It turned out that when the East China government negotiated with the Netherlands for the first time, the Dutch government did not really take it seriously. After all, it is no secret in Europe that the Eight-Nation Alliance returned from China to kill the feathers. Although the Dutch government did not study it carefully, it also knew the general process and reasons. Moreover, the Netherlands is a small country and of course it is unwilling to cause additional trouble. Therefore, the Dutch government immediately generated a power to the Batavian authorities for inquiries about the situation.

But Batavia Governor William Rooseboom called back to the country and sweared that there was no such thing. On the contrary, he turned around and said that many Javanese Chinese did not respect the colonial laws, gathered crowds to cause trouble, suppressed local land, and malicious competition, which seriously damaged the economic interests of the colonies. The colonial authorities arrested some Javanese Chinese in accordance with the law, but they actually colluded with the East China government to put pressure on the colonial authorities.

At the same time, the merchants in Java also jointly issued electricity to the Dutch government, proving that what the Governor’s Office said was true, requiring the Dutch government not to be stubbornly impressed by the pressure of overseas Chinese and to respond to the East China government with a tough response.

Of course, the Dutch government believed what it said, not to mention the proof from merchants, so it sent a reply letter to the East China government that seemed to be quite polite to the Dutch government. It was known that the East China government's reaction was far more intense than the Dutch government imagined, and it actually wanted to arm the protection of overseas Chinese. The Dutch government was really nervous now. Although the Dutch government did not want to cause trouble, it was a European country after all. After all, it was a European country and he was a dominant person back then. He knew very well that the situation had developed to this point and could not be solved by diplomacy. I am afraid that overseas Chinese would intend to capture Batavia by using the excuse of protecting overseas Chinese. At least in Europe, this is common.

But can the Netherlands withstand the attacks of overseas Chinese? In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Netherlands was a world-class power. It defeated the Spanish Habsburg dynasty in the Thirty Years' War and gained official independence, established a republic, and with the advanced navigation and shipbuilding technology of the sailing era, it won the title of "Sea Coachman" and launched a century-long maritime battle with Britain.

However, after all, the Netherlands is small and has few people. It gradually fell behind when it entered the First Industrial Revolution. In the era of the Napoleon War, the Netherlands once lost its country. Although after Napoleon's failure, the Netherlands was restored and changed from a republic to a constitutional monarchy, Belgium, which was originally from the Netherlands, Luxembourg, was independent one after another, causing the Netherlands to lose nearly half of its territory and was unable to participate in the world's competition. Therefore, it tried its best to remain neutral in major international affairs, and survived carefully in the cracks of the great powers, and rely on Britain in economic terms. However, due to the vast colonies left in the glorious period, the Netherlands is still very wealthy overall. The Boer War initiated by Britain in South Africa, the Boers who were enemies of Britain were the descendants of the Netherlands in Africa before, but the Dutch government only verbally accuses the United Kingdom, but did not give any substantial help to the Boers.

Since the Netherlands is a traditional maritime country and has a large number of colonies to maintain, the Dutch military construction is obviously characterized by a heavy sea and a downside land. Now there are more than 10,000 people in the Dutch Navy. The main combat warships include: 5 old 5,000-ton shore defense battleships, equipped with 2 240mm main guns; 3 old 3,500-ton shore defense battleships, equipped with 3 210mm main guns; and 6 3,800-ton protective cruisers. Although such a naval scale basically has no presence in this era, it is quite considerable for a country like the Netherlands with a territory of only more than 40,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 5 million.

Currently, there are 8 warships in the Dutch Navy that are distributed in colonial areas, with 4 in Batavia, namely a 5,000-ton shore defense battleship Amsterdam; the 3,500-ton shore defense battleship Utrecht, the 3,800-ton protective cruisers Rotterdam and Tilburg, and there are also 5,6 400-600-ton shallow water gunboats and *boat destroyers.

But such strength is obviously impossible to be an opponent of the East China government. After all, overseas Chinese have defeated the German Expeditionary Fleet with 4 10,000-ton battleships and armored cruisers. This should not be the Netherlands that can confront them, so the Dutch government can only ask Britain for help, hoping that Britain can interfere in the process. At the same time, the Dutch government also warned Batavia that the East China government has decided to arm the protection of overseas Chinese and prepare Batavia.

After receiving the domestic warning, Governor William Rosblu was also a little nervous and hurriedly recruited colonial officials to discuss how to deal with the armed protection of overseas Chinese by the East China government. Some officials advocated the rush to pacify the anti-Chinese movement in Java and restore the situation in Java, so that overseas Chinese have no excuses to interfere in the situation in Java.

