Chapter 619: The Russian Army in the South Seas

On October 7, 1904, a large fleet sailed slowly down the waterway into the port of Batavia, guided by guide ships. Standing on the fast battleship Peter the Great, Essen couldn't help but feel proud when he looked at the steel giants behind him. "This is the best of times, we have the most moving fast fleet, they are more powerful than the fast battleships and cruisers of the Chinese Navy, and of course it would be perfect if it were not for the sweltering weather and humid climate!"

"General, I would like to say that this fleet does not belong exclusively to Russia, we have absolute control over only 6 of the battleships, and the other 4 belong to the Dutch." An officer next to him said helplessly. "It's true that the ships belong to the Dutch, but they don't have good enough officers to command them, and the means of controlling these ships are not necessarily the navy, but also the army or money!" Essen smugly pointed to the four transports at the back of the line. These transport ships are not loaded with naval personnel and equipment...... Rather, a group of genuine Russian army elites and their equipment!

Of course, these armies did not come to the Far East because the Russians planned to take advantage of the Dutch Mess to occupy the Dutch East Indies, not to mention that the Russians did not have this plan, even if the Russians had this plan, whether it was the French or the British, they would not let the Russians get their way, after all, the premise of Britain and France tolerating Russia was to confront Germany, not to let you continue to toss in the Far East! What's more, the Russians are very unaccustomed to the climate of the tropics, and the distance is long, even if the Dutch let you occupy it, the Russians can't occupy it! …。

And the arrival of this Russian army is still because of the request of the Dutch government, and for this war, the whole of the Netherlands can be said to have tightened their belts and gone all out! And the exploitation and looting of the colonies has reached an outrageous level! Of course, this looting is mainly against the local indigenous people. For the rich Chinese, the Dutch still try to maintain restraint, no way, if before the start of the war, the Dutch exploited the Chinese too much, maybe the Chinese will cross the South China Sea and block the door like ten years ago, before the outbreak of the war, the Dutch do not want to lose a big because of a small loss. More importantly, with the advance of the war, a large number of Chinese began to move out of the Dutch East Indies, and the economy of the colony plummeted, and the Dutch government did not dare to act rashly!

Where there is oppression, there is resistance, and the exploitation of the Dutch colonizers naturally provoked the resistance of the local natives, and the Dutch government, which had vigorously built up the navy and port facilities, did not have enough energy to suppress these natives. The weakening of the army is one aspect, and there are also some shadows of other people behind the natives, such as the Mosinagan rifle in the hands of the natives, of course, this thing is definitely not given by the Russians. But in addition to the Russians, the producers, there is another company that can supply this rifle in large quantities, and that is the Chinese Republic, which once seized this rifle in large quantities! So you get the idea!. …。

Seeing that the war is imminent, the Dutch really don't want any more moths in the colonies, and they can't fight to the death on the front line, and they can't fight in the rear, right? In desperation, the Dutch turned to Russia, a great army power, in the hope that the Russians would detach some of their forces from the huge army to maintain the "law and order" of the colony. Of course, the Dutch are still a little worried about this "mercenary". So the requirements for this force are simple, that is, it must not have too many heavy weapons, and the main area of activity is in Sumatra and Kalimantan. These two places are the main coal-producing areas of the colony, so the safety of these two places must be ensured first, as for Java, the Dutch thought that their army was enough, so they did not allow the Russians to deploy troops on Java Island, and this Russian army transport ship that came with the Essen fleet was here to refuel and then go to Kalimantan Island for defense. …。

Of course, the Russians did not mention the Dutch "maintaining law and order" in vain. While agreeing to the demands of the Dutch, the Russians raised the issue of the command of the fleet, and used this as a threat to force the Dutch navy to make concessions, and the Netherlands finally agreed that the Russian rear admiral Essen could serve as the chief officer when the two fleets were in joint operations, and if it was other Russian generals, the Dutch navy had the right to reservations, and the reason why the Dutch did this was precisely because they valued Essen's actual combat experience and command art, although they were repeatedly defeated, they were much better than those Dutch generals who went to war for the first time! ! …。

What the Dutch didn't expect was that the Russian side actually came up with a new battle plan on this very simple defense agreement! That is, in the case of gaining naval superiority, starting from Kalimantan Island and attacking the Chinese mainland under the cover of the fleet! Of course, this offensive is not aimed at occupation...... Instead, with the backing of the fleet, the landing force went ashore to carry out the plunder! After all, since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, China's industry, commerce and industry have developed rapidly, the north is the base of heavy industry, the south is the base of shipbuilding and light industry, the Russians have coveted this rich place for a long time, even if they can't occupy it, it is good to be able to grab it. Of course, forcing the Chinese government to submit through such a series of actions is the most central task.

The Dutch, however, showed little interest in this somewhat whimsical battle plan. The reason is very simple, the weak army of the Dutch can't even hold the colonies well, how can they have the spare time to rob others? Another important reason is the usefulness of the prospects for war, in the eyes of the Dutch, even if they can win the Chinese navy, the entire Russian-Dutch fleet is estimated to be dilapidated, and the capital ships that are too badly damaged cannot be repaired in Batavia. Therefore, the Dutch did not welcome this plan. The Russians, on the other hand, stubbornly increased some of their land forces in order to deal with possible future landing battles! …。

Just when the Chinese Navy had completed the final reorganization and was making final preparations for the upcoming war, the Russian Navy had basically completed all the warship construction work, and the two fast battleships and four armored cruisers of the Russian Fast Fleet led by Admiral Essen arrived at the port of Batavia on October 7, 1904 to join the Dutch fleet consisting of two fast battleships and two two armored cruisers on the Dutch side.

And in the Baltic Sea in Europe, the main fleet of 8 battleships led by Makanov and the auxiliary fleet of 12 light cruisers, 30 destroyers and mine-strike ships. In addition, a huge fleet of 3 marine maintenance ships and 8 transport ships is also ready to go! It was expected that on November 4, 1904, the entire Russian expeditionary fleet would leave the Baltic Sea for the Far East, thousands of miles away. and will arrive in Batavia in a few months.

At this time, Makanov led his subordinates to be busy on the battleship every day, directing fleet training, checking the condition of the battleship, and busy with the supply problems during the subsequent voyage, "This may be the last naval battle I will participate in, try to win or sink into the sea with the battle flag high!" Privately, Makanov said this more than once. For the sake of the Russian Empire, and for himself, Makanov needs to do his best to fight!. …。

Thanks to the book friend dsbghost for the tip~~. Subscribe to the tragedy these days-! The author is depressed, and the code word is no longer motivated~~ Today I will change 2000 and make up for it tomorrow~~~. (To be continued.)