Chapter 905 Taipei Construction
For Haihan, future development and expansion in Northeast Asia will most likely be accompanied by a series of wars, so various situations must be taken into consideration in advance during the preparation stage. Although these countries and local forces are certainly not as powerful as Haihan in terms of force, Haihan's military has always prepared for a rainy day and is accustomed to making full preparations to directly crush its opponents with strong strength in actual combat.
However, with Haihan's current comprehensive strength, it is difficult to attack two alternative locations on Jeju Island and Kyushu Island at the same time. We can only choose one of them as the main target based on the actual situation, and then slowly plan for the next one after occupying it. . Both alternative locations have their own pros and cons, but from the military's standpoint, priority will definitely be given to Sasebo Bay, which is more convenient for fleet deployment. However, to deploy the fleet to a remote location more than 2,500 kilometers away from the Sanya base camp, command and dispatch, maintenance, and training operations will all become new issues that the military needs to deal with carefully. If a feasible and complete plan cannot be come up with, it is estimated that the implementation will It was also difficult to get approval during committee discussions.
Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen basically agreed that the military value of Sasebo Bay was greater than that of Jeju Island, and it could be used as a springboard to enter Japan in the east and the Korean Peninsula in the north. In addition, in the future, Haihan will explore the Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea further north, as well as the Pacific area east of Japan. Sasebo Bay can also be used as a departure point for the fleet. The most important thing is that Sasebo Bay is currently an undeveloped area. Haihan will encounter much less resistance and resistance when settling there than Jeju Island. If it is operated well, it can be captured without using too much force. , and it is obviously impossible for Jeju Island to achieve such conditions.
As for the cost of building a military base in Sasebo Bay, it is not a big problem. This time the military has made a lot of money in the Zhoushan Islands, and now it is in a relatively comfortable period. The next thing to do is to compile Chen Yixin’s inspection results into a written report, and then send it back to Sanya for discussion by the military’s top brass and the executive committee. Naturally, there are many articles to be written in this report drafted under the leadership of the military. Add some guiding content to increase the chance that the Executive Committee will ultimately choose Sasebo Bay as the next overseas military base.
However, even if the Zhoushan base is eager to move eastward immediately, it still has to wait for the Military Commission to first take action against the Eighteen Shiba Party on Miyako Island east of Taiwan. In the final analysis, this is because Haihan's own military strength is limited. When fighting in one place, troops often have to be mobilized from multiple regions. If combat operations are carried out in multiple places at the same time, the military strength will immediately become stretched. Therefore, the attack on Miyako Island and the march into Northeast Asia cannot be done in two directions, and can only be completed one by one.
To attack Miyako Island, Penghu and Taiwan Island will become forward bases because they are closest to the destination, and the military will complete the assembly and preparation of troops here. However, based on the current construction situation in Taipei, it is still relatively difficult to maintain the stationing and combat needs of a large fleet.
While the issues in Northeast Asia were being discussed at the Zhoushan base, on the coast of Jilong Port, hard laborers were building docks under the scorching sun under the shouts and curses of the foremen. Most of these hard laborers were pirate captives from the Zhoushan Islands area. After being captured, they were packed and transported to Jilong Port, which was severely short of labor, where they performed heavy manual labor for Haihan.
The supervisor who directs these hard laborers here is Li Maozai, who also stayed in the hard labor camp for a long time. He was a foreman in the hard labor camp. After serving his sentence and regaining his freedom, Li Maozai didn't have any skills, so I still continue to work in my old business, and the people I manage are the people in the hard labor camp. In the large-scale projects on Hainan Island in recent years, Li Maozi has participated in almost all the places where hard labor camps are involved.
However, his dark past is too deep, and it is difficult to get ahead no matter what he does on Hainan Island, and it is impossible to return to his hometown in Panyu, Guangdong. After all, he has been expelled from the Li family and will never be included in the clan again in this life. So when the island of Taiwan was recruiting naturalized personnel to volunteer to work there, someone gave him an idea and asked him to start over in Taiwan. Li Maozi thought it was reasonable. After all, few people in Taiwan knew him well. Maybe he would have the opportunity to start over, so he signed up to come to Taiwan and was assigned to work as a supervisor at Jilong Port.
