Chapter 505 The expedition around the island ends
Haihan has been operating in Qiongzhou Fucheng for more than two years, but so far his influence is mainly concentrated in the economic and cultural fields, and the political influence that the Executive Committee values most is still extremely limited, far less than Haihan's on Qiongzhou Island. Those states and counties controlled by the South. Although Haihan's influence in the economic and cultural fields has become increasingly significant, and he has also established some pro-Haihan forces in the officialdom of Fucheng, he is still unable to influence the political situation in Fucheng. As for officials who instigate rebellion, it is directly There is even less hope for things like dedicating a city.
He Xi and Wang Tom discussed the situation every day after returning to their residence, and both thought that this place would have to be solved by force in the end. The city defense of Qiongzhou Prefecture is strong. Even if the militia army comes well prepared, they may not be able to capture this strong city in a very short time. The opposite side of the strait where Qiongzhou City is located is the mainland, and the voyage is less than 20 nautical miles. In order to prevent the Ming army from mobilizing reinforcements from the mainland, blocking the Qiongzhou Strait from the sea is a must-have method. The militia navy can be put to some use then. .
"Fortunately, this place is close to the sea. If it's like Danzhou, it's still twenty miles away from the ship, then our navy will have to be the audience again!" Wang Tom stretched and sighed happily. He and He Xi lay on the desk studying the topographic map of Fucheng for almost three hours. It was not until they came to an end that they felt exhausted.
"There is also the Qiongzhou Navy's camp on the seaside. Your navy will definitely have work to do in Fucheng." He Xi did not forget to remind him: "This is the main force of the Qiongzhou Navy. The water camp over Yacheng used to be At most it’s just a detachment.”
"Well, let's set off early tomorrow to see how powerful this navy is." Wang Tom also seemed very excited about this. After all, it was a new opponent that finally appeared. How much military budget can the navy get next year? Maybe it depends on the weight of the opponent.
However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. After Wang Tom went to conduct reconnaissance the next day, he came back with a depressed face: "What about the Qiongzhou Navy? I don't think it is much better than the situation in Yacheng at the beginning. No wonder before departure I went to Luo Shengdong to ask about the situation, and he told me not to worry... There are just a few broken ships, so I really have nothing to worry about!"
The navy stationed in Qiongzhou was originally quite large, with a total of more than 60 warships of various types, of which nearly one-third were deployed in Yacheng Water Village. However, apart from having more ships, the situation of the naval garrison here in Fucheng is actually not much better than that in Yacheng. In particular, Luo Shengdong later pulled out the navy warship and used it as a smuggling ship. The navy here in Fucheng also followed the same example and simply disassembled the firearms on the ship that were in disrepair and could no longer be used and used them for cargo transportation. Business, in addition to military salary, can also have a good part-time income, and the ships used do not need to pay for it themselves. For the navy chiefs, why not do it?
So it is not difficult to imagine what Wang Tom detected near the water village - the military dock in the water village has almost turned into a cargo dock, and the guardsmen are cheap civilians, loading various goods into the converted A warship used for cargo transportation. A considerable part of the goods are produced by Haihan. These goods will be transported by warships to the Leizhou Peninsula on the other side of the strait, and then sold to local merchants for distribution.
If the Qiongzhou Navy is only at this level, it will be very easy for Wang Tom to control the situation. At that time, he only needs to send a few gunboats to cross the river at the mouth of the Nandu River. These so-called warships will only sink as many as they come. How many. And such a weak opponent obviously cannot satisfy Wang Tom's plan to train his troops in actual combat.
After hearing his complaint, He Xi couldn't help but smile: "Think on the bright side! Your opponent is so weak, it's a good time to win a quick victory. The Executive Committee only needs you to complete the combat purpose, and not many people care about the strength of your opponent." How.”
Wang Tom shook his head and said: "It's just a pity that I didn't have the opportunity to fight head-on with the Ming Dynasty Navy. After all, this is one of the most powerful maritime forces in the Far East."
