Chapter 326 Development and Demolition (1)
No matter whether there are still uncontrollable risks in the plan to develop Dawanshan Island, the system is the system. Now that the plan has been discussed and approved by the executive committee, it will naturally enter the implementation stage.
Although the Military Commission and the Ministry of Commerce proposed the plan, to implement this plan, it is not enough to rely on these two departments alone. Civil affairs, shipping, construction and other departments must also participate. How to carry out infrastructure projects on the island, how many materials and personnel need to be transported, and how to arrange ship capacity all require coordination among various departments. Therefore, at Tao Donglai's initiative, a "Dawanshan Island Project Development Office" was established to operate this project.
The "Qiong Lianfa" who was chosen as a shield was naturally not forgotten. A telegram was sent from the base camp to Guangzhou, and there were clerks there who spent money to register the "Wanshan Island Warehouse" at the Yamen. As long as money can solve the problem, It is a small matter for the Guangdong Office and the "Qiong Lianfa". As for whether what "Qiong Lianfa" built on the island was a warehouse or a fort, the officials in Guangzhou were not interested in taking a boat out to sea to inspect it. Of course, "Qiong Lianfa" is not in vain. After the construction of facilities on Dawanshan Island is completed in the future, "Qiong Lianfa" will have two free-to-use warehouses in the local area as a return on the initial "investment".
In fact, if it were not for the concern that Dawanshan Island is under the nose of the Ming Navy and needs a legal reputation, the military would not want to involve a private organization like "Qiong Lianfa". After all, Dawanshan Island is not a purely commercial development project. After commercial factors are forced to be added, it is conceivable that the military's future defense tasks will become much more complicated due to the incoming and outgoing merchant ships.
Although the construction progress proposed by the military in the plan was three months, which was very ample time, two days after the executive committee passed the proposal, the military sent the "Lightning" northward, and a project team led by Wang Tom The team went to Dawanshan Island for an on-the-spot investigation.
The leader of the engineering team is Liu Shanxia, the second-in-command of the Ministry of Construction and one of the busiest people in the crossing group. Being able to invite this busy man out was not only about the military's reputation, but also Tao Donglai's personal connections. Liu Shanxia had worked with Tao Donglai for many years before traveling through time. If Tao Donglai hadn't personally invited him this time, it would have been difficult for him to put down the things he was doing and go to sea with the military to inspect the deserted island.
When the Black Earth Port was first developed, Liu Shanxia went to the local area to serve as the commander-in-chief of the infrastructure project, and this achievement greatly consolidated his position in the Ministry of Construction. Later, the development of Tieliang Port and even the ongoing development of Sanya Inland River New Port were all managed by Liu Shanxia. It can be said that Liu Shanxia's experience in building new settlements is unparalleled in the Chuanchuan Group.
"The last time I went to sea was in October last year. I haven't been on a ship since the development of Tieliang Port." Although the rough sea conditions made Liu Shanxia's face look a little pale, he could not hide the excitement in his voice. : “I haven’t found this opportunity to come out and breathe for a long time!”
"Then just think of this mission as a vacation!" Wang Tom joked as he took the wheel: "If you are interested, you can go to Guangzhou for a few days after you finish your work."
"Forget it, if Mr. Tao knows that I have this free time, he will have to throw a lot of tasks at me when I get back." Liu Shanxia shook his head and said: "Guangzhou and other things, let's save it for later when I have time. I am just a busy person. Before I crossed over, I was a hardworking contractor. After I crossed over, I still did the same job as before! Sometimes I also wondered what I wanted to do after crossing over. If I really wanted to be a contractor for the rest of my life, it would be worse than before! Don’t follow!”
"Don't be pessimistic. When we establish a country in the future, you will be... and... by the way, Minister of the Ministry of Industry! I heard Ning Qi say that he is a high-ranking official of the second rank!" Wang Tom replied with a smile. .
"It doesn't matter what the minister is, my official position is not low now. The deputy minister of the Ministry of Construction. If I count the official rank of the Ming Dynasty, it is probably the third grade of the minister of the Ministry of Industry! It's just that the treatment is not quite enough. With such a big job, I don’t know when I will be able to enjoy my life while doing the job of moving bricks.” Liu Shanxia shook his head and changed the topic: “You are more practical. It would be more comfortable to sail on the sea. Forget about becoming a sailor instead.”
The "Lightning" encountered bad weather when traveling near the Qizhou Islands in the northeastern waters of Hainan Island. The only few islands here are all rocky coasts and do not have the conditions to dock or avoid wind and waves. For safety reasons, Wang Tom had to change his original sailing route and turn northwest to avoid rough seas.
The "Lightning" traveled north along the Wailuo Waterway on the east side of Leizhou Peninsula, and then turned east after arriving at Naozhou Island. The pirate gang Gao Qiaonan belonged to originally came from Naozhou Island off the coast of Zhanjiang. Considering that there might be pirates on Naozhou Island, the "Lightning" did not stop here. It drove to the waters of Yangjiang County, Zhaoqing Prefecture, and then found a relatively secluded sea area to rest for the night.
