Chapter 1023 Advance Team (4)
As an uncivilized area, most of the island of Taiwan is still covered by forests. Due to the climate and temperature differences caused by the huge differences in terrain, a wide variety of forest trees grow here, including tropical, subtropical, temperate and cold climates. There are more than 4,000 tree species, mainly broad-leaved forests and coniferous broad-leaved mixed forests. Among them, there are hundreds of species with economic value. Although Morgan is not a botanist, he can recognize some tree species. Not long after entering the mountain, he identified camphor tree, masson pine, tung tree, sumac, white sandalwood, etc. Red cypress, fir, water willow, alder, hinoki cypress and other trees can be used as industrial raw materials. If Cai Hongzhan, the head carpenter of the Ministry of Construction, came here, he would probably be drooling.
Although there are many similar virgin forests in the hinterland of Hainan Island, Morgan's daily activities are all in the urban area of Sanya, so it is indeed difficult to have the opportunity to join this kind of natural environment. If you don't have a mission, you can treat this errand as a pleasant camping trip.
But Morgan's good mood did not last long. Soon, soldiers exploring the front reported that they had discovered a man-made hunting trap in the forest.
Morgan followed the soldier who discovered the trap to this place. At a glance, he saw a tree as thick as a calf bending toward the ground in a weird arc. There was a straight green vine between the treetop and the ground. It seems that the tree is bent by this vine, but if you look closely, you will find that this is not a natural tree vine, but a thick hemp rope dyed green, with specially hung ropes on it. There are many branches and leaves, and it is indeed easy to overlook its true appearance at a glance.
"Chief, this is called a hanging bow set. I was a hunter before joining the army. I can tell the details of this thing at a glance." The scout who led the way held a branch that had just been cut at the foot of the mountain to use as a trekking pole. He finished speaking. Then he threw it to the place where the rope was hidden in the grass on the ground. There was just a whoosh sound, and the triggered mechanism was activated immediately. The top of the tree with the rope tied to it bounced back with such force that the onlookers were surprised. .
The scout continued: "This set is particularly useful for hunting prey weighing less than a hundred kilograms. Water deer, goats, etc. can be thrown into the air in one go. If bamboo is used as a hanging bow, it will be more elastic." Jia, when I was in my hometown, my family used this set to catch wild boars. This kind of set is set up in the wild, and hunters usually patrol it every two or three days.”
Morgan looked at the thickness of the rope and the force of its ejection. If someone stepped on it, they would most likely be caught, bounced into the air, and hung up. If a knowledgeable scout hadn't discovered this trap, someone might have fallen into it. Of course, the technical content of this hunting trap is secondary. Its appearance means that natives will be active in this area. This is the focus of Morgan's concern.
Morgan sighed and looked at the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain. It was only a mile or two away from the place where the natives had set a trap. The oil base that the Executive Committee valued very much should have a safe area more than this distance away. It seemed that This trouble could not be avoided in the end. Morgan did not want to speculate on what attitude the natives would take after discovering that they were "invaders". The safety of key projects such as oil fields cannot be left to chance. Some actions must be taken proactively to maintain the existence of the safety zone. .
According to the security plan formulated by Haihan after the Shilu riot in 1631, areas within a radius of five to ten miles of key industrial projects must be cleared as safety zones. The specific standards depend on the importance of the project and the surrounding environment. No non-naturalized persons are allowed to live or stay for a long time in the safety zone, and all outsiders who may become security risks must be expelled from the area. An environment like Chulunkeng, which is surrounded by mountains, must maintain a safety zone with a radius of at least five miles, but the natives who hang out nearby may not agree with Haihan's unilateral demarcation of boundaries.
The ridge adjacent to the river valley where Chulunkeng is located is not too high, with the top elevation being about four to five hundred meters. However, due to the lack of roads and the slipperiness caused by constant rainfall, it still took Morgan and others two hours to reach the highest point. . Standing here and looking around, you can vaguely see the alluvial plains outside the mountainous areas to the west, while in other directions you can only see the endless mountains. Although rainfall has a greater impact on visibility, you can still see that the Central Mountains to the east are much higher than where you are.
