50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 552 A Rare Window of Opportunity
Sun Zhiwei's stomach was growling loudly, and now that the delicious food was on the table, he didn't stand on ceremony and started eating right away.

He ate with particular relish, watching the raging fire across the river outside his window.

After a hearty meal, Sun Zhiwei went straight to sleep at the manor.

Because he has often stayed overnight at the Huang Family Manor in recent years, the manor has now reserved a room specifically for him.

The room is cleaned by a dedicated person every few days to keep it hygienic so that he can check in whenever he wants.

The next day, the news from the previous night had already spread, and the full details of the two explosions were finally revealed.

The two forces that came to Pontianak some time ago, one navy and one army, were completely wiped out in last night's attack, and Pontianak has returned to the state it was in a few months ago.

By noon, both fires had been extinguished, and the city hall dispatched a special team to investigate the incident.

All three warships at sea sank to the bottom of the water, and the municipal authorities were unable to find any clues.

However, after a detailed investigation of the military camp ruins in the city, many fragments of naval gun shells were found, some of which had clearly visible inscriptions.

This is solid evidence; the military camp was destroyed by the fleet's high-explosive shells.

Now that the Pontianak City Council has regained full control of Pontianak, it issued a statement three days later regarding the complete annihilation of both sides' forces.

The two sides launched surprise attacks on each other on the same night, resulting in mutual destruction.

Whether or not it was truly a mutual destruction, this is the result of the city hall's investigation, believe it or not.

However, there are always smart people out there. Many people can see that there is an invisible force behind this series of events, but they don't know who it is yet.

Because there were no obvious beneficiaries this time, all local officials were beneficiaries, and the Chinese community was among them, but not in a prominent way.

Officials at the Pontianak City Hall had been threatened by troops from both sides for the past few months, and they were extremely frustrated.

After this lesson, they realized that simply having administrative power was not enough; they also needed armed forces to protect them.

Subsequently, the Pontianak City Council issued a decree to establish a standing police force to protect the security of Pontianak.

This decree was unanimously approved, and all officials in Pontianak were well aware that their local rights needed to be protected by force.

In addition to financial support, various families poured people into the security force.

As local bigwigs with connections in the city hall, the Huang family naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.

A group of guards from the mine were transferred to the Pontianak Guard.

Huang Qixian, Huang Huizhong's confidant and the original squad leader of the mine area guard team, became the captain of this 500-strong standing guard team after compromises with various forces.

In addition to the ground security forces, the establishment of a coast guard has also been put on the agenda because Pontianak is a port city. However, it is difficult to purchase warships, so it is currently just a plan.

For a long time, the Huang family has been the leader of the Chinese community in Pontianak. Now that the Huang family is leading the way, many smaller Chinese families in Pontianak are beginning to follow suit.

They began sending young men from their families to various municipal agencies in Pontianak, including those related to municipal affairs, finance, taxation, military, and police.

It's not yet apparent in other cities, but in Pontianak, the local Chinese community has gradually broken free from the invisible constraints imposed by the upper class and opened up channels for upward mobility.

Huang Huizhong was very satisfied to see the Huang family's prosperity, but Sun Zhiwei knew that this wasn't enough. If they continued to develop in the current way, the Huang family would at best become a regional power, and that wouldn't last long.

Because once the battle is decided in Jakarta, the victor will certainly not tolerate these local minor powers.

At that time, these local forces will either surrender or be wiped out very quickly.

For further development, firstly, Jakarta cannot quickly determine a winner, and secondly, it is essential to mobilize the millions of ethnic Chinese. Otherwise, the overall environment will not easily change.

It is important to understand that with the rapid development of the mainland, most countries in the world have begun to take the mainland's power seriously and give it due respect.

But even in this tiny Javanese country, the Chinese are still referred to by the derogatory term "zhina," and this has even been written into the law.

When registering their household registration, the Chinese in Java must also register and use a Javanese native name.

Just like Huang Yicong, the head of the Huang family in Sulawesi whom he mentioned last time, whose outside name is Ika Zibuta Wichaya, there are countless similar cases.

After stabilizing the local order, the Pontianak City Council sent representatives to report the investigation results of the incident to both parties in Jakarta.

Neither side was satisfied with Pontianak's investigation report, but neither was willing to offend Pontianak any further, as they simply didn't have the energy to deal with them at the moment.

In fact, Khato's son-in-law Prabovo Subiyando originally had the advantage, because many of the navy's capital ships were on his side.

For a nation of thousands of islands, whoever controls the navy can block the movement of the army between the islands, making them virtually invincible.

However, the previously stable and positive trend has changed recently.

First of all, the recent disappearance of three capital ships and the sinking of three capital ships have dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the navy.

The Javanese Navy claims to have over 200 warships, but this refers to all available combat vessels, including fast attack craft of around 100 tons.

Many of these are non-offensive vessels such as supply ships, transport ships, and landing ships.

A true warship is one that can launch naval guns, torpedoes, missiles, or has carrier-based aircraft and is capable of active combat.

The entire Javanese Navy has only about 30 of these main warships.

In just a few days, one-fifth of their supplies have been lost, and they haven't even figured out who their enemy is yet, which makes them hesitant to go out to sea now.

The navy's retreat naturally affected the army's operations, and in Jakarta, Colonel Latif was subtly gaining the upper hand again.

With no quick victor in Jakarta, both sides simultaneously began to target surrounding cities, as well as key cities and ports on other large islands.

As for Pontianak, due to the complete annihilation of its forces last time, no one is willing to come here now, so it can basically remain unchanged in the short term, which has bought valuable time for Pontianak's development.

Sun Zhiwei was alone in his room, staring at the map on the table, lost in thought.

Java comprises 17508 islands and has approximately 1241 ports of various types, including 33 major ports.

Its domestic army, navy, and air force have a standing army of 50 and a garrison force of more than 30. The naval ports on several major islands are the cornerstone of its stability.

(End of this chapter)