Chapter 82, Summer in the Equatorial Ocean (Part 2)
At the same time, in the north of Guadalcanal, wrapped in a long strip of "trough sea" waters by the Solomon Islands, on the majestic giant ship "Ocean Oasis" with a displacement of 300,000 tons, our protagonist Wang Qiu also While using a telescope to watch the tropical scenery of Guadalcanal in the distance, I looked at the maps, photos and documents on the table about the South Pacific islands occupied by the Japanese army in this time and space.
——As a super ship with unprecedented tonnage, equivalent to four Yamato battleships, the draft of the "Ocean Oasis" is too deep, and it cannot dock on the piers of these small island fishing ports, or even get too far away from the coastline of the islands. close, otherwise there is a risk of being stranded on the rocks.
On the other hand, Wang Qiu had long been tired of seeing beaches, coral reefs, coconut trees and tropical fish after living on a coral island in the South China Sea in the main plane for so long. He had no interest in the tropical scenery on Guadalcanal. I was quite worried about the various poisonous insects in the dense jungle on the island, so I didn't plan to change to a small boat and run to the island to have a look. What's more, he is not here to enjoy the scenery, but to shoulder a very meaningful social investigation task.
——Investigate how the Japanese in different time and space established a modern industrial country on the tropical islands of the South Pacific.
A group of experts and professors at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences are very interested in the tropical Nanyang colonial country "Obu" established by the Japanese in this time and space, and believe that it is of great reference and reference value for the government's investment expansion strategy in the main plane - especially It is when the new China in the 21st century is investing heavily in operations around the world, trying to equally divide the Pacific Ocean with the United States. You know, the world on that side has never had the experience of building an industrialized country on a tropical coral island. When it comes to tropical islands, ordinary people’s first thoughts are tourist resorts, bathing beaches and bikini beauties. At most, they think of tropical fruits and plantations. As for modern industry... this word does not seem to have anything to do with tropical islands.
However, the "Orb" in this time and space seems to provide a counterexample - albeit with the participation and help of super-era black technology.
Therefore, in the past few days, Political Commissar Guo led a visiting delegation, under the banner of the "Comintern", to visit the southwest Pacific island groups occupied by the Japanese army to investigate the economic operations and social development of these places. Walking through mountains and rivers and walking alleys all day long, I even wore out several pairs of shoes. However, Wang Qiu did not follow them around. In his opinion, it would be better to use satellite photo recognition and computer modeling analysis to brave the scorching sun, endure mosquito bites, and wander around in a fleeting way. More vivid and intuitive.
Besides, I am not a professional in social surveys. If I am really interested in something, just look at the information they have collected.
——To put it simply, Wang Qiu is suffering from laziness.
In fact, just looking at some of the superficial information displayed on the data made Wang Qiu feel deeply moved.
——New Guinea’s copper, oil and natural gas, New Caledonia’s nickel, Solomon Islands’ bauxite, geothermal resources spread across various volcanic islands, and Nauru’s struvite fertilizers have all been effectively developed. Utilized, it becomes electricity, fertilizers, metals, machinery and factories. The oil rushing out from under the shallow continental shelf has injected fresh blood into the industrial development and transportation of this land.
Within just a few years of the war, millions of Japanese immigrants poured into this new world, overcoming the test of hot climate and tropical diseases, and launched another wave of large-scale construction boom. Ports, farms, mines, plantations, salt fields, power stations and small reservoirs have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, allowing these wild archipelagoes to rush into industrial society at rocket speed.
Coal buried deep in the ground was dug out like black gold, and dark oil spewed out like the blood of the earth. It was transported away ship after ship, feeding this rapidly forming industrial system; blast furnaces rose from the ground one after another. , spitting out flames and thick smoke day and night, spitting out hot molten iron, which was then smelted into molten steel by the converter, cast into steel ingots, and rolled into various steel products, which were used in the industrial construction that has been fully launched.
