Chapter 221 Trip to Vietnam (4)
"Population?" Qian Tiandun and Xie Chun asked in unison. It has been two months since they left the base camp, and they are not very clear about the current construction progress of the base camp. Naturally, they do not know the size of the labor gap currently facing the crossing group.
"The current immigration import speed in Victory Port can hardly keep up with our development speed. We must establish new immigration import channels." Tao Donglai briefly explained a series of recent plans.
The first is the salt field construction plan in Tielugang. This plan requires the resettlement of at least 500 people in the local area and the establishment of a corresponding second salt field commune for management. The expansion of the production capacity of the salt farm is an important part of the Chuan Chuan Group's next development plan, so the Executive Committee requires all departments to prioritize the implementation of the Iron Furnace Port plan. But no matter how hard we protect the law, this personnel gap cannot be filled immediately with policies.
The second big labor gap is in the business district in Port Victory, which is still in the planning stage. After the construction of the landscape avenue from the port to Base No. 1, the blank areas on both sides of this avenue were designated as the future Victory Port Business District. The first investor, "Fu Ruifeng" Trading Company, had already identified the land in August and reached an investment agreement with the executive committee to open shops, restaurants and brothels that are still controversial in the business district. Later, another partner, "Anfuxing", not to be outdone, secured land here and prepared to open shops and restaurants.
In addition to these foreign investors, the executive committee is also preparing to build Haihan Product Exhibition and Trade Center, Port Building and other buildings in the business zone. These construction projects may require a large amount of labor to implement. In addition to the cargo terminal construction project currently in progress, the number of labor required at the Victory Port construction site is also hundreds of people.
The real labor shortage is not in the first two places, but in various production units that are in urgent need of expanding production scale. Among them, the Tiandu Industrial Zone is the most important. From the Tiandu iron mine to the smelting workshop to the military industry department that produces guns, everything needs to expand production capacity in the short term. The same situation also occurs in the chemical industry department and the glass products workshop under construction. Now, there is no need to worry about the products being produced that cannot be sold. Instead, they need to worry about the production capacity not keeping up with the speed of export products. The number of industrial workers required by these units is not small, and the increase in production capacity will drive the development of a series of other supporting industries, such as building materials supply, transportation, etc. According to the estimation of human resources director Ning Qi, with the currently planned industrial production capacity, there is still a labor gap of at least 2,000 people in terms of industrial workers alone.
This sudden spurt of development is actually also affected by fuel. Various industrial units that were originally limited by fuel supply have solved the biggest bottleneck restricting development after the Black Earth Port was put into operation. And the industrial workers who originally seemed to be saturated Quantity suddenly became a hindrance. If we look at the entire Sanya region, the manpower gap that Chuanchuan Group will face in the future is already at least 3,000, and relying on the immigration rate of several hundred people per month, it is obviously unable to keep up with the needs of local development.
At present, the main source of immigrants in Victory Port is the local area of Hainan Island, mainly Yazhou. In order not to become hostile to the Ming Dynasty, the Crossing Group does not adopt some more radical methods to obtain immigrants, and mainly relies on various channels. The speed of recruiting and acquiring immigrants is still very limited. The Executive Committee had to look beyond Hainan Island, but the Guangdong Office was newly established and its influence was still very limited. The number of immigrants that could be sent to Shengli Port was not as large as that of Yazhou, and the mainland direction was not expected for the time being. On.
As the second overseas trade partner of the Traversing Group, Vietnam has naturally become another target of the executive committee. Compared with Ming Dynasty, which is still relatively calm at present, Vietnam, which is mired in civil war, is undoubtedly a better immigration target. Moreover, Black Earth Port has successfully resettled thousands of Vietnamese immigrants before and has accumulated certain experience. There are traces to follow for large-scale cross-ocean migration. Tao Donglai discussed with several other executive committee members before departure and believed that this opportunity to discuss trade with Vietnam should be seized and a more official approach to immigration cooperation should be sought.
"Is that just exchanging people for goods?" Although Qian Tiandun didn't know exactly what a "more official immigration cooperation method" was, he could roughly imagine the nature of this kind of transaction.
Tao Donglai nodded and did not deny Qian Tiandun's understanding: "To be precise, we must legalize the current immigration methods, and let the North Vietnamese regime proactively provide us with more immigrants. But we can talk about the details. What happens depends on whether the meeting goes well. ”
"Mr. Tao, with all due respect, I think the difficulty in this matter is not only to get North Vietnam to relax on the immigration issue, but also to think about how to deal with this person." Xie Chun suggested: "If we really want to If we want to transport people back to Victory Port on a large scale, the current cargo ship route arrangement may need to be significantly adjusted.”
According to the previous arrangement, cargo ships traveling between Black Earth Port and Victory Port usually ship immigrants to the coastal areas of Vietnam only when they return from Victory Port. The reason for this is that the ships departing from Victory Port are often relatively empty. , it is more cost-effective to load immigrants on a trip, and most of the ships leaving from Black Tu Port are fully loaded. Considering the transportation efficiency, there is no need to delay another day to pick up a small number of immigrants in Thanh Hoa area, but to take the Phu Thuy Island, This route on the west coast of Hainan Island goes directly to Victory Port.
