Chapter 120 Overseas Investigation (7)
The place on the east coast that the expedition team regarded as a candidate location for the cargo terminal has an indentation toward the inland, forming a small natural harbor. The entire port area is a small seaside plain surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is probably less than two square kilometers. The only access to the inland area to the west is a narrow valley about a mile in length. On the other side of this valley is the coal mining area. The geographical conditions are simply unique. If this is chosen as the landing point for construction, then only a land channel of about one thousand meters long can be opened between the port and the mining area, and the mined coal can be transported directly to the dock for loading. In view of such convenient transportation conditions, the Ministry of Shipping has given a very high evaluation to this place and believes that among the areas that have been inspected, this is the one that best meets the requirements of future port planning.
The view of the Military and Police Department is also very intuitive. They believe that the geographical location surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side makes this place easy to defend and difficult to attack, which greatly reduces the defense area and defense pressure. The most important thing is that on the sea opposite the port area, only three to four hundred meters away, there are two islands next to each other, one in the south and one in the north, which perfectly shield the eastern sea of the port area. This means that ships entering and leaving the port area must pass through the narrow strait between the two islands and the east coast of the mainland.
As long as shore defense guns are set up on these two hilly islands, they can cooperate with the shore defense firepower in the north and south of the port area to achieve fire coverage without blind spots on the entire waterway entering and exiting the port area. This is undoubtedly the best way to defend against maritime incomings in this era. The perfect terrain to defeat the enemy. Almost as soon as they sailed into this sea, members of the military and police department who saw the actual scene with their own eyes voted in favor of choosing this place as a future cargo terminal and settlement.
Although from a geographical point of view, choosing this location in the eastern mining area will add about two to three hours to the flight than the western mining area, the geographical environment here is indeed far better than those places that the expedition team surveyed in the western mining area two days ago. . Especially from the perspective of military defense, the environment here is extremely good. It does not take much effort to build this place into a water-proof land and sea defense fortress. The advantages in terms of security are more than enough to make up for it. This is a shortcoming of the voyage.
Of course, this place is not without its faults. The most important point is that this place is far away from densely populated areas. It is about 40 nautical miles away from the seaside area where the nearest population has settled. Hanoi, which is relatively densely populated, is even further away. That place is still You have to go upstream along the Red River from Linhe area for dozens of kilometers.
Hanoi has been designated as the capital city by Vietnamese rulers since the 11th century. By the beginning of the 17th century, it was already one of the largest cities in the entire Indochina Peninsula. Naturally, the Executive Committee planned to make Hanoi the main target for absorbing local immigrants. However, Hanoi was still called "Tokyo" by the Annan rulers at this time. Although it sounded a bit contrary, it was not until the 19th century that the city was renamed "Hanoi" which was used by later generations. Of course, the so-called big city is only in the specific region of Indochina. Compared with the scale of cities under the Ming Dynasty, Hanoi is only a second-rate and lower-scale city.
Although the expedition team made a tacit decision to select this place as the main base for overseas mines, there is still no missing piece of survey work that needs to be done. After the two sailing ships docked here, the armed guards escorted the mineral exploration team to land and began to move towards the inland mining area.
Although this place was a prosperous urban area on satellite maps of later generations, in this era it is still a dense jungle that can be seen at a glance. It is obvious that no one has set foot here.
"It seems we need a strong logging team." This thought flashed through Wang Tom's mind, he took the automatic rifle in his hand and quickly walked down the springboard to the shore.
Although the latitude here is much higher than that of Sanya, it is still in the tropical area, so the forest vegetation situation is quite similar to that of Sanya. Tian Yeyou, who was also pulled into the logging team and worked as a young man for a few days at the beginning of the landing, recognized many tree species along the way.
After spending nearly half an hour walking through the woods, the expedition team arrived at the entrance to the canyon shown on the map. At this time, they discovered that they had encountered a minor trouble - this so-called canyon was actually a river valley, and the bottom of the valley was a small river flowing from the mountain. Fortunately, there is a wide enough stone beach at the bottom of the valley, so access is not a problem. You can even use the flat stone beach here to build a railway to the seaside.
However, Tom Wang is still worried about this unexpected situation: "If there is a heavy rain in the future, I am afraid that the river will wash away the passage here."
Qiao Zhiya, who has served in the engineering corps, is very optimistic: "It's not as bad as you think. The terrain of this valley is relatively straight. We can build a straight channel in a slightly higher part of the valley. It's not engineering-wise." It’s not very difficult, but there are a few places where you may need to blast it.”
"Our C4 explosives are only a few dozen kilograms." Wang Tom reminded him.
