Chapter 115 Overseas Investigation (2)
Complaints are complaints, but we are all adults and know that things must be prioritized. Since everyone has chosen to participate in time travel, they must do their part in this group. Although there will be some more difficult jobs in the initial expansion process of the Crossing Group, it can at least allow members to clearly see the hope ahead. Whether it is a Vietnamese bride or a bride from the Ming Dynasty, Tian Yeyou also knows very well that these things will not be a problem for the future time travel group. As long as they survive the initial entrepreneurial period, sooner or later the hundreds of people in the time travel group will become members of various industries under the new regime. Privileged people in every profession. Although the good days are still far away, they are not out of reach.
After enjoying the barbecue dinner for lunch, the two ships pulled anchor and raised sails and left the Yinggehai Salt Field, bypassed Yinggezui, and headed north along the west coast of Hainan Island. The coastal area on the west coast of Hainan Island has a large area of alluvial plains and rich water conservancy resources. You can see large and small rivers entering the sea along the coast. The largest Thanksgiving Plain in Hainan Island is located here, covering an area of more than 4 million acres, almost all of which is plains and terraces below fifty meters above sea level. This geographical environment is very suitable for large-scale tropical crop cultivation. During the journey, the fleet docked several times and sent the team member from the Ministry of Agriculture ashore to sample the soil.
This section of the coastal plain is a fertile area. When the expedition team landed, they could also see that a lot of fertile farmland had been cultivated in the inland areas in the distance. However, compared with the future large-scale collective farms planned by the Ministry of Agriculture, the current level of land development here is still purely small-scale.
At the location of Dongfang City in later generations, the expedition team could see densely populated villages on the seaside using telescopes on the ship. However, when the two strange-looking sailboats of the expedition team appeared on the sea, several small fishing boats floating on the sea quickly fled to the shore. It seemed that they were once again treated as uninvited guests. The expedition team had no intention of causing trouble and did not choose to land here. They directly bypassed the coastal headland and sailed to the lower reaches of the Shilu River.
The lower reaches of the Shilu River are a very typical delta plain formed by long-term alluvial accumulation of sediment in the river. Judging from the satellite map carried by the expedition team, the sediment accumulated at the mouth of the Shilu River has made the place completely impassable for large ships. However, perhaps because the expedition team arrived here four hundred years in advance, the degree of sedimentation in the river is far less serious than in the satellite photos. Tian Yeyou believes that this difference is caused by the vigorous mining of Shilu iron ore in later generations. The effect of large-scale ground mining in the upper reaches of the Shilu River on surface water and soil directly resulted in sedimentation in the downstream areas, which is textbook-like. Examples of negative impacts of mineral development on the ecological environment.
The fleet only traveled upstream for a few miles before stopping. The river ahead was getting narrower and narrower, and Tom Wang was worried that the boat would be in trouble if it couldn't turn around and drive out. As for the rubber assault boat, it is possible to travel smoothly, but it is still thirty kilometers away from the location of the Shilu Iron Mine. Obviously, it is not practical to send a small team in an assault boat to go deep inland to conduct surveys. idea.
"It seems that in the future we can only build a transfer terminal downstream near the estuary. Sea-going ships can unload the coal after docking there, and then use shallow-draft flat-bottomed cargo ships to transport the coal to the iron ore upstream." The Ministry of Shipping Seeing that Xie Chun could no longer go upstream, he had no choice but to design another freight plan.
Xie Chun has always been very enthusiastic about military operations. Since participating in the Second Victory Port Battle and the artillery design seminar, he has spent more time in the Military and Police Department than in the Shipping Department. This time I heard that the Executive Committee's overseas mining plan required the organization of an exploration team, and Xie Chun signed up as soon as possible.
"The executive committee wants to develop the Shilu Iron Mine as soon as possible. They should really come and see this place in person. This place cannot be developed in a short while!" Tian Yeyou also sighed: "It is so far away from the coast, and There is no direct navigation, and the model of the base camp will have to be copied again. First, establish an advance base on the seaside, and then transport things inland little by little. Moreover, the distance is farther than the two bases in the base camp. Several times. If we want to build a land passage in the future, the amount of work will definitely not be small.”
The fleet continued to travel north for a few miles according to the direction on the satellite map, and arrived at the location of the later Changhua Port. Although there is a port name here, it is not a large seaport, just a small fishing port near the sea. This is already at the northernmost end of the delta alluvial plain at the mouth of the Shilu River. The sandbar formed by perennial erosion has formed a large natural breakwater outside the harbor, and then formed a pocket-shaped harbor inland near the north shore. Although the area is smaller than The harbor of Victory Port is much smaller, but the location and environment are excellent. Even if there is a tsunami on the sea outside, it will be difficult for the waves to reach this harbor.
