Chapter 941 Star Island
The straight-line voyage from here to the Ampur Islands is only about three hundred nautical miles. At the speed of the Haihan sailing ship, it can be reached in two to three days, which is about one-third shorter than the voyage from Ampur Island to Belitung Island. Haihan wants to control the overall situation of the Malacca Strait, so settling here is undoubtedly an excellent choice.
Of course, no matter how good the choice is, it must have enough resources to implement it. In the past two years, Haihan's ability was only enough to extend his tentacles to the front line of Ambuna Island. He was not able to do anything about the Strait of Malacca and was unable to do so here. Build new colonies. However, Haihan has now achieved a staged victory along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, and can finally put his energy back to the south.
On December 6, 1633, the sixth day of winter in the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Yan Chujie planted the red and blue flag symbolizing the Haihan regime on the coast of Singapore Island, and named the island Star Island on behalf of the Executive Committee.
Haihan continued his foreign operations during the year. At the beginning of the year, he sent troops to capture two fortresses set up by the Spanish in Taipei. Then he sent troops from Fujian to the north of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to attack the Zhoushan Islands outside Hangzhou Bay. In early September, Wang Tom led a team to Miyako Island and eliminated the remnants of Shiba Shiba that had been worrying the Executive Committee. Then Yan Chujie led the military exercise south, spending more than two months in a large circle in the South China Sea, and finally arrived at Xingdao at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca to plant a flag. Haihan spent this year clearing the obstacles on the road to expansion, and extended the actual control range by about 400 nautical miles to the north and south.
And what happened in the Ming Dynasty in the same year? In February, the peasant army invaded Hebei, captured Zhaozhou, Xishan, Shunde, Zhending and other cities one after another, and defeated the regular army led by Zuo Liangyu in Xingtai. In the same month, Kong Youde and Geng Jingzhong abandoned Dengzhou City and fled from the sea. The Shandong war finally came to an end. However, these two rebel generals took their artillery skills to the outside of the pass and surrendered the wild boar skin, leaving extremely serious consequences for the Ming Dynasty.
After July, the Jin army captured Lushun, an important town in Liaodong. Officers such as general officer Huang Long and guerrilla Li Weiluan died in the battle. Among the generals who led this post-Jin army was Kong Youde, who had defected from the Shandong war.
At the same time when the Haihan Fleet was patrolling the South China Sea to expand its territory, the Central Plains peasant army, pursued and intercepted by the official army, invaded Huguang and Sichuan all the way south. Almost all of the Ming's inner circle fell into the flames of civil strife. Throughout the year, the Ming Dynasty has been in the midst of internal and external troubles. The land in Liaodong was completely lost. The Jin army entered the pass aggressively, and the domestic peasant army rebellion has not been completely resolved. The entire empire seems to have There are signs of crumbling. At the same time, in order to escape the war, the wealthy and well-connected upper class began to flock to the relatively stable Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and even went south to Fuguang, bringing false prosperity to these coastal areas.
The rapid expansion of emerging regimes and the decline of old empires are happening simultaneously in the Far East. So far, except for Fuzhou and Guangzhou, Haihan has not exerted much influence on the internal and external crises faced by the Ming Dynasty, and is basically still a bystander. For Haihan, occupying the maritime chokepoint in the Far East as soon as possible is far more important than interfering with the Ming Dynasty. The chaos of the Ming Dynasty just happened to allow more wealth and immigrants to join Haihan's rule, which was not a bad thing for Haihan.
In 1633, more than 70,000 naturalized people were registered with the Haihan Ministry of Civil Affairs, an increase of 40% from the previous year. The proportion of naturalized people in the population of Hainan Island, Haihan's main base, also increased from 30% to 50%. However, relatively speaking, places with a higher proportion of naturalized citizens are often newly opened colonies, because most of the personnel sent to these places for development have already obtained the status of naturalized citizens, and the rest are mostly in the inspection period. In addition, in order to stimulate the enthusiasm for population migration, overseas stationing can effectively shorten the naturalization inspection time for new immigrants and obtain naturalized citizenship faster.
