Chapter 1022 Advance Team (3)
Due to the continuous rain in recent days, the rising river water could not hold back its forward momentum in this bend of the river with a large turning angle. It had overflowed the river bed and formed a mudflat about 200 meters wide on the bank. The muddy level was also It is far better than the river bank at the mouth of the sea. This scene made Morgan a little disappointed. He originally expected to set up a stronghold here with his back to the river bend. This way, facing the water in the east and north directions, the defense area and corresponding pressure would be greatly reduced, but from what he saw in front of him, Judging from the scene, it is obvious that the stronghold camp must be kept at a safe distance from the river bank, otherwise the camp will be flooded during the rainy season.
Apart from groups of leisurely wild ducks, there were no traces of human activity on the river beach. Morgan led the soldiers to find a slightly higher slope. After simply determining the surface soil quality and surrounding conditions, he designated this approximately 100-meter-wide slope as an alternative location for the base camp. There are no traces of reclamation in the area as far as the eye can see. It seems that it is not the daily activity area of the local aborigines. Perhaps when building a stronghold here in the future, the aborigines can be avoided more smoothly.
After completing the inspection of this river bend, Morgan saw that it was already noon and ordered the team to stop for dinner first. However, it was raining non-stop and there was no shelter nearby. It was a bit troublesome to bury the pot for cooking, so I could only eat some dry food as a base. After eating, we reboarded the boat and continued upstream. What makes Morgan somewhat gratified is that the channel of Houlong River has always maintained a width of two to three hundred meters. There must be no problem with the water flow passing the existing flat-bottomed barges. He just doesn't know how long this water condition can last until the rainy season. Will such conditions still exist after the past?
From here, continue upstream all the way south, and Houlong River basically extends forward as a straight waterway. However, it is not difficult to see from the alluvial plains on both sides that this small river has changed its course and flooded many times in history, so that it can carve out such a valley terrain about three or four kilometers wide in this rolling mountainous area.
The local indigenous tribes obviously lacked experience in utilizing such a fertile alluvial plain. There were no traces of land reclamation for farming along the way. It was not until about an hour after leaving the previous river bend that Morgan saw the distance in the telescope. There seemed to be acres of cultivated fields, but the scale was still very limited, with only twenty or thirty acres of land as far as the eye could see. Although these fields are still about a thousand meters away from Houlong River, Morgan does not expect the barges passing on the river to hide their tracks. The water vapor and soot released by the steam boilers are even farther away. It can also be easily discovered. As long as the aborigines here are not blind, it will be a matter of time before they discover these strange ships plying the Houlong River.
But the encounter with the aboriginal people came faster than Morgan expected. After the boat moved forward for a while, Morgan noticed several people wading and fishing on the river bank a hundred meters ahead. But the tools they used were not fishing nets, but bamboo harpoons. These natives were topless, and almost at the same time that Morgan discovered them, they turned their heads and stared blankly at the steamship approaching in the distance.
"Be on guard!" Although Morgan knew very well that the threat posed by the opponent was extremely limited, he did not become careless and immediately issued the order.
Several soldiers on the bow immediately aimed their rifles at the natives in front, but these natives seemed to be more nervous. They yelled and screamed and ran up the river bank and began to flee. However, they did not forget to lift up the river bank when they fled. A bamboo basket with fish on the side. Naturally, Morgan would not go out of his way to order the soldiers to hunt down these natives, and just watched them disappear behind the bushes on the river bank.
Morgan did not feel relaxed when he saw the natives fleeing ashore in panic. The subconscious actions of these uncivilized natives actually reflected their vigilance and distrust of outsiders. If the other party is not even willing to engage in contact, then the possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two parties in the future is very slim.
There is another point worth noting. Since these natives come to the river to fish, it means that their tribe should not be far from Houlong River. If this tribe is hostile to Haihan in the future, then the nearby river will obviously be under the influence of natives. The range that armed forces can cover is also a potential threat that must be guarded against.
