Chapter 684 Waiting to assemble
"Everyone, the riots in the mining area have subsided. The militia troops are chasing the thugs outside. You can rest assured about safety issues. Troops will come from Changhua for reinforcements later, and then we will send you back to Changhua by train. This sudden incident I’m really sorry that the incident has disturbed everyone!”
Although Gu Kai was apologizing to the visiting group, his face still looked very relaxed. Just now, the corpses of dozens of thugs had been hung upside down outside the military camp for public display. At this time, groups of thugs were no longer visible in the mining area. According to the military's reports, the troublemaking thugs chose to evacuate the mining area and retreated into the mountains and forests to hide. Perhaps they have realized that if they stay here any longer, what awaits them will only be a massive encirclement and suppression by the Haihan militia.
"It's all thanks to Master Gu's command and the militia army's bravery and skill in fighting that we can keep the peace of the place!"
"With Lord Gu here to take charge, why should we worry about our safety..."
After the crisis passed, everyone quickly put aside their previous anxiety and began to seize the time to flatter Gu Kai. However, the visiting group did not know the extent of the riot outside. They only knew that Haihan canceled the afternoon visit and sent troops from the military camp to suppress it. It didn't matter to them what measures Haihan would take to deal with the so-called prisoner riots. Their purpose of coming today was to witness with their own eyes that the iron ore claimed by Haihan did indeed exist, and that the scale was far larger than they imagined. For this purpose, Haihan even built a dozens of miles of railway track at all costs to transport thousands of people into this remote mountain to mine ore. Such investment also shows how much he attaches importance to this project and Haihan's terrifying Engineering construction capabilities.
The businessmen knew very well that the purpose of the Haihan people showing them the Shilu Iron Mine was to promote their strength so that they could confidently invest their money in Qiongzhou Island for business operations. Although there were some unexpected situations during the inspection at this station, it did not affect their overall impression of Haihan, which was that he was irresistibly powerful. Whether it was people's livelihood, commerce, navigation or military, Haihan was in all aspects. The strength displayed made them find it difficult to find fault.
It was only after visiting so many places that they understood why their close friends in the business circle recommended Haihan's investment business to them, and why those businessmen who had investment experience in Qiongzhou Island were so anxious. They asked the Haihan people to sign the cooperation agreement earlier for fear of being taken advantage of. For the late Ming Dynasty, which is gradually falling into chaos, Qiongzhou Island, controlled by outsiders like Haihan, will not face famine caused by war and various natural disasters, and it is indeed an excellent investment place. .
The only thing that made these businessmen unsatisfied was Haihan's almost harsh land policy. For those of them who are interested in purchasing real estate and land on Qiongzhou Island, Haihan's policy is really unacceptable. However, compared with the income that can be obtained, it seems that it is nothing to suffer a loss. After all, many pioneers have bought properties in Sanya and other places according to Haihan's rules. Except that the writing on the house deed is a bit special, it seems that It is no different from other places in the Ming Dynasty.
As for the Shilu Rebellion... Anyway, no one will settle down here. Even if someone really plans to do so, Haihan has already stated its attitude. Shilu and Changhua do not accept outside investment - —Bringing you here to visit is just to let you know that Haihan has production capabilities in this area, not to ask you to invest money in this business. Foreign non-naturalized persons who want to purchase real estate on Qiongzhou Island are currently limited to a few large cities, and the policies do not allow them to find their own place.
Of course, maybe after a few more years, Haihan will slowly digest all parts of Qiongzhou Island and establish a complete grassroots management organization, and then he will gradually relax restrictions on the migrant population. However, given that the current security situation on the island is not particularly stable, there is definitely no hope of this in the near future.
While Gu Kai was dealing with the compliments of the businessmen, he looked at his watch from time to time. Although Lu Li reported that the situation outside was basically under control, Gu Kai still hoped that Qiao Zhiya, the backbone, could come back soon. After all, Qiao Zhiya is the local leader, and many follow-up matters must be directed and dispatched by him, who is familiar with the local situation.
