Chapter 201 Target, Siam (first update, please subscribe)
Although there are no prisoners, the reconstruction of the city still needs to be implemented.
What was rebuilt was not a city, but a science city.
While the troops continued to attack Kota Kinabalu, construction of a new city started on a plateau with an altitude of about 1,700 meters, more than 60 kilometers southeast of Sandakan.
The so-called new city is actually the working and living residence of experts and scholars, or it can be called a "science city". In Li Yi'an's plan, in the future, universities in Borneo will also be built here to make full use of Academic advantages of Science City.
The reason why we chose to build the Science City here is mainly because of the weather. The annual temperature here is around 22°C. As early as before the war, it was a summer resort for senior officials and dignitaries of the North Borneo Company. It is located in an alpine meadow covering an area of more than 70 square kilometers. Dozens of villas of high-ranking officials and dignitaries are scattered among the mountains, and there is even a road leading from Sandakan to the plateau.
Compared to the hot Sandakan, there is no place more suitable than here. Experts, scholars and students can enjoy the fresh and cool climate on the plateau here, which saves on air conditioning. .
Although the highway is not spacious, with the highway, construction is possible.
So, while the engineering corps stationed in the alpine meadows and built residential communities and laboratories there, Sandakan also began to carry out large-scale construction projects. The reconstruction of the city provided job opportunities for the overseas Chinese in the city, allowing them to In order to support their families, it was not just the city that was rebuilt, but also large industrial areas were planned. After all, industry is the foundation of the future of Borneo. There are still tens of thousands of machines and equipment in North Africa waiting to be shipped to these factories.
Although Li Yi'an used the Lend-Lease Act to apply for a large amount of steel, cement and other building materials from the United States on the grounds of combat needs, what restricted the reconstruction of North Borneo was not materials, but people.
Especially with the arrival of the first batch of German experts and the start of large-scale planning and construction, problems followed one after another.
In order to solve the problem of insufficient labor force, the recruitment department even had to hire a large number of female workers. Even so, it could not fundamentally solve the problem. After all, Sandakan only has a population of a few hundred thousand. Such a small population is simply a drop in the bucket for a region that wants to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction.
"People, now all construction sites need people. Over there in the industrial zone, there are hundreds of thousands of square meters of factory buildings planned, but there are only more than 1,000 construction workers. Chief Li, the most important thing now is to solve the problem of manpower."
Once again, in the chief’s office, Helga, an engineer from Germany, said loudly.
"Chief Li, without anyone, your planned industrial zone and all other plans are zero! A big zero! In the end, they are all in vain."
Helga, well, is also a war criminal and is on the wanted list. He was the assistant to the Imperial Architect and Arms Minister Speer. Speer's greatest achievement was to maintain military production at a very high level under Allied bombing. Among them, Helga and others played a great role. They presided over the reconstruction of the factory and the allocation of materials.
And now, these people have come to Borneo, and they are happily engaging in their new work with enthusiasm.
What’s the first thing you face?
It’s almost the same as in Germany, it’s also manpower.
“Chief Li, manpower, if we don’t solve the manpower problem, everything is just talk!”
"Yes, Chief Li, the foundations of important power plants have not even been dug yet. Considering the demand for electricity in the next year, unless we find another hundred power generation vehicles, it will be difficult to obtain electricity in the local area. Especially after the factory starts to operate, the demand for electricity will only be greater."
Faced with the demands put forward by the experts, Li Yian said.
“Don’t worry, gentlemen, the manpower problem will not be a problem soon. Soon, more than 100,000 workers will arrive. The Allied forces have just regained Yangon. The labor we recruited will We will come from Yangon in the shortest time..."
When it comes to the shortest time, Li Yian also feels helpless... The so-called shortest time is for people coming from Yangon , you need to take a boat around Australia and take the Pacific Ocean to reach Borneo. There is no way. Malacca is still under the control of the Japanese.
