Chapter 716 Security Force
Li Dagui hurriedly responded, thinking that fortunately he stood firm and was not bribed by the Dutch's small favors. But it was obvious that Roger was not satisfied with the slave transaction that had been completed previously, and he would have to deal with this job carefully in the future. In the future, even the slaves sent by the Portuguese and Ming Dynasty merchants will have to follow Roger's rules and pick out the lazy ones from Sumatra, Java and other places for separate price negotiation.
Although there is not much land suitable for food cultivation on Ambon Island, the Executive Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture are very interested in developing large-scale planting of cash crops here. Some tropical cash crops that are not suitable for planting on Hainan Island are very suitable for cultivation on Hainan Island. Large-scale cultivation is carried out in the natural environment of Ambon Island. Under the vigorous publicity of the Ministry of Commerce, investors from Daming, Annan, and Portugal have built plantations here. Although some of them may not understand what Haihan is going to do, they are not familiar with Haihan's business. But there is a strong confidence in the reputation. Of course, the more important thing is the attractive returns promised by Haihan.
According to the plantation cooperative development agreement signed by the investors, the money they invest here will receive equity in the plantation for the next ten to twenty years according to their investment amount, and they will have priority in owning the future output of the relevant plantation. The right to sell products as an agent overseas has a much higher return on investment than the wealthy locals casting their money into watermelons and burying it in their homesteads. Moreover, Haihan also promised in the agreement that if the plantation on Ambon Island cannot continue to operate due to natural disasters or other irresistible forces, such as typhoons, earthquakes or sudden outbreaks of war, or similar situations, the investment The merchants' equity can still be transferred to plantations under Haihan's name elsewhere to obtain profits.
Such insurance clauses also greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of investors. Although the investment threshold for Ambona Island plantations started from two hundred acres, investors still signed contracts for nearly 10,000 acres of plantations in a short period of time. cooperative development agreement. And giants such as Qiong Lianfa, Minhai Bank, and Guangdong Haihang, which are business associations, have each signed agreements for more than 2,000 acres in the first phase of development. There are also some plantations, which are private properties invested by themselves in the name of Roger himself and some other travelers.
Judging from the plantation development plans made by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce, there is still a huge labor gap in the island's permanent population. Even though thousands of slaves have been introduced to the island, under the huge workload It still seems like a drop in the bucket in front of me. If there are no major changes to the normal immigration channels, the slave trade on Ambrosia Island will not stop for the time being, at least in the next one or two years.
The focus of Roger's work was not on the plantation. He tried every means to transfer people from the Tiandu Industrial Zone to the military. He was not just coming to the South China Sea to be an island owner and have a happy farm. As a soldier and a commander who plans to make great achievements, he is more concerned about how to achieve results in his current position. Although the security of the Ambuna Islands was no longer his top priority as relations with the East India Company gradually normalized, Roger still had to consider how to strengthen Haihan's military influence in the South China Sea.
From a large strategic level, the Ambuna Islands where Roger is currently located is not a place suitable for vigorous military construction. Due to limited natural conditions, there is no natural harbor for the navy to use as a fleet base. Therefore, the navy's main base in the South China Sea is still Cam Ranh Bay on the southern coastline of Indochina, while the Ambunas Islands only go deep into An outpost camp in the South China Sea has a limited number and model of ships that can be stationed there. Even if the Ambrosia Islands can be built into a maritime fortress, without an organized armed fleet, the threat to the South China Sea routes is not as great as the Dutch fear.
The top brass of the Military Commission are concerned about the complex race of people on the island, and currently have no plans to recruit troops here. In the early days, this was an area colonized and developed by the Fujian, Guangdong and Han people. After the Dutch occupied this area, they introduced European and Southeast Asian races. After Haihan captured this place last year, the Portuguese also moved in with some immigrants. In addition, the Haihan organized relocation on their own. With the arrival of naturalized people and the large-scale purchase of black slaves in the past two months, the island's permanent population has so many races and ancestry that it gives the staff of the Ministry of Civil Affairs a headache.
So many races have obvious differences in physical appearance, customs, and cultural traditions. It is already very difficult for them to live together peacefully, let alone integrate the young and strong among them into the same disciplinary force. Go in. In addition, the proportion of naturalized citizens here is relatively low and the composition of the personnel is complex. From a security perspective, it is also the right decision not to recruit troops here for the time being.
Even if Roger didn't conduct a detailed investigation, he could still imagine that all forces should have sent spies to lurk here. Especially the Dutch, who had a temporary truce with Haihan, would never believe it if they said that there were no spies among the slaves they sold to Ambon Island. If a guy with a special status like this is accidentally recruited into the militia during the recruitment process, the hidden danger will be huge. Even if conscription is opened in the future, it is estimated that it will have to wait until the number of local naturalized citizens rises to a certain proportion.
But just because he couldn't draft didn't mean that Roger couldn't do anything. According to the provisions of the Military Commission, overseas colonies have the right and obligation to form and train local militia forces. This regulation is actually partly due to the limited military strength of the Haihan Militia. The size of the troops stationed overseas is often not enough to complete high-intensity combat missions. Therefore, it has become the responsibility of each colonial military officer to establish a permanent local reserve armed force. One of the tasks.
Of course, this kind of real militia-like armed force is not the same thing as the militia army recruited for service, so Roger does not have to worry about it conflicting with the military's decision not to recruit troops here. Local people who participate in militia training will not immediately get the opportunity to naturalize as Haihan.
There is currently one battalion of militia troops stationed on the island. Considering the island's population of less than 10,000 people, this ratio of troops stationed is actually very high. However, with the recent large-scale purchase of slaves, the garrison, whose main responsibility was originally only external defense, had to put more energy into the management of slave labor camps. At least one company must be dispatched every day to monitor and direct the slaves who enter the mountains and forests to work. Roger's plan is to train an armed force that can take over these non-military tasks from the militia army based on the specific local conditions. Its role is between the civil police and the security riot team.