The reinforcements from Qiao Zhiya and Changhua arrived at the Shilu Mining Area almost immediately, and the number of troops directly exceeded the thousand-man mark. The militia troops who came for reinforcements even loaded four small-caliber artillery pieces on trains in case of emergency. If the Li people, who only use primitive cold weapons, want to conquer Shilu, I am afraid that it will be difficult for Li Dong Qingzhuang who has gathered in the entire Qiongzhong area to do so.
"Send the visiting group away first, and then deal with the rest." When Qiao Zhiya saw Gu Kai, he didn't have time to elaborate on his battle in the jungle, so he started delegating work in a hurry: "You will join the visiting group later. Withdraw, I will arrange a platoon of troops to escort you to Changhua... By the way, have you contacted the base camp? What is the attitude of the executive committee now? "
"We have contacted each other. Both the Executive Committee and the Military Commission believe that we should take this opportunity to eradicate the cancer in the Qiongzhong area, so they will organize a special force in Sanya and will send it here in a few days." Gu Kai at this time Having completely relaxed, he introduced the latest situation to Qiao Zhiya: "In addition, the Ministry of Security will also intervene. Their people will leave from Danzhou today and will probably arrive in Changhua tomorrow."
"These people from the Security Department..." Qiao Zhiya wanted to complain, but thought about it and swallowed it back. Although there is no need to worry about the Ministry of Security taking advantage of his identity, Gu Kai is one of the executive committee members and the head of the Ministry of Justice. He is inextricably linked to the Ministry of Security. It is better not to say this in front of him. It's better to say it.
Gu Kai answered nonchalantly: "The Security Department has been guarding Danzhou for half a year without arresting anyone. This time there is news, so we must act faster. Otherwise, how will they explain to Hao Wanqing when they go back? Hao Wanqing again? How to explain to the executive committee? ”
"Then what the executive committee means is that we should stand still for the time being?" Qiao Zhiya continued to ask.
Gu Kai nodded and said: "The Military Commission thinks it is safer to mobilize special mountain troops. In addition, if you want to go into the mountains to suppress bandits, you still need to reserve a batch of combat supplies. The supplies in the Shilu Mining Area alone are definitely not enough. You Don't worry, Lao Yan said in the telegram that when the troops are transferred, you will still be responsible for the full command of the specific actions." Qiao Zhiya said in a daze: "I don't intend to grab this battle credit, I'm just afraid of the delay. There will be other variables as time goes by, but this time we are going into the mountains to suppress bandits, so it is right to be cautious.”
Qiao Zhiya stayed in Changhua and Shilu for almost two years. In addition to directing projects and managing administrative affairs, he also regularly led the troops for field training in nearby mountains and forests. He generally has some understanding of the situation in Qiongzhong Mountain Area. When fighting deep into mountainous areas, in addition to the common difficulties of marching and sleeping in the open, the biggest trouble is actually getting supplies. Since there are no decent roads at all, to transport the large amounts of supplies needed by the army into the mountains, all we can rely on is manpower and There are two types of animal power. And the limited livestock power in the Shilu Mining Area is almost all used in the mine. Tian Yeyou, who is in charge of the mining, probably will not agree to the military requisitioning all the livestock used for production. If we really want to go into the mountains to suppress bandits next, we will probably have to wait for the military to coordinate a group of pack horses from other places.
As for which army Sanya was planning to send over, Qiao Zhiya knew without asking that it must be the Annan militia army that had just returned from the South China Sea. After all, the only army with mountain warfare as its main training subject was the militia organized by Qian Tiandun and others in Annan. Although he has never commanded the Annan Militia, Qiao Zhiya trusts Qian Tiandun's troop leadership methods, and this unit is not a rookie, but a reliable unit with several actual combat experiences. Bringing such an army into the mountains to fight is indeed more reliable than the local militia.
After Qiao Zhiya handed over official duties to Gu Kai, she personally escorted him and the visiting group to the train station to return to Changhua. The reinforcements arriving from Changhua were gathering outside the train station, and the visiting group was fortunate enough to see the Haihan Civilian Regiment at close range. Just the appearance created by the unified military uniforms, weapons and neat queues gave people a look that far exceeded the usual guard troops seen in other areas. At that moment, some people took the opportunity to flatter them again, praising the militia army as "well-groomed", "mighty and majestic" and so on.
