Chapter 265 Group Effect
However, compared to the infantry and artillery formations in front, the cavalry team that lacked training was obviously not that neat. The cavalry team was simply advancing in a fragmented formation. Harukong really wanted to order everyone to dismount and lead the horses forward. That would at least make things tidier. But this did not prevent the onlookers from cheering. After all, this unit is really a rarity on Qiongzhou Island, which is far away from the mainland. Even the garrison in Yazhou does not have many war horses - raising cavalry is comparable to raising infantry. It costs a lot more money, and it is almost useless in Yazhou. Soldiers who are eager to have more free money will definitely not spend money on such a good-looking but not useful place.
This is indeed the case. The actual military expenses consumed by this small cavalry platoon are even comparable to that of an infantry company. If it were not for future military expansion needs, the Military and Police Ministry would not be willing to allocate a sum of money in the limited military budget to maintain this temporarily useless force. However, Harugong also mentioned in his work report to the Military and Police Department before the end of the year that he hopes to complete the expansion of the first cavalry company in 1628, which means that the cost of this cavalry unit will increase to three times the current level. . As for how the big bosses of the Military and Police Department go about obtaining this budget from the Executive Committee, that is not something Harugong needs to worry about.
Following the cavalry was a small phalanx of sailors. Although there is no real navy established at present, taking into account the future development trend, the Military and Police Department cooperated with the Ministry of Shipping to organize such a phalanx, whose members are all composed of some capable naturalized sailors and crew members. Due to the hasty preparation, their uniforms were not as uniform as the infantry phalanx in front, but the military and police department still thoughtfully issued a three-foot-long saber to each member participating in the parade. , and flew a dark blue flag to indicate the naval attributes of this phalanx.
If the current number of soldiers was not too small, the Military and Police Department would have already decided to build up the navy. At present, tasks such as maritime patrols and armed escorts are still completed by the Army under the banner of the Haihan Militia. If these people must be defined as a military branch, it will probably only be the "Army and Marine Corps." The establishment of a navy in the true sense may have to wait until the end of this overseas military operation at the earliest - the Military and Police Department plans to wait for an opportunity and use the east wind of victory in the war to persuade the Executive Committee to pass the plan to establish a navy.
Compared with the army, the operating costs of the navy are much higher. Infantry can move on two feet, but the navy must rely on warships as transportation vehicles to function. The current basic cost of an "exploration-class" sailboat is around 1,500 yuan, which is much higher than that of a Chinese-style sailboat that costs 400 yuan. Due to the reinforcement of the hull structure and the weapons configuration on the ship, the construction cost of the battleship type is exponentially higher than that of the basic type. Although the Shengli Port Shipyard is a financial unit and does not care about the profits of shipbuilding, the base price reported to the Military and Police Department has exceeded four thousand yuan. As for the larger tonnage of the 500-ton warship that is still in the design stage, its cost budget directly exceeds 10,000 yuan - which has basically reached or exceeded the one-year maintenance cost of an integrated company of the Army. A single ship cannot make an army. If you want to have a reliable maritime armed force, you have to build several more ships, and the cost is obviously not a small amount.
And this is just the cost of shipbuilding. In order for the built warship to move, it must be equipped with sufficient sailors, crews and combat personnel, and whether it is daily patrol or wartime combat missions, as long as the ship is sailing on the sea, Military expenditures are being consumed all the time. With the amount of budget currently available to the Military and Police Department, it is extremely difficult to expand the army and navy on a large scale at the same time - unless something can be gained from this military operation, that may be another matter .
The team walking at the back were three companies of civilians. This was the real militia team. The weapons they were equipped with were only iron-tipped spears that were one foot and five feet long. However, this does not prevent these naturalized people who have only gone through a few queue trainings from marching forward with their heads held high with pride. In their opinion, if they can be selected to receive such training, they may have a great chance to join the militia in the future. , thereby enjoying better treatment.
This is exactly what the Military and Police Department plans to do. In the next expansion, these reservists who have received a certain level of military training will become the main source of soldiers. By then, their recruit careers in the training camp are also expected to be further shortened.
Among the crowd of onlookers were also foreign merchants who had just arrived in Victory Port. While watching this armed parade, they questioned the "rampant" behavior of the Haihan people: "These Haihan people are raising troops so wantonly and openly promoting it. Aren't they afraid of this?" Someone reported them for causing rebellion and were held accountable by the Yazhou government?”
Yu Dashan glanced sideways at the gentleman who spoke, and said proudly: "Report? The vigilante group in Shengli Port has long been registered in Yazhou, and they are not private soldiers! Didn't you see when you came to the port to disembark, this is the Yulin Patrol Under the rule of the prosecutor, every move is under the eyes of the official, so there is no suspicion of stirring up trouble. "
What Yu Dashan said was true, but the official here could only be the Executive Committee, and the person placed under surveillance under the nose of the Executive Committee was Wei Ping from the Inspection Department. At this time, Wei Ping was standing on the tower of Base No. 1, watching the military parade with Li Nai and others as "special guests".
