In Batavia Harbor, Major General Hamilton, the commander of the British Fleet Advance Fleet, received a notice from the commander of the fleet, Lieutenant General Irving, asking him to go up to the flagship Old Man Star to negotiate matters.

So Hamilton immediately came to the old man's asterisk and met Irving in the commander's office. After the two greeted each other, Hamilton said, "Lieutenant General, what's the matter with you?"

Owen said: "Major General Hamilton, we have just received two letters, this one..." As he said that, he picked up an envelope on the table and handed it to Hamilton, and said: "It was Rosbru, the governor of Batavia in the Netherlands, who invited us to go ashore and negotiate the matter of guarding Batavia together."

It turned out that the Dutch coalition was completely defeated by the People's Army, and the troops that fled back to Batavia were less than 1,000. Among the main generals, only Van der Witt escaped back to Batavia. According to some soldiers, the supreme commander Helvig was captured by the enemy, and the whereabouts of another main general, Martinez, is still unknown.

The entire Batavia City was shocked because no one expected that the Dutch coalition would be defeated so badly before the war began. As a result, rumors spread in the city, and the whole city fell into panic again. Many people wanted to escape from Batavia, and some even began to buy property and attempt to escape from Java. Fortunately, 500 British troops were stationed in Batavia to maintain order, which did not cause great chaos. At this time, Batavia Governor Rosbru had to ask the British fleet again for help, hoping that the British fleet could help defend Batavia.

Hamilton nodded after reading the letter and said, "It seems that the Dutch are desperate. This is to push us to the front line against overseas Chinese. However, the victory achieved by overseas Chinese is indeed much larger than I expected. They defeated more than 14,000 Dutch coalition forces in just one day, and their troops are at most about 5,000. Is the overseas Chinese army really that powerful?"

Owen nodded and said, "Major General, this is not surprising. If you carefully study the Boxer War two years ago, you should know that in one of the World War Chinese overseas defeated 23,000 Russian troops with 12,000 troops, proving that their army's combat effectiveness is not inferior to any European army. This battle also directly led to the occurrence of Shanghai negotiations. This is also the first time that European countries are at a disadvantage in negotiations with China."

Hamilton said: "I know that battle was a victory achieved by overseas Chinese using their naval advantages to land behind the Russian army and attacking each other on both sides, but it also shows that overseas Chinese have strong combat effectiveness."

Owen shook his head and said, "No, no, the use of tactics is also part of combat effectiveness. You should know that logging in is not a simple matter. It can reflect the organization, discipline, and dispatching capabilities of an army. These are all manifestations of combat effectiveness." After a pause, Owen said, "Okay, we are not discussing the combat effectiveness of overseas Chinese. Now is the time. Batavia should be asked to accept the conditions of overseas Chinese and negotiate."

As he said that, he picked up another letter on the table and said, "At this time, the notice sent to us by overseas Chinese requires us to force the Batavian government to agree to the negotiations within three days, otherwise they will attack Batavia."

Hamilton said: "This means that overseas Chinese are willing to go to war with us?"

Owen said: "Maybe they are just alarmist, but we cannot take this risk. Moreover, overseas Chinese have achieved military victory and must reap some fruits of victory."

Hamilton said: "What if the Batavian government still refuses to negotiate with overseas Chinese? We cannot allow overseas Chinese to occupy Batavia. I'm afraid the Batavian government also knows our bottom line, so they are likely to use this as a threat to force us to directly confront overseas Chinese."

Owen nodded and said, "It is indeed our bottom line for overseas Chinese to not allow overseas Chinese to occupy Batavia, but we cannot allow the Netherlands to use our bottom line as a threat to allow us to directly confront overseas Chinese. If the Netherlands refuses to negotiate with overseas Chinese, then we will control Batavia, re-establish the Batavian government, and negotiate with overseas Chinese."

Hamilton was stunned and said, "Will we control Batavia?"

Owen said: "Yes, this is also the meaning of the country. This time our fleet brought more than 1,000 Marine soldiers, and each warship can also draw some soldiers, which is almost a thousand. After this defeat, the Dutch army has no strength. It is not difficult for us to control Batavia. Of course, it is better not to do this unless it is absolutely necessary, because this will lose points politically."

Hamilton thought for a while, nodded, and said, "So what should we do."

Owens said again: "I want you to lead the remaining Marines to the ashore and control the situation in Batavia first. Of course, you don't have to worry too much about these things. The army officers are responsible for it. Your task is to show off to the Dutch and ask them to negotiate with overseas Chinese immediately. It is the premise of accepting overseas Chinese. How to do everything you can decide for yourself."

