Chapter 540: Shao Quanzhong Selflessly Helps Orphans and Widows Again

Chapter 540: Shao Quanzhong Selflessly Helps Orphans and Widows Again

Chapter 540: Shao Quanzhong Selflessly Helps Orphans and Widows Again

In the Strait of Dover, the second "Luzhuang-class" light cruiser, "The Hague", was running at full speed at a maximum speed of 45 knots, with black smoke billowing out, without caring about the consumption of diesel and the loss of gas turbines.

The slender white hull split the waves, and the waves separated to both wings, forming a triangular cone on the sea surface.

On the deck, the old body of William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg, was shaking, and the plump Queen Emma held him up.

"Don't panic, Your Majesty. With this super-sized ship imported from Daxia, we will definitely be able to reach London safely."

William III looked back at the war-torn Hague and sighed, "I am so sorry to the people of the kingdom. Ever since Napoleon withdrew from the Netherlands and my ancestor William I founded the country, my William family has occupied the Netherlands, and the people have supported us and the country has been peaceful for three generations."

"I have done nothing wrong in my administration, but I have been hit by this unexpected disaster. Is the country going to perish in my hands? Heaven is so unfair, cough, cough, cough."

William III had been seriously ill since 1887 and had been bedridden for two years. His hasty escape had made his condition even more serious.

Emma helped His Majesty into the cabin. The radio in the cabin broadcast the latest news from the Dutch radio station, "Prime Minister Aeneas Mackay and his government formally surrendered to the German army..."

William III spat out a mouthful of blood.

Emma hurriedly helped His Majesty to the bed in the cabin and cried loudly.

What would happen if something happened to His Majesty, leaving Wilhelmina and I as orphans and widows?
The little Princess Wilhelmina took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood splattered on her old father's beard, with a resolute expression on her face that was not in line with her age.

William III looked at his wife and daughter kindly, "Now that things have come to this, we can only go into exile in London and wait for the British and French counterattack to succeed..."

Emma was at her wit's end and could only nod her head repeatedly, wiping the tears from her eyes, but Wilhelmina shook her head.

"Father, Queen Mother, the Netherlands has not perished yet! We still have 30 million people in our territory in the Far East Southeast Ocean. As long as all the men in the Southeast Ocean are dead, we the Netherlands will keep fighting!"

William III's cloudy old eyes sparkled with light. "My daughter, you are stronger than I am. Someone, call Jacob."

The former Governor of the Nanyang Colonies who had accompanied His Majesty on the "Western Hunt" and now the Minister of War, Jacob, came hurriedly, "What does Your Majesty want me to do?"

William III seemed to have suddenly recovered his health, stopped panting, and stared at Jacob with his bright eyes.

"My dear, I am well aware of your achievements in Batavia. Now that the homeland has been invaded and the Netherlands is exhausted, the task of recruiting colonial troops from the Far East to return to Europe and push back the German invaders is now entrusted to you."

Jacob was still very proud of his prestige in the colony. He patted his chest and said, "I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust."

"I will pass the throne to Wilhelmina. I hope you will be loyal to the country and protect the young master. I leave everything to you. I will be watching from heaven."

On January 1889, 1, King William III of the Netherlands died on his way to the West. Before his death, he entrusted his son to the Minister of War Jacob, and the 15-year-old Princess Wilhelmina of Orange succeeded to the throne on the light cruiser The Hague.

The Dutch royal family has a high prestige, and Jacob is a loyal minister. He bowed to Emma and her daughter and said, "The late king has passed away, and your majesty is young. Please ask the queen to be the regent."

"I will first ensure that your majesty and your daughter go into exile in London. Then I will follow the late king's will and go to Southeast Asia to gather the old subordinates to plan the restoration of the great cause."

Emma has no talent for governing a country. "I'll leave everything to you, my dear."

"No!"

Wilhelmina, who had just succeeded to the throne, stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"As the Queen of the Netherlands, I cannot hide in London and seek refuge with the British. Although the colonies have a large number of soldiers, they do not have enough weapons and equipment, nor do they have the funds to transport them to the European continent."

"I order the Hague not to go to London, but to sail directly to Batavia, send Jacob to Nanyang to recruit soldiers, and then send me to Hailing."

"I have been betrothed to the Bulgarian Crown Prince and Prince of Preslav, Shao Jijun, since I was young, and I am the daughter-in-law of the Shao family. I will personally go to Hailing to pay a visit to His Majesty Shao Quanzhong and ask for Daxia's arms and financial support to revive the Netherlands."

Jacob and Emma were both surprised. Jacob bowed to Emma and said, "Congratulations to the Queen Regent. Your Majesty is young and promising. With the successor of the William family, the Netherlands can be revived. I will do my best for the William family."

The speeding Hague suddenly changed course, deviated from the route to London, cut through the waves, crossed the English Channel, and headed towards the Mediterranean.

……

Twenty days later, on February 2, Hailing, Qiao Garden.

Yali is reporting the latest information about the European war to Shao Quanzhong.

"The three German heavy forces attacked together on January 1. Army Group C had 10 divisions under its command, responsible for launching a feint attack on the McMahon Line. Army Group A had 17 divisions under its command, responsible for breaking through the French defense line between Sedan and Namur and heading straight for the mouth of the Somme."

"Army Group B consists of 28 divisions and is responsible for attacking the Netherlands and Belgium and attracting the main forces of Britain and France."