The construction project Li Maozai is responsible for is located at the wharf on the west bank of Jilong Port. It is said that it will be used to dock military combat ships in the future, so the requirements for project quality are higher than those for civilian wharves. The time limit given by the military and the Ministry of Construction requires the completion of the first phase of the project before the end of the year. However, there are only four months left until the end of the year, and the progress of the project is only one-third completed. If this pace continues until the end of the year, , it will definitely not be completed, and Li Maozi, the supervisor, will also have to bear certain responsibilities.
Li Maozi was naturally very anxious about this. His original intention of coming to Taiwan was to use his performance to obtain a senior labor title here, otherwise it would be difficult to get married and start a family. Because Haihan introduced a large number of young male immigrants as a labor force in the past few years, the ratio of men to women in Haihan is still seriously unbalanced today. A large number of singles have difficulty solving personal problems, while women of marriageable age often stay at home. If you want to sell at a reasonable price, you have the capital to pick and choose the man. Needless to say, he must have the status of a naturalized citizen. Those who can hold cadre or senior technical worker positions will also be in this market because they enjoy better welfare benefits. It is relatively more popular.
Because of Li Maozi's dark history in the past, it is more difficult for him to be promoted to a senior professional title than ordinary people, and he has a lower tolerance for mistakes in his work. Therefore, he can only transfer the pressure to his hard workers and force these people to work overtime. Work extra hard to complete the task before the end of the year.
"Don't stop! You lazy guys, hurry up and work!" Li Maozai held a short leather whip in his hand and patrolled the construction site while scolding the hard laborers: "Don't think this is the most miserable place. If you are not sent to the mountains to mine, you will be lucky! Let me tell you, whoever is lazy the most will be sent to mine!”
The "mining" Li Maozi refers to naturally refers to the Jinguashi gold mine in the mountains more than ten miles away from Jilong Port. Mining in the Jinguashi Mining Area began in March this year, and it has been more than four months since then. Thousands of hard laborers have been put to work in the area. However, the actual number of hard laborers working in the local area has always been only about 500. One reason is that the local harsh environment and super labor intensity have kept the mortality rate of hard laborers high. According to statistics from the mining department, about one-tenth of the hard laborers died within a month of entering the mining area to work. There are only about 200 hard laborers who have survived from mining to the present.
For the hard laborers who were sent to Jilong Port, being assigned to the mining area almost meant that they would never return, so being able to stay on the dock to drive wooden piles and carry stones became a relatively good arrangement. But compared with the area occupied by the Haihan Army in Zhejiang, the foundation of Jilong Port is obviously much worse. During the Spanish rule here, they only built a city of San Salvador on Sheliao Island at the exit of the harbor, and It was not completely completed when Haihan captured it. As for the dock facilities, the situation is even worse. The Spaniards only used it as an anchorage instead of a military base or a commercial port for planning and construction. The simple dock is not even as good as the Wanshan built by Haihan at the Pearl River Estuary in the early days. port.
Another local problem is the nearby indigenous people. Near Jilong Port is the settlement area of the Basai people. San Diao Society, Jinbaoli Society and Daguilong Society are the three largest tribes in the area. These tribes are still in a matriarchal society and have difficulty integrating with outside civilization. Haihan's mining in the Jinguashi area was a very inappropriate invasion in the eyes of the nature-advocating indigenous people. In the early stages of mining, there were several incidents of indigenous attacks on the mining site, which caused real consequences for Haihan. casualties. Afterwards, Haihan also decisively took some counterattack measures, killing and wounding some indigenous radicals. He also set up an early warning isolation zone around the mining area to carry out indiscriminate attacks on indigenous people entering this area. The Basai tribe soon realized that these new faces who had driven away the Spaniards were not easy to mess with, and the casualties caused by this confrontation were unbearable for them, so they gradually stopped attacking the mining areas. However, so far, the two sides have only maintained the most basic peace. These tribes and Haihan have not yet achieved official exchanges, let alone any cooperative relationship. This also makes Haihan's original idea of using local indigenous people to supplement labor basically come to nothing, at least the possibility of realizing it in the short term cannot be seen.