If an immigration agreement is really reached, the Ministry of Shipping will inevitably make adjustments to the existing shipping routes, and may even need to arrange special flights to load people along the coast of Vietnam. This change must be arranged in advance to avoid This caused confusion in the schedule of cargo ships.
Tao Donglai said: "The matter you mentioned is already being arranged. A newly purchased ship from Guangzhou will be slightly modified after returning to Victory Port, specifically for transporting immigrants. By the end of the year, Qiongzhou Fucheng will also Two new ships we ordered before have been delivered, and there are three special ships running this route. Each ship can make at least three trips a month. If everything goes well, at least 2,000 people can be transported back from here every month. "
If Vietnam can be used to make up for the current labor gap, it will undoubtedly greatly promote the development speed of the Cross Group. Of course, it is not that no one has raised concerns about this. After all, if Vietnamese immigrants are to be introduced on a large scale, it will inevitably change the proportion of population sources in the areas controlled by the Crossing Group, and this change may cause uneasiness among the local people. After all, a few hundred people can be easily dispersed and resettled in various places, but if a few thousand people come in a short period of time, they will face many problems in their resettlement.
But in the end, the urgent demand for manpower prevailed. After all, if there is a problem, it will only happen after the introduction of immigrants. If we don't try to solve the labor gap as soon as possible, there will be problems soon. As for the proportion of population origins that some people are worried about, the Executive Committee believes that with the gradual expansion of the control area in the future, immigrants from Vietnam can be gradually diluted. Besides, the focus of future immigration sources will definitely be in mainland China. Vietnam's method of introducing immigrants is just a temporary measure in the early stages of entrepreneurship.
In fact, in the minds of a limited number of people such as Tao Donglai, there are more ideas for the use of non-Chinese immigrants, but at present, these ideas are only long-term prospects, and there is no need to rush to propose them at the executive committee.
Qian Tiandun is more concerned about the arms deal: "We have to negotiate with the Vietnamese tomorrow, and we may need to do some weapons demonstrations. After all, the Vietnamese army has not yet begun to equip hot weapons such as muskets and artillery."< br>
Wang Tom smiled and answered: "Don't worry, people have been arranged to set up a shooting range and build targets on the island early this morning. The militiamen brought this time are all carefully selected experts, and they will be given to the Vietnamese tomorrow Let’s see what is the way to fight in the era of hot weapons.”
"However, the Vietnamese have never used firearms on the battlefield before. I'm afraid this deal can't just be sold. The other party may ask us to help train firearms troops." Qian Tiandun added. "Don't worry, even if the other party doesn't mention this matter, we will take the initiative to mention it." Tao Donglai smiled and said: "When the time comes, I will leave it to Heitu Port to be responsible for the establishment of military advisors."
Qian Tiandun's eyes lit up and he immediately understood what Tao Donglai meant: "Is this establishment for the army in the plan?"
Tao Donglai said: "The military and police personnel stationed at Black Tu Port are limited, so an additional establishment must be added to complete the after-sales work of weapons. The cost of this military advisory team must be borne by the other party. As for weapons and equipment, the base camp will be based on the regulations of the overseas station. The armed forces are equipped according to the same standards.”
"Great!" Qian Tiandun was very excited when he heard the news: "In this way, the funding and establishment are all solved!"
Qian Tiandun had long proposed the formation of a special combat force with mountain jungles as the main combat area. However, due to various reasons, this proposal has been suppressed by the Military and Police Department. This time, Tao Donglai planned to take advantage of the opportunity of arms trade with Vietnam to solve the funding and staffing issues that the Military and Police Department had been worried about. Of course, the ones who were actually sent to serve as military advisors were not the unit under preparation, but some of the militiamen on board the ship this time. These people will be included in the military and police establishment of Black Tu Port in the future, and some of the militiamen stationed at Black Tu Port will be transferred back to Victory Port to fulfill the overseas rotation system promised by the Executive Committee. And maintain sufficient military power in Port Victory. Under such circumstances, it is logical for the Military and Police Ministry to request an increase in staffing for the understaffed Black Earth Port. Moreover, the personnel and operating expenses will be handled by the local government, and the possibility of approval at the executive committee will be greater. Bigger.
"The establishment of a company should be established in April next year at the latest, when the anniversary of success is passed, you must let the executive committee see the results." Although Tao Donglai managed to meet Qian Tiandun's proposal, he would not relax his demands. Because this force has illegal significance for the future development of military power of the Crossing Group.
The natural landforms in the South China Sea area, including the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, are mostly mountains and jungles. This will be one of the main battlefields for the Haihan Army in the future. However, the existing military training system does not show targeted effects, and the subjects of militia training are also Most of them focus on defensive battles relying on existing fortifications. Although many of the existing militiamen in Victory Port are mountain people from the Li and Miao ethnic groups, they are also very suitable for training into field combat troops. However, the existing training direction and limited military budgets have limited this possibility. At present, there is no real field force under the Military and Police Department, and this is obviously inconsistent with the general direction of the Cross-Travel Group's future external expansion. Establishing an army unit with combat effectiveness in the wild is an inevitable step for the military and police department in the future. Qian Tiandun, a former professional soldier during time travel, undoubtedly saw this clearly earlier than most people.