The location of Chulunkeng has just entered the mountainous area. To the east, there are vast mountainous areas with an altitude of about two to three thousand meters. It is unknown how many unknown indigenous tribes exist in these mountainous areas. Although Morgan was not afraid of being enemies with these uncivilized natives, the feeling of being in the dark and in the open still made people uncomfortable. If Haihan wants to settle down in this valley to exploit oil fields, he will have to face not only the extremely inconvenient geographical environment here, but also the greater potential threat from the indigenous tribes whose attitudes are still unclear.
Looking towards the Houlong River at the foot of the mountain, you can see this small river shuttling through the forest. The upstream waterway follows the mountain to the east, turning out a large bay of nearly 180 degrees, and then ends where Morgan is. The foothills on the east side of this ridge merge with two other small rivers flowing from the mountainous area in the south and north. The continuous erosion of the rivers for many years has formed a small triangular plain in the valley.
Morgan changed to a position with a better view and raised his binoculars to observe the valley plain, which was only separated from the Chulu Pit by a ridge. In a place where waterways intersect like this, the land must be very fertile. If people are to be resettled in the mountains in the future, it will be very fertile. We can organize manpower to reclaim this valley and plain, so we don't have to work hard to transport grain into the mountains.
However, the wish is good, but the reality may not be so smooth. Morgan soon saw a scene in the telescope that he was not happy to see. There are many bamboo buildings on the edge of the valley, arranged along the hillside. It is indeed difficult to see them under the cover of the woods. That is to say, Morgan slowly looked around with the telescope in his hand. He first saw the cultivated fields on the river bank, and then followed the clues to find the village hidden in the mountains and forests.
Morgan guessed that these natives built their villages on the slopes at the foot of the mountains to prevent the rivers from flooding their homes when the water levels rose after rains. Morgan observed carefully for a while and guessed from the size of the village that he could see that there were at least hundreds of families in this tribe. Maybe the hunters who set up hunting traps in the mountains and forests they just passed through were also from this tribe.
Morgan made a rough visual inspection and found that the distance between the location of this indigenous tribe and Chushuangkeng must be less than five miles. In the future, when oil fields are exploited in Chushuangkeng, it is impossible to just let this tribe exist beside the couch. The most ideal solution would be to allow these natives to relocate voluntarily, but Morgan was not very sure that he could reach an understanding with the other party. "Come down the mountain!" After confirming the tribe's location, Morgan was not in a hurry to investigate it immediately, but planned to turn back first. The team he led only numbered about twenty people in total. They were traveling into the mountains lightly and had limited supplies, so it was safer to avoid unnecessary complications as much as possible.
Morgan returned to the foot of the mountain. The remaining men had set up a temporary camp and followed Morgan's instructions to explore the surrounding area and nearby river banks. They are not trying to find traces of indigenous activities here, but to assist the surveyors of the Ministry of Construction to simply divide the construction land so that construction can start as soon as possible when the subsequent large forces move in. If possible, it would be best to find signs of the oil field buried here. After all, according to the information available to Haihan, the oil field in Chushuangkeng was buried very shallowly. The discoverer dug it out in his own field with a hoe and shovel. Most of the time, there are signs of self-explosion. If the oil production point can be found, it can save the trouble of subsequent exploration.
However, because the time was too short and there were too few people entering the mountain this time, the soldiers had not yet found anything worthy of attention. Morgan did not place all his hopes on his subordinates. After all, oil exploration is a very professional skill. The Ministry of Industry has done a lot of equipment work for this and has transferred almost all the knowledgeable people here. If Just a few soldiers dug out the oil field. Doesn't it mean that the executive committee's elaborate planning and command are worthless?
Morgan still focused on surveying the terrain in the area he was responsible for, that is, looking for suitable locations to serve as defense points on the periphery of the oil base. This kind of terrain of ravines and valleys is full of key passes and loopholes. Unless a high wall can be built around the base to surround it, it is impossible to make it watertight. This is also the most troublesome thing for Morgan.
