Chapter 42 Roundup
Naozhou Island is located on the southeast sea of Zhanjiang. It is an island outside Zhanjiang City. It covers an area of more than 50 square kilometers, is surrounded by the sea on all sides, and has a dangerous terrain. This place has beautiful scenery and pleasant climate. It is one of the "Eight Scenic Spots of Zhanjiang" in later generations. The last two emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty witnessed the fall of the dynasty on Naozhou Island. In later generations, there are still many relics of the Southern Song Dynasty on the island. I never thought that such a place with great historical value would actually become a pirate den in the late Ming Dynasty.
Tao Donglai has been to Zhanjiang many times, and once he landed on Naozhou Island. He was deeply impressed by the Song Dynasty City ruins and other historical sites on the island, so when Gu Kai mentioned the name of Naozhou Island, he quickly remembered it. .
"The current situation is very different from our previous expectations!" Tao Donglai said with emotion.
In the military defense plan made by the Military and Police Department before the crossing, it was assumed that the pirate forces that might invade would mainly come from the South China Sea. Because of its vast territory, sparsely populated areas, poor products, and not being on a major trade route, it is really difficult for the Sanya area to Attracting large groups of pirates to cross the sea, only small groups of pirates in Southeast Asia will be interested in coming specifically to rob the coastal fishermen here.
In this era, the relatively weak South China Sea pirates are completely different from the pirates off the coast of China. For example, the Shibazhi Pirate Group on the coast of Fujian and Guangdong is a huge existence that commands tens of thousands of pirates. At this time, the leader Zheng Zhilong already has Hundreds of ships are the strongest armed force in the coastal areas of Fujian. Even the local garrison in Fujian can't do anything to them. Although the pirates who attacked from Naozhou Island were not too large in scale, they came from the mainland after all. If the existence of the Chuangzhong really arouses the covetousness of some large pirates in the coastal areas of the mainland, then the military defense pressure will increase a lot.
Of course, the specific situation requires further interrogation results for reference. Several leading figures then discussed how to strengthen combat readiness in the near future, how to conduct the next day's clearing operation, etc.
Unconsciously, an hour passed. Tao Donglai raised his hand to check the time, frowned and said, "Why hasn't there been news from there? Lao Yan, please contact me and ask about the progress."
What Tao Donglai was referring to was the arrest of pirate spies at Base No. 2. He thought that after passing on the information, the arrest would be results soon, but after so long, there was still no result. Getting a response didn't seem to be as smooth as expected.
Soon Ning Qi's furious voice came from the radio: "This guy is a thief. He ran away before we could take action. However, we have already blocked people near the camp. It's just that it's dark now." Can’t see it, the search speed is very slow”
"Don't worry, everything is fine here in Shengli Port. Let our people pay more attention to safety and remember that safety comes first under any circumstances!" Yan Chujie hurriedly gave a few words after hearing this. Although there are still many people from the Military and Police Department over there, the teams that can fight have basically been brought to Victory Port. Ning Qi is impatient. He is searching for fugitives in the wild in the dark. Don't let anything happen. Extraneous things come up.
Ning Qi was not only furious now, but also murderous.
When Tao Yan and his team set off from Base No. 2, Ning Qi had already begun to gather manpower for control. When selecting the site, the executive committee set up the Chuanzhong camp on the east bank of the Tiandu River. For safety reasons, the temporary residences for migrant workers were uniformly set up on the west bank of the Tiandu River. Ning Qi asked Gu Le to lead thirty people to establish control on the west bank. The main purpose was to cut off the upstream and downstream channels along the Tiandu River and prevent possible hidden spies from escaping.
After finally waiting for the news from Victory Port, Ning Qi immediately arranged for people to start investigating the outsiders stationed in the area after learning the physical characteristics of the suspect. However, as soon as the investigation started, the pirate detective who turned into a migrant worker sniffed out. Something smelled wrong, and two fires were set off in the temporary residence to disrupt the situation. Ning Qi had to send people to organize fire-fighting to comfort the migrant workers, and at the same time asked the people from the Military and Police Department to quickly catch this rat droppings.
Fortunately, when the incident happened, Guwei had people immediately blockade the perimeter of the temporary residence. Under the fire of twenty or thirty tactical flashlights, not even a rabbit could escape from the encirclement. It has become a situation of catching a turtle in an urn.
Although the temporary residence of the migrant workers has become a mess, the construction site of the hydropower station is still continuing. The current sufficient labor force ensures that the project can be carried out 24 hours a day, and hundreds of people are divided into three shifts to work around the clock. The night shift was undoubtedly the hardest. In the first few days, the executive committee had to pay double the salary to hire enough local laborers to stay up late and work overtime.
