Chapter 919 Next Step
Cam Ranh Port is the only one among the four ports in the south that is completely managed by the military. The person in charge here is Mu Xiabai, who has been stationed in Annan for many years. He, Feng Annan, and Qian Tiandun were one of the first three people to be stationed in Annan. Now Qian Tiandun has been transferred to ZJ chief, while Feng Annan is based at the Tushan base in the north, and he and he are in charge of the south and north of Annan respectively. military affairs.
For Haihan's garrison in Annan, life has been relatively easy in the past two years. Since Mushabi led his troops to defeat the Dutch twice in the Annan Islands in the summer of 1631, they have basically never carried out any combat type. task. Although the Dutch were unwilling to fail, they were severely beaten by the Ma Dalan army in the Battle of Batavia the following year, and completely lost the ability to revenge against Haihan in the short term. Haihan was also able to have sufficient time to build military facilities in Cam Ranh Port and the Ambunas Islands in the South China Sea to prepare for continued southward expansion in the future.
Mu Xiabai was still a bachelor when he traveled through time. However, he married a Ming Dynasty woman the year before last. His eldest son is almost two years old, and his second child is already seven months old in his wife's belly. So he is living a good life. Very comfortable.
"How is it? Is the life of a rich man like me okay?" Mu Xiabai hosted a banquet in his manor for Yan Chujie and his party. During the dinner, they also talked about their current living conditions: "Now that I have a wife and son, suddenly I feel that it is no longer interesting to lead troops to fight everywhere. I just want to spend time with my family at home. ”
"You haven't moved for too long, so you become lazy." Yan Chujie smiled and gave his judgment, but he did not believe that people like Mu Xiabai could really live in leisure, and wanted to sign up to leave Sanya in the first place. When conquering the world,
"There is no place to move even if I want to!" Mu Xiabai said with a bitter smile: "I would like to go south as soon as possible and conquer Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, but the Military Commission has never issued such an order! I can travel far away now. At that time, I basically went back to Sanya once a year to report on my work.”
"In the past two years, the focus of the Executive Committee has been on the Ming Dynasty, so the Military Commission arranged to take over Taiwan last year and attack Zhoushan this year. The south is relatively peaceful, so of course we must seize the time to build." Yan Chujie explained.
"Lao Yan, you don't need to talk about these official words. Tell the truth, when will the south plan to take action?" Mu Xiabai waved his hand to express that he was not satisfied with his explanation: "Take a break for two years, bones. It’s all rusty, why don’t you just let me retire early”
"You are only in your early forties, you are in your prime, why should you retire?" Yan Chujie naturally would not take Mu Xiabai's angry words of complaint seriously: "The Military Commission has arranged such a large-scale military exercise this year because it pays attention to the situation in the South China Sea. . The south side is not stationary, but we have to wait for the right time to launch. ”
Mushaba sighed: "Wait, wait, wait two more years, the Dutch have rebuilt Batavia! Even if they can defeat them, it will inevitably take a lot of effort. Let me tell you, Batavia last year After the chaos in Asia, we should have led the army south, took advantage of his illness and took advantage of it, and now we have firmly grasped Batavia. "
"You are just talking in anger!" Yan Chujie shook his head and said: "Batavia is more than 600 nautical miles away from the Ambunas Islands and more than 1,500 nautical miles away from Sanya. Even if we win it, it won't be that easy to manage. That place is no better than In the Ming Dynasty, the Han people did not have an advantage in local influence and status. The executive committee has not taken action in the south, and it is also out of careful consideration. ”
Mu Xiabai said: "Old Yan, you should save these words to comfort Roger when you go to Anbu Na! I guess he has been moldy from squatting there for a long time. After returning from FJ last year, he sent back every month The messages all complained that he had nothing to do. He didn’t have a family, so he could only devote all his extra energy to military training. I heard that he trained a multinational army on Ampurna Island, but I don’t know whether it was true or not. "< br>
In 1631, shortly after Mushaba defeated the Dutch on Ambrosia Island, he was transferred back to Annan to serve, and it was Roger who took his place and guarded the place. However, when Haihan raised his troops to attack Penghu last year, Roger was transferred to FJ to participate in the war. After the war, he returned to Nanhai, just in time for the chaos in Batavia. Roger had nothing to do on Amborna Island at the time, so he wrote a report to the Military Commission and applied to set up a military training camp there. Suitable young men were selected from slaves from various countries shipped from the South China Sea for training, so as to train a military force. Target local armed forces adapted to the South China Sea environment.
