Empire Rising: Spain

It must be admitted that although these indigenous people lack combat power, once they scatter and flee, it’s quite difficult to catch them again.

The vast area of Borneo, with its generally flat periphery and elevated central terrain, becomes a haven for them. The battlefield between the Lanfang Republic and the Kutai Sultanate is in the central mountainous region, making the indigenous people’s escape into the mountains unexpectedly faster.

Though the Lanfang people have lived here for a long time, they can’t match the indigenous people who grew up in the mountains. This has led to several wars where even though the Kutai Sultanate suffered heavy losses, the Lanfang Republic didn’t inflict many enemy casualties.

Of course, even though most of these fleeing soldiers have escaped, it’s unlikely for the Kutai Sultanate to rally them again against Lanfang.

After rounds of bombardment, these indigenous soldiers were scared out of their wits. Let alone continuing the resistance against Lanfang, they were reluctant to return to the army.

If the Kutai Sultanate is in dire straits, then the Dutch East India Colony Government is also shooting itself in the foot.

Instigating conflicts between the Kutai Sultanate, Sarawak Kingdom, and the Lanfang Republic was part of the East Indies Colony’s plan to probe Spain’s support for Lanfang and to test the strength of the new Lanfang army.

Unexpectedly, Spain’s support for the Lanfang Republic was substantial, and the new Lanfang army indeed had formidable strength.

The East Indies Colony now finds itself in a dilemma, unable to find a solution without hurting itself.

Lanfang’s counterattacks are visibly intense, with their intentions towards Kutai, Sultanate clear as day.

If they retreat now, the Kutai Sultanate would fall into Spain’s sphere of influence, leaving the Netherlands with only a small portion of land in the southernmost part of Borneo, less than what the Spaniards later seized.

But if they do not retreat, the colonial government would have to take a great risk to battle with the Lanfang people.

The 20,000 new troops trained by the Spaniards demonstrate strong combat capabilities, and even if they are not as proficient as the Netherlands’ regular army, they are beyond comparison to these colonial troops.

How much would it cost the colonial government to thoroughly defeat this 20,000 strong Lanfang new army?

If the losses were severe, wouldn’t the Spaniards supporting Lanfang be laughing themselves silly? So far, Spain hasn’t deployed a single soldier in this conflict.

If the Netherlands suffers losses against the Lanfang Republic, how can it resist further harassments and invasions from the Spaniards?

After all considerations, the East Indies Colony has no good solution and can only hand over this mess to the Dutch Government to resolve.

When the Dutch Government received the news, King William III was infuriated, cursing the East Indies Colony Governor as a useless troublemaker for the Netherlands.

Despite the fierce competition between the Netherlands and Spain for new Guinea colonies, the Dutch Government dares not offend Spain, at least not proactively.

If Belgium were still part of the Netherlands, William III might permit the colonial government to actively test Spain’s stance. But the problem is, the current Netherlands is left only with its homeland and Luxembourg, with a population only one-fifth of Spain’s.

For William III, he only wants to see the Dutch throne safely passed down without any unexpected incidents during this period.

Offending Spain at this time is something William III absolutely does not want, let alone the East Indies Colony Government proactively provoking Spain.

Isn’t this giving Spain an excuse to attack? Now, with the Lanfang people launching a counter-offensive under Spain’s support, should the Netherlands invest large sums of money, manpower, and resources to intervene in this war for a small Kutai Sultanate?