"The Netherlands put up a fierce resistance, but the combat effectiveness of its army was far inferior to that of the German army. After suffering 10 casualties, the country was destroyed in five days, while the German casualties were less than 3000." "Ten days after the start of the war, the German Second Armored Division reached the Atlantic coast and completed the encirclement of the northern wing of the British and French coalition forces."

"On January 1, Army Group A drove straight to the English Channel. On January 21, Belgium surrendered. 1 elite British and French troops were trapped in a small area in northern France. Only the small town of Dunkirk remained, which was in danger."

"The UK is currently mobilizing the entire country, and all ships are heading to Dunkirk to withdraw troops and preserve their vitality."

Shao Quanzhong looked at the battlefield situation map marked with arrows sent by Le Sen and sighed.

"England and France are really in trouble. The total military strength of both sides is about 300 million, and they are confronting each other in Western Europe. I thought it would be a long war."

"Who would have thought that the war would turn out like this? Only 20 days later, the British and French fronts collapsed."

"Alas, they were frightened by the first European war. The soldiers had no will to fight and the war was a mess. McMahon's ideas were too old-fashioned and he was no match for Schlieffen."

"Germany is full of generals. Without Moltke, there is still Schlieffen. Schlieffen became famous in this battle, and Germany finally avenged its defeat in the first European war. From now on - is Waldersee going to rule Western Europe?"

"Report, the Hague is docked at Hailing Port, and the Dutch Queen Regent Emma is bringing Queen Wilhelmina to seek an audience."

Shao Quanzhong laughed loudly, "Another pair of orphans and widows have come to my doorstep? I'm finally going to reap the first dividends of this European war."

"Yali, help me put on formal clothes and open the main door to welcome me."

The south gate of Qiao Garden was wide open, and Shao Quanzhong, dressed in general's uniform, welcomed guests at the Ji'ao Hall in the south window.

The beautiful hat on the Marshal's uniform covered Shao Quanzhong's sparse hair, making the Marshal look heroic.

The plump Queen Mother Emma stared at Shao Quanzhong with sparkling eyes and licked her lips. "Your Majesty, please help the Netherlands to restore its country. I will grant you any request you have."

Shao Quanzhong shuddered with fear. Queen Mother, you must have heard some rumors. I don't have the hobbies you think. Even if you take a step back, you should have lost some weight before coming here...

"You are my filial mother-in-law. We are relatives. I will definitely support you with all my strength without any conditions."

"Denmark surrendered after only 20 casualties, while the Dutch suffered 10 casualties. This shows that the Dutch are determined to fight to the death and deserve help. What they lack is only manpower, weapons and ammunition. All aid is interest-free loans, and no interest is required. The Queen Mother can rest assured."

Under the disappointed gaze of Queen Mother Emma, ​​Shao Quanzhong ordered a series of troops to provide large-scale aid to the Netherlands.

The four hundred military transport ships that had been prepared immediately weighed anchor and headed for Batavia.

You Sihai, the Minister of Communications in charge of shipping, was personally responsible for the transportation of civilian ships. Fifty 10,000-ton cargo ships and 2,000 civilian transport ships of more than 1,000 tons were requisitioned.

Five million sets of equipment and ammunition obsolete by Daxia were piled up in the Port of Guangzhou and were continuously shipped to Batavia.

Where did these five million sets of equipment come from? They included equipment for all of Daxia’s regular army, reserve forces, vassal states’ armies, surface fleets, and even the air force and rocket forces.

Because of the replacement of StG87 assault rifles and Kar83K rifles, Daxia's original Mauser bolt-action rifles were completely eliminated.

Now even the militia of Daxia are equipped with assault rifles. Governor Ivan in Cyprus is filled with emotion as he has finally gotten rid of all his third-rate equipment...
Five million sets of Daxia's second-hand equipment, including old military uniforms, tents, leather goods, military boots, bullet belts, bandages, engineer shovels, tactical backpacks, old artillery and ammunition, were still popular weapons in the European battlefields and were advanced enough. They were sold to the Dutch at a bargain price of 200 million taels of silver.

At the same time, Daxia allocated 500 million taels of silver as travel expenses for 5 million soldiers to go to Europe.

Adding the transportation cost of 500 million taels, the Netherlands suddenly owed Daxia a huge debt of 1.2 billion taels of silver.

Even though he had lost his homeland, Shao Quanzhong was still able to borrow so much money to restore the country. He was definitely very generous.

You are not worried about having too much debt, so why don’t you care about it? Don’t you have to restore the country first?

During the volcanic eruption disaster, the natives, who had received great favors from the Dutch government, were extremely loyal to the kingdom.

Governor Jacob, who had personally distributed relief to the natives, has returned and is recruiting soldiers himself. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is about to take charge of Batavia. All this makes the natives nervous.

Besides, if one of the natives joins the battle, he can get 100 taels of silver, which is enough to make a native risk his life.

It is estimated that 30 million Nanyang natives can recruit 5 million soldiers, basically all males, and march to Europe.

Yuan Rong'an, who has been staying in Batavia, now has a new mission. The Netherlands has mobilized all the males in the colonies to go to Europe to restore the country. There must be someone to cultivate the land in Southeast Asia, right?
Wang Yongxian mobilized five million able-bodied men from Daxia to help and transported them to Java and Sumatra to help the families of the natives who stayed behind to farm.

Take the silver and go to the front line. Don't worry about your family. I will take care of your wife and children.

On the seas of the Far East, thousands of transport ships were running back and forth, and the largest single troop and immigrant transport in history was taking place simultaneously.

(End of this chapter)