The crew continued to measure hydrological data on the slowly moving sailboat, and finally confirmed that the harbor can accommodate ships with a displacement of at least two thousand tons. If the channel entering the harbor can be further cleared and excavated, then it will not be a problem for larger ships to sail into the harbor. All that needs to be done to develop this harbor in the future is basically to build a row of piers and trestles on the shore for ships to dock.
Seeing that the sky was getting dark, the expedition team chose to anchor and stop the ship here, and sent two reconnaissance teams to conduct a simple search and reconnaissance within three kilometers of the shore. The results of the investigation made the expedition team members feel relieved but also slightly disappointed - the area was sparsely populated, and the investigation team only found a total of four or five sparse households, not even a decent village. In such an environment, there will naturally be nothing that can threaten the strength of this expedition team, but if the executive committee wants to develop this place in the future, it will undoubtedly need to bring in a large number of laborers from other places, which will also be a big burden. After the expedition team had dinner, Wang Tom first arranged the night shift, starting from 9 pm to 6 am, a total of nine hours, divided into three shifts for duty changes. No one is allowed to disembark and go inland without permission. Then, in accordance with the usual tradition of the Time Travel Group, the heads of various departments gathered in the living room of the cabin for a brief meeting, which mainly focused on sorting out today's inspection content.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the expedition team contacted the base camp using the radio at the agreed time and reported the contents and results of the first day of the expedition. Relying on military shortwave radio, the expedition team can still easily contact the base camp even if it is thousands of miles away. Of course, this connection will be greatly affected by terrain and weather, but in this time and space, radio is the only fast and efficient long-distance communication method that the time travelers can use.
That night was uneventful, and the fleet prepared and set off again the next morning. Since there was plenty of time, the fleet was not in a hurry to sail to the Beibu Gulf to the west. Instead, it continued north along the coastline and arrived at Danzhou Bay, the largest bay on the west coast of Hainan Island, at noon.
The shape of this bay is similar to that of Victory Port. There is also a huge deep-water harbor hidden behind a relatively narrow gorge. However, the area of Danzhou Bay is several times larger than that of Victory Port. In later generations, the coastal areas here were very prosperous seaports, but in this era obviously there are not so many logistics that need to be transshipped here. In addition to some fishing villages, you can also see the existence of salt fields on the coast.
"There is coal in Danzhou, but the quality is not very good. It is all lignite." Tian Yeyou introduced what he knew to his teammates: "In fact, most of the coal we imported in the early stage came from Danzhou. I once I have made a report and hope that the Executive Committee will consider taking the initiative to participate in the development of the coal mine in Danzhou, but it seems to be more troublesome than Yazhou, so the Executive Committee does not plan to extend its hands here for the time being. ”
Among the cities in the northern part of Hainan Island at this time, besides Qiongzhou Fucheng, Danzhou should be regarded as the second largest. The Ming Dynasty's rule over Danzhou was far stronger than that of the remote Yazhou. After repeated studies, the Executive Committee believed that there would be many variables in sending people to Danzhou to operate the coal mines at the current stage, and the base camp was basically separated from here. In the entire Hainan Island, if there was an emergency, rescue would not be possible. In the end, it was decided to temporarily abandon direct commercial activities with Danzhou.
The expedition team did not dock in Danzhou Bay. They just took a quick turn in the harbor and then left quickly. However, the local people obviously would not turn a blind eye to the appearance of these two strange ships. Soon a local Baojia reported the sighting to Danzhou City. However, because the expedition team did not go ashore to harass the people, the matter was eventually dropped. That’s it.
After sailing out of Danzhou Bay, the fleet first found an uninhabited coast to dock nearby, and the crew went ashore to bury pots and make rice. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the fleet readjusted its course and headed west. For most members of the expedition team, this was the first time in their lives to sail on the real sea away from the coast, so everyone was extremely excited. However, the crew members responsible for driving the ship and calculating the route were not so relaxed. Although the location of the next target was clearly marked on the map, without satellite navigation, they had to find a place with an area of less than two square kilometers in the vast sea. The small island is not an easy thing to do.
Although there are several veteran crew members on both ships, the unfamiliar waters they faced this time still created a lot of difficulties for this voyage. The crew had to constantly adjust their course according to changes in ocean currents and wind directions during the voyage. . It wasn't until the sky started to get dark that Wang Tom, who had been standing on the bow of the ship looking at the target with a telescope, shouted excitedly: "We're here! We've arrived at our destination!"
(End of chapter)