Father of France

Chapter 198 Cochrane

This is their last chance. Sukarno is currently being held captive on an outlying island by the Dutch. If the two of them abandon their allegiance and become traitors to Indonesia, they can save their lives. Otherwise…

Then Koeman saw two faces that could be described as unyielding to the death, and instantly lost the will to continue, saying, "It seems you don't respect the word 'imperialism'."

“General Li, I’m a coward and can’t stand the sight of blood,” Koman said with an honest tone he had never used before. “Use the knife I brought to cut off their heads.”

After saying that, Koeman turned around and took the two remaining prison guards away. Were there any other criminals who were members of the Masyan Party? Killing one or burying two was the same, so let's do it together.

Because he possessed written documents from the coalition command, Koman's actions in the prison went unchecked, and his political career as the future leader of Indonesia's largest religious party, prime minister, and vice president came to an end.

By the time Li Wenhua returned the waist knife, Koman had expanded the scope of his interrogation to include officers of the Indonesian Republican Army at the company level and above. He mainly didn't know who the members of the 930 Generals Committee were, or what their positions were in the early days of Indonesian independence. Koman, who was unfamiliar with Indonesian names, didn't have time to verify their identities.

One after another, Indonesian Republican Army officers were released from their imprisonment and taken to the high walls, where a military court execution squad brought by Koman carried out the execution orders.

At this moment, Koeman suddenly remembered something. It seemed that, up to this point in his military career, he had never actually done anything that was in line with his duties. The victory in Damascus wiped out the French command, the victory in Marseille dealt with the French Communist Party, and this time he was the one who truly protected national interests, executing a group of anti-Dutch elements in a colony unrelated to France.

Bang bang... A 7.5 mm caliber bullet killed the Indonesian prisoner under the high wall. The French gendarmes next to him immediately called out, "Bring up the next batch."

“Coman, it’s done.” Li Wenhua’s somewhat hoarse voice indicated that the decapitation mission just now was not as calm as it seemed on the surface. “Why did we have to use cold weapons?”

Koman, who had just taken the saber, replied calmly, “It’s a French tradition. The head of Madagascar’s last monarch is kept in a museum in Paris. Beheading has always been a common way to show off military prowess. The American troops in the Pacific theater also sent Japanese heads back to the United States as souvenirs. It’s normal.”

In modern times, Emperor Qianlong also did this. If he really put in a lot of effort to achieve victory, Emperor Qianlong was not an emperor who was completely free of psychological fluctuations, and he would also have thoughts of venting his anger.

The chieftains of the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan and the Little Khoja Huojizhan had their ritual implements made by him using professionals from Tibetan Buddhism.

“By the way, the Queen of Madagascar is from the Austronesian Islands, and they are related to the Indonesians.” Koman heard another round of gunfire and, picking his ear, said, “A vice president and a prime minister aren’t enough to be collected. If it were a monarch, they could be placed in a Paris museum.”

Li Wenhua could only rule as a king in Saigon at most; he had no idea about these things. His biggest surprise was that the United States was doing the same thing, and he said in disbelief, "The Americans aren't..."

"Isn't it the most civilized and powerful country? Then you really don't understand America." Koeman said with a smile. He also felt a sense of awe towards the country that was conducting virus experiments in its own capital.

This is something that most countries can't do; only countries with an iron will can do it. So when Americans say they have an iron will, Koeman truly believes it.

One instance could be considered an exception, but the US has done this more than once, even using soldiers for experiments. Therefore, Captain America is a realistic film, definitely not an artistic fabrication or exaggeration.

In a sense, Li Wenhua now feels that Koeman is threatening him with the execution of Indonesian officials, which is a warning to him to be loyal to France.

Koeman didn't think that much about it; he simply didn't want to get his hands dirty. With so many people watching, it wouldn't be good for his clean and shining image. People in the martial arts world can disregard others, but they can't carry out their own actions.

While executing and imprisoning leaders of the independence movement, a purge of the Masyomei Party had also begun in Jakarta, and the purge quickly shifted from openly targeting members to a rampant pattern of false accusations.

For Koeman, the purge was not easy, but if it were expanded, it would be much easier.

The whole of Jakarta was in a state of high alert. Although Java is summer all year round, the beginning of this year felt like being in the dead of winter.

"General Li is in good condition and doesn't seem to have been affected much." On the way back to the military court with Koman, Borlang was very impressed with Li Wenhua's performance.

“What impact does killing two inferior people have? You don’t understand the cultural confidence of the Vietnamese. They look down on other ethnic groups in Southeast Asia,” Koman explained to his subordinates. “When facing these ethnic groups, they consider themselves superior, just like the Chinese. Didn’t you have the same mentality in the colonies?”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of this.” Borlang opened his mouth and asked, “Are they very powerful? How can they have this mentality?” “This mentality is not their own, but inherited from their northern neighbor,” Koman shrugged. The Vietnamese people have long identified themselves as descendants of the Yan Emperor.