But now Morgan has to rush upstream to survey the terrain, and he has no time to explore the specific location of this indigenous tribe. Otherwise, he would really like to track these natives with his personal equipment and see where their lair is.
In the next few miles, Morgan noticed that the west bank of Houlong River gradually transitioned from plains to hills, while the change on the east bank was just the opposite. Looking at the map in his hand, Morgan knew that the next 90-degree river bend was ahead.
This river bend presents an arc with a large radius from north to east, but it is not as sharp as the nearly right-angled bend downstream, so the water flow is not as fast as the downstream bend. Morgan still followed the previous operation method, disembarked from the boat and went ashore to conduct a walking survey, looking for an area suitable for establishing a camp. But judging from the terrain here, it is unlikely that Morgan will find a location with natural defense advantages. This will inevitably greatly increase the amount of work required for subsequent construction of the stronghold. The only advantage of this kind of terrain is that it is easy to observe the dynamics of the surrounding area. As long as a three- or four-story observation tower is built in the stronghold, it is enough to see clearly the situation within several miles.
In fact, when Yu Yao came here for a field trip last time, he also made a brief stay in these places, but at that time it was mainly to verify the collation map, but he did not come with a specific purpose like Morgan, and meticulously surveyed the topography and landforms. Conduct inspections. The location Morgan chose here is basically certain to be the place where Haihan will carry out major construction projects in the future.
After inspecting this river bend, the sky had darkened. Considering the unfamiliar geographical environment here, Morgan would not take the risk of driving a boat again, so he found a nearby riverbank with a slightly slower current to dock. Then everyone got off the boat and went ashore to set up a temporary camp.
Although the troops led by Morgan were not a field army, due to the special nature of this mission, a lot of field equipment was distributed before departure. The marching tents, kitchen utensils, simple defenses, etc. were arranged very quickly. More than one Hot food was served after hours. At this time, the pouring rain finally stopped. The soldiers took advantage of the meal to warm themselves up, and took off their wet military uniforms and put them beside the fire to bake. Although everyone is issued a military raincoat, after a whole day of outdoor activities, it is inevitable that a lot of rain will soak into the inner layer of military uniforms from the collar.
At present, Haihan has trial-produced a rubber-coated raincoat. The chemical industry department used charcoal and sulfur to prepare carbon disulfide, which is used to dissolve the rubber and coat it on the surface of the cloth to achieve an excellent waterproof effect. This method was originally invented by the Englishman Mackintosh at the end of the 19th century, and the word "raincoat" in English was also named after the inventor Mackintosh. However, after the time travelers had the rubber production capacity, they did not hesitate to use it. Hesitation predated this invention by more than two centuries. However, due to production costs and capacity issues, this rubber-coated raincoat is currently only eligible for distribution by time-travelers and a small number of naturalized senior cadres and military officers. The standard raincoats currently issued by the military are still made of oilcloth made of fabric soaked in oil. Although the waterproof effect is not bad, it is extremely flammable and poses certain safety risks. It is only used because of its relatively low cost. It has become the first choice for military procurement.
Morgan still followed the agreed time and sent a telegram to the Penghu base to inform them of the progress of today's investigation. He also briefly mentioned a few words about encountering natives in the wild. The campsite Morgan chose today is already located on the edge of the mountainous area. It is expected to be only three to four kilometers away from the destination out of Wukeng. If everything goes well, he will be able to reach his destination tomorrow morning. Of course, the premise is that this waterway has sufficient navigation conditions. . Otherwise, if you have to abandon the ship and go ashore by land, it will be difficult to estimate the time.
The next morning, Morgan and his soldiers set out at dawn and continued eastward by boat. Although the mountains in this area cannot be said to be steep and steep, there is already a very obvious gap between the ridges with an altitude of about 500 meters and the coastal plains on the west coast.
The mountains here run north-south, and the Houlong River, which originates from the central mountain range, cuts this ridge horizontally from east to west, tearing it into two unreasonably. The Chuyangkeng Oilfield that Haihan was looking for was located in this valley that stretched across the ridge.
