Chapter Twelve Advance
The first choice of advance base for the South Pacific Federation Republic was the Southeastern Islands between former Indonesia and Australia - Nusa Tenggara Islands.
This archipelago includes two island arcs stretching from Bali in the west to Timor in the east, with a total length of approximately 1,600 km and a total area of 88,488 square kilometers.
There are about 20 active volcanoes and strong earthquakes.
Here has a dry and rainy season, ethnic and biological species have Malaysian and Australian components.
Nusa Tenggara is divided into three provinces: Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
It includes the major islands of Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Alor and Timor.
The primary target of the South Moluccan Republic was East Timor.
Viqueque Plateau, located in the easternmost part of Timor Island, is the largest flat terrain area, with an elevation that gradually decreases southward from 700 meters to 500 meters, but due to its vastness, it is not easily noticeable.
This atoll is mainly composed of large coral rocks, and it is surrounded by three other atolls: Nai in the north, Raro in the northwest, and Leru in the south.
The northern part of the island also has some flat lands of varying sizes, with a larger one located in Bacao, where a small airport is built.
Another is in Ragga, also formed by coral rock, and therefore, despite its vast area, the land is barren and difficult to cultivate.
In addition, there are also some alluvial plains between Lauten and Bacao.
Other smaller plains include Marudi and Lawas.
The southern coast of Timor has a number of broad plains, beginning from Viqueque, even the narrowest part of Laleia is wider than those in the north. The most important one is Aileu, where the south Laclo River flows through.
The northern coast of Timor is mostly steep-to and plunges abruptly into the sea, with very rough edges, making it difficult to find a suitable place for a port.
The coastline faces the Pacific Ocean, with calm waters, and is called "Women's Sea" by locals. However, the depth of the sea increases rapidly after leaving the coast, and at 10 kilometers offshore, the water depth has already exceeded 1,000 meters.
The northern coast of Timor has the Wetar Strait and the Ombai Strait, which are important sea lanes.
Its width can guarantee that nuclear submarines often come and go here, and the depth of water here guarantees its concealment, which is enough to illustrate the importance of this channel's strategic position.
The only suitable place for a port on the island of Timor is Dili, where coral reefs have mitigated the disadvantages of the terrain and formed two natural entrances.
In addition, Pakokku and Okpo can also serve as ports with relatively shallow water, but the latter is vulnerable to attacks from the northwest monsoon.
The south coast of Timor has no suitable sites for ports.
Timor Island is located at the easternmost end of the Nusa Tenggara Islands (Lesser Sunda Islands), resembling a short sword with its blade facing south towards the Arafura Sea in the Indian Ocean, and to the north embedded in the Banda Sea and the Wetar Strait of the Pacific Ocean.
The Nusa Tenggara Islands are the natural continuation of two island arcs east-southeast of the Malay Peninsula, forming the northern barrier to Australia.
This is commonly known as the Malay Archipelago, also called the East Indies or Indonesian Archipelago, and includes the Philippine Islands, the Greater Sunda Islands and the Molucca Islands.
Geologically, most of the South Pacific Islands are part of a mountain-building zone that forms the southern edge of Asia and is an extension of the Himalayan orogenic belt, which remains active today.
This active orogen extends from Sumatra in the west, then eastwards through Java, Bali and Timor, looping around the Banda Sea before turning northwest through Sulawesi and northwards to the Philippines.
A curved arc of large islands is formed along the line, with many volcanoes on the arc, a trench outside the arc, and an earthquake zone below it. It is the intersection of the Eurasian, Indo-Australian, and Pacific plates, with complex geological conditions. The islands are rich in mineral resources and oil, which is also due to their complex geographical location.
Surrounded by the mainland and islands, Timor Island is rarely affected by typhoons, tsunamis and other disasters despite being in the ocean, but earthquakes occur frequently.
During the Age of Exploration, this was one of the Spice Islands that many navigators yearned for, famous for its abundant sandalwood and sandalwood incense.
However, many challenges remain for the advancing troops of the Federal Republic of South Huaxia. Timor Island still lacks the basic infrastructure framework necessary for economic development, such as transportation, communication, energy, and even clean water supply.
The island has no manufacturing industry and all industrial products are completely dependent on imports. The few processing industries that exist are only at the level of handicraft workshops.
East Timor's economy is generally considered to be an agricultural one, with about 90% of the population classified as agriculturalists. However, East Timor does not have any large-scale agriculture and cannot produce enough food for itself. The country produces limited quantities of maize, rice, cassava and other crops, which are also of poor quality.
Agriculture was once the pride of Timor, with coffee, rubber and sandalwood known as the "Three Treasures of Timor", but now sandalwood has been almost completely logged out.
While rubber production has stagnated due to aging varieties and backward planting techniques, the quality has also been declining.
At present, coffee may be East Timor's only export product, accounting for ninety percent of the country's total production value.
