The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 582 Colonialism Meets the Real Gravedigger! (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

In a sugarcane plantation on the outskirts of Batavia, in a large mansion built like a fortress, Wei Jun, the True Covenant Archbishop of Southeast Asia who had sneaked into Java Island a day ago, glanced at the expectant faces in the meeting room.

"May 5th, 3:30 pm." Wei Jun suddenly drew out the "Heavenly King Sword" and stabbed it heavily on the anchor mark of Batavia Port on a Java map on the wooden table. "Batavia, Semarang, and Surabaya will all launch an attack!"

Sixteen rattan chairs creaked. Representatives from the four dioceses and twelve archdioceses on the island of Java had fire in their eyes—they had been waiting for this day for a long time!

"Upon receiving the order, the 48 farmers' associations and chambers of commerce under the four dioceses and twelve vicars must immediately complete the separation of men and women and arm themselves as much as possible! Then they must march to the designated area. If the farmers' associations and chambers of commerce are not expected to arrive at the designated location before May 1st, they must rely on the fortress for defense on the spot. If the enemies around are not strong, we can take the initiative to attack, or we can adopt a flexible diplomatic policy and form an alliance with forces willing to cooperate with us. In addition, this archbishop will say it again, our Javanese paradise is by no means a paradise for the Chinese and a hell for the natives, but a common paradise for all native and Hakka workers. What we want to implement is equality between natives and Hakkas and equal distribution of land."

Wei Jun continued to assign tasks to the representatives of the dioceses and archdioceses under him.

When it comes to uprisings, the Zhenyue faction is very experienced, since they started out as rebels!

Moreover, the True Covenant Archdiocese of Nanyang had already established a military hall as early as the era when Luo Dagang was the leader, to build up the militia, prepare for war, and conduct training - this was equivalent to a general staff for the Chinese in Nanyang!

After Wei Jun took office, the "Java Heavenly Kingdom" plan was secretly launched! All the farmers' associations and chambers of commerce on Java Island that had joined the True Yue faction formed militias, built forts, and stored food, ammunition and weapons.

Even when faced with siege by colonial mercenaries sent by the Dutch East Indies authorities, they were able to hold out for a long time!
What's even more amazing is that the farmers' associations and chambers of commerce on Java Island are not fighting alone, but have an entire archdiocese standing behind them! As long as they hold on, reinforcements will definitely come.

Because the jurisdiction of the Nanyang Archdiocese was very large, it included not only the Dutch East Indies, the Straits Settlements, Borneo, and Malaya, but also Siam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Lower Burma, and Vietnam. The combined power of the True Covenant churches in these regions alone was enough to make the Dutch East Indies authorities tremble.

After all, the Chinese and Chinese people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Southeast Asia at this time, and they also control the economic lifeline of various countries. They have people and money! Even if they are still in a state of disunity, they are still feared by foreign colonists in Southeast Asia and monarchs of various feudal countries. What's more, now there is a well-organized and fighting spirited True Contract faction that brings them together?
In addition, the Zhenyue faction also has the ability to unite the "natives, Hakkas, and foreigners" in Southeast Asia. Many foreigners and natives have joined the Zhenyue faction. In particular, the Zhenyue faction's land policy and anti-feudal propositions are very attractive to some of the lower-class natives who are not well fed.

Faced with such a "ghost-level force", it is understandable that the guilty Dutch East Indies authorities wanted to strike first. After all, there was the Hongxi bloodbath before and the Lan Fang War after, and the feud between the two sides was huge!

The courier, who was dressed like a Javanese native in a short coat, suddenly pushed open the iron gate and made a gesture that only the true Yogyakarta insiders could understand: "Report to the Archbishop, several of our saltpeter ships were seized by the Dutch in the port of Batavia, and the governor of the Dutch has ordered martial law!"

Wei Jun grabbed the telescope on the corner of the table, strode to the window, raised the telescope and looked. A black column of smoke rose in the northeast sky - this is the signal from the Chinese district in Batavia! "

"The plan has changed!" Wei Jun asked, "When will all the people from the twelve farmers' associations and chambers of commerce in the three archdioceses under the Batavia Bishopric arrive?"

"It will take at least three days for everyone to arrive!" Liu Lichuan said, "However, the Java Third Farmers' Association and the Java First Chamber of Commerce located in the Chinese district of Batavia are among the largest farmers' associations and chambers of commerce on the island of Java, with more than 10,000 formal members and a population of more than 30,000."

"Have you all completed the group camp?" Wei Jun asked again.

"It's all been completed!" Liu Lichuan gave a very affirmative answer.

"No more waiting!" Wei Jun raised the Heavenly King Sword, "Gather in other places as usual, but the gathering date will be advanced five days. If you can't arrive, then establish a base there! The Batavia Uprising will begin immediately, come on!"

Following Wei Jun's shout, three strong men came in, each holding a red flag. When the flag was unfurled, the twenty or so men in the room knelt on one knee in unison - on the red flag, a golden cross was embroidered with a golden sword and a hoe on either side.

Wei Jun raised his sword high and announced loudly: "In the name of the Heavenly King: The first battle of the Java Heavenly Kingdom begins now!
The King of Heaven taught: Anyone who does not want to be oppressed by the red-haired devils and the princes of the local states can take up arms and fight with us! After the establishment of the Java Kingdom, all the land on the island of Java will be divided equally!

