Chapter 750 The way forward
In principle, the Haihan Militia's appointment of grassroots officers must first submit a list and be approved by the Military Commission before it is valid. Even for troops stationed abroad, the generals who lead the troops only have the power to nominate and recommend, but do not have the right to directly adjust military ranks and appointments. However, in actual operations, due to the slow transmission speed of documents, troops stationed abroad often adopt the practice of cutting first and reporting later, that is, giving positions first and then reporting to higher officials. The Military Commission generally does not reject applications for military job adjustment. Similar to the special operations force under Qian Tiandun, he basically has the final say in selecting the personnel, and can only report to the Military Commission afterwards. Therefore, he planned to promote Sun Zhen at the right time, not just to talk about it, but in the past few years, there were indeed only a few newcomers like this who were favored by him during the recruit training period.
In terms of geographical conditions, Penghu is not particularly suitable as a training base for army recruits. After all, the land area here is limited and the geographical environment is relatively simple. It is acceptable as a training venue for amphibious landings, island seizure operations, and street fighting, but it must be For training military subjects with a relatively large scope of operations, or to adapt to a more complex combat environment, the situation at the Penghu base is a bit inadequate.
Of course, Qian Tiandun could also send the troops to the coastal areas of Fujian for training, but after all, Fujian is a territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the Haihan armed forces used to conduct training, so the atmosphere will be very delicate after all. Even if Xu Xinsu believed that Haihan would not do anything in his sphere of influence, in order to explain to the outside world, he would definitely send the Ming army to join in in the form of a "coordinated exercise" or a "military observation group", and Such an arrangement was not something Qian Tiandun was willing to accept.
Haihan and the Fujian military secretly signed a military cooperation agreement a few years ago. The Fujian Ming Army also stationed liaison representatives, military observers, officer cadets, etc. at the Penghu base. Some Ming army officers who were training in Penghu even Trained together with the Haihan Militia. However, the teaching of military skills is often limited to the more basic parts. For some subjects involving specific tactical drills, the Haihan Militia will naturally not bring the Ming army to play with them. The relationship is good, but the bottom line is Things still cannot be exposed easily.
Although the Penghu garrison, including recruits, still places its training venues on the Penghu Islands, Qian Tiandun is definitely not satisfied with this status quo, not to mention that there are excellent training grounds around him.
In mid-October, Sanya received an application from the Penghu Base, requesting that the unowned area on the west coast of Taiwan Island be included in the garrison training venues. Qian Tiandun did not list many reasons in his application, but simply explained the reason briefly, which was to "adapt to the environment of Taiwan Island and prepare for future military operations." The attitude shown by this reason is very clear, that is, the Penghu garrison is not inclined to expand northward as discussed by the Executive Committee in the next step of action, but intends to first move eastward and settle on Taiwan Island.
"Whether it's going north or east, we are all developing. What we need to make a judgment is which direction is more beneficial, easier to implement, and will have a greater role in promoting our future development!"
When the executive committee members were arguing about this, Tao Donglai had to stand up and stop the discussion that had begun to go wrong. The topic has shifted from "whether the application for Penghu garrison should be approved" to which one is more suitable to be the focus of Hainan's construction in the next few years, Taiwan or Hainan. If we continue to allow the executive committee members to continue their debate, it will be difficult to reach a conclusion recognized by the majority before the end of the day.
"Of course we need to control Taiwan first, even if it's just part of the west coast. Colonizing nearby can share part of the pressure on maritime transportation. The natural resources obtained locally and the primary materials produced can supplement the demand nearby. After achieving self-sufficiency, we can also There is no need to transport so much supplies and food all the way to Fujian every month." Yue Zhiyun, a representative of the Ministry of Shipping, took the lead in expressing his attitude and clearly sided with the military.
"Xiao Yue, you only see the benefits and not the real difficulties!" Ning Qi, as a representative of the opposition, immediately retorted: "Qian Tiandun now says that the local area will be included in the training venue, but sitting here Everyone must understand the reason why the military did this. In the final analysis, it still wants to take action against Taiwan. Don't forget that the best ports in the south and north of Taiwan have been occupied by foreign devils. If you want to enter Taiwan, you must drive them away. Don’t forget that we only finished fighting Penghu in May and are still in the repair period. Will we start another war soon?”