However, this proposition was strongly opposed by Helvig, the commander of the Dutch fleet in Batavia. His proposition was to prepare for war immediately and would hit them head-on when the warships of the East China government arrived. Because the Netherlands had not participated in major international affairs for decades, although the Netherlands was located in the central part of Europe and could still keep up with the times, Batavia was avoided and there were not many sources of information. Therefore, the understanding of the times was somewhat lagging behind the current situation outside Europe, and did not know much about the detailed process of the failure of the Eight-Nation Alliance's war invasion of China, and the East China government was still regarded as the same as the Qing court.

In Helveg's view, it was not surprising whether it was the Qing court or the East China government, it was not surprising that the Eight-Nation Alliance defeated the Eight-Nation Alliance, because all countries did not do their best. And weren't the Boers in South Africa also relied on geographical and environmental advantages to compete with the British Empire at an absolute disadvantage? But to go to Java to protect overseas Chinese, a strong navy was needed, and Helveg's impression of the Chinese navy at this time was still in the era of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Therefore, Helveg insisted on taking a tough attitude towards the East China government's protection of overseas Chinese.

Hervig's opinion was supported by most colonial officials, and the reason was very simple. In this anti-Chinese operation, the Batavian colonial authorities adopted a tacit approval and supportive attitude. The wealth of Chinese plundered by the indigenous people also gave the colonial authorities a share. Once overseas Chinese landed in Java, protect the Chinese and understood the true image, most colonial officials would probably be punished domestically. In addition, although the number of Chinese in Java is not large, they control huge wealth. Once they have the support of national power, the colonial authorities will not be able to control it in the future. Therefore, overseas Chinese must be blocked from protecting overseas Chinese.

Just early this morning, the warship patrolling the Java sea discovered the Qingzhou and Yizhou. Although it did not hang the Qing Dynasty's dragon flag, its target was to rush to Java. So it issued a warning to Batavia. Helvig had already prepared and immediately took the four main warships of Batavia out of the port and welcomed the Qingzhou and Yizhou.

Although the size of these two warships is much larger than that of all Dutch warships, there are only two. The Dutch fleet not only has 4 warships, but also two *boats that can be close to the cast. Therefore, Helveg believes that based on the strength of the warship, he also has at least 70% chance of winning. If the soldier's quality advantage is added, the chance of winning can reach 90%.

Linkvic returned to the flagship Amsterdam and told Hulvig the result of the negotiations. Hulvig also knew that war was inevitable, so Hulvig ordered: "Notify the watchtower, send them a signal, and ask them to leave immediately. Notify the ships and prepare for battle."

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"Report, Qingzhou news, they have broken down with the Dutch people. The Dutch warship has already issued a flag saying "requesting us to leave" and Commander Zhang asked to open fire."

"Agree to open fire, and wish them a victory, notify the Ministry of Aviation, take off the helicopter immediately, and monitor the battlefield."

After Shang Jinfeng gave the order, someone reported: "Captain, the assault boat is ready."

"Let's go."

After separating from Qingzhou and Yizhou, the Kunming ship turned southwest and drove about 40 kilometers away, and arrived at the agreed sea area. You can see that there is indeed a dock in the distance. Although it is not large in scale, only two trest bridges, it is also docked with more than 10 ships of all sizes. So Shang Jinfeng ordered to put down a assault boat, send Zhang Zizhang to the dock to contact him, and be prepared to welcome the army's landing. It is also best to transfer one or two barges to speed up the landing.

In fact, the Kunming ship does not have many landing equipment; there are 2 armed boats; there are 4 assault boats; and there are 12 life-saving rubber boats. In theory, it can transport about 300 people at one time, transporting all the officers and soldiers on the ship; but the army has to transport not only personnel, but also various weapons and equipment. In this way, the transportation capacity will be reduced to about 150 people, and it will take 5-6 transport times to complete. Therefore, if two barges can be transferred to the dock, it can basically ensure that the army's personnel and equipment will be transported at one time, and at most, it will only take two times, so it can naturally greatly speed up the transportation and landing speed.

On the other side, the Qingzhou City was also reported that the two sides had broken down and the war was about to begin. Although Zhang Weiji reported to Shang Jinfeng that the other party's warship was not very good, Shang Jinfeng was not relieved. After all, he only had two warships on his side, and they were all protective cruisers. In addition, this was the first time the People's Army Navy used warships of this era to fight, so Shang Jinfeng decided to send a carrier-based helicopter to monitor the battle, and he could help Qingzhou City and Yizhou City with one arm if necessary.
Chapter completed!