"Save your energy and use it again in two years to fight Shibazhi!" He Xi smiled and did not continue to persuade him. He finally understood that Wang Tom was not a person who was not belligerent, but always wanted to find an equally matched opponent to fight with. However, such opponents no longer exist on Qiongzhou Island today. Whether it is the Ming Dynasty official army or the Li and Miao tribes on the island, their strength is completely unable to confront the Haihan militia. Indeed, the value of military training is relatively limited.
The two of them spent a little longer in Qiongzhou Fucheng. After staying for a full week, the various reconnaissance tasks they shouldered were completed. After leaving Fucheng, the fleet went out to sea from the Nandu River and continued to sail eastward. After bypassing Hainan Cape and Jingxin Cape, it turned south and sailed into Wenchang County.
Wenchang was also considered a large county on Qiongzhou Island at this time, with a population of more than 20,000. In terms of population size alone, it was not much different from Yazhou. However, the current population was basically agricultural, and the economic level was still relatively backward. The military defense force here is also relatively weak. There are only two to three hundred guardsmen stationed in the county. Coupled with the city walls and city defense facilities that have been in disrepair, they are simply unable to stop the Haihan Civilian Army. From a military perspective, this is actually not an area that requires special attention.
However, He Xi and Wang Tom still arranged this stop in their inspection schedule, and it was specially designated by the executive committee. Naturally, there was a special reason for this.
Wenchang County is one of the areas richest in mineral resources on the entire Hainan Island. There are more than ten kinds of minerals in its territory, including iron, titanium, tungsten, aluminum, coal, crystal, kaolin, sapphire, quartz sand, etc. For those who are determined to establish an industrialized system As far as the Executive Committee is concerned, this place is simply a treasure trove, its importance even less than that of the Shilu Iron Mine in the west of Qiongzhou Island.
The local quartz sand mine in Wenchang had proven reserves of more than 300 million tons in the time and space before the time travel, and the mining difficulty is low, and the quality of the ore is high. In Haihan's current industrial system, the fields of glass, casting, ceramics and other fields are very demanding for high-quality quartz. The demand for sand is very high. In addition, the local bauxite reserves exceed 20 million tons. This is one of the important raw materials that the industrial sector is looking forward to day and night, and has extremely wide uses. The Ministry of Construction has been waiting for this thing. With thermite, the current welding problems in track engineering can be easily solved.
Of course, the military department also has great hopes for the commissioning of aluminum mines. Explosives made of ammonium-aluminum explosives and thermite are very powerful weapons. Even targets that are difficult to catch fire will not be affected by thermite. It will still burn under the influence of the agent, which is definitely a weapon to defeat the enemy in tough battles. Just for these mineral resources, they have to come here. It’s not that they need to come here to find out the distribution of mineral deposits. That kind of professional work still has to be left to dedicated personnel. Instead, they need to come and see what the development prospects are here, such as local labor, land, transportation, and natural environment. Wait for the situation and evaluate how much resources Haihan needs to invest if he wants to carry out large-scale mining operations here.
The fleet docked at Qinglan Port at the mouth of Bamen Bay - of course there is no huge port in another time and space that can load and unload rockets, there is only a small fishing port.
The fishermen on the beach were not surprised when they saw the Haihan ship slowly approaching, because this place is an important supply port on the east coast of Qiongzhou Island. Most ships, whether coming from the north to the south or from the north to the south, will use this place. Serve as a supply stop. After the Haihan fleet arrives here, it will sell the last batch of goods on the ship to local residents, mainly some cheap daily necessities, as well as iron kitchen utensils, farm tools, etc.
Haihan also has an office here, but has not appointed a time traveler to take charge of the work here. The reason is actually very simple. Haihan is temporarily unable to develop the minerals here, so naturally no one will be willing to come to this fishing village to stay all year round.
However, this place is not all bad. There is a large fishing ground in the sea near Qinglan Port. The fishing season is long and there are many kinds of seafood, such as grouper, mackerel, lobster, prawn, abalone, squid, sea cucumber and other economic products. Seafood is produced in large quantities here. Wang Tom and He Xi walked around Hainan Island for most of their trip, and found the freshest seafood here. Naturally, Wang Tom did not forget his specialty. He directed the sailors on the ship to prepare a seafood barbecue feast, and then the whole fleet had a good meal before leaving Qinglan Port.