Hamilton said, "Okay, I'll get ashore right away." He paused and said, "But do we need to participate when overseas Chinese negotiate with the Netherlands?"

Owens nodded and said, "Of course, although overseas Chinese promised not to occupy Java, and in the negotiation conditions they proposed, there was indeed no intention to occupy Java or station troops in Java, we still cannot allow overseas Chinese to lead the negotiations, and we cannot allow overseas Chinese to use the opportunity of negotiations to expand in Java in practice."

Hamilton said: "So what is our bottom line?"

Owen said: "The negotiations between overseas Chinese must revolve around the conditions they proposed. The first is that the colonial government must compensate the Chinese for their losses, and of course they must also add their military expenses."

Hamilton said: "I'm afraid overseas Chinese will blackmail the Dutch."

Owen smiled and said, "It is natural for the winner to ask for the loser. If the Dutch government accepted the conditions of overseas Chinese as soon as possible, as long as the war was not fought, there would be no big losses. But now the overseas Chinese have the final say, and the money is paid by the Dutch government, which has nothing to do with us. Of course, it cannot make overseas Chinese ask for a price that is too outrageous. At least it must be within the scope of the Dutch government, so there is no big problem with this one."

Hamilton said: "What about the second article? It requires severe punishment for the perpetrators of the anti-China incident?"

Owen laughed and said, "I think this is a trap made by overseas Chinese for the Netherlands, because it is difficult to determine the perpetrators of such a thing. Moreover, overseas Chinese have fought so many tribes in Java, and all those who should be punished are punished. Therefore, I think this is not a big problem. Guan Jian is the last one. The Batavian government must ensure that similar anti-Chinese incidents will not occur in the future and protect the rights and interests of Javanese Chinese. This article is very flexible. In the simplest way, as long as a similar content is added to the treaty, it can be passed. But I think overseas Chinese will not accept this result and will definitely ask the Batavian government to make substantial concessions, at least to give the Chinese a certain amount of political power. What I worry most is that overseas Chinese require Javanese Chinese to have autonomy. If Javanese Chinese really gain autonomy, then overseas Chinese will essentially extend their power into Javanese, which we cannot accept."

Hamilton nodded and said, "I understand, Lieutenant General, I will try my best not to let the situation in Java get out of control."

After leaving the old man's asterisk, Hamilton immediately recruited more than 500 remaining Marine soldiers and boarded the shore. He immediately dispatched troops to control all key points in Batavia, and ordered the blockade of various traffic roads and docks, and strictly prohibited people from leaving Batavia. Then he rushed to the Governor's Office to ask for a meeting with Governor Rosbru.

At this time, Rosblu was anxious in the Governor's Mansion like an ant on a hot pan, because it had been half a day since the letter sent to the British fleet, but the British fleet had not responded yet. Therefore, Rosblu was also uneasy and didn't know what the British were thinking. After all, he was a political official, and he had a different linear thinking from soldiers like Helveg and Van der Witt.

Although Britain had promised to help the Dutch colonial government defend Batavia, it was before the war. At that time, the colonial government gathered a large number of troops to prepare to attack the farm, and there was no need for Britain to rush to the front line. Britain could naturally make a verbal statement and sell a short favor from the colonial government. But now the Dutch coalition was defeated by overseas Chinese and returned. Will Britain stick to its promise? Rosblu had no idea whether the United Kingdom would stick to its promises, because he knew very well that although Britain would never want Java to fall into the hands of overseas Chinese, Britain was also unwilling to have a bad relationship with overseas Chinese. They also hoped to use overseas Chinese to deal with the Russians. Therefore, the biggest possibility for Britain was to sell the Netherlands.

After hearing Hamilton's notice that he asked to see him, Rosblu also knew that the time for the showdown was coming, so he hurriedly asked someone to invite Hamilton to his office.

After the two sat down, Hamilton did not make any politeness and said directly: "Mr. Governor, we have known the result of the war on the offensive farm. Although we feel very regretful about this result, we believe that the current situation cannot be resolved by war. It should be the time for negotiation, and we have contacted the overseas Chinese. The negotiation conditions proposed before the war are still valid. Therefore, we believe that the Batavian government should accept these conditions and based on this, we will immediately hold negotiations with overseas Chinese to peacefully resolve the crisis in Java."
Chapter completed!