"Promise to complete the mission!" Excited Qian Tiandun couldn't help but stand at attention, raised his hand and saluted Tao Donglai with a military salute.
From a professional perspective, Qian Tiandun is undoubtedly a qualified soldier. He has no idea about fame, money, or women. The purpose of participating in time travel is just to fulfill his dream that he has not been able to realize in another time and space. ——Become a famous general, lead troops to conquer all directions, and write your name in history with victory in battles.
One of the important reasons why Qian Tiandun was willing to obey the deployment and come to Heitu Port as the military chief was because he saw the freedom of military development in overseas bases. In Black Earth Port, there will be no constraints from the base camp's civilian system, and Qian Tiandun can train the local military and police forces according to his own design. Of course, the difficulty and cost of forming a real fighting force are unmatched by existing militia groups. Therefore, if Qian Tiandun wants to realize his ideals, he still needs to obtain the approval and support of the Executive Committee. , and now Tao Donglai has promised to provide him with all the conditions he needs. If he can't get results within half a year, Qian Tiandun feels that he probably won't have to be a military officer anymore.
That night, several people discussed some situations that might arise during the negotiations. Tao Donglai also made slight adjustments to the original negotiation plan based on some information provided by Qian Tiandun and Xie Chun. Everything is ready, just waiting for the representative of the other party to show up.
Tao Donglai and others got up early the next day and inspected the shooting range built on the peninsula yesterday. The arms loaded on the two cargo ships were also unloaded ashore, and the artillery used for demonstration was installed on the gun mount and pushed to the shooting range in advance for position calibration. Before the demonstration, all these artillery will be adjusted and set up by the experts to ensure that they can hit the target with one shot during the demonstration.
In addition, the musketry team composed of militiamen also began to gather the entire team on the beach to practice formation according to usual drills. The weapons currently equipped by the militia forces are mainly matchlock guns, and they are gradually being replaced by flintlock guns, which are faster and more convenient to fire. However, both guns have the disadvantages of short range and limited accuracy. In addition, the rate of fire is slow. It is not suitable to use the skirmishing line tactics of later armies, so training is still carried out according to the historical queuing and shooting array to ensure sufficient firepower intensity during battles.
Although the tactic of queuing up and shooting seemed very funny in later generations, it was the most practical tactic in this era. Even if there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the military and police departments, it is impossible to use a more optimized combat formation due to the current level of armaments.
However, the once glorious Spanish Phalanx and the contemporary Gustavus Phalanx did not appear in the militia training of the Crossing Group, and the militiamen did not even distribute spears as their main weapons on a large scale. Because the finalization of the flintlock gun has greatly increased the firepower density of the musketeers, it is suitable to adopt a shallower and tighter horizontal formation than the matchlock gun. Moreover, the application of bayonets made the spearmen used for close combat defense insignificant. Based on this alone, the militiamen crossing the group were half a century ahead of the Western armies of the same era. At this time, the Swedish commander-in-chief Gusta The husband still retained more than one-third of the spearmen in the army. It was not until the 1690s that the bayonet bayonet was invented by Western countries, thus completely eliminating the spearmen from the army.
The use of fixed paper tube propellant allows militiamen equipped with flintlock guns to fire four times in one minute. This firing speed, combined with horizontal rounds of fire, is enough to contain the cavalry at a distance of about 100 meters. Charge, let alone ordinary infantry. Of course, to ensure such a density of firepower, the musketeers must undergo long-term and rigorous training. Otherwise, facing the fierce cavalry troops, quite a few soldiers may be so panicked that they cannot even load bullets smoothly. This kind of rigorous training starts from the formation training that soldiers perform repeatedly every day. Through constant repetition, soldiers can turn obeying orders into an instinct and achieve the uniform effect of hundreds or thousands of people before they can go to the battlefield. Use it freely.
The Chuanchuan Group's technical reserve advantage in armament technology can quickly complete the research and development and upgrade of weapons. The increase in the range and accuracy of flintlock guns are small problems that can be solved in the near future through processing technology, thereby further expanding the relationship with the military at the same time. The gap in military strength between contemporary competitors.
At present, the muskets that the Time Travel Group can sell to the outside world are still only the Type 27 matchlock guns that were initially finalized and mass-produced. However, even this kind of weapon that seems very primitive in the eyes of the time travel people is still a very advanced black technology in this era. Tao Donglai and others firmly believed that after the other party saw the musketeer's demonstration, they would not be able to resist the desire to buy this weapon.
In the afternoon, the "Speed", which was cruising south of the Tushan Peninsula, sent back a message via walkie-talkie and saw two sailboats heading towards the Tushan Peninsula. According to the information provided by Qian Tiandun in advance, the "Speed" saw the identity flag on the other side's bow and determined that this was the North Vietnamese caravan coming to participate in the talks.
(End of chapter)