Chapter 1026 Advance Team (7)
After the inspection in the past few days, Morgan believed that the indigenous tribes in the Houlong River Basin did pose a certain threat to Haihan's move into the local area, and the possibility that this conflict of interest related to the living environment could be reconciled was very low. According to the safety assurance plan for key industrial projects, such potential hazards must be eliminated at targeted locations in the early stages of project implementation. Therefore, Morgan has been considering how to implement methods to cleanly disarm these time bombs in the past few days.
After discovering Haihan's activities, the other party would take certain countermeasures to express their dissatisfaction. Morgan had naturally considered this possibility, but he did not expect that these natives would be so rampant. Several people ran directly to The formation call came at the camp gate. The only reasonable explanation is that they regarded Morgan and his entourage as Han immigrants who had been transported here by Shibazhi, and thought that beating, scolding and scaring would be enough to drive out the outsiders like in the past. But what they didn't expect was that the immigrants who came to the Miaoli coast this time were not farmers who only knew how to hold a hoe, but an army armed to the teeth with guns and live ammunition. They had no scruples about armed conflicts and were no slower to turn against them than they were.
If you want to compete in terms of toughness of attitude, how can the natives on the small island of Taiwan stand up to the time-travelers who want to conquer the world? Morgan asked the translator to immediately ask the three surviving natives whether their coming here to cause trouble represented the intentions of their tribe and whether there were other follow-up methods.
Perhaps Haihan's merciless killing just now had a certain deterrent effect. These natives did not try to resist the interrogation, and tremblingly explained everything they knew.
It turned out that when Morgan led his team by boat into the mountains a few days ago, he saw several natives holding bamboo spears to catch fish in Houlong River, and they were among these people. After discovering the activities of outsiders, these natives reported the situation to their tribe, and on the other hand began to search for the whereabouts of these uninvited guests in the Houlong River Basin. However, the camp Haihan set up on the coastline was nearly twenty miles away from their tribe, so it was not until today that a group of people found it.
Just as Morgan expected, these natives regarded them as Han immigrants who had been moved here by Shibazhi a few years ago. They thought that as long as they made a noise and killed a few people at most, they could scare these weak-tempered people. Outsiders evacuate the local area on their own. But unfortunately, they made a mistake, and the Haihan people struck a heavy blow without mercy.
Judging from the situation explained by these natives, the conflict just now should be just an impulsive personal behavior of these people, and it does not represent the "official attitude" of the tribe to which they belong. However, Morgan still insists that this The hostile attitude is not an isolated phenomenon, but a general view of the local natives towards outsiders. Haihan has set up a large-scale camp here, and the natives dare to come and make trouble. If ordinary immigrants were to live scattered, we don't know what would happen to them. The Shibazhi who originally organized the immigrants were not a professional colonial team. All they could do was probably transport the Han people here and then let them fend for themselves. It was naturally difficult for the unorganized people to fight against the local indigenous armed forces.
Of course, the motivations of these natives for their previous actions were not Morgan's focus. He was more interested in the conditions of the tribes to which these natives belonged, and asked the translator to carefully question Mao. The location, population size, armed situation, activity area, etc. of the Lishe are to be used as a reference to formulate an action plan to deal with this tribe.
However, these natives had very limited information in their minds and could not tell much specific information at all. When asked about the location of the tribe, they could only tell how many ridges the place was over. When asked how many people there were in the tribe, these guys could only count to ten at most, and they could not give an accurate number beyond that. Morgan asked a lot of questions, but the answers he received did not contain much valuable information. However, this was not because these natives deliberately concealed it. Their brain capacity was really limited. Even if Morgan asked his men to use some torture methods, there was still little progress.
"Now you should understand why I am impatient with these natives, right?" Seeing the sorrow on Morgan's face, Tian Yeyou comforted him: "We caught the natives of the hostile tribe at the chicken coop, and we followed them earlier. You dealt with it in the same way, but after seeing it so much, you didn’t even bother to interrogate it after you caught it, and just threw it into the hard labor camp.”
