The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 431 Batavia - Native Fantasy
July 1779, 7, the third year of Guangzhong in the Yu Dynasty, the forty-fourth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, and the twenty-second day of the fifth lunar month.

To the north of Batavia, more than 800 Dutch soldiers laid down their arms and, under the leadership of General William Arnold Altin, surrendered to the 6,000 Chinese army and navy led by Chen Lian outside the city.

Of course, this is not all the military force of Batavia. In addition to more than 800 Dutch troops, there are also 2,000 indigenous troops.

At the same time, along with the army, the governance of Batavia and the six vaults where the Dutch East India Company stored gold and silver in Batavia were also handed over.

Including the company's working capital, it was equivalent to 470,000 pounds, or about 1.72 million taels of silver.

And these are just the surface gains. The Chinese Empire also obtained two third-level battleships, five fifth-level cruisers, 17 large and small armed merchant ships, and 31 merchant ships with a total displacement of more than 40,000 tons.

These ships and the sailors and soldiers on board are much more important than the gold and silver in the vault. They are the Dutch East India Company's property that China needs most.

. . . .

On the banks of the Ciliwung River in the east of the city, there live a large number of natives who have built many small houses supported by branches and covered with thatched roofs.

Many houses are simply built in the swamps by the river, directly above the water, and a layer of straw mats is used inside the houses to isolate them from moisture.

Human and animal feces are thrown directly into the water. It is common to see men and women defecating into the water right at the edge of their houses.

This makes the Zhiliweng River seem as if it has never been clear. It is not the yellow color of the Yellow River that contains mud and sand, but a kind of murky yellow that looks like dung soup.

Living in this steamy, humid and hot environment, with large crowds of people and no hygiene habits, led to extremely poor sanitary conditions in the entire Batavia indigenous area, with malaria and cholera breaking out once or twice almost every year.

As for other parasitic diseases such as roundworms and schistosomiasis, they have never been eradicated.

Not only the natives, but even the Dutch were not immune. Although they moved away from this area, the Dutch in Batavia were still often struck down by various tropical diseases.

Lian Song felt his heart churning and he almost wanted to vomit, but he forced himself to hold it back. Beside him was Captain Andrew, the nephew of Secretary Holdyk.

"I don't know how you Dutch people put up with this, ou!

In the future, all these natives will be moved out of the city. They will only be allowed to work as servants in the city, and they will not be allowed to live in the city."

Lian Song kept complaining. He thought Europeans were very clean. If he could go back a few hundred years and see that the Thames and Seine were still rivers of shit, he would definitely suggest driving the Dutch out of the city.

Captain Andrew actually didn't think it was a big deal. Don't Europeans often poop and pee all over the streets?

But when he heard Lian Song's disgust, he felt a little embarrassed and could only laugh dryly and then changed the subject.

"My brother-in-law, Lieutenant Albert's grandfather is a distant relative of the Sultan of Yogyakarta. With him, we can definitely lure the Yogyakarta soldiers over here.

But we can't let them get close to Batavia, or they'll be discovered. So we can only ambush them near Subang City, and that requires you, Sergeant."

Lian Song’s grandfather was Lian Fuguang, the Chinese leader in Batavia. After the Hongxi Massacre, he almost spent all his family property before he escaped the fate of being massacred.

Lian Fuguang's fourth son married a Dutch woman and had several mixed-race grandsons, Lian Song being one of them.

This is also the reason why Captain Andrew asked him to go to Subang City to fool the Sultan of Yogyakarta, because he and Captain Andrew's brother-in-law both have a mixed-race appearance and can easily gain the trust of the Sultan of Yogyakarta.

Hearing what Colonel Andrew said, Lian Song nodded. He had endured the discriminatory looks from his compatriots on the mainland and worked hard to get into the Whampoa Military Academy, just for today.

Not only for his grandfather Lian Fuguang, but also for all the Chinese in Batavia. This city was actually built by Chinese architects and Chinese workers.

In the past, the Dutch governor could not serve without the support of the Chinese. During his inauguration ceremony, there would always be a Chinese leader standing by to support him.

Before the Red Creek Massacre, there were 13,000 Chinese among the 30,000 people in Batavia, more than the Dutch population. This should have been a Chinese city, and now it has simply returned to its rightful place.

. . . .

There was a drizzle, but the air was still very hot and humid. The whole of Batavia was vaguely filled with a very unsettling anxiety.

The Chinese army had been in the city for five days, but they had not made any arrangements. They simply maintained order in Batavia and issued a curfew.

No one is allowed to appear on the street after 7:30 p.m. and before 7:30 a.m. the next day.

This made Ali, an outstanding warrior among the natives, feel very uncomfortable.

Although he usually didn't do anything at night, Ali still felt uncomfortable being forced to be controlled like this. He had never hated the night as much as he did now.

Ali fell into a deep sleep feeling extremely uncomfortable. He didn't know how long he slept before he was suddenly awakened by a rustling sound.

"who is it?"

Ali was a formidable warrior. He was extremely alert and quickly rolled over from the broken wooden bed he was lying on, pulling out the machete from under his pillow. "Ali, it's me," the man replied in a low voice, "Gusti, open the door quickly."

