African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1743 The Japanese Anger

East Africa and Japan were bound to clash eventually, but Crown Prince Frederick knew that East Africa couldn't afford to offend Japan too much right now. If war broke out prematurely, East Africa's strategy would collapse completely, benefiting countries like Britain, France, and the United States.

This is why he specifically emphasized that East Africa would not let relations with the Netherlands and Japan become too strained this time, even though relations between the two countries are not exactly good in reality!

At that moment, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and spoke a few more words to Foreign Minister Alfred.

Although Minister Alfred had not debated Schwager before, he was in charge of diplomatic affairs, and since East Africa was going to fulfill its commitments to the Netherlands, it would inevitably have to confront Japan through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So in the end, the matter fell to Minister Alfred, only the Crown Prince gave him an additional task.

After listening to Crown Prince Frederick's instructions, Minister Alfred frowned and replied, "Your Highness, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs can only say that we have done our best in this matter! The negotiations with Japan were already unlikely to go smoothly, and this additional request will make our work more difficult."

Crown Prince Frederick said, "There's no harm in giving it a try. If the Japanese side can give us face on the Dutch issue, they probably won't mind such a small matter."

Since things had come to this point, Minister Alfred no longer declined.

……

1939 6 Month 1 Day.

Lampung Port.

Upon receiving notification from East Africa, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Stafren, traveled by ferry to the military base in Lampung, East Africa, and met with Brigadier General Terenin.

Brigadier General Trenin informed Governor Stafren of the results of the local conference.

"Sir Stafren, this is our plan in East Africa. What do you think?"

Governor Stafren was not entirely satisfied with the East African government's idea, but after a moment's consideration, he ultimately chose to accept the outcome.

"General Terenin, I can accept your country's decision, but I hope East Africa will not be perfunctory. I do not expect you to be enemies with Japan, but during the negotiations, your country must lean towards us as much as possible."

Brigadier General Teren nodded and said, "That's natural. After all, our relationship with you is better than that with Japan."

"We will do our best to secure the best possible outcome for the Netherlands. Of course, if Japan insists on going its own way, there's nothing we can do."

"Hopefully, Lord Stafren won't blame us then!"

"It would be strange if I didn't complain!" Governor Stafren thought to himself. His resentment towards East Africa had always lingered. He had no choice but to turn to East Africa for help now, but that didn't mean his past attitude towards East Africa had changed.

As a seasoned politician, Governor Stafren did not reveal his thoughts, but instead forced a smile and said, "Then I'll trouble your country."

Afterwards, Brigadier General Trenin presented the treaty, which had been prepared by the East African side, to Governor Stafren.

He said to Governor Stafren, "In that case, Your Excellency Stafren, please take a look at the contents of the treaty, and once you have confirmed that everything is correct, please sign it!"

The treaty prepared in advance by the East African side was clearly not very formal, after all, Brigadier General Terenin had not expected that the mainland would entrust this matter to him, a non-professional.

However, the East African government was clearly not too concerned about this. Since the Dutch had no chance to back out afterward, as long as the purpose of the treaty was achieved, whether it was formal or not was just a minor detail.

Moreover, the negotiations between the Netherlands and East Africa this time were clearly not formal, as Governor Stafren's personal decision was made without the consent of the Dutch mainland.

Since both sides felt this way, there was even less psychological burden.

Governor Stafren also glanced at the contents of the treaty. There wasn't much information on it, and after confirming that there weren't any major problems, he neatly signed his name on it.

Thus, the land within a 50-kilometer radius on both sides of the Sunda Strait was officially incorporated into the territory of East Africa.

The port of Lampung has also completely changed hands. Although East Africa had previously occupied Lampung, it was still under the jurisdiction of the Dutch East Indies under the previous agreement with the Netherlands.

This time, Lampung Port has completely lost all connection with the Dutch.

After the treaty was signed, Brigadier General Trenin breathed a sigh of relief and said with a cheerful expression, "Next, Lord Stafren, let's meet in Merak!"

Brigadier General Terenin will also personally travel to Merak on the other side of the strait. After all, according to the treaty, the port of Merak has now become East African territory, and he naturally has to go there to take it over, while also making contact with the Japanese.

Governor Stafren sighed and said, "Very well, then we'll see you again in Merak!"