On those islands with rich resources and convenient shipping, a series of modern industrial, mining, shipbuilding and fishing towns are rising at an unprecedented speed. The shining of bright electric lights and the roar of various machines completely broke the silence of the tropical desert island.
The prototype of a giant industrial zone with the petroleum and metallurgical industries as its core and shipping as its transportation link has been fully rolled out on the Pacific Ocean.
——According to the video data played in front of me, in Rabaul, New Britain Island, taking advantage of the local excellent port, a huge steelmaking plant has been put into operation. In the huge factory area, ironmaking blast furnaces can be seen everywhere making calls. Molten iron at a thousand-degree temperature squirmed in the furnace, and billowing smoke filled the sky. Rows of tramcars hauling goods roared on the rails, and the flames of the blast furnaces made the night glow red...
In the west of Australia, closer to the ore producing area, there is another larger steel plant that already exists.
"...It seems that even on a tropical island where people are lazy all day long, industry can be flourishing!"
Looking at the series of industrial areas and mining areas marked on the map, Wang Qiu said with emotion, "...if the same piece of land falls into the hands of different ethnic groups, its fate will be completely different! Our Nanyang over there Could it be that the failure to rise is due to the bad nature of tropical peoples? ”
"...Well, it seems that we can only think so. The same piece of land in the hands of the Japanese and in the hands of the monkeys in Southeast Asia are indeed completely different concepts! For example, the island of New Guinea is so rich in mineral resources. There are booming big markets like Japan and China not far away. Our country, Papua New Guinea, is actually even poorer than some African countries. It can’t even sell its resources. It’s a waste of resources.”
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Ma Tong, who was also sitting on the side reading the information, curled his lips and said, "...However, although industrial agriculture and modern transportation have been developed, the environmental pollution problems that have followed are also very serious. Look, this palm forest They were all suffocated by industrial waste gas, and the river water was polluted. Then, Minamata disease, Itai-itai disease, and photochemical smog will also appear! Uh, no, it has already happened. ! ”
She sighed and pulled out a few photos from the folder, which were full of tragic scenes that would make environmentalists furious - thick gray smoke that covered the sky, colorful turbid rivers, withered and dead trees and crops, and Workers and children who have suffered from various strange diseases due to environmental pollution, "...if there was a Greenpeace environmental organization here, I'm afraid it would have caused an uproar already?!"
"... Don't worry! There won't be any trouble! If they appear in this time and space, what they have to face is not some European and American white leftist Virgin who has fooled themselves, but the Nazis who make Arab terrorists tremble. , Fascists and Bolsheviks”
Wang Qiu shrugged his shoulders, "...Every year, tens of millions of human beings die from killing each other. Politicians from various countries are cold-faced butchers who casually slaughter hundreds of thousands of people without taking it seriously. The brutality is enough to make us It was beyond the reach of any terrorist leader of that era. If a green environmentalist with a broken brain dared to come out and make a noise, he would be lucky enough to be sent to a concentration camp or a labor camp, and he might just end up in a mass grave!"< br>
Ma Tong thought about the scene of the green environmental protection organization protesting in front of the Nazi SS or Soviet Cheka soldiers, and suddenly felt that this scene was too unbearable to look at, "...well...it seems that this is true-could this be it?" Is it an era when death is inevitable? ”
"...Ahem, in fact, this kind of environmental pollution is also a necessary price for the progress of human society. Many times, we look at the shocking photos in the photos, hoping to see the green mountains and green waters again. Little do we know how disgusted the local residents are to see this for generations. Tired of the green mountains and green waters, I look forward to living the life of a city dweller As for life! Mere pollution doesn't matter at all. For example, a bunch of foreign experts hope that Tibet will remain pristine and not use electricity, drive cars, watch TV, or build infrastructure. As for whether the local Tibetans are willing to live such a miserable life. , is not within their scope of consideration.”