With Wei Ping's efforts, he finally reluctantly persuaded his brother-in-law Tongzhi in Yazhou to support Luo Shengdong's father-in-law Zhang Tongpan as a political supporter. Of course, this kind of persuasion not only relied on Wei Ping's letters, but also the executive committee secretly sent 1,500 taels of silver to Wei Ping's brother-in-law's home through the Yazhou Office and more than 100 acres of fertile land outside Yazhou City. Title deed. Wei Ping was not sure what kind of benefits the other senior Yazhou officials had received, but they did draft a joint letter of recommendation to recommend Zhang Tongpan to take over the post of Yazhou magistrate. As for the effect, I'm afraid it will take a few more days. It will only be known when the current governor of the state resigns in a month.
After achieving this feat, Wei Ping finally got rid of the house arrest life of the previous few months relatively completely and gained the right to move freely in Victory Port. In addition, Wei Ping even got the opportunity to return to Yazhou to visit relatives once a month. However, after staying in Victory Port for such a long time, he had already understood that the consequences of provoking the Haihan people were far less profitable than cooperating with them. At this time, there was not much thought left to make trouble. Wei Ping only stayed in Yazhou for three to five days before he took the initiative to take a boat back to Port of Victory. After all, compared to Yazhou, working as an inspection officer here has better development prospects.
In fact, Wei Ping now regrets not listening to Luo Shengdong's advice when he came here. If he had actively cooperated with the Haihan people from the beginning, he would not have wasted nearly half a year. Look at Luo Shengdong. During this period, not only did his private salt business flourish and he made a lot of money, but he was also promoted from CEO to CEO Qian. Not only did he have more wealth in Yazhou Shuizhai, He has great influence, and the Haihan people even contributed money and effort on his behalf to push his father-in-law to the throne of Yazhou governor - if he had not been so impulsive and had been a little more clever, he should have reaped a lot of benefits. Bar?
"Inspector Wei, what do you think of the Haihan people's militia?"
Li Nai's soft question brought Wei Ping's mind back to the scene in front of him. Groups of militia soldiers had arrived at the small square outside the base gate and were gathering in company units. Although there were hundreds of people, no one in the team was talking casually or making any noise except for the officers' orders.
"The army is well-organized and cannot be defeated by the Yazhou garrison!" Wei Ping made a mistake as soon as he spoke, and quickly made up for it: "However, the Haihan Militia has always abided by the law and discipline, and will definitely not have any conflict with the Yazhou garrison. That's why. Waiting for the militia protection, I believe that the future security of Victory Port will be safe.”
Li Nai smiled and said: "Inspector Wei, thank you very much! I also think it is a good thing that the Haihan militia has strong troops. Just imagine that after the business here flourishes, there will definitely be evildoers targeting this place. With such a militia guard, like you Only then can I make a fortune safely here!”
Wei Ping nodded in agreement, but in his heart he thought that your words were probably just for the people from Haihan next to him! Luo Shengdong did not come to Victory Port today, but the position of flattering was filled by the young master of the Li family.
Sure enough, Schneider next to him heard the words and answered: "Mr. Li's words are very reasonable. Our purpose of organizing the militia is to protect economic development. Of course, the merchants who come to Victory Port to do business are also our protection targets. , no matter who wants to interfere with the affairs of Victory Port, we will use the most direct and effective method to deal with these threats, so that everyone can be happy and do business safely here.”
Schneider is a professional when it comes to saying such beautiful words, but there is still a hint of warning in his words. However, this was not the first time that Li Nai and Wei Ping heard similar "threatening" remarks, and their faces looked very natural - there was nothing they could do against the Haihan people anyway, so they might as well just let nature take its course.
As for whether anyone in the audience who witnessed this armed parade would actually go to the government to report the Haihan people for their misbehavior, they were not worried at all. If you go to Yazhou to file a complaint, you will probably be kidnapped with a sack over your head as soon as you leave the Yamen. This kind of thing has not happened before. People who dare to go to Yazhou to file a complaint will soon be unaware of it. Whereabouts.
As for filing a complaint elsewhere, there is no need to worry. Regardless of whether it is Qiongzhou Fucheng or Guangzhou, the final investigation mission still has to be assigned to Yazhou, and the only action Yazhou officials will take is to send out the navy to see if everything is normal in Victory Port. Let Luo Shengdong lead a team to check the accounts of his boss. It would be damned if something could be found. If Luo Shengdong's father-in-law really succeeds in taking office, then the situation in Yazhou will probably tilt greatly towards Haihan in the future, forming a small country within a country.
Each company marched along the landscape avenue to the base gate and began to line up to wait for orders. The Military and Police Department originally wanted to arrange a live-fire target shooting demonstration outside Base No. 1, but it was rejected in the end. After all, there would be a large number of onlookers, and the flight path of the musket bullets was too weird. If any flowers and plants were hit, It's not going to be good. So the process of the military parade was changed to a leadership lecture. Naturally, it was appropriate to hand over this task to Tao Donglai, the top task of the executive committee. For this purpose, tweeters were specially installed on both sides of the viewing platform of the tower.
