Wild North America 1846

After the victory was established, the mopping battle continued until the evening of the fourth day.

Several remnants of the Dutch army fleeing southward fled for more than a hundred kilometers, and arrived southward in the jungle of West Sumatra Province, where they were immediately surrounded and annihilated by the imperial army that followed.

In this large-scale battle that broke out at the end of August 1898, Tang He and Tang He invested a total of more than 8 troops to compete in the upper Indragiri area in central Sumatra, and finally won the victory with the crushing advantage of the Tang Empire army.

Before the war, the Dutch were full of confidence to teach the invading Tang Empire a harsh lesson, but they were astonished and lost all their underwear.

post-war inventory;

Of the total 6.2 troops that participated in the war, the Dutch army lost more than 2.16, of which 1.572 were killed and wounded, 5641 were missing, and more than 4 were captured.

Among the missing persons, some may have been blown to pieces by shells, some may have been buried by collapsed chests, some may have drowned, some may have absconded into the mountains or took off their military uniforms and mixed into the crowd to pretend to be local indigenous people.

For a while, it is difficult to distinguish.

Fortunately, the main force of the white troops of the Royal Dutch Army was captured. Among the total 2.73 whites in the Dutch army, 4011 were killed or injured, and the remaining 2.33 were captured.

The Tang Empire army suffered 3286 casualties in this battle, of which 1379 were killed and 1907 were injured, achieving an out-and-out brilliant victory.

Most of the officers and soldiers casualties of the empire were lost in the previous artillery coverage and the post-war pursuit and annihilation battles, especially the fierce resistance of the white remnant army, which caused considerable losses.

For this reason, the Second Corps of the Royal Guards, which had never been willing to suffer, launched a fierce revenge. The wounded captured were basically not healed, and nine out of ten died of wound infection and other diseases.

The same was true for the captured white troops. Some white troops who resisted fiercely were captured and suffered various cruel abuses.Nearly a thousand people disappeared quietly, which is not enough for outsiders.

Whether the captured whites or local aborigines, they were immediately incorporated into the labor camps to undertake the ensuing large-scale road construction and widening projects, as well as the reconstruction of ports and wharves, as well as some urban construction projects.

According to the imperial edict of the Tang Empire;

The Imperial Royal Army is not only a powerful armed force, but also a pioneer of colonization, a pioneer in building a new home for the Chinese, an envoy spreading China's advanced civilization and well-being, and the loudest note of imperial power.

As the most fanatical follower group of His Majesty the Emperor, the Royal Guards of the Sumatra Legion followed the holy order to the letter.While besieging the city all the way, large-scale construction of the island began.

There were not only more than 4 prisoners of war newly incorporated into the hard labor camp, but also a total of 13 local male young and middle-aged indigenous people, forming a huge construction army.

As for the large number of young and middle-aged indigenous people in the area, why were they put into coolie camps?

As the conquered, perhaps this is their original sin.

in the late 19th century
After the Treaty of Berlin, world powers flooded into Africa to compete for new colonies and reached its climax. No one cared about the rights and interests of the colonized people at all.

In the era of the awakening of modern civilization 10 years later, a very small number of European scholars and descendants of indigenous people living in Europe raised this question to the core and demanded a public apology from the imperial government.

However, he spoke lightly, and was quickly overwhelmed by various accusations and conspiratorial speeches with ulterior motives from the public opinion circles. He also suffered various suppressions and exclusions, and did not cause much trouble.

Early September
The first Chinese immigrant ship that arrived in Sumatra docked at Palembang, and 1 new immigrants disembarked from the ship. They were the beginning of the wave of Chinese immigration to Sumatra Island at the end of the 2213th century.

In order to cooperate with the colonization strategy of the East Indies, the Colonial Department of the Tang Empire basically abandoned the traditional immigration routes in the central Pacific, and focused on emigrating to the East Indies.

Actually

Since the emperor of the Tang Empire made a large-scale distribution of vassal kings, Chinese immigrants from the central Pacific immigration route have not set foot in the mainland of the empire for 12 years.