Morgan sighed and said: "I didn't expect that the enemy would be too weak to cause trouble. They can't even get out any useful information, so what's the use of keeping them! I think we should just shoot them all to avoid wasting food!"
"No, wait until the next time there is a ship to Taipei, just send them there. It can make some contribution to our human liberation cause. I think these guys are in good health. At least they can I have been working in the mine for three to five months," Tian Yeyou pleaded on behalf of these three people. Of course, his plea may not necessarily be out of good intentions. It's hard to say whether the life of a coolie after going to the mines is better than death now. Anyway, the natives in Taipei who were captured for mining are generally very poor. Few people survive more than half a year, and they usually die of physical failure caused by overexertion.
Morgan thought about it and it made sense. As long as the ore dug out by these three laborers in the mine could extract some gold, the food they could buy would be enough to feed them for a year and a half. Even the ammunition required to shoot them and the labor required to restrain them afterwards are more valuable than the food that feeds them for half a month. It is more cost-effective to save them and send them to the mines to fully squeeze out the remaining value. Immediately, he asked his men to take the three people into custody first. However, the camp on the shore was still busy building barracks, and there was no extra space to detain them. In desperation, they found an empty cabin to serve as a temporary prison cell.
Seeing several natives being thrown into the cabin and locked up, Morgan suddenly sighed: "This scene reminds me of when I arrived in Sanya seven years ago. I remember that not long after we landed, even Fort Victory was still there. Construction was not started, so the barges on hand could only be used as cells for holding prisoners.”
"Yes, those who were imprisoned in the barge at that time were also Luo Shengdong, a high official who has made a fortune now, but he has probably selectively forgotten that experience!" Tian Yeyou thought of what happened at that time , a smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of his mouth.
The conditions when Haihan landed in Yulin were far inferior to the team that came to Miaoli now. There was no logistical support and escape route at that time, and not long after they landed, they encountered a sneak attack by the Ming army led by Luo Shengdong. If it weren't for the greater advantages of weapons and equipment, maybe ten or eight of the crossing groups would have been killed by the Ming army at the beginning of the landing. At that time, Luo Shengdong was just a small boss in Yacheng Shuizhai. If he hadn't gotten involved with Haihan by accident like this, he would not have had such a rapid rise in the future.
Of course, at that time, Haihan was eager to smoothen the relationship with the local officials of the Ming Dynasty, so he gave Luo Shengdong a chance to be reborn. Moreover, Luo Shengdong knew current affairs and had certain ability to handle affairs, so Haihan did not let him down. His recruitment has always been a clever move that Haihan executives talk about. But the few natives captured now really don't have much usable value. It is already a great gift to allow them to save their lives and work as hard labor in the mines.
Morgan pondered over the map for a long time, and it seemed that there was no other good way to deal with the indigenous tribes that might cause trouble except to give them a blow. However, if they had to arrange a large force to enter the mountains to encircle and suppress them, it might delay the oil exploration. process, I can’t help but feel a bit in a dilemma at the moment. Tian Yeyou probably guessed Morgan's concerns and advised him: "If you want to bring trouble to this tribe, then I advise you not to think about it. It's not that easy. Most of the island of Taiwan is mountainous. Even if you send a hundred people to escape into the mountains, you may not be able to catch them. Moreover, most of the places where these tribes are located are on the hillsides. If you want to deploy a surrounding circle quietly, it will be difficult for them to avoid being noticed. Forget, many of these natives are hunters who travel in the mountains all year round, and are particularly sensitive to subtle changes in the surrounding environment. If you send hundreds or thousands of people into the mountains, people will smell it a few miles away. "
Morgan thought of the hunting traps set by the natives he saw in the mountains two days ago, and felt that what Tian Yeyou said made sense, but he still felt a little unwilling to let this hidden danger continue to exist.
