50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 816 Preparing for Another Battle

Before Western colonization, these islands in Southeast Asia were not a complete country. A century ago, there were many kingdoms established by Chinese people in this area.

For example, in 1279, the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty established the Kingdom of Sunta in Java.

Duration: 340 years. The Dutch annexed it in 1619.

In 1387, the pirate state of Balin was established in southern Sumatra by Chen Zuyi, a leader of immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian.

Duration: 20 years. Later destroyed by Zheng He's fleet.

In 1397, Liang Daoming, a leader of Chinese immigrants, took control of the Palembang region and established the New Srivijaya Kingdom, which was centered on Chinese people.

Duration: 27 years. Later destroyed by Manjaboy.

The Natuna Kingdom was established in 1683 by Zhang Jiexu, a general who resisted the Qing dynasty at the end of the Ming dynasty. (Because Zhang Jiexu considered himself a Ming dynasty citizen, the official name of the Natuna Kingdom was the Nanhua Company of the Great Ming Empire.)
Duration: 41 years. Destroyed by the Dutch in 1724.

In 1775, the Wu Kingdom, established by Wu Rang, an immigrant from Fujian, occupied most of the Malay Peninsula.

Duration: 129 years. Destroyed by the British in 1904.

In 1776, the Lanfang Republic was established in the western part of Borneo by Luo Fangbo, a leader of immigrants from Guangdong.

Duration: 112 years. Destroyed by the Dutch in 1888.

In 1785, the Daiyan Kingdom was established by Wu Yuansheng, a fellow townsman and ally of Li Fangbo, the head of the Lanfang Kingdom. It was located on Kalimantan Island and was a vassal state of Lanfang.

Duration: 69 years. Later, it was also destroyed by the Dutch.

As can be seen from the above records, before the 19th century, Java was not a country at all before it was colonized by the Dutch.

After the Dutch arrived, this area also belonged to the Dutch East India Company; they were simply forcibly brought together by the colonists' army.

After World War II, an anti-colonial movement arose, and Sukarno, who came from a Javanese aristocratic family, seized the opportunity to take over most of the Dutch colonies.

And because the Javanese population behind Sukarno was large enough, the Javanese kingdom came into being.

Java did not become a fully independent republic until 1950, a mere 36 years ago, and its foundation of rule remains unstable.

Previously, their rule was maintained entirely by the strong military control of Sukarno and Hatto.

But now, Sukarno is gone, Hatto is gone, and even Hatto's successor is gone.

As for the Javanese army, the air force was completely wiped out, the navy was split up, and it was continuously attacked by Sun Zhiwei. Now, only a few remnants remain, but they are scattered in the hands of local forces in various places.

The Javanese army is in an even worse state, with no one even paying their salaries. They are now scattered across hundreds of cities and are gradually being controlled by the locals.

Without a strong leader and a powerful army, Java is bound to split into several small countries; this is an inevitable trend.

Internationally, Java used to be particularly powerful, having fought wars with almost all of its neighboring countries.

Over the decades, it has played both sides between the Soviet Union and the United States, which made it unpopular to begin with. Moreover, it once withdrew from the League of Nations, so it can be said that it had virtually no supporters internationally.

The Russian bear, which used to cooperate with Java, is now too busy to talk about its own problems, and the countries surrounding Java all have the idea of ​​taking advantage of the situation.

If anyone in the world today could change this situation, it would probably be America, because America is rich enough. Dealing with a poor country like Java wouldn't even require military intervention; just money could bring those seemingly disparate regions back to the negotiating table.

Java is currently fragmented, with almost all cities not under each other's jurisdiction. If we really want to reunite these places, it will cost a fortune.

It's true that America is rich, but the White House isn't stupid; money needs to be spent wisely.

What value do these tens of thousands of islands in Java have that would make America spend so much money to forcibly reunite them?

If the goal is mineral resources, then there's absolutely no need to make Java a unified country. Wouldn't it be easier to control it if it were divided into several smaller countries?

Moreover, many of these tens of thousands of islands are barren lands, and some deep forests are inhabited by cannibals. From a rational point of view, there is really no need for this.

Therefore, after seeing the new information, Sun Zhiwei was basically certain that Java had no future, because the disappearance of Java was in the interest of almost all the surrounding countries.

It is foreseeable that Java is already facing a situation where it is surrounded by wolves. Now, Sun Zhiwei is worried that Natuna, which he currently controls, will be coveted by neighboring countries.

Because the military force that Natuna is currently displaying is only two frigates, making it a real pushover.

Now it's a matter of who jumps out first; as the saying goes, "A good start prevents a hundred more."

The previous defeat of Batam Island only dealt with a local force; if Natuna truly wants to establish a foothold in this area, it will need to win another battle.

To be considered a success, one must fight against a legitimate country, win decisively, and then gain external public opinion support.

Natuna is bordered by only six countries with sea borders: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Java.

Natuna is a small place with few land resources. Although Sun Zhiwei knew that there were many oil and gas resources on the seabed around Natuna, these resources were only discovered in the 1990s and no one knows about them now.

In other words, apart from Java, Natuna has no conflicts of interest with its neighboring countries.

If there's anything that could be coveted, it's its geographical location—it's situated on a major sea route.

Of the six countries, Java is currently fragmented and can be ignored; Cambodia is a poor country with only five minesweepers of a few hundred tons each, which are not enough to be dealt with by frigates, and the number of mines that can be hit is even smaller, so it can also be ignored.

The two companies, one predominantly Chinese and the other with Chinese comprising 30%, are located in the Malacca shipping lanes, making it unlikely that they would covet Natuna.

Although Thailand has a strong military, we haven't heard of them showing any aggression. We can keep an eye on them, but there's no need to be overly nervous.

Therefore, of the six neighboring countries, the only one that needs to be wary of is the Monkey Kingdom.

The monkeys' desire for self-interest is almost blatantly displayed; they are at war with every neighboring country on land, and their seas are no less restless.

Now, Natuna has this opportunity right in front of them; it's unclear whether they will be tempted.

The distance between the monkeys' home and the nearest island to Natuna is less than 500 kilometers.

If we follow the logic of jurisdiction over the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), the contiguous zone (24 nautical miles), the exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles), and the continental shelf (350 nautical miles).

Once we occupy Natuna and its surrounding islands, the 500-kilometer stretch of sea in between will be under the jurisdiction of the Monkey Kingdom. I wonder if any clever people in the Monkey Kingdom have thought of this.

(End of this chapter)