Chapter 921 Heading south to Amborna
There are still military exercises scheduled during the combined fleet's docking at Vung Tau Port. However, considering that Saigon Bay is a sensitive area at the border between Champa and Nam, the Haihan military did not arrange maritime projects at this stage when formulating the exercise plan. , but placed the Marine Corps’ landing and penetration drill here.
The planned target area for the exercise is Tinh Son, located 20 miles north of Vung Tau Port and located inland. There used to be some mountain people living in this area, but after the opening of Vung Tau Port, the nearby residents basically moved to the port. District worked for Haihan, and the place gradually returned to its original natural state. Being used as a training ground can also avoid the trouble of leaking military secrets and disturbing the people.
Haihan and Annan each deployed 300 soldiers to participate in the exercise of this project. In the early morning, the participants rowed boats from Vung Tau Port northward across the bay, landed on the coast about three miles away from Tinh Son, and then divided into several small groups and headed for the mountains. Each team composed of a mixture of the two armies needs to find its destination within a mountainous area of approximately twenty miles based on the randomly assigned map, and bring back pre-arranged tokens.
Considering that many field military exercises with different contents have been held along the way, in the last joint military exercise, the command headquarters did not set up other artificial obstacles for the soldiers. It was basically a test of the leadership of first-level officers in the grassroots squads and platoons. The team's ability to implement field directional marches and teamwork capabilities. But this does not mean that the difficulty of this exercise will be reduced. In fact, it has not stopped raining since the combined fleet arrived at Vung Tau Port. According to the actual measurement results the day before the exercise, the total amount of precipitation within 24 hours has reached the level of moderate to heavy rain. Marching into the mountains in such weather conditions is really a chore.
The field military exercise held in Dinh Son actually ended in just one day. However, due to the rainy exercise, a large number of participating troops became sick afterwards, which forced Yan Chujie to temporarily postpone his stay in Vung Tau Port. Extended by two days. Fortunately, both the headquarters and the local authorities were prepared for this and did not let the situation worsen.
On the morning of October 5th, the Annan soldiers who had just finished their morning exercises on the dock suddenly discovered that several warships flying the flag of the Champa were slowly sailing into the port of Vung Tau. The officer leading the team did not dare to neglect. While gathering people on board the ship to stand by, he sent someone to report to Zheng Zha.
Zheng Zha had already received a notification from Haihan before, and was not too surprised when he heard the news. He just asked the personnel on the dock to strengthen surveillance and not to act rashly. He didn't quite believe the Haihan people's claim that the Champa army was temporarily joining the military exercise. He always felt that there was something fishy about it. Otherwise, how could the Champa people just arrive at the last stop of the Annan fleet to join the South China Sea exercise hosted by Haihan? .
However, Zheng Zha is not worried about his own safety. Even if Haihan is not willing to help Annan deal with Champa, he will never stand on Champa's side and go against Annan. After all, Haihan has more interests in Annan than this neighbor. Much more. And this incident is not all bad news for Annan, because next Zheng Zha will go south with the Haihan Fleet, and there is still plenty of time to get up close and observe the performance of the Champa Navy, which is definitely rare in recent years. Good opportunity. It's much more intuitive than the text reports I received in the past.
Although Annam, Champa and Haihan all have in-depth military cooperation, in the port of Vung Tau, both sides adhere to the concept of the king not seeing the king and will not take the initiative to contact the other party. This was troublesome for Yan Chujie, as his coordinating job was particularly troublesome. He had to take into account the attitudes and emotions of both parties without having too much impact on the original exercise plan. It was not until October 5th that the communication between the three parties finally came to an end.
On October 8, Annan's fleet set off from Vung Tau Port and headed north along the coastline of Indochina Peninsula back to its base. Only Zheng Zha's team, a warship and a comprehensive supply ship were left in Vung Tau Port to continue operating with Hai Han. According to the original plan, this small team will participate in Haihan's South China Sea cruise and visit Haihan's territory in the South China Sea, the Ambunas Islands.
