A bird made from metal was flying over fertile land. Of course, that bird actually was an aircraft, specifically a B-25 from the Indonesian Air Force, according to the insignia painted on its body. The fertile land, though, isn't Indonesian or even Dutch, but a land from an unknown country located southwest of them.
"Oh man, look at those buildings, they must be an isolated civilization," commented a pilot.
"Perhaps."
"Hey, you're taking the pictures, right?"
"Yep, taking pictures is complete!"
"Alright, we are going back now, I wonder what the other planes encountered during their flights."
The plane then turned back to the north after finishing its task. Their task is to do a recon by capturing some pictures to know where they are, specifically in Indonesia, currently right now.
Merdeka Palace
Jakarta, Indonesia
26 August 1962
The Merdeka Palace is a Presidential Palace in Indonesia. Previously was a residence for the Dutch Gouverneur General during colonial era and Imperial Japanese Army commanders during the Japanese occupation era, the building is still the same as when it's finished in 1879. Having been used for the first time by Indonesian president on 27 December 1949, it's still being used until now. And currently, a meeting is being held inside of it.
"So gentlemen, we finally had an agreement with the Soviets," said the First Deputy Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Soebandrio.
"And what is the agreement about?" First Deputy Minister and Coordinator of Home Affairs, Sahardjo, asked.
"We and the Soviets, represented by their Ambassador and commander of Group of Soviet Forces in Indonesia, had agreed to supply the Soviet Armed Forces personnel with food and other necessary needs for one year, extending the agreement from only until the Trikora Operation ended. This could be extended if necessary, though."
"Only that?"
"Well, as requested by Mr. President, the Soviets would also need to protect our country from any kind of attack."
"Hmm, sounds good."
"Yeah, of course. Though, the main problem about defense is how we could maintain our armed forces arsenal. I would leave this to Ahmad Yani."
General Ahmad Yani, the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister of Defense and Security, also worked as the Minister and Chief-of-Staff of the Army, stood up.
"Thank you for the time, Mr. Soebandrio."
Then, he sat back and started to prepare the documents he needed.
"It's quite tricky, to be honest. We are talking about different equipment from different countries. We had American aircraft, Soviet aircraft, and even Chinese aircraft, although their aircraft are actually Soviet ones made from licensed production. We also have a Soviet warship, Italian warship, German warship, and eventually, an American warship. The same can be said about our ground forces, of course."
The rooms became so silent as all Ministers began to imagine how there are so many different kinds of equipment in their armed forces.
"So, how long can those equipment be used by us without any new spare parts to come? Because you know, our Industry wasn't ready to produce spare parts for it, for now at least." First Deputy Minister and Coordinator of Production, Soepradjogi, asked.
"Since most of the new spare parts had arrived in June to early August, we won't encounter any problems anytime soon."
"Ah, that's a relief. But still, I'm still curious about what's happening exactly."
After that, some Ministers then began to talk about what actually is happening.
"Based from what we know, this probably happened because we somehow had angered God, no way it's caused by natural disasters or phenomena!" The Minister of Religion, Sjaifuddin Zuchri, expressed his opinion.
One of the Ministers, though, disagreed.
"No, it's probably because we angered one of the Unseen Kingdoms in our country. We are probably moved to their dimension and only can get out from here after we fulfill what they want, like sesajen!"
"What the fuck are you talking about!?"
The situation started to get chaotic as one side said it was caused by God, while the other side argued that it was caused by an Unseen Kingdom.
"Do you remember when the Armed Forces opened a forest as their new bases, that is probably the reason why!"
"No no no, that is absurd!"
"Then what?"
"We had done too many sins, so God is doing this to punish us all! "
Then, the sound of a chair moving can be heard. And someone then stood up and placed his two hands on the table, causing another sound.
"Please stop arguing already, I want to ask a question!" The President and Prime Minister, Soekarno, shouted, making the debates come to an end. After that, Soekarno sat back and drank a glass of water before asking the question.
"Thank you. So, Yani!"
"Yes, Mr. President?"
"If I am not wrong, we had do some reconnaissance missions, right?"
"Yes, that's right!"
"So, did we have the result now?"
"Yes. But, I would leave it to Air Marshall Omar Dhani." Said Yani while looking at the said person.
Dhani then nodded and began to grab some pictures from his bags. Those pictures were then placed on the table, attracting the nearby Ministers to look at them.
"Here are the pictures that we had taken."
The pictures are quite many but organized by where it was located from Indonesia like at West, South, or North. No recon had been done to the East since that would need to pass the Irian airspace, or technically still known as Dutch New Guinea since that territory was still controlled by the Dutch after all.