Most of them are added to the 15 vassal states in South America, as well as the Kingdom of Cuba, the Kingdom of Luzon, the Kingdom of Cebu, and the Kingdom of Mindanao, which have changed the local population structure to the greatest extent and stabilized the political situation of the vassal states.

12 years so far

The above-mentioned nineteen vassal kingdoms added 55 million new Chinese immigrants at an average annual rate of 62 to more than 682 through the golden immigration route in the central Pacific.

This has greatly improved the local population structure, enhanced the strength of the mainstream Chinese society, stabilized the governance structure of the feudal kingdom from top to bottom, and formed a population distribution dominated by the Chinese society. The effect is extremely obvious.

Immediately after the Imperial Army won the decisive Battle of Upper Indragiri, the immigration process began.

With the full cooperation of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs of the Empire, in the next 5 to 7 years, the total number of immigrants in the central Pacific Ocean will average more than 60 people per year, and the focus will be on the East Indies.

It is estimated that 7% to 8% of them, or an average of 48 people per year, will be successively resettled in the Sumatra Islands, Kalimantan Islands, and Sulawesi Islands to strengthen the empire's rule over the region.

Among them, Sumatra is the top priority of immigration.

Because Sumatra Island has more than a thousand years of farming tradition and a relatively complete foundation of farmland and water conservancy, the island is full of cities and towns, and its natural conditions are superior.

Although due to the devastation of the 25-year-long Asian war, agricultural production has withered, and a large number of towns and farms have been abandoned. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year due to disease, hunger, and various famines.

But this is purely begging for food. Located in the tropics, Sumatra has superior natural conditions, abundant sunshine, rivers, and complete farmland ditches.

In order to cut off the logistical support of the Aceh rebels, the Dutch colonists forcibly implemented the amalgamation of villages and towns on the island’s aborigines to strengthen military control.

They used force to drive the aborigines away from the land where they had lived for hundreds of years, and gathered them in a few large towns, regardless of whether the aborigines lived or died.

As a result, the local aborigines could not cultivate land and could only crowd in the fringes of large towns, forming slums with tens of thousands or even 10,000+ people.

Due to the poor environment in the slums and the cross-flow of sewage, various tropical diseases and epidemics have been bred, coupled with hunger and various violent crimes, resulting in the death of as many as 10,000+ people every year.

After the Battle of Upper Indragiri that ended in early September, the Sumatra Corps, which had won the war, took a three-day rest and then divided into two groups and swept across the central and northwestern parts of Sumatra Island.

to the end of the year

The gunfire on the island gradually subsided, and the Sumatra Corps took full control of the situation on the island, which meant that this new colonial war had also come to an end.

early august

The Kalimantan Corps gathered heavy troops, and after more than 10 days of fighting, it completely wiped out more than [-] Dutch troops gathered on the front line of Sampit and Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan Province, and took control of the situation in Kalimantan Island in advance .

The Expeditionary Corps deliberately blocked the news. The Governor's Office of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia (Jakarta), Java, did not get the news of the above-mentioned defeat until late November, which caused earthquake-like panic among the local Dutch colonists.

Although there had been various ominous speculations, when the news was confirmed, pessimistic emotions and great fear quickly spread, as if it was the end of the world.

Regardless of the mourning on Java Island, the newly occupied Sumatra Island and Kalimantan Island by the Imperial Legion have begun earth-shaking colonial transformation...

After 25 years of war and more than half a year of the Tanghe War on Sumatra Island, the total local population has dropped from more than 370 million to more than half, that is, less than 200 million.

After the Sumatra Legion took control of the overall situation, they immediately began to recruit young and middle-aged indigenous people from the urban slums, and put them directly into the hard labor camps to start large-scale construction of the island's infrastructure.

The so-called general situation recruits young and middle-aged indigenous people, and the method is brutal and simple.

That is, the army directly blocked the entrances and exits of the poor areas on the edge of the town, and then sent soldiers into teams to arrest people, and the rebels were killed on the spot.