The expedition continued until dusk fell. Today's food level was much better than yesterday. The scout who had been an Orion was so itchy after he came down from the mountain that he temporarily went to the woods near the camp to make a few traps. It didn't take long. I caught two pheasants and a small sika deer. Morgan saw that the deer was too small, felt compassion, and had it released. However, the supplies they carried this time also included fishing nets. Several soldiers led the fishing nets down to the river and soon pulled up a net of more than 20 kilograms of fish. Now they not only had grilled fish to eat but also fish. Drink the soup.
After dinner, Morgan took out the radio on time and sent a call back to the Penghu base at the agreed time to report the general progress of the day. Later, he received a call back from Penghu, saying that a large force would leave Penghu for Miaoli tomorrow. In addition, Tian Yeyou, who is currently working as a supervisor at the Jilong Gold Mine, will also take a boat south from Taipei to join him, leaving Morgan to take charge of the contacts first.
Morgan and Tian Yeyou are old acquaintances. When Haihan sent a team to the Beibu Gulf to inspect the Black Earth Port Coal Mine, they were both members of that team and had the experience of going on missions together. However, Tian Yeyou did not return to Sanya very often in the following years, and there were fewer opportunities for the two of them to meet. If they hadn't been assigned to perform special tasks in Miaoli this time, I don't know what year or month it would have been until the next time the two of them met.
Although there are still many potential problems that need to be solved in the development of Miaoli's oil project, so far, everything seems to be going smoothly. No one has been injured or injured, and there has been no head-on conflict with the indigenous people. Morgan just hoped that this peaceful state could continue for as long as possible.
There was no talk that night, and early the next morning, Morgan ordered everyone to prepare and return to the coastal base after breakfast. This inland reconnaissance operation basically achieved its intended purpose. It roughly clarified the navigation conditions of Houlong River and the conditions along the river basin, determined the escort plan, and discovered at least two indigenous tribes with unknown strength.
When the large force arrives and the project begins to be officially implemented, the information obtained through investigation will come in handy. However, Morgan felt that he still needed to go back and study the specific details, especially the protective role that the military would play during this period. He himself is not particularly good at leading troops. As for how to command three companies of the army to deploy a strong defensive line along the tortuous route from the coast to the oil fields, he still needs to spend time and repeatedly refine the deployment details.
But no matter how you think about it, the natives on the island of Taiwan cannot be more powerful than the established professional army. It is not easy for the Haihan Army to deal with the army of the feudal dynasty. The threat that this kind of primitive tribal armed forces can pose is even more limited. . Therefore, Morgan's pressure is not on how to defeat the indigenous armed forces nearby, but more on how to arrange his troops to minimize the destructive measures that the indigenous tribes may take after the situation worsens. Negative impacts of oil fields. In other words, protecting the safety of production facilities and personnel in the oil field is the top priority of the Haihan Army stationed here.
Just in case, the coal transported into the mountain this time was much more than the demand, but there was no need to transport it all back on the return trip. Morgan asked the soldiers to unload all the excess coal to the shore and pile it up, spreading some banana leaves on top to cover it for counting. Anyway, they will be back in a few days, and these coals will never fly away. Even if some natives find it, they probably won't be able to figure out what this black stone is.
The boatman who was driving the boat used a pole to turn the steam tug around first. Then the barge was hooked up again, and the piston of the steam engine made a chirping sound, startling a flock of birds in the silent mountain forest. Although the steam engine works well, the noise is really loud. It can be heard for several miles in the forest, and its whereabouts will be exposed even though it is far away.
The return trip down the river was much faster than when we came. At noon, we arrived at the first 90-degree river bend. Morgan ordered the boat to stop and dock, and went ashore to the place marked two days ago. I looked around the place and saw that the half-man-high stone tower that I ordered my men to pile up with stones was still the same. It seemed that no one else had come here in the past two days. Otherwise, driven by curiosity, they would probably do something to the stone tower. The last one moved.
(End of chapter)