NOVEL NEXT Chapter 647: Changes in Dutch Indonesia
25th October 1659
West Sumatra, Dutch Indonesia
The town of Padang is located on the southern coast of West Sumatra. It's a quiet town with not much activity, and the only thing worth any excitement is the annual fishing sport held by the locals.
Unknown to anyone, this unassuming small town had become the new intelligence operations centre of Bharatiya External Pragya in the Indonesian archipelago. An old man dragged his feet across the bridge atop the Batang Kandis River. The old man's body looked worn out, but his eyes were a different matter altogether. They were very agile and active, definitely not something an old man should possess.
The old man moved slowly, without hurry, but on his way, peculiarly, he dropped a coin into certain houses. He dropped the coins in such a way that if anyone had seen him, they would mistakenly think that the old man had dropped his money and maybe help him out if the people were good-hearted. But once anyone observed the old man for a long time, they would definitely know that things were not as simple as they looked.
The old man would only drop coins into certain houses, while the others he did not. This itself was very suspicious, but fortunately, who would follow an old man around the town to see what he does? What's more, even for the suspicion to appear, they would have to see the old man repeat his tricks at least a few times. How easy it is to see this—the coins the old man dropped were once every few hours. At his walking pace, it would take at least that much to go from one part of the town to another.
The day passed within the blink of an eye.
The old man finally stopped dropping the coins and went home to a dilapidated house in the most densely packed area of the town.
After getting home, the first thing the old man did was to make sure that there was no one in the home, and as soon as he confirmed that, he suddenly started to walk straight. His back, which had been bent throughout the day, stiffened and became straight like that of a young man. Finally, he peeled off the skin he had made from rubber from his face, only to reveal a middle-aged man with a tired appearance.
The man was none other than Jayadeep, the senior intelligence agent of Bharatiya External Pragya tasked with running operations in Dutch Indonesia. After the Bharatiya Empire failed to overthrow the Dutch during the Bharatiya Empire's anti-colonial operations, strict crackdowns were imposed on all the intelligence personnel who made moves during the rebellion.
Bharatiya External Pragya suffered great losses, and in the end, to preserve at least the backbone network, some key personnel had to go into hiding. Jayadeep, being the orchestrator of operations in Indonesia, was naturally among the people who went into hiding.
The places chosen were remote towns that did not have much supervision. Jayadeep chose Padang for the very same reason. It is a town located on the southern coast of Sumatra and also a remote town not cared for by the Dutch.
Knowing that the Navy had occupied two islands a few hundred kilometres off the coast of southern Sumatra, Jayadeep resolutely chose Padang taking the logistics into consideration.
The Bharatiya External Pragya in Dutch Indonesia was barely operational, with the only capabilities being to send and receive some key information to and from the Bharatiya External Pragya Asian headquarters in Andaman.
That was until the Bharatiya Empire's naval net operation took place. After both Henry Casimir II and Captain Hugo Vermeer lost the battle, things began to change for the better.
The Dutch logistics almost came to a halt. They were stranded; they went into self-preservation mode, hiding in their fortresses armed to the teeth. This gave the intelligence department a chance to rise up once again.
Jayadeep, who had not received major orders from the deputy director for a long time, suddenly received orders for a new operation a few days ago. What's more, he was once again appointed as the captain of intelligence for the new operation. He was overjoyed as he felt like he was given another chance to prove his worth.
He had always blamed himself for the failure of the rebellion. "Maybe if I had done things differently, it would have worked out for the better," he thought. But he knew that what had happened had happened; there was no way to change it. So he fully grasped this opportunity like it was his last straw. Ever since then, he began to carefully plan his every move. He worked meticulously to perfect his disguise, and he found a way to use the local rubber trees to mask his face as an old man. He was so determined that, in order to increase his camouflage ability, he even permanently dyed his hair white by constantly soaking it in lemon juice, a strong bleaching agent.
Jaideep took the wheel-lock pistol issued by the Agency in his hand, leaned back on his rocking chair, and quietly fell asleep.
"I have completed my task," he thought to himself, his heart feeling contented.