Although the Basai people did not cause irreparable losses to the mining area, they did affect the production and development progress of the mining area. Fortunately, most of the ore veins in the Jinguashi mining area are buried shallowly, so there is no need to dig tunnels for mining. As long as the labor force is increased, the mining speed can be quickly increased. Of course, the current mining scale cannot meet the requirements of mining director Tian Yeyou. In his opinion, at least two to three thousand miners should be invested in the mining area to seize the time to excavate several concentrated mineral veins.
However, this requirement cannot be met for the time being. This is not only because of the limited number of hard laborers and immigrants transported to Jilong Port, but also because of a series of supporting matters such as living arrangements, work management, military defense, etc. Follow along and make adjustments. However, Haihan currently has a limited number of staff deployed in Jilong Port, which makes it difficult to meet the needs brought about by the rapid growth of the population.
At noon, two sailboats slowly sailed into Jilong Port and docked at the pier of Sheliao Island. Li Maozai put his hand on his forehead to block the dazzling sunlight and looked around. He saw the military flag flying on the mast and knew that this should be a troop transport coming from Penghu. Since August, troop transport ships have arrived at Jilong Port almost every two or three days. Although the number of soldiers transported each time is not too many, it seems to have exceeded the normal local defense needs. Li Maozai had also stayed under Haihan's rule for several years, so he could naturally smell something unusual from this frequent troop movement.
The Haihan Militia currently deployed in Jilong Port has one battalion of the army and eight combat ships. If it is only for regional defense needs, this kind of force is basically enough. However, new troops have been shipped frequently recently, and originally The troops stationed here did not change their defenses and leave, which was obviously a precursor to taking some military action.
After work in the evening, Li Maozai did not choose to go to the canteen for a work meal, but went straight to a small restaurant in the port town. The chefs here are also trained from the cooking school in Sanya. Although they need to pay for meals out of their own pockets, they can eat better than work meals. Li Maozai's current income can support such consumption. The most important thing is that some naturalized civilian cadres and military officers working locally will choose here instead of going to the canteen to eat together with the smelly and sweaty civilians. Therefore, they can get some current affairs information in this place. It is a very important source of information for Li Maozai who wants to make progress.
Although it is said to be a restaurant, the scale of the operation is actually not large. There are only four tables in the room. When there are many customers, the boss will set up two more tables on the roadside outside the gate. When Li Maozi finished work today, he was delayed for a while because he was counting tools. When he came over, there were no seats in the house, so he could only enjoy the extra seats on the roadside.
Of the two additional tables, only one of them had an empty seat. When Li Maozi saw that the three people sitting at this table recognized each other, he hurried over to say hello, shared a table, and then ordered for himself. A set meal of two meat and two vegetables plus two liang of wine.
"Foreman Li lives a prosperous life!" The young man sitting next to him on the right said enviously: "My income is only enough to eat rice with bean curd."
Li Maozi smiled and said: "Little Angkor is joking, you are a cultural person who can write and settle accounts. How can you compare with me, a coolie who carries bricks on a construction site every day? In a year or two you will be promoted to be a director somewhere else. I’m still moving bricks on the construction site!”
The man on the left continued: "What Lao Li said is true. Chiefs like to hire educated people who are knowledgeable and reasonable. Xiao Wu, don't just look at the present. There will be many more prospects in the future than your brothers. Master Qi, you said this is the truth. Right? ”
Sitting across from Li Maozai was an old man in his fifties who was called "Seventh Master". Hearing this, he tangled his beard and nodded: "Master Qi is right. Xiao Wu was originally a scholar, but now he has joined the army and joined the militia. Talents with both civil and military skills will become great talents in the future!”
The other three people at this table were all Ming people with Haihan citizenship. Qiye’s original surname was Liu, and he was one of the immigrants left behind by Shibazhi on Taiwan Island. However, after the Haihan people came, he decisively defected to the island. Now he brings Several boats were operating in Jilong, Tamsui and Penghu. Master Qi is a shipwright transferred from Hainan Island and is responsible for repairing and maintaining ships here. Xiao Wu, on the other hand, is a Chinese military clerk who joined the army in Penghu and was recently assigned to a chicken coop.
(End of chapter)