The next day, the new combined fleet, joined by six Champa naval sailing ships, also successively sailed out of Vung Tau Port and sailed to Ambuna Port, 400 nautical miles away. Although the Annan fleet withdrew from the combined fleet, the Haihan South Sea Fleet was newly added to the Cam Ranh Port. Coupled with the joining of the Champa Fleet, the size of the entire fleet did not decrease but increased, and it still reached the scale of fifty ships. There are also two majesty-class warships stationed there, which can be regarded as a very powerful maritime force in the entire NH area.
Yan Chujie and Mu Xiabai each led a flagship and divided the entire fleet into two teams. By the way, they intentionally or unintentionally separated the navies of Annan and Champa. The entire combined fleet was not traveling very fast. The command had planned four days for this voyage. Even at the speed of a traditional sailing ship, it could basically complete this voyage. During this period, the Combined Fleet also practiced various tracking, counter-tracking, joint attack and encirclement, sea area search and other projects in maritime operations, so that the fleet, which has had few military operations in the past year, can better adapt to the conditions in the South China Sea, and also By the way, we are warming up for the upcoming military operations in the South China Sea.
Although Zheng Zha brought two ships with him, he actually stayed on Yan Chujie's flagship so that he could observe the operation of Haihan Command up close. After Haihan started the exercise, he found that the training intensity at this time seemed to be much greater than the previous voyage from Da Nang to Vung Tau. In other words, the Haihan fleet seemed to have started to get serious at this stage.
The Champa fleet, which had just joined in Vung Tau Port, obviously could not adapt to such a rhythm, and could only undertake some tasks of mopping up the rear or liaising in the middle during the exercise. Zheng Zha couldn't help but regret that he should have gritted his teeth and asked the court to spend more money on military expenses. If the Annan fleet could participate in the second half of the exercise, it would have gained a lot. ,
For the Champa fleet participating in joint military exercises for the first time, it is indeed very difficult to keep up with the SH-Han fleet in action. Although most of the officers among them had been trained in the Haihan fleet, when they actually acted with the Haihan fleet, they realized the huge gap in combat levels between the two sides. It was not just the same ships and weapons that were equipped with the same ships and weapons. Can make up for it. Fan Ji, the commander-in-chief of Champa, could easily imagine what the battle would be like if he and Haihan faced off at sea.
Four days later, the leading force of the combined fleet arrived at the port on the east coast of the main island of Ambuna. After more than two years of construction, the port here is much more complete than when it was first captured from the Dutch, but it is still a bit stretched to receive such a large fleet. Fortunately, Roger, who was stationed here, had been notified by the military in early September and had sufficient time to make preparations locally. Otherwise, let alone stationing at the Port of Ambrosia, this fleet would even dock. Big problem. "I haven't had such a lively life here for a long time. For a person like me who can't stand loneliness, I never imagined that I would be the owner of this place for two full years." At the reception banquet held for the United Fleet, Roger said He sighed and said: "I originally thought that I would be here to take over Lao Mu for half a year at most, and then I would send my troops south. I didn't expect to stay here for two years. If I had known this, I shouldn't have applied to be transferred back after the Taiwan campaign last year. Staying in FJ, I will go north to play ZJ with them this year. If not, at least when Tom Wang went to Miyako Island some time ago, I could have some soup with him.”
Yan Chujie smiled and said: "Don't talk like an idler. You haven't been idle in the past two years, have you? Lao Tao specially told me this time to take a good look at the multinational troops you trained on Ampurna Island. If it is true If you boasted so well in your report, then the establishment of the Nanhai Special Warfare Battalion will be awarded to you.”
Roger said seriously: "What do you mean by bragging? Am I, Roger, the kind of person who talks nonsense? Mr. Tao's worries are really unnecessary. If you inspect the goods later, you will know that this trip to the South China Sea was not in vain!"