Due to a temporary change in the sailing route, it took the expedition a day and a half longer than the originally scheduled voyage to reach the Pearl River Estuary. This was not the first time that Wang Tom came to this sea area, so he found the location of the Wanshan Islands almost with ease.
"Ahead is Dawanshan Island." Wang Tom said as he handed the binoculars to Liu Shanxia.
Liu Shanxia took the telescope and looked over there. The mountain peaks on the island with an altitude of more than 400 meters were just an inconspicuous tip rising out of the sea level in the telescope. If it weren't for Wang Tom's prompt, he might have easily ignored it. its existence.
After walking forward for another half an hour, the outlines of Dawanshan Island and Xiaowanshan Island next to it finally became clear. The "Lightning" traveled from west to east, facing this natural haven on the west side of Dawanshan Island. This harbor is actually very small, with a depth of less than 500 meters and a width of less than 400 meters. It is basically rectangular with the same width inside and outside, because the area is too small and there is no narrow harbor entrance like Victory Port or Inland Port to shield the waves and provide shelter from wind and waves. The effect is not necessarily very good. According to the information Liu Shanxia has, this small harbor in later generations was specially built with three breakwaters, one in the north, two in the south, to enhance the wind shelter effect here. However, in this era, the amount of work required to build such a breakwater that extends into the sea is really too large. Some.
After the "Lightning" sailed into the harbor, it lowered its sails and slowed down, and routinely collected data on the channel and water depth so that the shipping department could use it to calculate the design docking capacity of the port terminal. Although the Guangdong Guangdong Office has collected some relevant information in this area in the past six months, Wang Tom believes that the influence of seasonal and tidal changes must be taken into account, and the more actual measured data, the better.
After landing, the main work was completed by the engineering team led by Liu Shanxia. Wang Tom led a few militiamen into the mountain, intending to visit Dawanding, the commanding heights of the island. After a military stronghold is built here in the future, an observation post will inevitably be set up at the commanding heights, and Wang Tom can also be regarded as a front station. Since there are no human traces on this desert island, and there are no predators, the environment is relatively safe. After the two teams agreed on the radio contact time, they started working separately.
Judging from the military's plan, on the coast of this small harbor, infrastructure such as passenger and cargo terminals, warehouses, commercial stores, garrison barracks, port fortifications, and residential areas need to be built, and drinking water needs to be considered. The demand for water, sewage, transportation and other aspects can be said to be small but comprehensive. The engineering team spent half a day and only completed the preliminary surveying and mapping of the dock area.
After receiving the news, the Guangdong Office also sent Xiao Liang and Yu Yao, who arrived at the harbor by boat in the evening of the same day. Because these two people have been to Dawanshan Island many times and know the situation here relatively well, the military also specially transferred them here to assist in the investigation.
The inspection of Dawanshan Island lasted three full days before it came to an end. Liu Shanxia already had a rough idea of the development plan in his mind. After returning to Victory Port, he would slowly sort it out and start to collect related materials. preparation work. Because the location of Dawanshan Island is very close to the mainland, a considerable number of materials and even construction personnel do not need to be shipped from the base camp. They can be prepared directly in Guangzhou, which can save a lot of trouble during the transportation process. .
However, there is one thing that the all-powerful Garrison Office in Guangdong cannot do for you, and that is the garrison on Dawanshan Island. According to the military's plan, at least one company of army troops will be stationed on Dawanshan Island. As for whether to station naval units, it will depend on the speed of the navy's formation. Judging from the current progress, if you want to send more than 100,000 naval units, It will be possible for the organized naval fleet to arrive at the Pearl River Estuary, at least in the second half of the year.
Today's militia troops are no longer as resistant to being posted to serve overseas as they were at first. First of all, the military has implemented the rotation system it originally promised. Troops stationed overseas can return to their homeland in as long as six months and as short as three months. As for the newly trained militia troops in the base camp, one of the military tasks they will inevitably have after forming an army is to station in overseas strongholds for a period of time. This has formed a certain default practice.
Secondly, all militia officers who are stationed overseas can enjoy special allowances issued by the military, which can be up to more than twice their local service income. Those who have served overseas multiple times also enjoy priority in job promotions. These measures have also greatly increased the enthusiasm of militiamen to serve abroad. Therefore, when the military announced internally that it would dispatch a certain company to garrison at the Pearl River Estuary, it did not cause much controversy. Instead, the militiamen of the selected company seemed very excited, because even if it was only for a three-month garrison period, The special allowance they will receive can be used as military pay for at least a month. If there are other combat missions during this period, there will be additional benefits.
Since the Battle of Annan, everyone in the militia has realized the benefits of fighting. Although some people died on the battlefield during this process, compared with the results achieved, the casualty rate of the Haihan Militia was astonishingly low in this era, almost negligible. The various forms of war dividends obtained after the war are the focus of everyone's attention. After the military announced this transfer order, some people in the army began to speculate whether there would be another battle to fight next.