Ali quickly walked over to open the wooden door and pulled his childhood playmate Gusti in. In the faint moonlight, Gusti looked at Ali excitedly and said impatiently:

"My brother, there is good news that His Majesty, the leader of the warriors, the most noble servant of God, the pious missionary and the protector and caliph of Yogyakarta, Raden Mas Sujana, has set out from Mataram.

He is on his way to recapture Batavia with an army of over ten thousand warriors."

With this long list of titles, the one who had the audacity to call himself the Caliph, Laden Mas Sujana, was the first Sultan of Yogyakarta after the Mataram Sultanate was divided into the Yogyakarta and Solo Sultanates. He was known in history as Hamungkubuwono I.

Although Batavian natives like Ali had served the Dutch for generations, they were still very excited when they heard the title of Caliph of Yogyakarta.

After the Banten Sultanate, which originally ruled the Batavia region, was completely abolished by the Dutch East India Company, the Yogyakarta Sultan Laden Mas Sujana, who was related to the Banten Sultan and was extremely brave and warlike, enjoyed a very high reputation throughout the entire Java Island.

"Who contacted His Majesty the Caliph? How come he led the warriors of Yogyakarta here so quickly?" Ali asked, maintaining his final composure.

Gusti immediately replied, "It was our Majesty of Banten and his nephew-in-law, Lieutenant Albert, who went to inform them. They had already left Batavia because they had foreseen the danger."

"Dangerous?" Ali continued to ask with some confusion.

"Yes, it's dangerous!" Gusti nodded heavily, "The Totoks are ready to massacre us.

Especially those Totoks from China, they want to avenge the deaths of our ancestors decades ago. Not only will we locals die, but all those of mixed blood will die as well.”

The word Totok refers to native Europeans and Chinese, that is, white people who were born in Batavia and not from China or the Netherlands.

Of course, in history, the status of the Chinese plummeted after the Second Opium War and they lost their white identity. The word Totok then referred solely to the superior Dutch white people.

In the darkness, Ali slowly shook his head. "This is too risky. The white men from China in the north can defeat the white men from Europe alone. They have thousands of musketeers. Our Majesty the Caliph cannot handle them."

"Don't worry about that," Gusti said, patting his chest. "Director-General William and his men are not willing to be annexed by the Chinese, and many of the mixed-race people don't want to wait for death. They are ready. As soon as the Chinese army leaves Batavia, we will immediately start a riot and attack the Chinese from both sides."

After Gusti finished speaking, he saw that Ali was still hesitant, so he continued to persuade him: "Ali, you are a warrior among us. For the sake of Allah and the Caliph, you can't retreat now!

If the Chinese really take control of Batavia, we are doomed."

After listening to this, Ali was silent for a moment, then he finally nodded. "Okay, I will immediately inform the warriors of the tribe. Together we will drive the Chinese out, welcome the Caliph to Batavia, and establish a great sultanate."

Subang is a small town located between West Java and Central Java. After here, the road is flat. It is only 100 kilometers away from Batavia and can be reached in three days.

Although the name of Yogyakarta Sultan Laden Mas Sujana sounds like an Arab, he is a 100% Javanese native.

Among the Javanese natives, who are generally only 1.6 meters tall or even 1.5 meters tall, Sultan Bin Laden is extremely tall and strong.

He was 1.75 meters tall, with long, shiny black hair tied neatly into a ponytail, and his face was covered with tattoos of various ferocious animals.

The Sultan himself is a master with a knife and has great prestige among the natives of Java. This is why the Dutch could only let him assist in ruling. Without the cooperation of Sultan Bin Laden, the Dutch would not be able to deal with as many as three million natives.

Throughout history, the Sultanate of Yogyakarta has survived the Dutch, the British, the Dutch, and the Japanese, and has become the only surviving monarch in all of Indonesia.

"Alber, is General William really willing to rule Batavia with me?" The Sultan of Yogyakarta asked with some concern as he led tens of thousands of soldiers into the deserted city of Subang.

Along the way, he captured several groups of people who had escaped from Batavia, all of whom said that the Chinese had entered the city and the Dutch had surrendered.

Lieutenant Albert nodded affirmatively. "That's exactly what Director General William said. Governor Rainier is too ill to make decisions, and the Chinese are already at the gates. His only hope is you, Your Majesty the Caliph."

Lieutenant Albert lowered his voice and said, "Besides, even if he doesn't want to rule Batavia together with His Majesty the Caliph, it won't work, because the Chinese won't stop coming after being repelled once.

They will come again, and the Dutch alone cannot resist them, so the Dutch must compromise with His Majesty the Caliph and the locals."

Hearing what Lieutenant Albert said, the Sultan of Yogyakarta smiled with satisfaction and his guard was gone.

It's not just because Lieutenant Albert is the grandson of his distant relative, but also because he has received many benefits from him and provided him with intelligence over the years.

Also, what Lieutenant Albert said made sense. Indeed, if the Dutch wanted to resist the Chinese and keep Batavia, they had no other option except to unite with these natives.

The Sultan of Yogyakarta couldn't help but fantasize that if he could enter Batavia and become a co-ruler, his influence would be further enhanced.

Perhaps in just a few years, all the natives of Batavia would be willing to listen to him as the Caliph.

At that time, it would not be about helping the Dutch deal with the Chinese. He would drive out all these white people and restore the once extremely powerful Majapahit Kingdom.

(End of this chapter)