Before dark, many prisoners returned to the mining area from the nearby mountains and forests on their own. These people had earlier chosen to escape temporarily due to various reasons, but after seeing the troublemakers retreat, they quickly made their choice. Freedom is valuable, but compared with freedom, survival seems to be a more important reason. The choice of escaping from the Shilu Mining Area will greatly reduce the possibility of survival while gaining freedom.
Qiao Zhiya did not punish the returning prisoners, but ordered people to collect them and then take them back to the prison area and lock them up. But this time Qiao Zhiya has been a little more careful. All prisoners must check their identities to avoid repeating the same mistake and being sneaked into the prison area by someone with malicious intentions again. The confessions obtained from the captured thugs showed that in the previous riots, the other party took advantage of the loophole in the labor camp's neglect of checking personnel, and only checked the few but not the large ones. As a result, groups of thugs sneaked into the labor camp in advance and instigated this riot.
Fundamentally speaking, the management system of the hard labor camp was set by the judicial department. It is not Qiao Zhiya’s fault to hold him accountable. If he really wanted to take the blame, he would have to go to the current director of the Police Department, Ren Liang. After all, the current regulations of the hard labor camp Almost all management systems were formulated when he was managing this organization. However, when Ren Liang became the leader, he probably did not expect that the hard labor camp with only a few hundred people at that time would expand tenfold in a few years, and some of the management systems formulated at that time were not in line with the current actual situation. For example, he never expected that groups of people would sneak into the labor camps and lurk, waiting for opportunities to start riots.
Qiao Zhiya couldn't think of a better way to improve the current management system for the time being, but it was definitely right to lock up these prisoners first, and let the police department worry about the rest. What he has to do now is to quickly clean up the battlefield, calculate the general losses and results, and then interrogate the captured prisoners to get further information.
All departments were busy until late that day, and it was not until the next morning that the loss statistics were compiled in the hands of Qiao Zhiya, who had not slept all night.
First of all, in terms of personnel, a total of 31 people from the police force responsible for maintaining daily security in the prison area and mining area were killed in the riots, seven were seriously injured, and 29 were slightly injured. There are still three missing people. If they did not escape on their own in collaboration with the thugs, they were kidnapped by the thugs. The possibility of the latter is obviously much higher, because most police officers have families, and the possibility of colluding with Li people is extremely low. In terms of the number of casualties alone, this is definitely the most disastrous loss since the establishment of the Police Division. Most of the police officers who were killed were unprepared and were directly beaten to death by thugs using gravel, iron tools and other objects. And because most of the police were not equipped with lethal weapons, they were completely unable to withstand the overwhelming impact of the rioters in the early stages of the riots. This is why the surprising number of casualties appeared.
Three military personnel were killed in this riot, 27 people were injured to varying degrees, and there were 20 missing persons. These missing persons were all from the first batch of troops who entered the mountains to search for fugitives and were ambushed. None of them, including the platoon leader, managed to escape. Qiao Zhiya later led a team into the mountains to rescue them, but only brought back some people and was unable to organize an on-site search and rescue. As for their current survival possibility, Qiao Zhiya also thinks that it is not optimistic. If they are not able to return to the Shilu mining area by themselves tomorrow, it may already be in danger.
In addition to human losses, fixed assets in the mining area also suffered a certain degree of damage. The burnt work sheds and production supplies were still minor problems, but the mining machinery destroyed by thugs were the major losses. Without these steam-driven mechanical devices, the production efficiency of the entire Shilu mining area would be reduced by at least half. It's no wonder that when Tian Yeyou came to Qiao Zhiya to submit the damage report, he couldn't help shouting that Qiao Zhiya should be killed and all the prisoners who participated in the riot must be hanged.
It wasn't until Qiao Zhiya asked him how long it would take to recover that Tian Yeyou's mood slowly calmed down.
"Most of them can be repaired, but they require corresponding parts and knowledgeable workers." Tian Yeyou said helplessly: "We probably can't solve it ourselves. It depends on the efficiency of Tiandu Industrial Zone. .”
(End of chapter)