In the following meeting, they once again discussed the urban planning of Sandakan. After all, as the future capital, a proper urban planning is always needed. Only with good urban planning can we have a better future.
What subway?
The Ring Expressway.
These are the minimum standard features, and of course there are multiple light rail lines into the city. After all, future urban commuting will depend on light rail. Even with the subway, nuclear weapons need to be taken into consideration. After all, during the war, the subway was an air defense facility. Even if there are no nuclear weapons at the moment, the structural strength of the subway needs to be strengthened in the name of being able to defend against heavy bombs.
A meeting lasted for several hours. After dozens of German experts left, Li Yian looked at the planning map in front of him. These people who had participated in the formulation of "Germania" "The urban planning architects and engineers came up with an urban construction plan for Sandakan in a very short period of time. The overall planning area is 200 square kilometers, including 100 square kilometers of urban construction area and 100 square kilometers. square kilometers of suburban areas. The urban planning is divided into three phases: the first phase takes four years, and the original planned construction area is 20 square kilometers to accommodate a population of 500,000. The second phase lasts four years. The third phase is the million population plan, which is the long-term plan of the third phase project.
For a small town with a population of only tens of thousands, this plan is indeed very ambitious. Although it is not as incredible as "Germania", it is better than reality. It has to be said that after these people left Germany, they became realist.
But urban planning and industrial planning all require manpower.
Without people, everything is empty talk.
Even now, even if all the domestically recruited workers are shipped over, it will still take more than half a year. After all, those workers need to travel halfway around the world.
“We should try to shorten the voyage as much as possible!”
Staring at the map, which showed the long route from Yangon to Australia, then from the east coast of Australia via the Pacific Ocean, via the Philippines and into Borneo, Li Yi'an frowned.
Although I have never experienced this route, this route is not a peaceful route. First of all, it needs escort. Without escort, it is very likely to become the target of Japanese submarines - Japanese submarines. It is still very active. Although the number is not large, it has still achieved some results.
Staring at the map, Li Yian suddenly set his sights on another country next to Myanmar.
Thailand!
“What if we go through Thailand?”
Walking to the map, Li Yi'an drew a line on the Mekong River with his finger. The part in China is called Lancang River. Before the Anti-Japanese War, a large number of Chinese ships transported supplies directly to Saigon through the Mekong River. It was even one of the international transportation lines in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.
Although Saigon is still under Japanese occupation, Thailand... still maintains its independence.
No, Thailand is an ally of Japan!
Before the Pacific War, Thailand had carried out military cooperation with Japan. Even during World War II, the Japanese army stationed in Thailand. However, this guy was a complete wallflower. On the one hand, he was betting on Japan, and on the other hand, he was betting on the United States. . At that time, Japan wanted to pass through Thailand to attack Burma. Thailand not only gave the Japanese army the green light, but also sent troops to help the Japanese army transport supplies. In this way, Thailand acquired Myanmar Kengtung and Malay State afterwards and enriched itself. Later, as the United States' investment increased, Japan's defeat was determined, and Thailand suddenly chose to switch sides and declare war on Japan. And what is the most outrageous operation? Just the day after Japan announced its surrender, the Thai government announced that Thailand's previous declaration of war against the United States was invalid.
Is there still such an operation?
Of course, Thailand has not yet defected, but domestic dissatisfaction and anti-Japanese sentiment are at an all-time high in Thailand, and the Phibun government collapsed in August last year. Now that Japan has suffered a defeat in Burma, it can only retreat to Thailand. The Japanese army built a large number of fortifications in Thailand and issued multiple expropriation orders in an attempt to make a final stand when the balance of the war completely tipped towards the Allies.
But this is just a desperate struggle. Soon, the Allies will launch an attack on Thailand.
"Thailand..."
Mumbling about this little Japanese ally, my fingers drew a line between Thailand and Borneo.
Li Yian raised the corners of his mouth and muttered to himself.
"Okay, Thailand...it's you next!"
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(End of this chapter)