This kind of military operation emptied the young and middle-aged male indigenous residents of the local slums in one fell swoop.

After pulling away the main labor force in each family, how the remaining old, young, women and children can survive is not a question that the army should consider.

When Chinese immigrants entered in large numbers, the local aboriginal women were forced to live, as long as they were given a pancake, they were willing to follow, thus forming a new family.

The military's resolute actions have completely eliminated the high crime rate in the local area. This is a surprise.

When 10 young and middle-aged aboriginals are put into hard labor camps, it means that 10 local aboriginal families lose their support, and it also means that no one will rob, steal or commit murder, and no one will take up arms to resist .

The source of these turmoil is all in the labor camp.

The 25-year-long Aceh war was quietly resolved, and the local indigenous young and middle-aged men were also sent to hard labor camps to work hard day after day.

Those who pick up their guns are rebel fighters and put down their guns are civilians. It doesn't work anymore.

The rich and powerful Datang Empire's colonial methods were tough, simple and brutal, but the effect was extremely significant, making other established colonial countries unable to keep up.

On the island of Sumatra, dozens of roads have been built on a large scale, and the total mileage of various main and branch roads is more than 10 kilometers. At the same time, the Sumatra Railway Line that runs through the entire island is also being built.

Thousands of bridges, dozens of dams and 9 piers are being built at the same time, and dozens of immigrant boats arrive every month, bringing tens of thousands of new Chinese immigrants.

There were more than 35 early Chinese immigrants and their descendants in Sumatra Island. They witnessed the earth-shaking changes in this island in just one or two years.

The flat and wide road is poured with hardened asphalt, and lush street trees are planted on both sides of the road, making it very convenient to go to various towns.

The farmland water conservancy facilities have been renovated, and Chinese villages and towns have sprung up all over the island. There are more and more rice fields, fruit trees, chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, and the improvement of life is visible to the naked eye.

The population markets in various towns were bustling, and many local aboriginal women voluntarily planted grass marks. Young and healthy women were quickly bought by Chinese immigrants, and the prices were outrageously low.

In just two or three years

Hundreds of thousands of new Chinese families were established, which became the most basic social structure in Sumatra. Chinese schools were established one after another, and the society returned to the track of stable development.

The colonial problem that the Dutch could not solve for 300 years seemed to be solved in front of the powerful Tang Empire.

But how much blood and tears and heartache, how much bloody squeeze and cruel persecution are behind this, that is another matter.

to the end of the 20th century
In the East Indies imperial territories dominated by Sumatra and Kalimantan, the local Chinese population has accounted for more than 9% of the society. The local people believe in Taoism and Buddhism. Mandarin is the official language and English is the second. Two major languages.

Of the remaining population, about 3.2% are whites and their descendants, about 5.4% are indigenous Malays and their descendants, and less than 0.7% are Southeast Asians and Indians.

The news that the Tang Empire had fully occupied the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in the East Indies reached Europe in early 1899, and did not cause much disturbance.

at this time

Britain's large-scale increase of troops to South Africa has not been concealed. More than 10 troops have been transferred from the colonies to South Africa. The war against the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic is imminent.

In 1899, Europe launched a large-scale campaign of sympathy and solidarity with the Boer Republic, and numerous reports from the public opinion circles attracted the attention of most Europeans.

The Netherlands and Belgium formed numerous civic groups, solicited donations, published articles, established foundations, donated wartime mobile hospitals and medical equipment to the Transvaal, and strongly condemned Britain's war attempt of bullying the weak.

Thousands of volunteers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United States, Russia, Ireland, Italy, and Scandinavian countries have traveled across the ocean to the Transvaal, ready to fight side by side with the Boers.

In this turmoil and disturbance, the bad news of the defeat of the Netherlands in the East Indies, except for the huge shock caused in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, did not cause much repercussions when it was transmitted to European countries.