After sending Merak away, Brigadier General Trenin immediately arranged for personnel to begin assigning tasks. This time, East Africa officially took control of the Sunda Strait, and the southern tip of Sumatra Island completely became East African territory, so the borders would naturally change.

Next, the troops stationed in East Africa will, in accordance with the treaty, plant the East African flag at the new border to prevent Japan from mistakenly entering the new East African territory.

In addition, Brigadier General Terenin will also be diverting some troops to prepare for the next landing on the north coast of Java and taking over the land on the south coast of the Sunda Strait.

East Africa doesn't have many troops in the Sunda Strait to begin with, since its territory there wasn't very large before. So, East African personnel in the Sunda Strait are mainly concentrated in Lampung Port.

Two days later, after assigning tasks, Brigadier General Telai Ning led about 1,200 people on his southward journey.

At this moment, the Japanese in Port Merac looked very grim.

After completely occupying Batavia, the Japanese naturally knew that the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Stafren, had fled ahead of schedule.

Then, following the clues, they finally figured out where Governor Stafren had gone and ultimately located the port of Merac.

Afterwards, Japan sent troops to prepare for a final decision with Governor Stafren, aiming to completely force the Dutch East Indies colonial government to surrender.

When the advance team arrived in Merak, they saw this scene: the Dutch flag, which had been flying, had been replaced by the East African flag, fluttering in the wind along the roadside at the Merak border.

At this time, the Japanese were unaware of the changes that had occurred in Merak, but when they met Governor Stafren in Merak, they learned the whole story.

Governor Stafren bluntly told the Japanese that they had sold Merak to East Africa. "Major Koizumi, the land you are standing on now has nothing to do with the Netherlands. It became East African territory two days ago."

"If Japan intends to seize this place, I can only express my regret. You must first overcome the obstacle in East Africa."

After hearing the translation, Major Ichiro Koizumi of Japan was furious.

He said fiercely to Governor Stafren, "Mr. Stafren, how could you transfer land to East Africa without the Empire's permission!"

Governor Stafren was speechless and furious at Koizumi Ichiro's accusations.

He said with a displeased expression, "Major Koizumi, I am not your subordinate in Japan, but the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch East Indies colony was originally Dutch territory, and we naturally do with it as we see fit without consulting you."

After hearing Stafren's words, Koizumi Ichiro was furious, but he really couldn't do anything about this old Dutchman who was taking advantage of his age.

Before heading to Merak, his superiors had clearly instructed him not to take action against the Dutch, especially the high-ranking officials of the colonial government. After all, if Governor Stafren were to die at the hands of the Japanese, Japan's international reputation would be completely ruined, which would lead to the West dominating international public opinion in a way that was detrimental to Japan.

Although Japan is inherently corrupt and cannot be completely whitewashed, it has always been a country that values ​​its reputation highly.

Koizumi Ichiro wanted nothing more than to strangle Governor Stafren, but reason told him he couldn't. So he stared at Governor Stafren with fierce eyes, and the air around him seemed to drop to zero degrees.

Governor Stafren was extremely displeased with this, but also felt a sense of satisfaction. He sneered, "Major Koizumi, the East Africans will be arriving soon. You should save that look for East Africa! I hope you'll be just as tough then."

In the eyes of Governor Stafren, Japan could only bully the small country of the Netherlands, but East Africa was completely different; it was the most powerful country in the world at that time.

If the Japanese can maintain this level of assertiveness in front of East Africans, then I will truly admire Japan's courage.

Koizumi Ichiro said with an extremely grim expression, "Then let's wait and see. But Mr. Stafren, the Empire will remember what you've done!"

After saying this, he left Governor Stafren's office looking dejected. That afternoon, Brigadier General Trenin led his troops to land in Merak and ran into the Japanese.

After seeing the East African army land, Koizumi Ichiro was completely disheartened. Governor Stafren had not lied to him, but this only made him angrier.

In the end, Ichiro Koizumi reluctantly reported Merak's situation to his superiors and awaited orders. The Japanese command in Batavia was naturally equally furious about this.

They had worked so hard to fight the Dutch, but East Africa reaped the benefits from behind. Some Japanese officers even wanted to directly wage war against East Africa, but this time the Japanese high command suppressed them.