For example, in the planned new colony where Yan Chujie is planting his flag, most of the thousands of people who will move in within the next six months will come to settle here as naturalized citizens.
"We will build a military base and a commercial port here. In a few years, this will become a regional trade center, which will replace Batavia's function and status to a certain extent." Yan Chujie unabashedly promoted Haihan to his allies. Ambition: "Whether the Dutch make concessions in the negotiations will not affect the development of the situation. Even if they guard the stronghold of Batavia in the future, they will only slowly decline."
"What about the Kingdom of Johor? Speaking of which, this is considered the territory of the Kingdom of Johor. Will Haihan use force to resolve this matter?" Zheng Zha asked with concern.
Johor is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is separated from Star Island by a strait of more than 1,000 meters wide, which is extremely close. In the past, the stronghold established by the Kingdom of Johor on Star Island was completely destroyed by the Portuguese, but this did not mean that they completely gave up the pursuit of this land. If Haihan comes here to establish a stronghold, it is really hard to predict what kind of attitude the Johor Parliament will take. If we only look at the relationship between countries, it is very likely that the State of Johor will have a hostile attitude towards Haihan. After all, Portugal has an alliance with Haihan. From the perspective of the State of Johor, the two groups are certainly the same.
"If they are honest, then it's easy to talk about anything. Any differences can be resolved through negotiation, but if they try to use force to resolve territorial disputes, then we don't mind giving them a good lesson." Yan Chujie's answer Ambiguous, very official.
However, Zheng Zha has been dealing with Haihan for several years, and he has already learned how to play haha with these senior officials of Haihan. From Yan Chujie's answer, he was sure of at least two things. First, the Haihan people had not greeted Johor before this move. Second, the Haihan people would not hesitate to start a war in order to occupy this place.
Haihan's combat power will be higher than that of Johor. Zheng Zha is certain about this. After all, Johor cannot even defeat the Portuguese, and the Portuguese are defeated by Haihan. The gap in strength between the two sides is still very obvious. It's no wonder Yan Chujie is so confident. However, from Annan's point of view, Zheng Zha really hopes that Johor can do something. After all, dead Taoist friends are not dead, and the strength of neighboring countries has been weakened by the war, which is obviously good for Annan.
Since Yan Chujie had clearly said that Haihan was going to build a regional trade center here, Annan and Champa naturally could not miss this good opportunity to make a fortune. At that moment, Zheng Zha and Fan Ji expressed their intention to participate on behalf of their respective countries. The strategic significance of a place like Xingdao can be understood at a glance on the chart provided by Haihan. There is no need to explain it further. Annan and Champa themselves certainly cannot cross the sea to expand their territory here, but they can follow the sea. It would be nice for Han to come over and get some benefits.
Of course, the inspection in Xingdao is not just a flag-planting activity. The Ministry of Construction needs to complete a preliminary port topography survey here to prepare for the subsequent infrastructure projects. The military will station a force here to declare Haihan's occupation here to surrounding countries. On the third day after the fleet arrived here, a Portuguese fleet spotted smoke rising from the coast when passing through the nearby waters, and approached to check the situation. For the Portuguese, in order to ensure the safety of this waterway, they must remove the armed strongholds and population centers along the strait one by one. But what they did not expect was that the Johorese who appeared in the strait this time were not desperate people. , but a large-scale Haihan fleet.
In order to avoid suspicion, the Portuguese merchant ship did not get too close to the coast. After watching it from a distance, it turned around and left. But it can be imagined that the Portuguese's mood at this time should be very complicated. They want to monopolize the Strait of Malacca and wish to exclude all competitors from this area. However, Haihan's strength is displayed there, which is clearly not what they want. Fortunately for those who can be driven away, Haihan is at least an ally. When they enter this area, the direct threat to the city of Malacca will not be too great.
As for whether Haihan's fleet happened to pass by here, the Portuguese probably wouldn't have much hope in reporting this. Because in the past two years, they have never seen the Haihan warship set foot in this place. According to past experience, as long as the Haihan warship appears, this area will most likely be included in the Haihan governance. Got off.