Soekarno grabbed a picture with a text written on the top right of it, which is read as west. From it, he can see a city with many houses like the one he had encountered during his visit to Japan. There are also many ships there, but the city is on fire. Not only that but there was also some person that was fighting or something. The other photos then made it clear what actually happened.
"So this city is currently at war," He concluded.
"Yes."
Soekarno then looked at the other region, the South. There, he only encountered photos of cities, farmland, harbor, and eventually, oil that was leaking from the surface.
"Seems like this region is rich in resources."
"Yes, and they look so peaceful compared to the one on the west."
"Oh, here is something that I believe you would be interested in." Dhani hands picked a certain photo, then gave it to Soekarno.
The picture he gave was of a crew who was firing his machine gun at a creature that looks like a certain mythical creature.
"Dragon?"
"Yes. Some people said that it was actually a Wyvern but..."
"Let's just put it aside and focus on the other photo for now. Debating about this creature would lead us to nowhere."
"Ah, understood!"
The mention of Dragon caused the other Ministers to wonder what was actually happening and where are they in actually?
But, as Soekarno ordered before, they decided to hold the question and focus on the other matters.
"I think we need to come there and open diplomatic relations with this said country." Soebandrio expressed his opinion.
First Deputy Minister and Coordinator of Distribution, Johannes Leimena also expressed his opinion.
"We also need to import some food if possible, because the intensive farming that had been planned has some problems. "
"What is it? "
"Fertilizer, pesticides, cultivars and some equipment that had been ordered didn't, or better to be said as couldn't, arrive. So then, the aim for rice self-sufficiency couldn't be fulfilled, for the near future at least. Since this said country has a lot of farming land, they could possibly supply us with some rice, or other agricultural products."
"Alright."
The President then looked at the front of him, before finally turning it to Soebandrio.
"Prepare a diplomatic visit to the country to the south of us!"
"Yes, Mr. President!" Soebandrio replies.
But, shortly after that, Soebandrio asked a question,
"What should we do about the Dutch? "
This caused the room to be silent again, as they actually didn't know what they should do about the Dutch. If the Soviets are so willing to cooperate as they didn't have anything in here, the Dutch have their own base and territory, although technically their territory should be under the United Nations Temporary Government. But, because they got transferred just one day after the signing of the New York Agreement, the Dutch then just continued to control it.
Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea
28 August 1962
The capital city of Dutch New Guinea. Both native or Dutch people continue to do their daily lives, although the fact that half of the Island goes disappears. Inside a military base, a Dutch soldier reported to his superior.
"That's all!" The soldier ended his report.
"Alright, you can go now," said the superior.
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The soldier saluted at him, which he returned. After that, the soldier left the office. As the soldier disappeared from his vision, he then looked again at the report.
"So even Australia, huh?"
His right hand moved to take the report and started to read it again from the very beginning.
The sound of the door opening distracted his attention, causing him to immediately look at who it was. Then, what showed in his vision is a person with an Admiral uniform.
"Ah, Admiral Visser. Do you have something to talk about?"
Visser took a hat from his head to the chest first, before he answered the question. Then, take a deep breath.
"Yes. The situation is beginning to get worse."
"Yeah, I know, we know."
The sudden loss of contact with the rest of the world caught the Dutch authorities and military off guard. Most of them don't know what is actually happening and what they should do. So for now, the Dutch are just doing what they usually do and doing some recon operations.
"Luckily, the spare parts and new ammunition that got sent in mid of July are still unused so, maybe we could survive a bit longer."
"You are talking like we would go to war."
"Just in case, who knows if Indonesia went the mad route or not?"
"Well, it's probably the Soviet. But, I don't know, maybe you are right. So, what is the bad situation that you want to talk about?"
"Follow me, Amstel."
The officer called Amstel was confused for a while. But he didn't mind it too much and followed Visser to the outside.
What appears on the outside is still the same as before. Except for the fact that the conscripts who were sent here cannot hide their anxieties. One of the conscripts turned his head to them, then walked towards both of them, using all of his strengths to hide his anxiety.
"Sir, can I ask a question?"
"Yes, you can," Visser replied.
"Will we be able to go home?"
A simple question, yet, they didn't know the answer at all. Previously, they had tried to throw some rocks into the water that previously was the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, in case it was an illusion. But, all of those rocks just went through the water and drowned, proving that their neighbors just disappeared. That was supported by the aerial recon too.
"If we can finally contact Den Haag, then surely we can go home," Van Amstel answered him with a smile.
"Dank Je!"
The conscripted soldier then went back to his friends with a bit happier face. Little did he know that actually, until now, they cannot contact Den Haag at all.