However, the executive committee recently made an adjustment to the personnel arrangement and moved all the labor camps that were originally used to break stones at mining sites to the hydropower station construction site. This is mainly done for several purposes. First, the Executive Committee does not want these Ming army prisoners to know too early about the news that Chuanzhong is mining iron ore here; second, it is more convenient for these people to work at night and rest during the day. Use fewer manpower for supervision; thirdly, and most importantly, arrange these free laborers to work at night when the pay is highest, which can help the executive committee save the expenses of dozens of migrant workers every day. The captives are actually living a good life recently. Although they are still exhausted every day, at least their living environment is guaranteed. They have three meals of porridge and fish every day, and they also exchanged points for a clean shack to live in. If they complete their labor tasks well on a certain day, they will get permission from the camp chief to exchange their points for rice wine or fruit wine provided by the Li people. Although the exchange rate for these low-quality wines is as high as one point for one or two drinks, and each person is only allowed to redeem up to two points, there are still many people who are happy to exchange points for wine to relieve their fatigue.
Due to his good performance during this period, Luo Shengdong finally received an "official" treatment - the daily basic points were increased from two to three. This means that under the same labor intensity, he will have half more points than these friends in the labor camp! Luo Shengdong couldn't help but feel a little excited every time he thought that he might regain his freedom a few months earlier than others.
But then he criticized himself for his mentality of being content with a small amount of money: "I thought that I, Luo Shengdong, was the great commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty Navy, but to be so complacent about such a trivial matter was to give the imperial court, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of War... My dad is embarrassed! With my ability, no matter what... I have to save enough points half a year in advance... Hey, something seems wrong..."
"Luo Shengdong!"
"Arrived!" Luo Shengdong responded reflexively and quickly put all the messy calculations behind him. In the more than half a month since he entered the labor camp, in addition to the fixed schedule he was forced to develop, attending roll call has become one of Luo Shengdong's biggest changes.
Of course, Luo Shengdong didn't accept this change at first. I can't just do whatever you say. At least I have to retain a little bit of the dignity of a Ming Dynasty officer. But after being starved for several meals, Luo Shengdong finally understood what Commander Ren often meant by "the situation is stronger than the person."
"Keep an eye on all your people! From now on, count the number of people every half an hour, and report any situation immediately. Do you understand?" The person who came to give the order was his immediate superior, Ren Liang.
"I understand, I understand." Luo Shengdong nodded repeatedly.
Among the two officers in the labor camp, Luo Shengdong actually feared Ren Liang more than Gu Wei. Although Ren Liang looks gentle and his voice is not as powerful as Gu Wei's, Luo Shengdong knows that this Chief Ren has a lot of evil in his belly. Luo Shengdong heard Chief Gu mention that every time he announced those weird new regulations or new points redemption projects, it was Chief Ren's work. Luo Shengdong sometimes even thought that based on the training he had received under the command of Chief Ren for more than half a month, it would probably not be a big problem for him to become a prison officer now.
"Sir Ren, I heard there seems to be some chaos in the west. Did something happen?" Luo Shengdong carefully tested Ren Liang's tone. In fact, during dinner, he saw a large group of short-haired soldiers carrying muskets on their backs and going downstream in a boat. When the fire broke out at the western station just now, someone on the construction site had already seen it and spread the news. Although Luo Shengdong didn't know the reason, he could guess that there must be some trouble, but it shouldn't be big, otherwise the construction site would definitely stop working, so he dared to directly inquire about the information.
Ren Liang smiled and had no intention of hiding anything: "Some pirate spies have sneaked in here, and we are arresting them."
"Pirates!" Luo Shengdong couldn't help but shrink his pupils when he heard this. Didn't he end up in this situation just because he wanted to come here to fight pirates and make meritorious deeds? As a result, she didn't get a promotion and salary increase and married Bai Fumei. Instead, she became a prisoner.
"Don't worry, we have captured all the pirates at the port, and now only this spy is left. Keep an eye on your people, I will come back later." Ren Liang did not hide his pride, Although he was not able to witness the battle at the port, in Ren Liang's opinion, the combat effectiveness of these incoming pirates should be on par with Luo Shengdong and the Ming army - they were all scum.
Luo Shengdong felt annoyed and angry at the same time. What was annoying was that if he had set out half a month late, he might have met these pirates at sea, beat them up directly on the sea, and then took the pirates' heads with him. Wouldn't it be wonderful to go back and receive the merit? What's so annoying is that these short-haired men actually mobilized troops to deal with the pirates. It's like dogs meddling in their own business. Moreover, the short-haired men don't look at the target at all, and even beat the soldiers and thieves. This stance Which side are you on?
(End of chapter)