Chapter 139 The overseas colonization operation begins
July 17, 1627, the fifth day of the sixth lunar month in the seventh year of the dawn of tomorrow. The pier of Victory Port was crowded and noisy early in the morning. Thousands of people gathered here as soon as it got dark.
These people had received the news in advance and came to the dock early to wait to see off the overseas colonization team that was about to leave. There are more than 300 people in the colonization team alone. In addition to the relatives and friends who came to see them off, and the enthusiastic crowd of spectators, the entire dock is home to about 70% of the current residents of Victory Port-Tiandu Line. Many people from the Li and Miao Mountains even heard that the Haihan people had a large fleet heading overseas, so they came to Victory Port from their villages more than 20 miles away to watch this spectacle.
This is the first time that so many people have gathered together to cross the group's control area. The military and police department responsible for maintaining order on the scene was under great pressure and had to transfer all its personnel from the recruit camp. As the number of onlookers continued to increase, the Military and Police Department could only transfer all 80 naturalized soldiers from the colonization team to the dock to participate in maintaining order. Fortunately, the local workers have already formed a habit. When they see the naturalized soldiers in green clothes and green trousers, they automatically stop the disorderly crowding, otherwise they will be hit with hard sticks later. In places like Port Victory, where the people are unintelligent, sticks can obviously help ordinary people learn to obey the rules faster than laws.
A group of idlers in the small yard of the Inspection Department had also been awakened by the bustling crowd long ago. At this time, they were lying on the fence in boredom to watch the lively scene on the pier from a distance. Someone said: "With such a commotion on the pier, could it be that the Haihan people are abandoning this place and running away?"
Another person retorted: "Escape? They have no local rivals, why should they escape?"
"They are not trying to escape, they are sending a fleet to travel." Wei Ping is quite knowledgeable. After observing for a while, he came to the conclusion: "And the place where this fleet is going is probably far away from Victory Port. In a short time, We can’t turn around inside, so there are so many people coming to see us off.”
Soon the sound from the loudspeaker on the pier confirmed Wei Ping's guess: "Fellow compatriots and fellow villagers, today we are here. In addition to bidding farewell to our relatives and friends, we will also witness our voyage. The group has entered a new stage of development from today..."
Although Wei Ping could not clearly see what was happening on the dock, the voice was very familiar to him. It was the leader of the Haihan people named Tao. In the first two days of our stay, the loudspeakers that sounded on time in the morning were like thunder, scaring everyone in the group to the point of peeing. Later, they slowly discovered that this was a trick of the Haihan people, just to remind everyone to get up. . But everyone outside the courtyard has something to do. The dozen or so people in the courtyard can only stare at each other after breakfast. It is really boring. After a few days, the tweeter in the morning will be like a curse. Generally disgusting.
Tao Donglai couldn't care less about what the unlucky ones under house arrest thought. He stood on the bow of "Business Transport 01", holding a microphone in his hand and continued to deliver a passionate speech: "...please remember, The travel of our companions will open a door for us. What awaits us behind this door is a rapidly developing Cotai Strip! They will continuously transport coal to us from overseas and help us produce more. Goods can be exchanged for money, and then the Executive Committee can allow more people to have food to eat, clothing to wear, books to study, and housing to live in! Our lives will get better and better because of their contributions, please. Remember them, remember these warriors who bravely went overseas for the benefit of our collective! ”
The hundreds of colonization team members standing on the dock who had not yet boarded the ship were holding their heads high, and even those who were not happy about being drafted now looked proud. The onlookers cheered loudly and used the unique Haihan people's applause method to cheer up the warriors who were about to go out.
Someone in the small courtyard of the Inspection Department muttered: "Are these Haihan people crazy? There are coal mines in Danzhou in the north. Why do they send so many people to dig coal overseas?"
Wei Ping scolded: "Danzhou coal is not much better than mud, and all the Danzhou coal on the market has been snapped up by the Haihan people, which shows that their demand for coal is greater than the entire Yazhou City. Didn't you listen to what I just said? The words say that with coal, they can produce more things to sell. This is the real reason why they send people to dig coal overseas!" The person who was refuted said unconvinced: "But that's all. How much coal can 300 people dig in a month? The coal dug by such a small number of people may not even be enough to supply Yazhou. How can it meet the needs of the Haihan people?”
Wei Ping could not think of any reason to continue arguing this time, and immediately said impatiently: "If we could understand the Haihan people's thoughts, we wouldn't be trapped in this place! Stop talking and just watch the fun. Go! ”
After Tao Donglai spoke on behalf of the executive committee, the Ministry of Shipping began to arrange for crew members and colonization team members to board the ship one after another. In addition to the more than 300 colonization team members on this voyage, there were also more than 100 sailors on the eight Chinese sailing ships. In addition, in order to ensure that just in case, the executive committee also specially sent the "Speed" and the North American special forces who were relatively familiar with the waterway. The battle group escorted the fleet. "Speed" will escort the fleet all the way to its destination, and will be responsible for guarding, route survey, and guidance along the way.
