Father of France

Chapter 178 Indonesia is the Price
Similarly, in the oil trade, the Soviet Union may not have restored its full oil production capacity, but who says the Soviet Union only had its own oil to export? Didn't it also have Romania?
Before the war, Romania's production reached nearly 10 million tons per year at its peak. Even if it were cut in half, it would still have a production of 4 to 5 million tons. Combined with the Soviet Union's own oil production capacity, it would not be a problem to export 15 million tons per year.

Conversely, France faced a significant problem, as the Soviet Union traded timber from Finland and oil from Romania with France.

It seems like there's no problem with France using rice from French Indochina for trade, but the issue is that the rice from French Indochina has already been used once.

“If we drain the rice fields here, the consequences of any problems that arise would be unbearable. Considering the hard-won stability we’ve achieved, we must find a way to shift the conflict elsewhere.” After much deliberation, Koman actually came up with a solution: to optimize the industry.

Upon hearing this, General Dashangliu asked in bewilderment, "If we can't continue to get rice from here, where can we go to solve this problem?"

“Saigon and Bangkok can solve part of the problem, and if there is a gap, there is another place.”

Koeman hesitated, but considering French interests, he offered a solution: "The Dutch East Indies are also very suitable for rice cultivation, but Java has too large a population, resulting in limited export capacity. However, Java is currently in chaos as the main battlefield for Sukarno's resistance against the Dutch. If we must take on the risk of famine, it is clearly more suitable than our own colonies. There are still more than 10,000 French troops on Java, which presents an opportunity for intervention."

If given a choice, Coman wouldn't want to either. The key is that if everyone is full of love, the world will have a better tomorrow. This doesn't hold true now, and someone has to pay the price. He doesn't want French Indochina to pay this price. Isn't the price of instability in French Indochina still paid by France?
Even if Indonesia were to pay, the impact would only be on the Netherlands. France had already helped the Netherlands during its food shortages, and now the Netherlands should be grateful and help France bear the costs of trade with the Soviet Union. Koeman believed this was fair.

“The fighting between Sukarno and the Dutch led to famine in Java. We only joined the war at the invitation of the Dutch. What responsibility can we have?” Dassanio made the decision almost immediately.

Faced with this simple question of choosing between the death of a friend and the death of himself, General Dashanliu made his decision with ease. Perhaps the decision was made too easily, with Koman still there. General Dashanliu subtly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "This decision is very painful, but sometimes we have to make choices in difficult situations."

“I understand, General. Our armed Vietnamese National Army also needs to accumulate combat experience, and the intensity of the fighting on Java Island is very suitable for training troops.”

Koeman was not at all surprised by General Dashanliu's decision. That's how many things are. If you don't pay the price, who will?

Then a legitimate pretext for action is needed, which is not difficult. For example, maintaining the unity of the old imperialist countries. If France increases its troops, the Netherlands and Britain will have troops deployed on Java Island. There are currently 30,000 British troops and 100,000 Dutch troops on Java Island, while the French troops are the fewest, with only more than 10,000.

The total number of British and Dutch troops in the Dutch East Indies now reaches 130,000, which is enough to launch a large-scale offensive to seize the initiative.

According to the timeline, the Netherlands will soon have enough troops ready to launch a police operation to annihilate Sukarno's Indonesian independence forces.

The Dutch army launched a full-scale military offensive against the Republic of Indonesia. The objectives were twofold: first, to destroy the main force of the Indonesian armed forces; and second, to occupy East and West Java, confining the Republic of Indonesia to the smallest possible area in Central Java. The Dutch army claimed it would completely resolve the military issue within a few weeks.

However, in the face of the Dutch attack, various sectors in Indonesia called for a "scorched earth policy" to be implemented if necessary.

After the Dutch launched their offensive, Indonesian workers destroyed factories, farms, railway stations, and other important businesses and buildings in areas where the Dutch army was about to arrive, and moved machinery and transportation vehicles inland. The workers also converted sugar factories and other facilities into munitions factories to produce weapons to support the front lines.

Within two weeks of the start of the war, the Netherlands, with its superior firepower, occupied most of the major cities, transportation routes, and deep-water ports along the coast of the Republic of Indonesia. However, vast rural areas remained under the control of the Republic of Indonesia. The Dutch attempt to destroy the main force of the Indonesian armed forces failed.

Koeman was of course not concerned about whether the Netherlands could regain its colonial rule over the Dutch East Indies, but it was good that the Indonesians were willing to go all out and implement a scorched-earth policy.

"And the British troops—consider it a rehearsal for the Suez Canal War." Coleman left the Governor's residence and, following Dassanio's orders, went to the French headquarters, requesting the staff to draft a plan to attack Java and prepare to communicate with the British and Dutch. The operational plan was quickly finalized: the British task force would establish a complete naval blockade of Java, cutting off Indonesia's external supply lines.

Based in Colombo, Singapore, and other bases, the coalition air force systematically bombed airports, ports, railway hubs, and suspected military assembly points on Java Island to gain absolute air superiority.

The main Dutch forces conducted a large-scale amphibious landing at Peacock Harbor and Jakarta. With powerful naval gunfire and air support, they quickly established strong beachheads, and armored units landed first, breaking through the coastal defenses and advancing rapidly inland, with their target Yogyakarta—the provisional capital of the Republic of Indonesia.

French troops and a portion of British forces landed in Surabaya, tying down the main Indonesian National Army forces in East Java and preventing them from reinforcing the western front.

While the main force landed, the allied forces on the western front completed the encirclement of Yogyakarta and launched a general offensive after air raids and artillery preparations. The plan was to capture the city within two weeks and destroy the command center of the Republic of Indonesia.

The allied forces on the eastern front advanced inland from Surabaya, forming a pincer movement with the main force on the western front advancing eastward, and clearing out the enemy forces in Central Java.

Subsequently, the main force of the division dispersed into battalion and company-level units, and with the cooperation of the French Foreign Legion and the Dutch East Indies Colonial Army, who were familiar with the terrain, carried out mopping-up operations against the Indonesian remnants and guerrillas who had retreated to the mountains and villages.

The French military command staff quickly produced an operational plan, or at least it looked like one. Koeman didn't look at it closely. The main purpose of this operational plan was to persuade Britain and the Netherlands to launch an offensive against the Republic of Indonesia.

The French army also planned to take advantage of the military operation to loot Java Island and find enough rice to trade with the Soviet Union.

As for the 30 million people on Java Island, will they be affected? Since Dassanliu can remain focused, what can't Koman do?

The reason France formulated this plan can be explained to Britain and the Netherlands as follows: France wanted to resolve the issue of the Dutch East Indies quickly and then withdraw its troops from the area.

This explanation is reasonable and will not cause any resentment between the UK and the US.

If it were a plan for occupation, Koeman would be certain it wouldn't succeed, but if it were a scheme to plunder Indonesia's food reserves, then it might be worth a try.

Anyway, it wasn't a French colony, so if something went wrong, it wouldn't affect France. What did France do wrong? They were just offering to help.

While awaiting replies from Britain and the Netherlands, the French command had already selected three divisions of the Vietnamese National Army to supplement the French forces on Java Island.

This will also be the first battle after the formation of the Vietnamese National Army. The French command is clearly using Java as a model to assess the combat effectiveness of the Vietnamese National Army.

If the three divisions successfully join the operation, France will have a force of 50,000 men ready to execute its strategic objectives once the military operation begins.

(End of this chapter)