This time, Tao Donglai was not as evasive as he had been during the last launching ceremony. After adjusting his emotions, he picked up the microphone and loudly ordered: "Stand at attention!" Like a conditioned reflex, a swish sound came from the military formation below. , all personnel subconsciously adopted a military posture to stand. And among the onlookers, there were actually many people who followed suit and stood up in a military posture with their chests held high and their heads raised.
"Take a break!" Tao Donglai issued the second order, and then said: "Perhaps many people present do not understand why there is a militia military parade today, so I will just say a few words."
Tao Donglai looked down at the military formation below and said slowly: "We, the Haihan clan, did not build our country by force, nor do we advocate using force to solve problems, but we know very well what is the best weapon to protect our own interests. The pen is not words, but the swords and guns in our hands and the artillery shells that can be fired at the enemy at any time! Your comrades, your families, and the environment you live in are the objects you need to protect with the weapons in your hands! If someone wants to hurt the people around you and take away everything you have, all we have to do is defeat them with weapons! Tell me, are you afraid of war?”
"Don't be afraid!" the militia soldiers replied loudly and neatly. Of course, they have been asked questions like this hundreds of times in the military camp. This repetitive and simple brainwashing has formed a conditioned reflex in them, and they will blurt it out subconsciously without even thinking about it.
"Who is the final winner?"
"Haihan Militia!"
"Who is the invincible brave man?"
"Haihan Militia!"
The simple but powerful slogan not only excited the militia soldiers who were undergoing the review, but also aroused the emotions of the onlookers. Starting from the first person who unconsciously followed the call, others soon followed suit. Every time Tao Donglai asked a question on the tower, the volume of the responses below would increase a lot. Later, thousands of people roared so loudly that the entire Shengli Harbor Area could hear it clearly. Many people had lost their ability to think in such group behavior, and just subconsciously roared along with the people around them. "Haihan Militia", it seems that not doing so is not enough to vent the surging emotions in my chest.
"Who is your patron saint?"
"Haihan Militia!"
"Who can you rely on in times of crisis?"
"Haihan Militia!"
Yu Dashan and Wang Cai, who were standing on the chairs, were also shouting at the top of their lungs. They probably didn't understand why they were in such an emotional state. But there is no doubt about one thing - after doing this, you will really feel good in your heart, and the feeling of letting your emotions out to the fullest is simply wonderful and indescribable.
Li Nai and Wei Ping, who were watching the ceremony on the tower, had already been shocked from ear to ear by the sight in front of them. If the military formation of the Haihan Militia had a visual impact on them, then the scene of nationwide enthusiasm in front of them really impacted the depths of their souls. They have always believed that the biggest reason why these people are attached to the Haihan people is because of poverty, and the purpose of doing things for the Haihan people is just to get food and clothing. Even those bold guys who join the militia should only do it for the Haihan people. Just generous treatment. But the facts they saw before them already told them that this idea was simply ridiculously naive.
Li Nai and Wei Ping have both lived in Victory Port for some time. Although they can feel the respect and awe of the local people for the Haihan people, they never thought that the Haihan people's public support would be so high! Seeing the faces below whose expressions were distorted due to excitement, both of them felt an unprecedented sense of fear, and even their legs began to tremble a little - these people who were shouting slogans hysterically, have they stopped? Do you really treat yourself as a commoner of the Ming Dynasty?
Such a collective reaction greatly exceeded the expectations of the executive committee watching the ceremony on the tower. Even Tao Donglai himself did not expect such a violent reaction. This question-and-answer method is a political method commonly used in the army. It is the simplest way to form a solid belief in the minds of soldiers. Almost all of the current militia soldiers come from poor families, and their thoughts are relatively simple. The Military and Police Department believes that instead of instilling great principles into these soldiers with low education, it is better to use short slogans as a means of political work.
Judging from what we see now, this kind of political propaganda method not only has a brainwashing effect on the soldiers of the militia, but also the local naturalized people. The large number of onlookers fell into a state of fanaticism in a very short period of time due to the group effect. If Tao Donglai had not taken the initiative to stop later, I am afraid these people would have continued to shout slogans along with the militia soldiers.
Tao Donglai even thought that if it were announced now that the militiamen would go on an expedition in the near future, the people below would applaud overwhelmingly, and no one would express any objection to it. Of course, the dispatch of troops is still in the preparatory stage. When it will be implemented will depend on the reaction of North Vietnam.
If North Vietnam suddenly breaks out and fights a turnaround on its own at this time, then naturally there will be no need to forcefully send troops, and everyone can go to sleep. However, based on various intelligence information, the Military and Police Department believes that there is more than a 90% chance that the North Vietnamese army will continue to be passive in the next defensive battle, and there is at least a nearly 50% chance that it will happen because it cannot withstand the attack of the South Vietnamese firearms unit. rout. As for turning defeat into victory, the Military and Police Department believes that the possibility is extremely slim and can be simply ignored.
(End of chapter)