Haihan's strong capabilities in logistics and construction were once again demonstrated at this time. In the two days after landing, the military not only built three trestles for ships to dock near the coast, but also built ten more on the shore. A prefabricated boat-shaped house, as well as the most basic peripheral defenses. After completion, this temporary military base will be able to accommodate 200 to 300 soldiers stationed for a long time, and a coastal defense battery facing the sea will be built near the military camp.
The only regret that Yan Chujie feels is that there is no real natural harbor here, so Haihan must spend more energy and investment in the subsequent port construction and defense deployment. The camp currently selected is located on the coast opposite Sentosa Island. In another time and space, this location was one of the most important container terminals in Singapore, and the terrain is just right. Although it is not as good as natural harbors such as Cam Ranh Bay in Annan and Kaohsiung Port in Tainan, it is definitely much better than islands such as Annan and Belitung. At least the port conditions here can accommodate cargo ships of 10,000 tons or even larger without any problem. In the future The development potential is also large enough.
The real problem that gives Yan Chujie a headache is not the future development and construction of Star Island. In this regard, Haihan has too much theoretical accumulation and practical experience for reference. As long as there is sufficient manpower and financial investment, building a new colony is just a matter of It was just time, but he was quite embarrassed as to who should give the command of the garrison here.
In view of the geographical location and strategic significance of Star Island, it will definitely be the command center of the military in the South China Sea region in the future, and the commander here will undoubtedly be the controller of the armed forces in the South China Sea region. From now on There is no doubt that both Mu Xiabai and Roger are qualified to compete for this position.
Both of them had military experience before participating in the time-travel, and their professional qualities are similar. After time-travel, they have also participated in large and small military operations, and have been stationed overseas for a long time. Their ability to lead troops in training and command operations is also the same. For all to see. Yan Chujie personally prefers Mu Xiabai. After all, Mu Xiabai is seven or eight years older than Roger. He is more prudent and has been leading troops in the South China Sea. It is reasonable for him to be promoted further. After leaving Hainan Island, Roger's service experience in the South China Sea was basically limited to Amborna Island, which was relatively insufficient.
However, Roger has an advantage that no one in the military can catch up with, and that is that in his service experience before time travel, he was briefly stationed at the Changi Naval Base in Singapore with the US Navy's Seventh Fleet for half a year.
Of course, whether this can be regarded as an advantage depends on how you say it. After all, Changi Naval Base is a product of another time and space hundreds of years later. There is no real comparison between Singapore at that time and the deserted Star Island today. , and the Changi Naval Base is a piece of land created by land reclamation at the east end of Star Island. The current Haihan does not have the engineering capabilities to replicate a naval base for Roger to use.
But Roger's short service experience here did help him as a commander to adapt to the geography and climate here more quickly. He was also more familiar with the sea conditions here than Mu Xiabai - when the North American gang came from Europe When the sailing ship defected to Haihan, their route passed through the Strait of Malacca and made a brief stop here in Singapore. For a future garrison with a navy as its main body, a commander who is familiar with sea conditions and has rich navigation experience is obviously more suitable.
As for who should be appointed as the commander here, the Military Commission has actually discussed it before, but it has not reached a conclusion recognized by the majority. Both candidates have their own advantages, and it's difficult to simply say which one is better. Yan Chujie mobilized them together when he went south this time. He also wanted to combine their actions during this period to see their performance and their plans for the future.
While staying at Xingdao, Yan Chujie spent one night, called the two of them to his tent, dismissed the guards, and then frankly stated the opinions of the Military Commission to them.
"The Military Commission's employment standards are unified. Whoever has greater advantages and is more suitable for this place will stay here as a commander. Note that the advantage I mentioned is not only the accumulated military exploits in the past, but also the quality of the person himself." Yan Chujie Emphasized: "I hope you can talk about your advantages from an objective perspective so that the Military Commission can have a reference."
"Respect the old and love the young, let Mu Xiabai speak first." Roger spoke first, but took the initiative to give Mu Xiabai the opportunity to speak first. Of course, in a one-on-one debate, it is not necessarily a good thing to speak first. It is very likely that the opponent will catch the advantage in the words and fight back.
(End of chapter)