Only Germany reacted most strongly. When Kaiser Wilhelm II received the delegation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in his palace outside Berlin, he said resolutely;

"Tang's shameless war of invasion is another huge damage to the white world. It is not the first time they have done this. The international community, dominated by Europe, should unite to face this huge threat."

"British and Tang Dynasty are colluding together, willing to harm the interests of other countries to satisfy their own colonial aspirations, which is the biggest cancer in today's international order."

"Sadly ... Europe cannot stick together."

Under the pressure of the heavy threat of war, in early 1899, Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, told Milner;

The government can consider reducing the residence period for foreigners to obtain Transvaal citizenship from 14 years to 5 years, but requires the UK to stop making suzerainty claims to the Transvaal Republic in the future, immediately stop sending troops to South Africa, and withdraw troops from the UK. The armies of the colonies.

Influenced by domestic public opinion, the British Parliament said in its reply to Kruger:
"...Her Majesty's Government considers the response of the Government of the Republic of South Africa to be negative or inconclusive...Her Majesty's Government reserves the right to reconsider the current situation and adopt appropriate final measures."

In order to increase military pressure on the Transvaal, since the beginning of the year, the British have dispatched 2000 people from India and the Mediterranean to reinforce the Natal colony, which has greatly increased the strength of the local British army again.

Early 1899
In a letter to the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Governor of the Netherlands East Indies, Lord Pouse, stated;
"The Governor's Mansion has lost the transportation and communication capabilities to connect the islands. The latest information shows that 4.2 white captives were tortured and abused in the hard labor camps, and people died in pain every day."

"The colony cannot bear such a large loss. Java Island is shrouded in great fear. It is the voice of all white people to escape from this island. More than 1.7 people have lost in just a few months."

"The foundation of colonial rule has been shaken. The Governor's Mansion is unable to launch an effective resistance. It urgently needs external support and all supplies including arms..."

"The situation has deteriorated to the point where it is war or peace. The Royal Government must make a decisive decision. Continuing to delay will only lead to more serious disasters."

Unlike the panic of the Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies, in less than half a year, the empire immigrated more than 27 people to the newly occupied colonies of the East Indies.

a new Year

Due to the relatively short distance, the Colonial Department of the Tang Empire compiled a target of 60 immigrants to the new colonies, including 43.5 in Sumatra, 14.5 in Kalimantan, and 2 in Sulawesi and other islands.

A large number of roads in the above-mentioned areas have been completed successively, and farmland water conservancy facilities and new pioneering projects have been built one after another, which greatly enhanced the ability to accept new immigrants.

This also made large-scale immigration possible. With the massive injection of imperial funds, thousands of factories have sprung up, such as rice mills, flour mills, oil mills, sugar factories, tobacco factories, and wood processing factories. , cement factories, brick factories, sand and gravel factories, etc., and a large number of Chinese businessmen came to inspect and plan to set up a series of enterprises such as textile factories, dyeing and finishing factories, steamship companies, and shipyards.

The Tang Empire, with its strong industrial economy, did not lack funds. The blank industrial fields in the new colonies were just the new fields and new markets for imperial capital to compete for, as well as their new stage.

Geographically

Sumatra Island is very close to the whole of Southeast Asia and South Asia, so it has become the most valued place by the imperial industrial capital, which can radiate to the whole of South Asia and the Indian Peninsula.

Because of this, some multinational capitals of the empire also landed one after another, and at the end of the 19th century, there was a wave of investment in the new colonies of South Asia.

For example, the eight major banking consortiums of the empire, the five major oil giants and the three major multinational telegraph companies have set up South Asian headquarters and branches in Sumatra to further expand the market.

The colonization of the Tang Empire was never a simple military operation, but a comprehensive expansion of military, politics and economy, and the colonial effect was extremely remarkable.

At the same time that hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrants landed, a large amount of imperial capital poured in, and the East Indies ushered in earth-shaking changes unseen in hundreds of years.

Every day, there will be new changes here, new factories will rise, new roads will be extended, and various numbers of local aborigines will melt like ice and snow and disappear into the long river of history.