Tian Yeyou continued to advise: "If you really have plans to take action, you should wait until Bai Kesi and the others arrive. Don't be too arbitrary in making decisions. Although it may dilute the credit you deserve, if something goes wrong, at least it won't be. It’s your responsibility alone. Do you understand what I mean?”
In addition to having a good relationship with a few companions in the North American Gang, Morgan stayed alone most of the time. He did not have a clear understanding or feeling of interpersonal relationships and interest entanglements in the officialdom. After Tian Yeyou reminded him, he realized that his idea was indeed not comprehensive enough. Although he is the military chief of this Miaoli project and has complete command authority over the local armed forces, if he does not consult with other travelers on major decisions, he will really have to bear the responsibility himself if something goes wrong. Moreover, the highest chief executive in the local area is Bai Kesi, so he must be informed of the situation and seek advice from him in advance.
"You make sense. Let's wait until everyone is here and then hold a meeting to discuss how to deal with this matter." After Morgan made up his mind, he felt much more relaxed.
Calculating the time, the fleet from Penghu should arrive on this day, so there is really no need to make a decision in a hurry. After Morgan finished dealing with the prisoners, he and Tian Yeyou went to patrol the construction sites throughout the camp to supervise the work.
In the evening of that day, a huge fleet appeared on the sea at the mouth of Houlong River. There were more than 30 cargo ships in this fleet, and there were also more than 20 ships carrying people. The scale was no less than The fleet that went north from Fujian to Zhejiang last year. Such a large fleet has exceeded the berthing capacity of the temporary dock. Most ships have chosen to anchor near the shore and use small boats to ferry people to the shore first. The unloading of materials is almost simultaneous with the construction of the warehouse.
Of course, in fact, the advance team was unable to build a decent warehouse in a hurry. They could only set up several rainproof shelters first so that the materials transferred ashore would not be exposed to the continuous rain. Fortunately, the drainage ditches next to these temporary warehouses have been dug, so there is no need to worry about the goods being soaked in water due to the recent frequent rainfall.
In addition to Bai Kesi and Liu Shanxia, Penghu's military chief Yu Yao also came to Miaoli with the fleet. Here he was needed to temporarily take over command of the coastal camp while Morgan led the oil exploration team into the mountains. In the future, almost all materials in the oil field area will be imported into the inland through here, and security and cargo transfer will need to be handled by experienced people.
After these people landed, Morgan informed them of the investigation into the mountains in the past few days and the unexpected situation this morning.
"The natives came to the gate of the camp to call for formation? This is really ignorant!" Yu Yao was very excited after hearing the news, and he immediately looked like he was gearing up. As the situation in Guangdong has become increasingly stable, he has rarely had the opportunity to carry out combat missions in recent years. When he was transferred to Penghu, all the hostile forces that needed to be cleaned up had been cleared out, and he was not even left with a mouth of soup. Down. Now the natives of Taiwan Island have become a rare opportunity for him to command operations again.
"Then beat him!" Liu Shanxia also has a bad temper. Although he is not a soldier, he has also received militia training, and his enthusiasm for this kind of thing is not much worse than Yu Yao.
The only person who is relatively calm at the moment is Bai Kesi: "I think it's better not to rush into action. Don't forget, our first priority when we come here is to exploit the oil fields. Oil is what we want to colonize and develop here as soon as possible regardless of the cost." The only reason. All military measures must be based on industrial targets. I think we should open up the main transportation artery of Houlongxi first, and then slowly arrange the clearing of surrounding areas. We have three in hand. Can't the company's regular army cope with sporadic harassment by the indigenous people? "
Among the five travelers in Miaoli, Bai Kesi has the highest official position. In addition, he is the main person in charge of this project, so naturally his opinions are the main ones. Although Yu Yao and others prefer to use force to solve hidden dangers, as Bai Kesi said, the main purpose of the Miaoli mission is not to clean up the natives in this area, but to find the oil fields hidden in the upper reaches of Houlong River as soon as possible , and to achieve industrialized output, this task has the highest priority, and whether to use force against local indigenous tribes will depend on the progress of the oil project.
(End of chapter)