Chapter 1188: Chapter 197: Landing at Samarinda
Once East Africa has established a foothold overseas, it will be difficult for the old order protectors like England and France to make East Africa relinquish its market and raw material supply.
Moreover, at that time, the United States, a kindred spirit, could help share the pressure from England and France, after all, the United States is acting no less actively than East Africa.
It is foreseeable that regardless of the direction of the European war, whether England and France win or Germany and Austria win, Europe as a political entity will see a significant decline in its international status post-war.
This is something neither the Allies nor the Coalition can prevent because only the ultimate victor of the European war will have the opportunity to sit at the same table and negotiate with future East Africa and the United States.
As for Russia, it is doomed to be the loser, as a Russian revolution is bound to break out, and the future Russian government naturally will not enjoy the spoils of a victorious nation.
...
East Kalimantan.
April 1915.
The new conqueror of East Kalimantan, East Africa, officially began its purge of the local indigenous forces. East Kalimantan is actually an East African term referring to the position of East Africa’s Lanfang Overseas Province, practically including the eastern, southern, and central parts of Kalimantan Island.
Samarinda.
At this time, Samarinda was just an undeveloped bay with only a small fishing village with dozens of people scattered there, where the Seventh Infantry Regiment under the East African Guard Division landed.
"This is Samarinda, why do we have to use this as our regiment’s landing point? It’s even more desolate than the East Africa described by our fathers." complained Clavier, the commander of the Seventh Infantry Regiment.
As an East African, Clavier, part of the new generation, was familiar with the arduous pioneering journey described by his forebears. However, by the time Clavier was born, East Africa’s development was already quite mature. But upon arriving at Samarinda, marked as a bay on the map, Clavier finally understood the feelings of the first East African pioneers.
"Compared to the homeland, or even Kundian, this place seems primitive and backward. But this is not the time for complaints. Our arrival in East Africa comes with the mission of transforming the locale. After all, East Africa was not much different before it was developed," said the regiment’s advisor, Ariel.
Kundian, the capital of the Lanfang Overseas Province, although it lags behind the East African mainland, is considered a relatively prosperous city within the entire South Sea region.
Comparing East Kalimantan to undeveloped East Africa is inaccurate, as the colonial-era East Africa had far better conditions than East Kalimantan does now.
Convinced by Ariel’s words, Clavier ceased to dwell on the desolation of the landing site, realizing the situation was a fait accompli; the primary concern now was basic survival.
He pointed to a small fishing village ahead and said, "That should be the only human settlement nearby. Gather all the villagers!"
Soon, with the overwhelming presence of the Seventh Infantry Regiment and the historical intimidations by the Dutch, the entire village population was brought before Clavier.
"Captain Clavier, all the men, women, and children of this village are here, totaling thirty-seven people. This village functions like a large family, with very little interaction with outsiders. However, according to them, there is a relatively large tribe twenty kilometers northwest along the coastline, from where their village originated," explained an interpreter from the Lanfang Overseas Province to Clavier.
East Africa, having mingled in the South Sea for so long, naturally reserves a number of personnel familiar with the indigenous or Malay languages, and the Lanfang Overseas Province serves as East Africa’s trading hub for the South Sea region, so finding translators is effortless.
Looking at the villagers who posed no threat before him, Clavier asked the interpreter, "What is the total population around here?"
The interpreter shook his head and replied, "They naturally aren’t sure about that, as their lives are mostly self-sufficient with little outside contact."
"However, the Dutch government once did a rough population survey indicating the total population in the entire East Kalimantan region is only a few hundred thousand, posing no threat to us."
Clavier nodded in agreement and said, "Naturally, just the forces from our regiment would suffice to suppress the entire East Kalimantan. Moreover, this time, more than ten thousand troops have arrived in East Kalimantan."
This time, East Africa pulled troops from across the nation to form a mixed formation regiment in East Kalimantan, which can be seen as a gesture of acknowledgement towards the indigenous forces there.
As Clavier noted, his regiment alone could overturn all indigenous armies; however, East Africa never takes colonial endeavors lightly, especially in environments like East Kalimantan.
Ariel then remarked, "When developing Samarinda, we obviously cannot do everything ourselves, so in the coming days, we need to gather the locals."
"Let’s start with the tribe mentioned by these villagers, as a tribe clearly would have had more interactions with surrounding powers. Then, we will distribute our troops to consolidate the area’s resources into Samarinda, creating the framework of a city."
Ariel was not worried about the risks of distributing the troops given that most of East Kalimantan poses no threat to East African soldiers, with the main populations and kingdoms concentrated mainly in the north, whereas Samarinda seemed like an uninhabitable wasteland.
To sustain the subsequent colonial activities, workforce from around must be captured, and the Seventh Infantry Regiment simply needed to dispatch small troops to achieve this.
Clavier instructed one of his captains, "Anton, take a company to that tribe, and transfer all people and materials here. If they resist, eliminate them."
Though Clavier’s regiment had regular supplies shipped from East Africa, consolidating the indigenous people to form a town or even a city inevitably required local grain, as this is colonialism and not poverty alleviation for the indigenous.
East African colonial endeavors in the South Sea were ultimately different from those in Africa. African Blacks were too distinct to become part of the East African populace.
In the South Sea Region, the races were barely acceptable. However, religious extremists or resistance fighters with national identity were quite another matter.
On Kalimantan Island, there were quite a few adherents of the Green Sect and Hinduism, and those unwilling to accept East African transformation were destined for hell.
The indigenous of Samarinda’s surrounding areas were too backward, lacking any semblance of civilization. Had they been in the northern areas where civilization was concentrated, they would have already been bloodily massacred by other East African regiments.
In the Samarinda environs, civilization is so backward that not even the Dutch established an order here. After all, with so few people so broadly scattered, setting up a tax office would be a losing proposition, with annual taxes insufficient to cover staff expenses.
But, with the arrival of East Africans, everything changed. East Africa aimed to fully control East Kalimantan, allowing no exceptions to permissive governance. Since the population is dispersed, they had to be concentrated.
The East African government did not fear indigenous resistance; what they feared was the indigenous fleeing into the mountains and forests, which would entail significant effort just to conduct searches.
Consider, for instance, the arduous task of surveying indigenous Africans within the Congo rainforest—a difficult endeavor—with many areas remaining unexplored by the East African government to this day. The number of Black people there is unknown, or even if it’s solely Black people; the San people could also be present.
Of course, those surviving in the Congo rainforest interior are incredibly tough but unlikely to expand significantly; thus, East Africa’s screening strategies for indigenous populations in the Congo rainforest, southwest Africa, and similar regions mainly revolve around identifying groups as they are discovered.
While the heartland of East Kalimantan is not as inherently harsh as the Congo rainforest, it is still not much better; at least, it’s an area where East African troops wouldn’t venture recklessly.
In the future, after population migration and development, total control over this region would eventually be achieved.
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