Compared with the prosperous Victory Port area, the Mesopotamia River Basin, dozens of miles north of Victory Port, seems increasingly deserted. There were not many residents in this place, not even large-scale villages, only some individual households who came here to open up wasteland on their own. Since the Haihan people opened a port in Victory Port a year ago, some people have heard that the Haihan people have given laborers excellent treatment, and they have moved to Victory Port one after another and finally became naturalized citizens. In this area of more than ten miles, only about 20 families were left sparsely living. Of course, for those who stayed, the reduction of local residents is not necessarily a bad thing, so that they can occupy more land - although these lands have not been registered with the Yacheng government, from a legal perspective Not even legal private property.
Starting in March, the few local residents slowly felt that their good days were coming to an end. The Haihan people in Victory Port sent several working groups to advise them to move away. Those who are willing to go to Victory Port to do work will be given priority in hiring, and they will also receive "appropriate" compensation for the expropriated farmland. Of course, the attitude of Haihan people is not so kind to those who are unwilling to cooperate. They directly give a time limit for moving out and claim that those who do not move after the expiration date will bear the consequences.
These scattered people simply did not have the ability to fight against the Haihan militia, which was armed to the teeth, and there was no force behind them to support them in going against the Haihan people. Therefore, most people chose to submit and moved to Victory Port to join the Haihan people. In a social system controlled by the Han people. There are also a very few die-hards who do not intend to leave here and still ignore the warnings of the working group. They obviously didn't realize that the militia organized by the Haihan people was not just for scaring people.
In the early morning of April 28, a militia force set out from a temporary camp near the Sanya Inland Port and headed towards the upper reaches of the two rivers on foot. The main force of this militia force is the Fourth Company of the Shengli Port Independent Battalion that will be stationed at the Pearl River Estuary in the near future. The company commander is named Chen Yixin. He is only a few months shy of turning 20 years old. He is considered a relatively young member of the crossing group. , and he is also the youngest member of the current Military Commission.
Chen Yixin was not a professional soldier before time travel, and he had no real experience in joining the army. He was just a young worker assigned internally after attending a factory-run technical school in a certain arsenal. However, due to the special nature of his unit, Chen Yixin naturally became a local soldier. reserve militia, and also received nearly a year of militia training in their spare time. After learning the news about Chuan Chuan Group by chance, he actively participated in it. After the interview, he went through the resignation procedures and ran to Guangzhou to join the company with his meager savings of several thousand yuan. At that time, several executive committee members in charge thought that this little guy might have read too many time-travel novels and was a little obsessed. However, since time-travel operations are all based on the principle of voluntary participation, Chen Yixin showed an extremely positive attitude, and the organizing committee There was no reason to refuse his joining, so he finally got what he wanted and stayed to participate in the operation.
In terms of professional skills, it is far more suitable for Chen Yixin to go to the mechanical processing department than to enter the military and police system. After all, it is a professional skill that he has learned for several years. As for his amateur militia qualifications, he is like a blank slate compared to his colleagues in the military and police departments. He is also a little transparent in the army. If he goes to a production unit, he has a great chance of becoming a technical officer. backbone.
But when Chen Yixin was assigned work internally, he insisted on taking a job in the Military and Police Department, even as an ordinary soldier. In the end, the Executive Committee fulfilled his wish and allowed him to join the Military and Police Department. When the first batch of trainees of the Military and Police Department graduated, Chen Yixin didn't even have a real job as an officer, only an empty military rank. When the second batch of trainees graduated, Chen Yixin was lucky enough to become a platoon leader - with the word "internship" in front of him, which showed that the military brass lacked sufficient trust in his personal abilities.
However, Chen Yixin himself was very calm and did not show any frustration or anxiety. This calmness that was inconsistent with his age finally gave him the opportunity to perform. During the expedition to Annan, Chen Yixin participated in several battles on the front line of the battlefield as a platoon leader, and completed the combat tasks of the headquarters relatively well. Although he did not receive any personal military merit, his performance was noticed by the military's upper echelons, who internally promoted him to company commander before the anniversary.
Of course, this improvement was somewhat forced, because at that time the military and police departments were already a foregone conclusion. After the separation, the number of military personnel was reduced by nearly half, and excluding Wu Zhuo, Xiang Chinan and others who were attached to the military. There are not many technical personnel with titles who can serve as mid- to high-level commanders in the military. Although Chen Yixin was a little less qualified, his performance after time travel was remarkable and there was basically nothing to fault, so he was promoted to company commander by the Military Commission.
Less than a month after his promotion, Chen Yixin was assigned the task again and will lead his company to garrison at the Pearl River Estuary in the near future. Although this task carries certain risks, in Chen Yixin's view, it is another excellent opportunity to make meritorious deeds. But before that, he first had to complete the tasks assigned by the executive committee and clear the areas to be developed in the upper reaches of the two rivers in Sanya.
(End of chapter)