"We can choose the middle zone on the west coast and avoid the Dutch and Spanish first." Wang Tom proposed another solution.
However, Ning Qi was not interested in his plan. He shook his head and retorted: "The vacant section on the west coast of Taiwan Island is not all unclaimed land. There are still many indigenous people who have settled in these areas. According to later generations, We call these indigenous people living in the coastal plain area of the west coast the Pingpu tribe... Well, the indigenous people living in the mountains are what we know as the Gaoshan tribe. Ethnically speaking, the indigenous people of Taiwan Island are not descendants of Han people, but Ma. Most of the people here are of different races, so don’t expect to have any relatives with them to get closer..."
Someone whispered in a low voice: "No wonder those guys on the island have been fighting against the mainland before crossing over!"
Ning Qi said sternly: "The situation in Taiwan Island before we crossed was more complicated than it is now. After all, it was occupied by the Japanese for a period of time. Many people on the island are descendants of the Japs and are not of the same mind as the Chinese at all. But this is not the focus of our discussion now. If we want to settle on the west coast of Taiwan Island, there will definitely be resistance, and a war may break out because of this. Everyone, what we urgently need is population and labor, not slowing down development. War!”
"The matter may not be as serious as you think." Yan Chujie responded slowly: "The indigenous people on the west coast of Taiwan Island...the Pingpu people you just mentioned are all still primitive tribes in the stage of clan civilization. Even decent people There are no weapons, and there is a big gap between the armed forces in places like Annan and Champa. What can we use to fight against us? It just so happens that Qian Tiandun is training elite soldiers at the Penghu base. Find a place for his people to practice their skills. Isn’t it a good thing to clear out a place to establish a colony? In my opinion, it will only lead to armed conflict, but it is far from reaching the level of war.”
Gu Kai interjected: "What is the difference between doing this and the Americans massacring Indians in America? Why do we want to create hatred and conflict? Have you ever seen a Taiwanese movie about local indigenous people fighting back against Japanese oppression... ”
"Gu Kai, if you continue to be such a holy mother, why not go to Taiwan Island to preach to the local indigenous people and let them voluntarily give up their place? At least we can lead them to live a better life, right? "Yan Chujie interrupted Gu Kai with a mocking look on his face.
People in the military have always been uncomfortable with Gu Kai's holy habits. Every time the military proposed a plan, Gu Kai would jump out to oppose it, and arguments between the two sides often continued throughout the entire discussion. However, because Gu Kai's military attainments are insufficient, the reasons for refuting the military's opinions are not sufficient. As for the slogans such as friendliness and humanity he advocates, they are often not enough to impress the executive committee members - everyone abandons the original In my life, I traveled to this strange time and space, not to be a saint and save the masses, but to play the role of a conqueror in this world. There is no way to gain a foothold in this world simply by relying on peaceful and gentle means, let alone become a conqueror.
Gu Kai was not angry at being snatched away by Yan Chujie. He just made a cross on his chest and said, "May the Lord forgive you for such rude behavior."
Yan Chujie snorted and saw that Gu Kai did not continue to refute, so he stopped choking him with words. Although Gu Kai talks nicely, if he were to go to Taiwan alone to deal with the natives, he probably wouldn't be so crazy. Given Taiwan's current almost primitive environment, the natives would have killed him as an intruder before he could find a way to communicate. Of course, the military will not really force him to step down. After all, Gu Kai still holds the positions of Minister of Justice and Supreme Court Justice. How can he easily leave his job and go somewhere else to do his job? Of course, Ning Qi would not be stupid enough to use similar reasons to oppose the military's opinions. The path he chose was to return to the immigration issue: "Most of the indigenous tribes on Taiwan Island are unruly and unsuitable for recruiting new immigrants. , our main direction of introducing immigrants is still in the northern region of Ming Dynasty, so continuing to deploy in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and building the next foothold is the best support for the immigration plan. ”
Yan Chujie shook his head and said: "Our layout in Zhejiang is far inferior to that of Fujian. If we want to settle near Hangzhou Bay, we must not act too hastily, otherwise it will easily arouse the resentment of the local officials. Although we do not need to be afraid of the Ming Dynasty militarily, after all, we have needs now For people, if you want to settle down locally, you will definitely need to obtain more local resources. You can't just transport all the supplies from Hainan Island, right? Take advantage of this gap where the north is temporarily unable to do anything, and do something on the island of Taiwan. Build a few colonies and get a foothold first. This is what we should do now. As for the possibility of a war, I think you are really overthinking it. The people under Qian Tiandun are not vegetarians. Don’t forget that his troops are best at fighting in rainforest and mountainous environments.”