Not only that, Roger's training camp also received a lot of foreign orders. Businessmen who invest in local industries on Ambrosia Island have the opportunity to send their personnel to the local training camp for training. Since most of the employers of these personnel are from Southeast Asian countries, the Ministry of Security has also set up local offices to identify candidates for development among the trainees.
Yan Chujie said: "It is said that the force trained by Roger is very good. This time I am also going to inspect the results on behalf of the Military Commission. If it is as good as what he said in the report, then it will be established."
Mu Xiabai said: "But this time when we go south to Amborna Island, do we really need to bring so many ships there? The small port of Amborna Island cannot accommodate so many large ships."
Yan Chujie put away the smile on his face and said sternly: "Not all the ships heading south this time will dock at Ambuna Port. We will have other arrangements."
"Other arrangements?" Mu Xiabai immediately reacted: "Are we going to launch operations in other places?"
"The South China Sea has been inactive for two years. It's time to take action." This time Yan Chujie did not deny Mu Xiabai's speculation, but he did not specify what kind of action he would take.
"As long as you say this!" Mu Xiabai knew that military secrets should not be discussed in detail at the dinner table, so he did not rush to ask further. Haihan's South China Sea development strategy aims to control the two most important straits and waterways between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. As long as it can control the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda, it will basically control the maritime channels for the Western world to enter the Far East, and the benefits will be simply incalculable. But if you want to win these two places, you must have a strong enough strategic support point in the South China Sea. Currently, Haihan only owns one place, the Ambrosia Islands, in the South China Sea, and there is no good port there. Its ability to support the navy is limited, so it is not an ideal choice.
One of the purposes of Yan Chujie's fleet heading south this time was to conduct an inspection in the South China Sea and find a suitable foothold for Haihan's next step in its southward expansion. The choice made this time will directly affect Haihan's determination of whether the next strategic goal is Malacca or the Sunda Strait. The large-scale task force can also ensure that during the South China Sea inspection, it will not be affected by the ships of Western colonial countries.
Cam Ranh Port, as the southernmost military base in Haihan, will play an important role in the future southward expansion. Therefore, the Military Commission is also very concerned about the construction situation here. One of the purposes of Yan Chujie's visit to Cam Ranh Port this time is: It is to inspect the construction of the military port here and the training level of the South China Sea Fleet.
In the past few years, Haihan invested millions of yuan in construction funds in Cam Ranh Port and sent more than 3,000 Han immigrants from the Ming Dynasty here to adjust the local population structure. The investment was quite huge. What has been built here is not only a miles-long military port, but also a powerful coastal defense artillery fortification at the entrance of the harbor, a huge camp that can station 5,000 soldiers, a shipyard affiliated with the military, and The South China Sea Fleet consists of more than twenty ships of various types.
The population currently living in Cam Ranh Port is close to 5,000, and more than 1,000 of them are militia troops stationed here. The rest of the people, regardless of their industry, almost all serve the military base here. Among the permanent population statistics of the four ports in the south, Cam Ranh Port has the highest proportion of naturalized residents, accounting for more than 90% of the total population. It is even higher than the proportion of naturalized residents in Sanya Port, Haihan's base camp.
However, the person most interested in the local situation is not Yan Chujie who came here to inspect, but the young prince Zheng Zha of Annan. Zheng Zha showed a strong interest in the specific operation of a large military port such as Cam Ranh Port. This is because Annan is also planning to build a military port on the coast near Hue Province. Based on his usual practice in the past, he naturally wants to follow Hai Han Operate the planning model of the military port. The reason why Zheng Zha went south with the fleet this time was not only to supervise the army, but also to inspect Haihan Port and learn experience.