Visser and Van Amstel then entered a car and went to a government office, the Gouverneur of Dutch New Guinea office to be exact. Located not far from their base, it just takes some minutes, helped by the empty road.
"Good morning, Gouverneur Platteel!" Both of them saluted the Gouverneur.
"Good morning to you two!"
Gouverneur Platteel then gave a signal to come close. So then, both of them then walked to the Gouverneur work desk as ordered.
"Here are the latest messages we received from the Indonesian."
"What is that message about?" Amstel asked.
"The messages, in short saying, we had do some searching operations and conduct reconnaissance missions in the north, west, and south. There is nothing in the north but a sea of water, while in the west there are some unknown islands. And in the south, there is a huge landmass with fertile land."
"Only that?"
"Well, no. They also want to negotiate about something."
Van Amstel, somehow, have a strange feeling about that.
"Negotiation about what?"
"They want a cooperation between the two of us in defense and security, but also accelerate the transfer of power of New Guinea to them."
"What?" Amstel couldn't hide his shock after he heard that.
"Okay, what the... I mean, couldn't they wait until 1969 as both of us had already agreed to?" Amstel said with a calm tone.
"I don't know, but they want New Guinea back by 17 August 1965."
"Ah, I understand."
17 August is the day when the Indonesian got their independence. So having New Guinea back on that date would be a perfect moment for celebrating their 20 Years of Independence Anniversary.
"Well, we had a solid and legal backup for that, so we can reject their negotiations about the transfer." Visser argued by mentioning their backup, the New York Agreement.
"I understand. Let's hope that the Indonesian didn't go that way."
After Platteel said that, Amstel turned his head to the right and looking at Visser.
"Maybe you are right about that."
"Haha, I'm just joking. The Indonesian are still sane, it's just the Soviet Union who was always pushing them to attack us." Platteel laughed as both of the military officers became worried about the Indonesian attack.
"Ah, then that's a relief. Damn you."
"Sorry Admiral Visser. Here, take some drink while you two are in here."
Platteel said as he began to took some glass and a bottle of wine from his cupboard.
"Ah, thank you then."
Both Amstel and Visser then take a seat in front of the desk while Platteel pours the wine into the glass.
Jakarta, Indonesia
30 August 1962
The people of Jakarta are still doing their normal activities as they don't know what is actually happening. They don't feel anything wrong or different after all. Streets are still rarely full of private vehicles like usual, but full of civilians walking or using public transportation like buses.
A man who had just gotten out of the traditional market walked along the roads. Then, he stopped as he looked at a newspaper seller. There are some different newspapers on there but, his eyes only focus on three:
Angkatan Bersenjata, published by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia with the main title, "The New Soviet-Indonesia Treaty Greatly Strengthened our National Security"
Harian Rakjat, published by the Communist Party of Indonesia with their main title, "The Dutch Colonists Has Refused to Talk With the Government"
And finally, Antara, published by the Government owned agency where the main title is, "Mysterious Bird Entered Banten Airspace, People's Said It's Like A Dragon"
The man then thought for a while before saying, "Antara, please."
The seller then takes one and gives it to the man while saying, "16 Rupiah."
"Wait what? The last time I bought one, it was only cost 10 Rupiah!"
"Sir, that is a price of at least 4 months ago. Well, you can blame it on inflation."
"Inflation....what is that?"
The seller got confused by why the man asked that question. But then, he looked at the man's clothes from the up to bottom. He then nodded when he understood why the man in front of him asked that question.
"Seems like you are coming from villages."
"Yeah, so why?"
"Eh, nothing. Honestly, I don't know how to explain to you what inflation is, but just take it as something that makes the price rise because the government printed too much money."
"Okay but, isn't that a good thing?"
"Well, actually no."
The man didn't understand why, but he just nodded before he went away.
Notes
1. Unseen Kingdom is a supernatural country reside in another dimension, they're usually acting calm as long as humans didn't disturbe them.There are many known Unseen Kingdoms in Indonesia. Some are located under the ocean, on a mountain, or in a forest. The most popular one is the South Sea Kingdom located on the Indian Ocean, or the south of Java Island to be exact, sometimes also extended to the south of Bali Island. The Kingdom is led by Queen Nyai Roro Kidul, a former Princess of Sunda Pajajaran.
2. Sesajen are food and other objects, such as flowers and incense, that are offered in symbolic religious ceremonies to communicate with supernatural powers. The activity of presenting this dish is called offering. The supernatural powers could be God, gods, goddesses, ghosts, genie, or even demons.
Equipment Used
1. North American B-25 Mitchell