"Then what if the Penghu garrison encounters resistance locally and the Dutch or Spanish come out to oppose us at this time?" Ning Qi felt that he could not argue with Yan Chujie in this direction, so he immediately changed to another one. Way.
Yan Chujie smiled and said: "Isn't that just right? We just can't find an excuse to start a fight with these two parties now! If they take the initiative, then things will be easier. Especially the Dutch in Damuan Port, although they are far away from Penghu The base is very close and can threaten us at all times, but on the other hand, our garrison is also very close to Taiyuan Port. As long as the Dutch dare to make a sound, the Penghu garrison can put the gun barrel to their throats in minutes. .”
The military's attitude was so tough that it was difficult for Ning Qi to find a more sufficient reason to object. As for the final voting results, the military once again had the upper hand and won the approval of the Executive Committee with a disparity of 7:2. Of course, what is approved now is only the application submitted by Qian Tiandun. As for establishing a colonial settlement on Taiwan Island, or even taking action with the Dutch, etc., it is currently not within the scope of actions recognized by the Executive Committee.
"It looks like there won't be much noise this time!" Qian Tiandun took the telegram from Sanya and showed it to Chen Yixin with a smile: "Look, it was approved within 48 hours after the telegram was sent. This time the opposition Not good enough! ”
Chen Yixin also responded with a smile: "To win it so smoothly, I guess Mr. Yan has done his job well."
"The outdoor survival training at the end of the month will be held on the other side. At that time, two companies, one company of recruits and one company of veterans, will adapt to the conditions on Taiwan Island." Qian Tiandun immediately made a decision and changed the original training Plans were adjusted.
Chen Yixin said: "Who will lead the team?"
"I'll go there myself." Qian Tiandun responded without hesitation: "I had never been to Taiwan before traveling through time, so I just thought of it as a trip."
"Does Miss Luo agree?" Chen Yixin asked narrowly: "I heard that Miss Luo doesn't like letting you go to dangerous places to perform tasks!"
Qian Tiandun coughed dryly and said: "This matter is a military secret. God knows that you know it and I know it. If she knows about it, be prepared to take the blame!"
The smile on Chen Yixin's face froze and he said: "This is not good... Besides, it only takes a day or two to lead the team out. They will eventually be discovered."
Qian Tiandun pondered for a while and said: "When the time comes, I will go to Zhangzhou to have a meeting with Xu Xinsu, and just let her stay in Penghu safely. The training will only last for a week at most, and nothing will happen. Just keep an eye on her in Penghu, If you have any questions, please contact the radio station.”
Seeing Qian Tiandun's firm attitude, Chen Yixin stopped joking, nodded and said: "Then which specific location is better?"
Qian Tiandun turned around, looked at the map of Taiwan hanging on the wall and was silent for a while, then raised his finger and pointed somewhere on the west coast and said: "This is it!"
Chen Yixin looked carefully at the markings on the map and found that the place Qian Tiandun was pointing to was the geographical landmark Zhuoshui River that bisects the north and south of Taiwan Island.
Zhuoshui River originates from the southern foot of Hehuan Mountain in the central mountain range of Taiwan Island. The river is more than 180 kilometers long and is the longest river on Taiwan Island. The drainage area is more than 3,000 square kilometers, and a vast alluvial plain is formed downstream. In terms of geographical conditions alone, the impact plain where it reaches the sea downstream is indeed quite good agricultural land, and it is indeed an excellent choice for building a colonial settlement.
(End of chapter)