Although the rain had basically stopped, the water volume of Houlong Creek did not seem to be affected. Morgan watched the plains along the river disappear little by little, replaced by rapidly rising mountains on both sides. Although Morgan also knows that most of the mountainous areas here have the existence of indigenous tribes, but based on the current observation, this place is completely untouched virgin forest. As far as the eye can see, there are towering trees with several people hugging each other. The forest is full of life with the chirping of birds and the chirping of insects.
However, Morgan was not in the mood to appreciate the natural scenery. At present, this channel was much narrower than the plain area outside the mountains, only less than thirty meters wide. Fortunately, the water depth was still normal for navigation. Morgan asked the boatman driving the boat to slow down, and asked two soldiers to stand on the bow of the boat with bamboo poles, constantly exploring the bottom of the river to make sure there were no rocks and shoals in the water that would threaten the boat's progress.
Morgan recalled the information provided by Yu Yao, who had mentioned that there were many shoals in the upper reaches of Houlong River, making navigation difficult, but he had not encountered such a situation along the way. It seemed that it was also a positive impact of the rainy season.
Of course, there was another strange phenomenon that also attracted Morgan's attention, that is, when he was traveling from the mouth of Houlong River to here, he did not find any boats from the indigenous tribes on the river, not even canoes and bamboo rafts. Didn't see any. If the craftsmanship of the natives was not too poor to build a water vehicle, then it was most likely that they were hiding their strength and deliberately did not let the Haihan people see it.
Morgan believed that even if these natives living in the mountainous areas could not build large ships that could go to sea, they would not be troubled by building low-tech water vehicles such as canoes or bamboo rafts. And if they hid the vehicles they built before the Haihan people arrived, this would be a bit thoughtful.
Morgan couldn't figure out the starting point of the native's move for the time being, so he could only think of taking advantage of it. But one thing Morgan was sure of was that no matter how many tricks the natives had, it would still be difficult to change the balance of strength between the two sides in the face of Haihan's absolute superiority in force. No matter how many ways he came, I only went all the way. With the gun in hand, Morgan was not afraid of how big a battle the primitive armed forces in this area could cause. He dared to enter the mountain with only about twenty people, which also showed his full trust in Haihan's own force.
About two hours later, Morgan's team arrived at their intended destination. Although Morgan had a relatively detailed map and Yu Yao's instructions, it still took him more than ten minutes to determine the location of the Chushuang Pit that the Executive Committee had longed for. The legendary underground oil field is located here. On the gentle slope of the south bank of Houlong River. Of course, this place is still in an undeveloped and primitive state, and there seems to be no obvious human traces. This should be good news for Haihan. At least when Haihan develops this area in the future, he will not have any disputes with the aborigines over the ownership of homesteads or other reasons. Of course, the premise is that there are no indigenous tribes within ten miles around, otherwise the other party will definitely regard this area as their own and will not sit back and watch the Haihan people settle here.
However, God was unfavorable, and at the same time that Morgan's team arrived at Chushuang Pit, it started to rain continuously. Morgan could only put aside the excitement of finding the destination, and directed the soldiers to set up tents on the shore and move some supplies off the ship. Although he has found this place, Morgan is not going to just take a look and go back. He must first roughly confirm the surrounding environmental conditions here, such as whether there are conditions for building a dock, and whether supporting refining facilities for the oil field can be built here. and workers’ living quarters, etc.
The most important thing is to make sure there are no indigenous activities in the surrounding area. If the emergence of armed conflicts can be avoided, that would be the best, and the pressure on Haihan to build oil fields and settlements would be greatly reduced.
Morgan divided his men into two teams. One team was carrying and guarding supplies on the shore. He led the other team and began to explore the mountains. He planned to find a slightly higher place and observe the area from a high position. situation. The ridge on the south side of Chulunkeng is about 500 meters above sea level. The mountain is relatively gentle, which is suitable for serving as a temporary observation point.
(End of chapter)