The entire fleet has a total of almost five hundred people, and the various materials transported on board the ship amount to more than three hundred tons. It is the largest maritime operation since time travel to this era. The difficulty of this operation even far exceeded that of the original crossing landing. The voyage alone was dozens of times that of the landing operation, and the fleet was all Chinese-style sailing ships. All operations on the sea could only rely on wind power. This For a team that still has quite a few rookie crew members, it is really a difficult problem to overcome.
In order to solve the problem of uneven strength among sailors, the executive committee had to break up some of the sailors on the ship and regroup them. As for the three rented ships, there were quite a few experienced sailors on board. Although they were not familiar with this newly opened route, at least there would be no technical obstacles in completing this voyage with the guidance of the ship. The executive committees of these three ships paid half a year's rent in one go. Although the rent paid was much more expensive than buying a ship, the executive committees who were eager to use the ships did not bother to worry about the little things. Small profit. The Executive Committee has now figured it out. It is unrealistic in the short term to wait for its own shipyard to build and launch ships to organize a fleet. The most practical and effective way is to directly use money to build a fleet. , even if the cost is slightly higher, it is worth it. You must know that the development time saved can not be bought with money.
After this fleet is dispatched, in the near future, only one small Guangzhou ship and the "Lightning" can go to sea in the entire Victory Port, and the intensity and scope of maritime warning will be greatly reduced. In order to cope with this unsafe period, the Executive Committee made a request when Luo Shengdong visited a few days ago, hoping that he could mobilize several warships from Yazhou Water Village to station in the Victory Port area for more than ten days and twenty. sky.
Of course, this favor was not in vain. The executive committee offered the mercenary a price of five hundred taels of silver, with all food and accommodation included. Faced with such a generous offer, Luo Shengdong naturally would not refuse, and agreed immediately, saying that he would immediately take care of General He after returning to Yazhou to try to make the trip as soon as possible. These soldiers lived in the water stronghold and were eating public food anyway. Being stationed in Victory Port could save a lot of daily expenses. In addition, the money given by the executive committee was enough for Luo Shengdong to save some benefits for himself after running up and down. According to the latest news sent back by the Yazhou Residential Office yesterday, preparations have begun at Yazhou Water Village. It is estimated that Luo Shengdong has opened up the joint of He Shenjiang, and the trip will only take a day or two.
At about 9 o'clock in the morning, all the crew members boarded the ship, and the pilot ship "Speed" slowly left the dock and headed for the open sea. Behind it, eight sailboats set sail one by one, forming a long queue and sailing out of the harbor. The crowd on the pier began to disperse until the fleet disappeared on the sea level. Those whose relatives were in the colonization team stood on the trestle for a long time, silently praying for the safety of their departed relatives in their hearts.
Although prior analysis by the joint weather forecast team of the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Agriculture and other departments showed that there were no obvious signs of strong winds in the waters south and west of Hainan Island recently, it was just ordinary sea turbulence and soon the first batch of winds appeared on the ship. Seasick persons. Although each ship is equipped with medical staff or naturalized citizens who have received relevant medical skills training, there is really no magic formula that can cure seasickness. The vast majority of seasickness patients only need one day after going out to sea. Within two hours, I couldn't stand up straight, and I could only lie in the cabin and moan weakly. Fortunately, the proportion of people suffering from severe seasickness is very low, only 23% per hundred, which will not affect the progress of the entire fleet.
The route of the colonization fleet was to go west along the coastline from Victory Port. After passing Yinggezui in the southwest corner of Hainan Island, it left the offshore sea and sailed directly to the east coast of Vietnam. From Victory Port to Thanh Hoa on the east coast of Vietnam, the paper voyage alone is more than 200 nautical miles. The Ministry of Shipping estimates that if everything goes well, the actual voyage will be about 250 nautical miles. Considering that the average speed of the entire fleet is only about 67 Festival, no matter how quick it is to complete this journey, it will take thirty or forty hours. In addition, the speed of sailing on the sea at night is much lower than during the day, so it will take at least two days to complete this journey. For those unlucky ones who suffer from severe seasickness, these two days will definitely be an unforgettable period in their lives. The fleet's supplies were very sufficient, so they would have to wait until the fleet docked in the Thanh Hoa area to transport Vietnamese refugees at the earliest, before they would have the opportunity to go ashore for a short rest.
(End of chapter)