In order to allow Zheng Zha to conduct a more comprehensive inspection, Yan Chujie specifically increased the original three-day stay to four days, and set aside a day for people to take Zheng Zha around the port area. Yan Chujie is not worried that Zheng Zha will have a clear view of the military secrets of Cam Ranh Port. The construction capabilities of the two sides are too far apart. The port construction situation that Zheng Zha saw will definitely not be copied to Annan's own port project. By then, he will be able to build one The shrunken version of the sample will be great even if it comes out.
On September 25, the Haihan Navy and the Annan Fleet conducted the largest maritime military operation in recent years in the waters near Cam Ranh Port. More than 60 ships participated in the exercise, divided into red and blue armies. The red army was composed of the joint fleet heading south from Da Nang, playing the offensive side, while the South China Sea Fleet stationed at Cam Ranh Port acted as the defensive side of the blue army.
The fleets of both sides practiced tactics in standard combat formations at sea and fired blank bombs to simulate a wartime environment. For the Annan fleet, this was the first time for it to participate in a maritime combat operation of this scale. Although it was just a drill, it was enough for it to learn a lot. For tactics like seizing the T prefix, if it were not for the Haihan fleet to carry out drills, it would be difficult for Annan's officers to imagine such a tactic that fully utilizes the ship's side artillery.
Zheng Zha also participated in the entire maritime exercise on his own flagship. In addition to learning tactics during the battle, Zheng Zha was really coveted by the configuration of Haihan, a big gun ship. The Haihan Majesty-class battleship has dozens of side guns, and a single round of artillery fire at close range is enough to destroy a sailboat. Although it only fired blank bombs, Zheng Zha can fully imagine such a battleship launching during war. the true power of. The steam propulsion system makes this huge hull extremely flexible at sea. It is difficult for a warship powered by sails to escape its pursuit.
During the two-day military exercise, the red and blue armies each had one victory and one defeat, which was considered a tie. However, the performance of the Annan fleet was slightly worse. It was difficult to completely synchronize with the Haihan Navy in the naval battle, which dragged down the performance of the Red Army on the first day of the exercise. Fortunately, Yan Chujie adjusted the combat deployment in time, and arranged for the Annan fleet to line up separately during the exercise on the second day and launch an attack on the Blue Army at its own pace. This time, there is no need to coordinate with Haihan's action rhythm. He can launch the offensive alone, and the effect is much better.
On September 27, the fleet set off from Cam Ranh Port and continued southward. At this time, the size of the fleet expanded a lot, because the South China Sea Fleet also joined this fleet. The huge fleet sailed out of Cam Ranh Port, one after another, about ten nautical miles apart.
When the fleet left Cam Ranh Port, it happened to encounter two Portuguese merchant ships traveling together, preparing to enter the port for supplies. After seeing this huge fleet, they immediately gave way to the waterway and lowered their sails as a sign of peace. The sailors on the ship watched in stunned silence as the fleet sailed out of the harbor, and some even began to make the sign of the cross on their chests. Some knowledgeable people have already figured out who among the many forces in the South China Sea is going to be unlucky.
Starting from Cam Ranh Port and traveling southwest along the coastline for about 170 nautical miles, it is the last stop of the combined fleet, Vung Tau Port. The concession area designated by Haihan here is the Vung Tau Peninsula, which stretches into the sea and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. This place is very close to Saigon, the important seaside town of Champa State. More than half of the various transactions between the two parties each year are completed at the Vung Tau Port. goods, so the business atmosphere here is relatively strong.
The place name Saigon appeared around the time of the Ming Dynasty. After Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, many coastal countries in the Middle East and East Africa sent envoys to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and Saigon was the place where tribute ships from the west were en route. One of the ports of call means "tribute from the west". The straight-line distance between Vung Tau Port and Saigon is only a hundred miles. They are also offshore areas, and flat-bottomed boats can also travel between the two places. Every year during the grain harvest season, a large number of Saigon civilian ships are loaded with grain and transported from Saigon to Vung Tau for trading. However, when the combined fleet arrived at this place, the grain trading period had long passed, so there was not much prosperity in the port, and only a few merchant ships docked.
The significance of the existence of Vung Tau Port is that it is the trade window between Hai Han and Champa. More than 70% of the trade here takes place between Champa and Hai Han. It can be regarded as the export of goods and values from Hai Han to Champa. main channel.
(End of chapter)