The Vietnamese believe that the Baiyue people were all descendants of Emperor Yan, but they lost to the Yellow Emperor's tribe in the struggle for dominance over the mainland.

Throughout its long history, the Vietnamese people have shaped their national identity in this way. What to do when occupied? Easy, during the period of Northern Domination.

If they successfully gained independence, it would be like the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Northern Dynasty was a major power in the East, while the Southern Dynasty was the Southern Dynasty. After that, the Southern Dynasty was destroyed and then the Northern Dynasty was again under its control. Once they gained independence, it would be like the Northern and Southern Dynasties again.

Therefore, when the Vietnamese implemented the ancient and modern policies of the great Eastern power, they had no psychological burden at all and were too lazy to make any changes, so they just used them directly.

Modern Vietnam has begun to realize that this method of shaping national identity is problematic, and has started emphasizing its independent origins to prevent domestic challenges to the state's legitimacy. Given Koeman's knowledge in the 21st century, this approach has likely failed.

The reason for the failure is similar to that of the Thai Chinese who remember their origins. Thailand began to assimilate the Chinese during the Bangkok Dynasty, but the Chinese still remember that they are immigrants and not native to Thailand.

Vietnam was not unified until the mid-1970s, and only then did it have the power to reshape its national origins nationwide. However, the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after, and Vietnam opened up to the world in less than 30 years. Vietnamese people who were 20 years old at that time were only 50 years old. They still remembered the origins of the Yan Emperor's descendants that their elders told them when they were young, and they passed this story on to their descendants.

Moreover, this has been the way Vietnamese ancient books have been written for a long time, which has led to a great deal of problems with the mental state of Vietnam in the 21st century.

That was countless times more serious than the situation in the 1990s when a portion of people in a major Eastern country were anti-Japanese and went to Japan to make a living.

For Americans, how could the situation in Jakarta and even the entire East Indies have changed so much in such a short time?
The US consulate waited and waited, only to receive news that the Maas-U.S. party had been banned and that its members in Jakarta were being hunted down by the French military police.

Meanwhile, news of French military operations in West Java began to spread, including the destruction of religious sites and the crucifixion of religious figures.

Kochren was gazing out the window. He was just over forty, but his eyes held a weariness and sharpness beyond his years. He had just learned of the execution of many high-ranking officials in the Republic of Indonesia.

U.S. diplomat Cochrane at the Jakarta consulate immediately reported the situation to Washington: "The intervention of British and French troops in the East Indies has greatly altered the course of events. Relatively speaking, the Netherlands is the weakest member of this alliance, and it can be used as a breakthrough point for mediation. Through gradual elections, a provisional parliament of the 'Union of Indonesia' can be formed. The provisional parliament will elect a president, the president will appoint a prime minister, and the prime minister will form a cabinet responsible to the provisional parliament. The provisional parliament will have the power to handle internal affairs."

"In order to be acceptable to the Netherlands, the Dutch High Commissioner will retain certain veto powers and the right to declare a state of emergency if the cabinet is unable to control the situation, at which point the Dutch High Commissioner will have the authority to command the armed forces."

"Among the three powers, France is not the strongest, but it is the most decisive in action. The parties we had previously tried to win over suffered devastating blows,"

Washington did not keep him waiting long, and quickly responded, expressing its hope that he could make an effort to mediate the turbulent situation in the East Indies.

Having received a reply, Cochranton felt that he had a powerful motherland to rely on, and immediately began his actions. He notified the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies of his upcoming visit and had already boarded his vehicle.

Cochrane, who arrived at the governor’s residence shortly afterward, was led into the study, where Governor Van Muke rose to greet him with a perfunctory enthusiasm.

"Cochren, my friend, I hope this terrible weather hasn't affected your mood."

“It’s never the weather that affects my mood, Governor,” Cochrane said bluntly, without any patience for pleasantries. “It’s the war. Washington is deeply disappointed by your country’s unilateral military action.”

Van Muker's face darkened: "We are restoring law and order, and eliminating the insurgents who were supported by Japan and are now controlled by extreme nationalists like Sukarno. This is our internal affair. The results are remarkable, and everything is under our and our allies' control."

“Governor,” Cochrane stressed, his face stern, “how do you think the broadcasts in Moscow will portray this ‘police operation’ of the Allied forces in Asia? They will depict you as the maintainers of the colonial order and the Indonesians as anti-colonial heroes—which will only push millions of Indonesians, and even the onlookers throughout Southeast Asia, toward the Soviet Union.”

"This is not the attitude one should have toward allies," Van Muke categorically rejected the Americans' so-called goodwill. "On the contrary, it is the United States that is trying to push its allies toward Moscow."

(End of this chapter)