Due to the lack of policy support, Roger is unlikely to be as successful as Qian Tiandun when he formed a civilian armed force in Annan Black Earth Port. It is also unlikely that this armed force will be equipped with advanced standard flintlock guns as individual weapons. But Roger still plans to give it a try to see if he can create a law and order force that can be commanded in this unideal environment. With Qian Tiandun's successful example in front of him, building a special force has become a compulsory project for almost every senior officer leading troops overseas.
As long as they do not ask for military expenses from the base camp and do not occupy the resources of the regular army, in fact, the Military Commission and the Executive Committee have always turned a blind eye to the private training of overseas military leaders by themselves and will not force them to do so. Such practices are prohibited. This is not a simple matter of face. When necessary, it would be more effective for unofficial armed forces to come forward to solve the problem than to directly dispatch the militia army that symbolizes Haihan. For example, private armed forces such as the "Golden Shield Escort" jointly created by the Haihan military and local powerful forces in Guangdong can often play a role when it is inconvenient for the Haihan militia to come forward directly. Judging from the number of investors attracted by the Ambrosia Islands, it would not be difficult for Roger to find a few merchants to invest and create a shell for this civilian armed force to fool outsiders. Private armed training in Annan and Guangdong and Guangxi has almost been monopolized by a few large companies for a long time. Many wealthy people are trying to find it but cannot find it. As long as Roger agrees to train the personnel sent by these investors, some of them are investors. Willing to pay to sponsor this armed force in the Ambrosia Islands.
On June 11, notices from the Ambuna Port Management Committee were posted everywhere on the island, regarding preparations for the establishment of a local security force and the mobilization of young men of appropriate age to sign up. In fact, after Mushaba led his troops to take over the Ambuna Islands, a militia was organized, which even included the Portuguese who specially immigrated here to replace the Dutch. However, after Mu Xiabai left office and returned to Annan, the militia that had participated in the Second Battle of Ambrosia Island was basically disbanded and no longer conducted centralized training.
Roger did not plan to start a new one completely. In the notice issued this time, priority was still given to recruiting militia members who were registered last year. Recruitment is voluntary, but qualified candidates will receive special subsidies from the management committee. This income was something that the first batch of militiamen did not enjoy last year. In addition, Roger also followed the example of militia recruitment and announced that qualified candidates would enjoy preferential policies in many aspects such as naturalization and property purchase. The difference is that the militiamen who join the army are naturalized and can be automatically promoted to Haihan naturalized citizens, while the security militia recruited by Roger can only shorten the immigration and naturalization inspection period to a certain extent. Of course, slaves who have been recently trafficked to the island are not yet eligible to sign up to participate in this recruitment activity.
Roger still has some doubts about whether such measures can be effective, so the recruitment time this time is set to one week. However, the result was better than he expected. A week later, the number of people who signed up exceeded 400. After excluding some unqualified applicants, there were still more than 300 people, which is almost equivalent to the current size of the island's garrison. Half of it.
On June 20, Roger met with the 327 candidates who passed the final review at the military camp on the island. Half of these people are naturalized people who have obtained Haihan nationality, while the other half are immigrants from Portuguese, Javanese, Annan, Ming and other nationalities, as well as some locals whose blood has been mixed to the point where they cannot distinguish their original ancestry. composition. There are even more than a dozen tall black people among them. They are not slaves purchased recently, but the descendants of black servants who stayed here during the Dutch occupation. They have grown up on this island since they were young, and they can basically speak Chinese. , there is not much of a language barrier.
Among these people are about forty trainees selected by six sponsors. Their mission is to receive Haihan-style military training, and then return to their master's home at the appropriate time to form a private armed force for their master. Of course, the purpose of the host paying for them to come here to receive training is not only to learn Haihan's military skills, but also to maintain a relationship with Haihan's military so that they can form a private armed force in the future. Only then can we have channels to purchase advanced weapons manufactured by Haihan, and obtain military support and assistance from the Haihan military when necessary.
In particular, investors in Annan and Guangdong and Guangxi are eager to obtain the support of the Haihan military even more than they attach importance to the training itself, because they have already come into contact with the private armed forces supported by the Haihan and know that the Haihan people are there. As long as the practices in this field can be regarded as "one of our own" by Haihan Military, then many things will be done very easily and happily in the future. And spending eighteen thousand taels of silver on this is actually a very worthwhile deal.
"Listen carefully! There is no need for losers here. Those who fail to meet the requirements, I will kick you out of the gate of the military camp unceremoniously, regardless of whether you were a sailor, a farmer, a hunter or a sneaky liar or criminal. After you come here, I will transform you into a real warrior!”
Roger held a tin trumpet and stood on a temporary podium made of wooden boxes to loudly preach to the militiamen: "You will not get military membership of the Haihan Militia here, but you will get courage and survival skills. If you are brave enough, There will be opportunities to fight in the future and you will become heroes in the eyes of the world!”
Roger's speech was full of passion, but the response was not enthusiastic. It was obvious that these people did not accept Roger's way of stimulating chicken blood. Most of them come here for the monthly militia training subsidy. The proportion of those who really plan to join the army and rely on military merit to climb the ranks is probably not too high.
Roger himself is very motivated. He believes that his qualifications are not much worse than Qian Tiandun. Since Qian Tiandun can bring out a powerful special operations force in Annan, he can also achieve the same results here. . Although this force was formed in the name of local security forces, Roger had the intention to build it into another ace overseas corps under Haihan.
(End of chapter)