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Chapter 246: The Java War (1)
🕑 Added 2025-02-25 15:29:33 +0000 UTCBy mid-April 1948, the war between the Netherlands and Java remained at a stalemate.
Despite the Dutch military holding absolute superiority in troop quality and weaponry, their numbers were severely limited.
Much like before World War II, Dutch garrisons across the vast territory of Java were often so small that some outposts had less than a squad of soldiers.
With such a small force, Javanese troops could simply retreat into the jungle, leaving the Dutch with no effective means of pursuit.
The Dutch army's advantage in firepower was rendered useless under these conditions, forcing them to remain holed up in the cities, guarding key strategic transportation routes, rather than advancing into the jungle to eliminate the Javanese forces.
However, in the midst of this prolonged stalemate, on the night of April 17, a sudden airborne assault struck the central command of the Javanese Republic in the Sulawesi jungle.
Several senior Javanese leaders in Sulawesi were captured on the spot, cutting the region's forces off from headquarters.
Before they could even react, at dawn the next day, a heavily armed unit—flying the Dutch Royal flag but wearing American military uniforms devoid of U.S. insignia—landed in South Sulawesi’s Bombana region. Their weaponry exceeded even that of standard U.S. troops.
From there they advanced relentlessly, building roads and bridges and clearing obstacles as they went. The island's resistance forces were completely overwhelmed.
Although the Javanese soldiers were adept at concealment, similar to the later Viet Cong, the two forces were fundamentally different.
The Viet Cong were able to fight the U.S. military to a standstill for nearly two decades, largely because they received continuous material support from two major world powers. Their access to vast supplies of weapons, ammunition, and logistical support allowed them to counterbalance the technological superiority of the U.S. military.
Although the Viet Cong lacked heavy weaponry, their light arms and squad-based firepower posed a significant threat to U.S. forces. Combined with Vietnam's dense terrain, this support enabled them to achieve victory at great cost.
However, Java’s situation was entirely different.
Although the Soviet Union supported Java's independence, Java was an island nation.
Its surrounding waters were completely dominated by the British, Dutch, and American navies. Even the Soviets, despite their ideological support, had no viable means of transporting weapons and supplies on a large scale.
As a result, the so-called Javanese Republican Army was severely under-equipped—many soldiers didn’t even have firearms. Their arsenal consisted mostly of antiquated World War I-era weapons, with some even using flintlock muskets.
If not for these limitations, the numerically inferior Dutch forces would never have been able to maintain such a decisive advantage on the battlefield.
Whenever the Javanese resistance fired a shot, the Dutch machine guns responded immediately, forcing them to flee.
The newly arrived "Dutch" troops were even more formidable.
They didn’t just rely on machine guns—they had grenade launchers and mortars, bringing far more devastating firepower than the original Dutch forces.
But the most terrifying thing was the appearance of strange creatures among them. These creatures had an extraordinary sense of smell and hearing, far exceeding that of dogs. They were incredibly aggressive, reacted with unbelievable speed, and were so elusive that bullets could hardly hit them.
Under such overwhelming force, these troops had pushed over a hundred kilometers inland in just one day.
Many resistance fighters tried to blend in with the civilian population, thinking they would be safe.
But they quickly realized that this was a terrible mistake.
The old Dutch army, after capturing a town, would typically conduct a large-scale search, execute a few people as a warning, and then move on.
This new "Dutch" army, however, rounded up everyone and marched them to the harbor, where huge cargo ships were already waiting offshore.
By the time the Javanese realized what was happening, they were over 400 kilometers away, being transported to East Nusa Tenggara in southern Sulawesi.
Resistance? No one dared. Faced with the barrels of loaded rifles, they remained silent.
During the entire process, because Dutch and German are so similar, even the Javanese who understood Dutch didn’t notice that this so-called "Dutch army" wasn’t Dutch at all—they were Germans.
It wasn't until the third day, when this mysterious army had completely taken control of Southeast Sulawesi and Governor Josh officially declared his rule over the region, that the outside world realized what had happened.
People were shocked at how quickly Josh had moved.
His appointment by the Dutch was public knowledge in Europe, and Western countries showed little reaction—anyone paying attention could see something suspicious was going on.
However, the Soviets, upon learning of this, immediately passed the information on to the Javanese resistance.
By then, the Javanese had already received the news.
But there was a problem—the intelligence they had said that just a week ago, Josh had only just departed from Austria on the Margaret.
At normal travel speeds, it would take him at least a month to reach Java.
And his hired army? They were supposed to be in the early stages of assembling.
A force of 100,000 soldiers, along with their equipment, would require an enormous number of transport ships. It should have taken months to move them to Java.
By everyone's calculations—whether the Javanese, the Soviets, or even Western countries—the real battle wasn’t expected to begin until the second half of the year.
But now?
It had only been a little over a week, and Josh and his forces had already landed on Sulawesi.
What the hell—did he fly there?
Well...
