightly stronger than Belgium is precisely because it controlled the Dutch East Indies, which generated nearly ten million pounds of ie for the Dutch Government every year.


    After the Austrsian Government announced the crackdown, Governor Alexander had been closely nning the defense of the Dutch East Indies and temporarily strengthened the defense of Batavia as a whole.


    As the core area of the Dutch East Indies, Java Ind has a Dutch division and more than 60,000 indigenous troops with a total defense force of about 80,000 people.


    If considering the number of soldiers alone, the defense force of Batavia is more than twice that of the Austrsian army, having an absolute advantage in terms of number.


    However, war is not just about the number of troops; it''s also about military equipment, firearms, and nes. In these areas, the Dutch defendersg far behind the Austrsian army. What''s more, the Austrsian homnd can continue to send supplies, while the Dutch homnd is thousands of miles away, with the quickest transportation time taking more than a month.


    There is another point: the scale of the Dutch military force is far behind that of Austrsia. After Austrsia officially dered war, Arthur sent a telegram to King George V, requesting the establishment of a defensive line in the Suez Canal area to block the Dutch transport fleet from heading south.


    This also led to the situation where if the Dutch fleet wanted to support the Dutch East Indies, they had to circle the entire African continent, greatly increasing the time required for support.


    Under such premise, it was impossible for the Dutch fleet to reach the Dutch East Indies without taking two months.


    Two monthster, the war in the Dutch East Indies would have long been over, and the Dutch woulde just in time to sign a contract.


    At this moment, the face of Governor Alexander in Batavia was not very good.


    Governor Alexander looked at the diplomat Raynor, who had just returned from Austrsia, and asked, "Ambassador Raynor, how many troops can Austrsia send at most?"


    As the former Dutch ambassador to Austrsia, Ambassador Raynor''s understanding of Austrsia was certainly higher than that of Governor Alexander and others, which was why Governor Alexander asked Ambassador Raynor.


    "Not easy to predict, Sir Governor. But since the war, Austrsia has recruited at least 700,000 indigenous troops. There are only about 500,000 in Europe at present. This means that if Austrsia is willing, they can dispatch at least 200,000 indigenous troops at any time." Ambassador Raynor shook his head, sighed slightly, and spoke to Governor Alexander.


    Ambassador Raynor''s term began in 1908, and it has been almost seven years.


    In these seven years, he has witnessed the development of Austrsia, and naturally, he is well aware that the current Austrsia is not something that can be resisted by a small Nethends.


    Looking at Austrsia, from a weak colony over a decade ago evolved into one of the main powers now, a major member of the Allies, and the hegemon of Oceania, Ambassador Raynor could not help but feel envious and jealous.


    Austrsia''s rise has been smooth, with the support from Germany, Britain and Russia in session. Before the European War, their biggest enemy was the Nethends, and it was a war provoked by Austrsia itself.


    Then look at the Nethends, situated in Europe, to rise they must have the consent of Britain, France and Germany.


    But clearly, none of these three countries want another powerful country or even a secondary powerful country in the Low Countries. Continue your adventure at m|v-l''e -NovelBin


    The Low Countries can threaten the English Channel and the British coast, the northeast of France, the west of Germany and the Ruhr District. Any movement here will attract the attention of the three major powers and is an area where theypete for influence.


    It is no exaggeration to say that any choice of the three could offend one of the powerful countries of Britain, France and Germany.


    For the Nethends, this is a fatal blow. Sandwiched in the encirclement of these three major powers, there is no hope for the expansion of the Dutch homnd, and their colonies are currently coveted by Austrsia, with no chance of turning the tables.


    Look at Belgium, who ims to be a neutral country, but Germany attacked them at will. Thinking of this, Ambassador Raynor couldn''t help but sigh again, envious of Austrsia''s rise and advantageous geographical location.


    "Damn it, immediately send a telegram to our homnd requesting at least 100,000 troops for support.


    Otherwise, it will be impossible for the Dutch East Indies to withstand the invasion of the Austrsian Army." Governor Alexander didn''t pay attention to Ambassador Raynor''s sighs; his attention waspletely attracted by the fact that Austrsia had at least 200,000 colonial troops avable forbat.


    Although they were just colonial armies, the indigenous people were armed with firearms, which could cause fatal injuries when hit.


    Moreover, Austrsia also had arge number of cannons and aircraft, and Batavia could still be bombarded by fleets on the sea, which was a deadly blow to the defenders.


    It should be noted that the ship guns generally have a caliber of more than 300mm, which can cause huge damage to any defensive fortifications.


    Furthermore, the bombings from ground troops and the sky, every day of dy would cause heavy casualties to the Dutch Army.


    "Yes!" Governor Alexander''s subordinates didn''t dare to hesitate and quickly attempted to send a telegram to the Nethends for help.


    In fact, the Dutch government at this time was also very bitter. They had already received a clear reply from the British that they would not allow any fleet flying the Dutch g to pass through the Suez Canal.


    This also means that the journey to the Dutch East Indies has increased by more than half. Even if the Nethends sends aid immediately, it will take at least two months to arrive.


    However, the Dutch government did not reveal the fact that they could not pass through the Suez Canal to the Dutch East Indies, expressing the government''s orders to defend Batavia and the entire Java Ind at all costs.


    The Dutch government also hypocritically imed that arge amount of supplies had been hurriedly transported and could reach Batavia in less than a month at the fastest.


    However, the navigation situation of the Suez Canal and whether the Dutch transport fleet would be besieged by the Austrsian fleet in the Indian Ocean were not mentioned by the Dutch government.