Chapter 1344 - 353: Batavia

Chapter 1344: Chapter 353: Batavia

At this time in the previous life, the population of Qatar was about sixteen thousand people. Of course, this is definitely not something Ernst knows, after all, who pays attention to the population size of a small country like Qatar?

And Qatar’s population is nearly three thousand less than in the previous life, also influenced by East Africa, primarily due to the early appearance of artificial pearl cultivation technology, which severely impacted Qatar’s pillar industry.

In the previous life, just entering the early 20th century, Qatar’s population was close to thirty thousand, precisely due to the advancement of Japan’s artificial pearl cultivation technology, leading to a decline to sixteen thousand people.

Later, Qatar truly relied on oil to prosper, but it had to wait until the 1930s. In 1935, Qatar formally signed the oil concession agreement with the United Kingdom and began formal exploration two years later, finally discovering oil fields in the western region of Qatar in 1939.

So, even without East Africa’s intervention, Qatar would have had to endure at least a dozen more years before living a good life, but now they can go to Batavia and "enjoy wealth" ahead of time.

It is worth mentioning that the present Doha is far from the big city in the previous life of Qatar with a population of over 1.5 million, merely a small settlement in the Gulf region with only more than two hundred residents.

"Everyone orderly board the ship." East African soldiers commanded on the coast.

The men, women, old, and young Qataris were mostly temporarily concentrated in Doha, and to maintain order, the Thirty-seventh Brigade voluntarily helped.

This formed a stark contrast to the past when East Africa called for attacks on the Arabs at the Pirate Coast (United Arab Emirates), and even among the East African soldiers, some had multiple lives on their hands.

The East African soldiers, armed with guns and live ammunition, even voluntarily helped the elderly among the Qataris to successfully board the immigrant ships, quite like the "style" of American soldiers under American media propaganda in Afghanistan from the previous life.

In less than a month, the Thirty-seventh Brigade cleared out the entire population of Qatar, and the biggest headache in searching for Qataris was some nomadic tribes or families, which were harder to find, taking quite some time.

However, once they found the people, it was simple. East Africans used trucks to directly transport them to Doha. Given Qatar’s small size, it didn’t take much time at all.

This East African invasion moved Qatar in one fell swoop, without a single person losing their life to war and conflict before leaving Doha.

...

Batavia.

Considering the entire South Sea Region, Batavia is indeed an extremely developed city, after all, it is the center of the Dutch East Indies.

The Dutch occupied Batavia as early as the beginning of the 17th century, so under Dutch control, this city has developed for nearly three hundred years, and the whole city is filled with the flavor of the "Netherlands."

Next year will be the 300th anniversary of Batavia’s founding, although the history of Batavia’s establishment is even longer, this so-called 300th anniversary of the city is calculated from 1619 when the Dutch renamed it Batavia.

Compared to much of the South Sea Region, Batavia is entirely a different world, whether the roads or buildings follow a uniform European style. The Dutch systematically planned Batavia, and it is also one of the economic centers in the South Sea Region.

Besides being an important spice distribution hub in the South Sea, East Africa’s desire to reopen the Sunda Strait shipping routes and East Africa’s demand for homeland colonial construction have stimulated Batavia’s economic development.

In Batavia, apart from the natives and their sovereign country citizens, the Dutch, East Africans are the most common sight.

Batavia is the closest trading point for some East African colonies. In the South Sea, East Africa’s most developed city is Kundian, but Kundian’s level of prosperity does not match that of Batavia, so some products or trades can only be obtained or conducted in cities like Batavia.

For example, the specialties produced by some East African colonies, if they are rerouted to Europe, Dutch merchants are an excellent choice, and among them, the largest trade scale is the South Sea specialty spices.

Batavia is the largest gathering place for Dutch spice buyers. Most spices from the East Indies are concentrated here before being transported back to Europe by the Dutch for sale.

So, some merchants from East African colonies love coming to Batavia to handle their goods, not just limited to spices but also other economic crops or mineral products.

Furthermore, many East African ships choose to dock at Batavia. Especially when East Africa links with its colonies in the South Pacific, Batavia can be said to be a must-pass location.

"There is Sangiang Island. Nowadays, this island has become a large construction site. I heard the Empire will turn this island into the Empire’s strong fortress in the Sunda Strait to ensure the safety of homeland commercial ships."

The East African captain transporting Qataris pointed to the Sangiang Island in the center of the Sunda Strait and said to the crew.

"Previously, Sangiang Island was entirely covered in green rainforest, but now a large part of this island has been cleared. The Empire has built several military facilities on the island, and although it is not clearly shaped yet, I guess it is probably a fortress."

"At that time, building several steel-reinforced concrete towers will place the entire Sunda Strait within the Empire’s ’Truth’ range."

As the crew listened to the captain boast about the Empire’s great achievements, the Qataris on board also looked with great curiosity at the two sides of the Sunda Strait.

This was the first time they saw land since leaving Oman Bay, and the scenery was entirely different from the vast deserts on both sides of the Persian Gulf, with the land covered by lush green forests, presenting a stark contrast to their living environment.

Sangiang Island was the first island with buildings that Qataris had seen in recent days. Of course, this island doesn’t have ordinary residents, only East African soldiers and construction teams.

Besides building towers and other basic facilities, the biggest highlight on Sangiang Island is the airport being constructed by East Africa. Although the airport has not yet taken shape, a large clearing near the island’s center is reserved for airport construction.

After crossing Sangiang Island, the next stop is Batavia, and before nightfall, the immigrant ships arrived at Batavia, the central city of the East Indies.

Seeing the bustling city of Batavia and realizing it was their future place of residence, all the Qataris on board sighed in relief and started looking forward to their new life.

Just from Batavia’s size and construction alone, this city exceeded Qataris’ imagination; most Qataris had never seen such a bustling city in their lives.

The Dutch Governor’s Mansion of Batavia, which had already received notice, sent personnel responsible for receiving this group of Qataris.

The Dutch Governor was not surprised by what East Africa had done, as Batavia had become the refuge for East Africa’s persecuted people in the past. When East Africa colonized the South Sea, many wealthy native rulers from Kalimantan or Mindanao Island fled to Batavia.

However, it was the first time that "victims" were sent to Batavia in such large numbers and escorted by East Africa, and it was even rarer that these victims came from the Middle East.

So, many Dutch came to the docks to watch the commotion, not worried about these Qataris causing trouble; after all, the East India colony had no shortage of Arabian Sect followers, and the whole East India had little value for Arabian Sect followers. More than ten thousand Qataris posed no problem for the Dutch government at all.

According to the East African government’s requirements, the Dutch could simply find any place to settle these Qataris. The Dutch Governor of Batavia plans to incorporate some Qataris into the colonial army to suppress the resistance activities of some indigenous nations in East India, especially the Indonesians.