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After Roger took charge of Ambrosia Island, training special operations forces based in the South China Sea became one of his main tasks. With the successful example of Qian Tiandun in the past, senior military officers guarding peaceful areas have become one of the means to consolidate their status by personally training a special operations force when they have no battle to fight. As long as it can be recognized by the Military Commission and obtain an official establishment, this semi-private army will become legal and can even be mobilized to other places with its officers, just like Qian Tiandun's Anant War Camp followed him. It was the same as being transferred to FJ and then moving north to ZJ.
Of course, in order to avoid the emergence of local warlords, the Military Commission still has restrictions on the size of this kind of private army under the name of special operations forces. In principle, it will not exceed the establishment of a battalion, and will not be stationed in the same place for more than 100 people. Three years. In this way, even if the commander has some evil ideas, this small number of troops will not be enough to form a cancer in the local area.
It has been a year since Roger came to the Ambrosia Islands to form and train this unit. However, so far it is still organized as a local militia. Although the weapons and equipment are no different from those of the regular army, it has not been able to obtain the Military Commission. Officially recognized by the organization, this is still an informal civilian armed force, which has many inconveniences in operations, and it is even less likely to be transferred to other places with Roger. Therefore, Roger must apply for the establishment of this unit before he moves. Otherwise, one day when the Military Commission issues an order, this unit that has been trained so hard cannot be taken away, and then it will be done entirely for others. Wedding dress.
"Let's put aside the military matters for now. I am here to take on the tasks of multiple departments." Yan Chujie quickly changed the topic: "The executive committee needs to know more about the current development status of Ambona Island. In the past two days, have you Show me around the island first.”
"No problem, even if you don't mention it, I will arrange it." Roger said readily: "In the past two years, I have not only trained the army, but also the construction and development of the island. On paper. Things can’t be reflected, so I still have to let you see the results of my work with your own eyes.”
When Haihan captured the island in 1631, there were only a few small plantations and a small fishing port. The island's produce is not even enough to feed the local residents, who have to rely on supplies shipped from Batavia for several months each year. After Roger took over here, relevant departments began to arrange development projects such as infrastructure and investment promotion, trying to build this place into a support point for Haihan's future South China Sea strategy. Even if there are no conditions for building a large port here, it can at least serve as a nearby relay point for supply.
After Roger took over here, in addition to attracting investment to develop cash crop plantations, he also developed a relatively unique trading project locally, that is, the slave trade. Western colonists continuously transported slaves from Batavia and other places, and exchanged their populations for goods produced in Haihan and Ming Dynasty. Due to its special geographical location, Ambuna Island also enjoys some policy preferences in foreign trade. It can make profits through re-export trade and use them for local construction.
Part of the slave population imported from the Ambuna Port was transported back to Sanya for redistribution, while the other part stayed locally as a labor force. Some of the lucky ones were selected to serve in the multinational force formed by Roger. The reason why these people are lucky is that they can get the opportunity to apply for Haihan citizenship soon after joining the army, which is at least half a year to a year earlier than their compatriots who stayed on the plantations as migrant workers. Moreover, joining the army basically means that their future lives are guaranteed, and this starting point is much higher than that of ordinary naturalized citizens.
After Haihan transported several batches of Han immigrants from HN Island to Amborna Island in the early stages of construction, subsequent population imports basically relied on the slave trade. Therefore, the population structure of the island has also changed significantly in the past two years. From the beginning, the Han people accounted for the majority of the total population, and then the proportion gradually decreased. Today, of the more than 5,000 permanent residents on the island, the Han people only account for about 40%. Around this time, the remaining population was like a world exposition, with people of different skin colors and beliefs mixed together. According to statistics from the civil affairs department, the population of Amborna Island currently comes from more than ten countries, and its complexity ranks first in the Haihan area.
Such a complex population structure certainly brings about many problems. Differences in language, culture, and customs make the integration of islanders face many difficulties. However, more than half of the foreign population was imported into the country as slaves. Before obtaining naturalization, they had no personal rights at all. The competent authorities could force these people to live and eat together, and use hard means to change their original status. lifestyle to adapt to the social system under Haihan's leadership.
(End of chapter)