"You don't need to use high-end goods like C4. The current black powder will do. It's just that the amount required may be larger." Qiao Zhiya said while looking at the terrain in the valley: "Including mining, maybe one or two A ton of black powder is enough... It seems that I will have to work overtime for a while after I return."
After passing through the canyon, the team members discovered a small lake in the mountains. It was not large but the water quality was very clear. Wang Tom announced that he would stop here and rest for fifteen minutes before moving forward. If it were not for a mission, the team members would probably take off their clothes and jump into the lake for a refreshing swim. Of course, before that, they would not forget to check whether there are any Siamese crocodiles in the lake.
After a short rest, the expedition team continued to move forward. After a few hundred meters, they arrived at the planned exploration site. The trees here were sparser compared to the area by the sea. The team members took off their backpacks, and except for a few personnel responsible for perimeter security, everyone else took out engineer shovels equipped with special long handles. "Wish us good luck!" After Tian Yeyou finished speaking, he took the lead in shoveling the engineer shovel into the soil at his feet.
Ten minutes later, team members scattered around dug out black coal from the soil under their feet. Although this was expected, the team members still couldn't help but cheer.
Three mining professionals collected the samples dug out by everyone, and then took the time to do a preliminary test. Soon Tian Yeyou announced the evaluation results: "The coal seams here are very shallow, but the quality of the coal is very high. Judging from the samples we just dug, they are basically clean coal with very low ash content. We are lucky, this The coal buried under the mining site, whether used for thermal coal or coking coal, is a very good quality product! ”
Tian Yeyou's identification results are just the beginning of the entire exploration work. Now that the nearby coast has been basically selected as the future port, the area to be explored is not limited to the area just excavated. In the following day, everyone responsible for the landing expedition acted as a miner, digging more than a dozen sample collection points within an area of nearly three square kilometers, so that everyone returned to the landing site in the afternoon. Exhausted. A few of the weaker members didn't even wash their faces before they plunged into the tent and fell asleep.
But this is not the end of the exploration work. On the seventh day of the expedition, the work content is still walking among the mountains and forests to dig out ore samples under the leadership of the exploration team members. In addition to the coal all over the mountains and plains here, the expedition team was also lucky enough to discover a limestone mine. In this way, they only need to build a few cement kilns locally in the future, and there is no need to transport cement across the sea from Sanya for a long time.
After these two days of hard work, the team members finally understood why Tian Yeyou always clamored to change careers. It's only been two days, and everyone feels it's a bit unbearable, but members like Tian Yeyou and others who are engaged in mining exploration have been in the field for many years. Carrying dozens of kilograms of ore specimens across mountains and ridges is simply too much for them. It was a common occurrence, and even Tom Wang, who prided himself on his superior physical strength, had to admit defeat after carrying a load of ore.
"I will definitely give you credit when I get back." Wang Tom solemnly expressed his admiration to the exploration team members during dinner.
Tian Yeyou waved his hand and said: "It's just the job within the job, it's not a big deal. Whether we have meritorious service or not, it has no impact on our industry. We still have to continue to support ourselves if we have to sleep in the open. Instead of asking for credit, it's better for us to select some apprentices. If we bring a group of disciples out as soon as possible, we will be freed sooner.”
Xie Chun agreed very much with this: "After we go back, we will jointly submit a special report to the executive committee to implement what you said as soon as possible. If you don't do it, you don't know it. Your work is really hard, and it is worse than ours as seafarers." It’s much more painful, and the physical strength alone is not something that ordinary people can endure.”
"I see you have worked very hard these past two days. I didn't expect your small body to be able to hold on." Tian Yeyou praised with a smile.
"These two days reminded me of the first two weeks after I came here. Everyone was working hard. At that time, I was thinking, didn't we come here to enjoy happiness? Why did we become migrant workers?" Xie Chun smiled and shook his head, as if he was quite disdainful of the idea at that time: "But now I feel different. Although I am tired, I already have enough motivation in my heart."
"What motivation?" Wang Tom asked curiously.
Xie Chun looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle and said slowly: "This is our career, this is our world!"
"Tch, will you die if you don't show off?" Everyone showed their middle fingers to Xie Chun without hesitation.
A few suggestions for reading this book: Due to the needs of the plot, this book contains a large number of descriptions of geographical locations and geographical environments. In order to facilitate reading and understanding of the content in the book, it is recommended that friends who are not familiar with world geography download the software Google Earth. This software can easily view 3D maps around the world, and I believe it will help you better integrate into the environment described in this book. The author himself has long been accustomed to refer to 3D maps and make some deductions (bu) when reading historical or military works. The functions of this software are very powerful. Not only can you see the earth, but you can also see the stars, the moon, and Mars. The author will not go into details here. It is for you to discover by yourself during use.
(End of chapter)