Batavia will be the second Jintian Village!"

Standing on the wall of the Batavia Bastion, Bonham saw seven smoke beams rising from the Chinese quarter through his telescope. The former governor of the Straits Settlements was shaking as he held the telescope: "Is this really Batavia? These Chinese have turned their homeland into the Paris of 1848."

Moore behind him was writing quickly in his notebook: "Now it is the True Contractists in Southeast Asia and the Chinese in Batavia who are teaching Europeans how to hold an armed uprising! They are organizing it better than any uprising in Europe since the French Revolution!" "Practice makes perfect." Bai Siwen glanced at Moore's notebook and recognized the German words on it. "The Han people love uprisings the most. They firmly believed in 'Are there any kings, princes, generals, or ministers who are not of the same race?' two thousand years ago!"

The sudden sound of a gong tore through the morning mist. Thousands of natives wrapped in blue turbans rushed out of the coconut grove outside the city, waving crude machetes, and the lead bullets from their homemade matchlocks hit the red bricks and piled sandbags, emitting wisps of white smoke.

"Here we go!" Friedrich's pen rustled on the paper. "The game the colonists are best at - using the blood of the oppressed to wash the knives of another group of oppressed people."

On both sides of the main road in the Chinese area, the shutters of the second-floor arcades facing the street suddenly opened, and hundreds of Indian-made brown bass rifles spewed fire at the same time. The natives who rushed to the front fell on their backs, and the tin number plate on their chests was stained red with blood - that was the mark issued by the Dutch to the "cooperative tribe".

Then, dozens of grenades, trailing white smoke, flew from the rooftop platform of the arcade towards the densely packed natives!

Moore quickly sketched the battlefield: Batavia's Chinese district was large, but it was built along the river, and there were only three open main roads from the land - this was the result of the efforts of the True Covenant Church in Batavia to transform the city in the past two years. The three main roads would intersect in the city center, where there was a very open square, where the True Covenant Java Island Cathedral was located. There were many tall buildings made of red bricks around the square, which was simply an excellent place to set up an ambush.
"Nitro sugar bomb!" Bonham suddenly exclaimed, "The Chinese control all the sugar factories on Java Island"

Bai Siwen said calmly: "They also know how to make saltpeter. The Han Dynasty knew how! I think all the saltpeter supplies in Java have also been monopolized by the Chinese!"

When the nitrate grenade exploded among the natives, the fragments of the bomb mixed with the iron pieces used as catalysts embedded into their flesh, causing the natives to howl in agony - the gunpowder made from a mixture of saltpeter and sugar had a higher explosive power than black powder, but it was too susceptible to moisture and difficult to preserve for a long time.

However, in the Chinese district of Batavia, where sugar factories were everywhere, nitrate sugar could be boiled anytime and anywhere. Even if the nitrate sugar got damp, it could be taken out and boiled again. It was not a problem at all.

And as long as there is enough saltpeter stock, we can have as much sugar as we want!
The blood and flesh of the natives could not consume all the nitrate bombs produced by the handicraft industry in the factories.
After several rounds of threatening attacks, the natives that the Dutch had temporarily summoned could no longer hold back and fled in panic.

But the sound of Dutch drums approached along the canal. Colonial troops in dark blue uniforms lined up in Napoleonic columns, and the gun carriages of twelve-pound field guns rolled over the blood of the natives on the cobblestone road.

Holding a telescope, Wen Xian frowned slightly: "Their tactics seem a bit outdated. The Dutch seem to be still living in the era of Emperor Napoleon."

The twelve-pound shells still blasted open the Chinese barricades and blasted holes in the arcades on both sides of the street. However, these houses seemed to have been reinforced, and the twelve-pound artillery could not knock them down.

"The Dutch don't have enough troops to occupy so many arcades," Friedrich quickly marked the battlefield symbols, "Every building that has been bombarded may be a trap--"

As if to confirm his judgment, when the Dutch infantry rushed into the arcade on the street, gunshots and explosions could always be heard from inside, and most of the Dutch who went in were unable to come out.
"Street fighting!" Friedrich said, "They have learned how to organize street fighting. In Europe, only highly motivated armies or revolutionaries can fight street fighting well!"

Bai Siwen commented: "They are defending their homeland!"

The Dutch commander was still pushing forward, and the six field guns were finally deployed in the church square, all aimed at the True Church. At this moment, the church bell was suddenly rung.

After three "Ding! Ding! Ding!" sounds, the loud song "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" pierced through the smoke!
Bai Siwen shuddered when he heard the Taiping Army’s military song.

Three hundred True York Crusaders in red scarves and red clothes rushed out from behind the screen wall of the cathedral and launched a bayonet charge under a hail of lead from a barely managed round of shotgun shells.

"The Dutch shot too early!" Wen Xian sighed. Suddenly, he saw huge fireballs burning in front of the Dutch artillery positions - it seemed that the Chinese soldiers threw burning bottles!
"Greek fire!" Moore immediately recognized what it was. "They actually have Greek fire!"

As the crusader's bayonet pierced the Dutch gunner's chest, he closed his notebook and said, "I think the Battle of Batavia is over. We should leave here."

Moore quickly scribbled his comments in his notebook: "When the people of the backward continent begin to master advanced productive forces, colonialism will encounter its real gravedigger."

(End of this chapter)