Chapter 3664
November 1658, Hambantota Port, Ceylon Island. The continuous rain for many days has shrouded the entire port in a hazy fog. It can be vaguely seen that the docks in the port are almost full of large and small warships. This is an extremely rare busy phenomenon since the opening of the port.
Although it is almost the end of the year, there is no sign of winter in Hambantota Port, which is located near the equator. In fact, this place only has two seasons of rain and drought a year, and at this time, it is in the middle of the winter. During the transition period from the rainy season to the dry season, weather conditions are extremely unstable.
Although the weather is not ideal, the preparations for the departure of the Special Warfare Division's amphibious fleet have entered the countdown stage.
Six ships from Xingdao have also arrived here successfully. In addition to bringing a batch of urgently needed supplies for the special warfare division, Tan Tianlei also brought a document signed by the Executive Committee.
The content of this document is to officially confirm that the stronghold established by the Special Operations Division on Ceylon Island has become part of the Haihan overseas territory, and the place has been renamed Hamban Port.
All military and political affairs in Hanban Port are temporarily managed by the special warfare division. When the time is right in the future, Haihan will dispatch civil affairs officers to take over the government affairs.
The attitude expressed by the Executive Committee through this document was basically what Qian Tiandun expected. This place was originally a trophy obtained by the Special Operations Division, and the early construction was completed through self-reliance. The Executive Committee recognized that this place was under the jurisdiction of the Special Operations Division, which was also recognition of this contribution.
As for whether this place will be brought under the jurisdiction of the Executive Committee in the future, the probability depends on the expansion speed of the special operations division in the Indian Ocean region.
Currently, the Special Warfare Division only occupies two small areas in the Indian Ocean. It is difficult to sustain itself, let alone how much fiscal revenue it generates. Whoever is in charge has to put money into it for development. Smart executive committee members I will definitely not be in a hurry to take back the power of governance at this time.
Perhaps in the future, there will be more places flying the Haihan flag along the Indian Ocean. When the executive committee plans to establish a special overseas region, it will be logical to bring these areas under its control and start collecting taxes.
When the time comes, whether to hand it over to Qian Tiandun or the children of the Qian family, or to find someone else, is a matter of taking advantage of the situation and happening naturally. There is no need to make a decision at this stage.
Qian Tiandun is also well aware of this trend. He knows that if he wants to become the future governor of the Indian Ocean Region, he must occupy more areas as soon as possible and establish a territory with a certain size and population. Only basic jurisdictions are eligible to apply to the Executive Committee to establish overseas regions.
During the preparation meeting before departure, Qian Tiandun also took the initiative to ask Tan Tianlei about Xingdao's progress in the southern New World.
Tan Tianlei smiled bitterly and said: "To be honest with my uncle, although our construction in the New World in the South is going smoothly, the progress is still very slow. The reason is that the place is too far away! The time spent on the way there and back The amount of money and materials is not small, and the transportation cost is much higher than sending it to you.”
"But the matter has already begun, so we can only grit our teeth and continue to do it. Fortunately, it is so remote that there are no competitors or pirates, and there is no need to invest in heavy maintenance, so we can allocate warships to join the special warfare division. Action. "
The difficulties mentioned by Tan Tianlei were actually anticipated by Roger and Tan Juren before they chose the New World as their expansion direction. It's just that the actual situation may be more difficult than they expected.
The voyage from Xingdao to Swan Port in the New World is more than 8,000 miles long. It takes an ordinary sailing ship about half a month to complete the one-way journey. The one-way trip takes at least more than a month. This is basically the same as Xingdao. The route to Hangzhou is quite similar. The route connecting Hangzhou is a popular trade route, and the ships will not run out when going back and forth, and they can often make considerable profits. However, the route from Xingdao to the New World is simply to deliver goods. Not only is there no income, but the return trip is almost empty, and the freight has to be subsidized by the Xingdao authorities.
This situation of occupying precious transportation capacity for a long time without immediate benefits is indeed a very difficult situation for Xingdao, whose family is not particularly wealthy.
Although there are many valuable mineral deposits in the New World, given the current local population base, it is necessary to prioritize the implementation of infrastructure projects in colonial settlements and the cultivation of wasteland to plant food crops. Only in this way can local materials be self-sufficient as soon as possible and can be produced without excessive supply. It operates while relying on Star Island.
As for the mining that the Xingdao authorities are looking forward to, at this stage, only preliminary exploration work can be carried out, and formal mining and smelting is still far away.
“We know where the mines are buried, and we know how to mine them and how to smelt them, but we just don’t have enough manpower to realize these plans.”
When it comes to mining development in the New World, Tan Tianlei’s There was even a look of helplessness on his face.
Mining is an industry that requires a lot of manpower, and this is precisely the shortcoming of the New World colonies. The movement of immigrants into the region is ongoing, but the labor force is still far from the level required for large-scale mining.
Of course, this will inevitably affect the progress of Xingdao's transportation of immigrants to the special warfare division's jurisdiction, but Qian Tiandun does not intend to complain to his nephews and descendants like Tan Tianlei.
He understood that Roger and Tan Tianlei preferred to occupy an area in the southern New World that was rich in products and did not need to be shared with other people. As long as the development is successful, the long-term benefits will definitely be higher than the Indian Ocean region, which needs to be divided half and half with the special warfare division.
And the progress on the Indian Ocean side seems to be equally far-off. After settling the colonies in the southern New World first, and then turning back to assist the special warfare division, it seems to be a safe plan to benefit both sides.
What Qian Tiandun has to do now is to use practical actions to inform Xingdao that the special warfare division will not wait for too long. Even without Xingdao's participation and assistance, the special warfare division's westward plan It will still be implemented resolutely.
Of course, if Xingdao is absent, then the subsequent achievements of the special warfare division will not be attributed to Xingdao.
Three days after Tan Tianlei arrived at Hanban Port, as soon as all preparations were made, Qian Tiandun announced his departure and began an exploration of the western Indian Ocean.
Qian Tiandun’s goal is to establish a direct route from Hanban Port to the Gulf of Aden in the western Indian Ocean. However, in the specific exploration stage, he must take this opportunity to find out the situation along the coast of this sea area. Eliminate external factors that may threaten this route in the future as early as possible.
Of course, the other purpose is to show force to all forces in the region and intimidate Xiao Xiao. The amphibious fleet of the special warfare division plus the six ships that Xingdao came to participate in the operation, a huge fleet of more than 30 ships in total, can be regarded as one of the best maritime armed forces in this region.