This was due not only to fear of East Africa's strength, but also to the bad news coming from the Nomonhan front in the north.

The enormous losses suffered by the Japanese army in the Nomonhan Incident were completely unacceptable, which was a resounding slap in the face to the Japanese military that had been harboring any illusions.

This also made the Japanese leadership realize the gap between Japan and the world's top military powers. The Soviet Union, a slightly weaker world-class military power, had inflicted such great losses and casualties on Japan through a single war.

Even the Soviet Union couldn't defeat them. At this time, provoking East Africa would probably startle even the Japanese Emperor. Therefore, after learning about the trouble in the East Indies, the Japanese high command urgently ordered the frontline commanders to restrain the army with a tough attitude and not to have a direct conflict with East Africa.

They certainly don't want another "Nomonhan War" to break out at this time.

The Nomonhan Incident was initiated by the Japanese commanders themselves. Now, due to their severe defeat in the Nomonhan Incident, Japan is unwilling to offend a country far more powerful than itself.

Therefore, under an emergency order from the mainland, the Japanese troops in the East Indies voluntarily withdrew from the vicinity of both sides of the Sunda Strait to avoid accidental clashes with the East African troops.

Brigadier General Trenin watched as Junichiro Koizumi withdrew from Port Merak with a look of reluctance, which relieved him.

After all, it was extremely risky for him to bring such a small group of people to Port Merak. If they were to actually fight the Japanese, they would probably all perish there.

Brigadier General Trenin said to Governor Stafren, who was temporarily safe, "Sir Stafren, what do you intend to do next? Will you stay and negotiate with the Japanese, or will you evacuate to a safe place first?"

Governor Stafren said, "Naturally, we will stay here to prepare for negotiations. Until the dust settles, I still hope that the East Indies issue can be resolved peacefully."

That's utter nonsense. How could Governor Stafren, as a colonial governor, possibly be involved in peace? It's just that Japan is indeed stronger than the Netherlands now, and he has no other choice but to try negotiating with Japan to preserve Dutch rule over the East Indies.

Of course, Governor Stafren's confidence to remain in Merak was also due to the arrival of Brigadier General Trenin.

In his view, this is a sign that East Africa is prepared to fulfill the contents of the previous treaty, and with East Africa as a safety net, his security should be secure.

He could then hide under the protection of East Africa and peacefully engage in verbal battles with the Japanese.

Thus, Brigadier General Trenin and Governor Stafren waited in Merak for the Japanese to come again. Sure enough, a few days later, Japan sent people to Merak Port again to negotiate with East Africa.

This is not surprising at all. After all, Japan naturally has ambitions for the Sunda Strait. Although Japan does not dare to offend East Africa now, it still wants to fight for what it should fight for.

If Japan could acquire even a portion of the land along the Sunda Strait through negotiations, they would be temporarily satisfied.

With Brigadier General Trenin's support, Governor Stafren and the Japanese envoy then engaged in a fierce exchange at the negotiating table.

Governor Stafren naturally demanded that Japan withdraw from the Dutch East Indies, apologize to the Dutch government for its invasion of the Dutch East Indies, and provide some compensation to make up for the losses suffered by the Netherlands in this war.

Judging from Governor Stafren's performance, anyone who didn't know better would think the Dutch were the victors and that they had invaded Japan!
But this is normal; negotiations are all about asking for the moon and then settling for less.

Governor Stafren knew, of course, that his demands were unrealistic, but only by saying so could he gain more leverage.

Unfortunately, there's another saying: what you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiating table. As the victor, how could Japan possibly agree to Governor Stauffren's unreasonable demands? Not only did Japan refuse to budge an inch, it also demanded that Governor Stauffren, on behalf of the Dutch East Indies, surrender unconditionally to Japan.

Brigadier General Trenin took sides in the dispute, but it was clear that even with the support of East Africa, Governor Stafren would not gain any advantage over the Japanese.

Ultimately, the negotiations between the Netherlands and Japan reached a stalemate and eventually came to nothing. As Japan waged war in the East Indies, the Dutch had fewer and fewer bargaining chips until they disappeared. The Governor of Stafren and the Dutch colonial government were left with no one to rely on, and could only shrink back in their controlled areas of East Africa in a state of helpless rage.

(End of this chapter)