could leave Java, the second Dutch offensive was launched on 19 December. The Indonesian government in Yogyakarta fell the same day, with both Sukarno and Hatta being captured and exiled to Bangka. After being informed of Yogyakarta's fall by Colonel , Sjafruddin was initially unable to believe that the Indonesian government would collapse so quickly and that both President Sukarno and Hatta had been captured. He was also initially uncertain of the authenticity of the news, and of his legal authority to form a government. With the fall of Yogyakarta, Sjafruddin convened a meeting with local Republican officials such as Teuku Muhammad Hasan and Mohammad Nasroen, but their meeting was cut short by Dutch aircraft flying low over the city. In order to evade the Dutch attacking Bukittinggi, he retreated further inland, towards the town of Halaban, where he was joined by a number of Republican officials and military leaders. There he eventually announced the formation of the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI) on 22 December, with himself as head. The PDRI further announced the formation of a commissariat in Java, which was to be headed by Republican leaders who had evaded capture such as Soekiman Wirjosandjojo and Ignatius Joseph Kasimo Hendrowahyono. As the leader of the emergency government, Sjafruddin was given a mandate to form a government in-exile by Sukarno, but opted to use the title "Head" instead of "President", as the mandate had not reached him by 22 December. In addition to Head of Government, the emergency cabinet also had Sjafruddin as the minister of defense, foreign affairs, and information. Still on 22 December, Dutch forces captured Bukittinggi and Payakumbuh, threatening the PDRI at Halaban and convincing them to withdraw further. Shortly after the pronouncement, Sjafruddin's group left Halaban, with the military leadership heading north towards Aceh. Sjafruddin and the civilian leadership had initially planned to move to Pekanbaru, but Dutch air attacks, difficult roads, and Dutch capture of a number of towns along the route compelled the group to briefly split up at Sungai Dareh, then regroup at the village of Bidar Alam, near Jambi. Sjafruddin arrived there on 9 January 1949, and the split groups caught up in the following weeks. While in Bidar Alam, he used a generator-powered radio transmitter of the Indonesian Air Force to maintain contact with both the international world (for example, congratulating Jawaharlal Nehru for his inauguration as