East Timor is surrounded by sea on all sides but has no real fishing industry, only some coastal catches.
Sumba Island is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.
It is bordered by the Savu Sea to the east and separated from Sumba Island and Flores Island by the Sumba Strait to the north.
Length 24 kilometers, width 80 kilometers, area 14,000 square kilometers, population approximately 2.5 million.
Most areas are 600-1,000 meters above sea level, with the highest being Songba Peak, which is 1,340 meters high.
Most of the rivers in Songba Island are unnavigable, with narrow coastal plains along the coast and abundant rainfall.
The 17th to 19th centuries were the production areas of important tropical trees such as sandalwood and cinnamon, and was once known as Sandalwood Island. Now only a small amount remains in the interior.
Sumba Island is famous for breeding high-quality horses. In addition, it also produces corn, rice, coffee, tobacco, fruit and other crops.
The northern coast of Sumba Island has a good harbour at Waingapu which serves as an administrative centre and has a good anchorage and airport.
As early as the 1950s, when Sukarno was in power in Indonesia, a large-scale independence movement broke out in East Timor.
For this reason, the Indonesian central government sent troops to suppress it, and this move was immediately considered an invasion by the United Nations.
In December 1959, at the suggestion of the representative of the Federation of South Africa to the United Nations, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Indonesia to withdraw its troops from Timor and urging all countries to respect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Timor and the inalienable right of self-determination of its people.
Afterwards, the Associated Universities also reviewed the Timor issue several times.
On February 4, 1960, the Indonesian government, under strong external pressure, announced that it would allow East Timor a wide autonomy, to establish independent political parties, hold independent elections for parliament and provincial governors, and have its own flag while retaining the Indonesian national flag.
This weak policy allowed East Timor to see a glimmer of victory.
On August 30, East Timor held a popular consultation under the auspices of the United Nations, in which 78.5% of East Timorese voted in favor of independence.
This result made Indonesian people extremely angry and accused Sukarno of incompetence.
This incident also tolled the funeral bell for Sukarno's downfall. From then on, the Sukarno government became increasingly disunited and its prestige declined day by day.
Of course, all of this is nothing unusual for Ben Zhuan. After all, this is his specialty.
At the same time, the 2nd Marine Brigade of the South Huah Federation Republic has made combat preparations, and a new fleet composed of two escort carriers is also ready to go.
Due to the change of ownership, the 2 escort carriers, 3 destroyers, 6 frigates, and 3 Victory-class transports originally purchased from the United States, plus a new large landing ship, have all been incorporated into the Coastal Navy of the South Huah Republic.
The current naval power of the South Huafederation Republic has become the second largest surface force in this region, next only to the US Pacific Fleet.
For East Timor's independence, many people thought this was a war between democracy and dictatorship, a liberation war for national issues.
In fact, this war is being fought under the guise of independence for control over natural gas.
East Timor has rich natural gas reserves underground and its surrounding waters have rich oil resources.
Investigations have already shown that it will be a second Kuwait.
Experts from the South Huaxia Federation Research Institute have been studying this for a long time, so the government of the South Huaxia Federation has secretly signed a large and long-term contract with the soon-to-be-established government of Timor.
The Federal Republic of South Huaxia openly supported East Timorese independence and sent troops into the territory at the earliest opportunity, claiming to protect local residents.
Man will not live by bread alone, and the South Huaxia Federation Republic would not easily send its own sons to do selfless deeds.
They controlled the situation in East Timor and therefore also controlled East Timor's natural gas and oil.
East Timor has a population of only 800,000. What's the point of independence? Anyone with any sense can see that there must be another story behind this, especially for Westerners and Australians who are furious at Xanana Gusmao's greed.
As the first ambassador of East Timor to South Vietnam, Zhang Fenxia highly praised the practices of South Vietnam.
"About 90% of Timor's industry is agriculture, and most people rely on the heavens for food. The government of South China Federation knew that our country had a poor harvest this year, so they specially provided 500,000 tons of rice. This kind act really makes us extremely grateful."
On the occasion of the anniversary of East Timor's restoration of independence, Zhang Fenxia delivered a speech, recounting major events in the history of diplomatic relations between China and East Timor:
East Timor will voluntarily join the Federation of Australia after independence.
After independence, the federal government also helped build the East Timorese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidential Palace.
In addition, the Ministry of National Defense, the office building of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Friendship School also started construction one after another.
Experts from the South China Federation carried out a hybrid rice planting demonstration project in Timor to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people of Timor.
In addition, under the coordination of the South China Federation, the medical teams and peacekeeping forces provided by various republics within the federation also greatly helped the people of Timor.
"East Timor will take the Federation as a model, and regard the Federation as its own motherland." Zhang Fenxia firmly believes that "under the careful cultivation of the leaders of the Federation and the joint efforts of both sides, the Republic of East Timor will be reborn."