Continuing south from Wenchang, the places passing through Qionghai, Wanzhou, Lingshui and other places are basically within the control of Haihan. Although Haihan's control over these places is not as thorough as that of Yacheng, it is almost semi-public. As long as the executive committee sends a document, the local ownership will change hands immediately. Of course, maybe a few local people would not welcome the Haihan people to settle in, because the reputation of the Haihan people for public ownership of land in the areas under their rule has spread here. This is definitely an unpopular policy for the landlord class.
However, the Executive Committee does not particularly care. The vigilantes and public security police have accumulated enough experience in handling these matters. If someone tries to resist the rule of the Executive Committee, then the relevant departments will naturally come forward to teach them how to behave. Small-scale local groups that lack formal armed forces and militarized organizations are just like chickens and dogs in front of the Haihan militia, and they will not cause much trouble.
By the time the expedition team returned to Sanya, it was May 1630. Since the third anniversary celebration, the general direction of the work of the Executive Committee has begun to adjust to military expansion and war preparations, preparing to launch the unification of the entire Hainan Island within the year. Of course, during this period, other infrastructure projects have not been slowed down. The track line from Changhua to Shilu, the port construction in southern Annan, and the improvement of the Hong Kong Island stronghold are all proceeding in an orderly manner.
In addition, in order to prevent the Ming Dynasty from taking some extreme measures after the conflict with the Ming Dynasty, the Guangzhou Guangdong Office and even the immigration transfer point in Panyu have been notified by the Executive Committee, requiring them to complete the relocation at any time before August. preparation work. Some important information and property can be transported to Hong Kong Island in advance. All travelers working within the Ming Dynasty's ruling area must also be prepared to evacuate the area immediately upon receiving notice from the base camp within 48 hours before taking action.
This job is not easy to do. The Office in Guangzhou is now bustling with traffic every day, and it has become a high-end business forum outside Guangzhou. Leading figures in Guangzhou's business community come here every now and then to report and talk to each other. Share the latest business information. The place where information on the supply and demand of various bulk commodities is released has been changed from teahouses and restaurants in Guangzhou city to the Liaison Office in Guangzhou outside the city.
"This is simply embarrassing us!" Malik, who had just been promoted to the chief administrative officer of the Guangdong Administrative Region for just over a month, shook the message in his hand and said angrily: "So many people come in and out of the Guangdong Office every day, how can we Maybe we can hide from everyone and evacuate here? If I don’t show up for two or three days, I’m afraid the news will spread throughout the business district of Guangzhou City!”
Malico's statement is not entirely exaggerated. As the top leader of the Guangdong Guangdong Office, his presence is completely a bellwether for Haihan policies for local businessmen. Malico is the first in all new trends and policies. Hand publisher. Businessmen who are used to cooperating with Haihan already know the value of this information very well. If they can get the news even half a day early, the benefits they can get are at least hundreds or thousands of taels of silver. Under this top-level circle, there are at least several thousand people inside and outside Guangzhou who make a living relying on the trade relationship between Haihan and Ming Dynasty. These people pay as much attention to the Guangdong Office as to the Guangdong Office. Those wealthy businessmen.
It is almost impossible for the Guangdong Office to evacuate Guangzhou without being noticed by so many eyes. There might have been a chance to do it a year ago. At that time, as long as the city gates were closed at night, there were basically no people outside the city, and people from the Guangdong Office could sneak away from the Pearl River at night. But later, many hotels opened along the river outside the city. Most of the guests were businessmen from other places who came to Guangzhou to do business with the Haihan people. After the hotels opened in large numbers, there was a flow of people, and other supporting facilities came into being. There is plenty to eat and play. Unlike inside the city, there was no curfew at night, so some people invested money to build some entertainment venues nearby for the well-fed and well-fed wealthy people to pass the time.
Although these places are not directly built on the land belonging to the Guangdong Office, after all, they are all businesses developed around the Guangdong Office. They are already very close to each other. Even if there is any movement here in the middle of the night, most of them will escape. But the eyes of a caring person.
(End of chapter)