Professor Guo, who had recently been sunburned all over and lost more than ten pounds, commented this way while drinking a cup of chrysanthemum tea leisurely, "... any nation in the world can of course return to slash-and-burn farming. Society is quietly and barbarically waiting for the day of destruction. But if this nation still wants to survive in the cruel world competition, it still wants to pursue more. If we want to enjoy knowledge and truth and enjoy better prosperity and convenience, we must embark on this road of industrialization and never stop for a moment. Otherwise, even if we retain the green mountains and green waters, they will be nothing more than trophies for foreign invaders. That's all - look at those beautiful islands in the South Pacific, how many of them have become trusteeships of European and American countries that are beyond your reach?
Therefore, the fact that the Japanese nation in this time and space could industrialize these wild islands in the South Pacific was already a very impressive feat. As for the incidental pollution and environmental damage, under the cruel background of world war, they are not worth mentioning at all! Think about what a ghost the British turned the Thames into in order to carry out the industrial revolution! All in all, after jumping out of the monster house of East Asia and swallowing up such a vast strategic space as the Southwest Pacific, the Yamato nation is really about to soar into the sky, and will no longer be despised as a little Japan! ”
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——Indeed, Japan in the early 21st century, no matter its territory, population, industry, finance, technology and education, or even its highly emasculated military power, once it is placed in Europe, Africa, or even South America, it will They are definitely top-notch powers. Even in the mid-19th century, during the "Black Ship Founding" period, Japan at the end of the Bakumatsu period had a population of no less than 40 million, which was more than the population of the United States at that time (33 million)! But Japan's geographical location forces it to become a "small country" facing China and Russia. This is really a bit of a trick of fate. It is impossible for the Japanese to have no idea about such an aggrieved surrounding environment. It is just that Japan cannot move away from its territory, and it is unwilling or unable to actively integrate with China like the Manchus did while they still had the advantage of force. Therefore, after the rise of China, it is destined to bid farewell to its dream of becoming a great power.
However, even so, the Japanese nation is not completely hopeless. As teachers of modern Japan, the British have already demonstrated to the Yamato nation a path to rise from a marginal island country to a world hegemon. During the Hundred Years War between Britain and France, the British islanders who were determined to dominate the European continent also galloped on the French battlefield for a hundred years. Occupying half of France. Unfortunately, in the end, she was blocked by Joan of Arc and failed to swallow the elephant. Instead, she lost all her strongholds on the European continent. (Isn’t it very similar to the process of Japan’s ambition to annex China and its initial successes, but its final failure?)
However, just as the British sadly bid farewell to the European continent, they also got a blessing in disguise. They were able to fully develop their maritime colonial undertakings and no longer sought hegemony on the European continent. They focused on expanding their territory overseas. As a result, the British Empire was born. A centuries-old reputation that has shocked the world.
In the same way, if Japan can recognize the reality, abandon its unrealistic continental policy, jump out of the monster house of Northeast Asia, and turn around and rush towards the vast Pacific Ocean, then with the civilization and population of the Yamato nation, it may not be unable to copy the British Empire On the road to hegemony, create a vast territory of their own... Unfortunately, Japan in the Edo period had been closed to the country for too long. When the modern Japanese began to open their eyes to see the world, the entire Pacific Ocean had been carved up. On the other side of the Pacific, there is already an ultimate opponent like the United States of America.
As a result, the Japanese nation's dream of empire was completely blocked - if they wanted to rush to Northeast Asia, they had to defeat Russia and annex China; if they wanted to rush to the Pacific, they had to defeat the United Kingdom and defeat the United States. With the size and foundation of Japan, an island country, it is already too difficult to implement one of the strategies alone when fighting alone. If it is used from left to right, it will be a pure path to death.
Fortunately, in this time and space, relying on various cheating methods, the Japanese finally withstood the overwhelming American offensive and created their own Pacific Empire "Orb", thus flying like the Spaniards who discovered America. Soaring to the sky, truly becoming a world-class powerful overlord. At the same time, the Pacific Territory belonging to the United States of America was rapidly withering, collapsing and shrinking in the flames of war...