---
Henry Casimir II paced around his room, gritting his teeth. Things for him had turned from bad to worse. He felt very bad when he was defeated, but he felt like his world had collapsed when Captain Hugo Vermeer was defeated and killed in the battle with the Bharatiyas.
"Sigh!"
Henry Casimir II let out a turbulent breath of air as he understood that Indonesia could no longer be kept. When the rebellion happened a few years ago, the rebels almost succeeded. If not for the secret forces that came to the rescue at the last moment, the Dutch would already have nothing to do with Indonesia.
Noticing this, his cousin William felt that Indonesia could no longer be ruled by the East India Company and sent him to directly control the colony as a governor. Things started to get better; Dutch autonomy in Southeast Asia increased despite the existence of the Bharatiya Empire. But everything finally came to a halt with the two defeats of the Dutch in the Bharatiya Naval Net Operation.
Henry Casimir II was a resolute person. As soon as he realized that he no longer had the foundation to face the Bharatiya Empire in Southeast Asia, he resolutely chose to withdraw.
Currently, Henry Casimir II was utilizing all his connections within the Spanish Empire so that he could retreat back to the Dutch colony in the Americas with the Spanish galleon capable of traversing the Pacific Ocean.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a man dressed in luxurious aristocratic attire entered.
"Your Excellency, we just received a reply from the contact in the Americas."
"He said that he would send a galleon if you can increase the price by 200,000 ducats," the man said, kneeling down on one knee.
Henry's face immediately dropped. "Damn greedy pig," he cursed through gritted teeth. He had already offered a premium price of 300,000 ducats. The greed of the merchant made him furious. "Half a million ducats are enough to buy a few galleons myself," he growled, clenching his fist.
"Who does he think he is?" he roared, fuming with rage.
Then he remembered something. "What about the British or the French? Is no one willing to send a ship?" he asked.
His subordinate shook his head. "Sadly no, sire. Even though they showed the willingness to cooperate and help us out, they are not really capable."
He thought for a while and added, "The British and the French have only recently started the construction of their 2000 tonne ships. In my opinion, according to their efficiency, the best estimates for the ships to be constructed wouldn't be until 1660."
'Tsk!'
Henry was disgruntled. "Alright, promise that Spanish pig we will shove ducats down his throat until he chokes to death, bloody bastard."
Being taken advantage of was not a pleasant feeling. He felt like a mosquito had slipped into his throat, unable to spit it out or swallow it. Thinking about the reason for his current situation, he clenched his fist until it turned white, and his eyes turned red from humiliation and fury. 'I will have my bloody revenge, you bastards from the Bharatiya Empire. I will make you all realize that missing my head is the biggest mistake of the Bharatiya Empire.'
---
While Henry Casimir II was plotting his withdrawal from the colony, unusual activity was happening in Padang.
People started to sneakily pick up the coins dropped at their doorstep and began applying ink to the coin on both sides, pressing it down on the wall.
The coin was nothing special; it was a normal stuiver, the currency of the Dutch. But unknown to anyone, it was counterfeit currency made by the Bharatiya Empire.
When the ink was stamped onto the wall, everything on the coin looked normal, but the people who held the coin knew what to look for.
'1,2,_,3,4_4'
They started to count the dots and dashes in the corner of the coin, which was an encrypted kumar code message. They knew the algorithm to decrypt the code, so they quickly did so in their minds.
"Initiate protocol 43," a man in the dark said.
"Initiate protocol 43," a few blocks away, a murmur was heard.
"Initiate protocol 43," fists were clenched in determination.
Bharatiya External Pragya began to be resurrected within Dutch Indonesia. The information network was once again re-established fully. Agents who went out of contact due to the intelligence net breakage were once again reconnected. Jayadeep, acting as an unassuming old man, once again took control of intelligence activities of Bharatiya External Pragya in Dutch Indonesia.
Collaborators Surapati of Jhawa, Gusti Panji Sakti of Bali, and Sultan Iskandar Jalal, the son of Iskandar Muda, were made aware of the news.
Sultan Iskandar Muda unfortunately passed away as he could not bear the torture of the Dutch when he was caught during the rebellion. However, in his place, his son Skinder Jalal took his place and unified the minds and hearts of the Sultanate of Aceh.