Chapter 1031 Hope Oilfield (5)
In the relatively closed natural environment of this era, it is certainly impossible for the natives on the island of Taiwan to receive any form of formal military training. Their combat skills only come from daily hunting and occasional small battles with warriors from other tribes. Large-scale conflicts are completely different from the combat skills of professional armies aimed at killing people. In the past, most of the Han people immigrated to Miaoli by Shibazhi were unorganized farmers. The natives were able to gain the upper hand in the confrontation with their bravery, but they had to use the fighting skills and weapons of hunting wild beasts to deal with the well-armed and well-prepared people. For professional soldiers, the results can be imagined.
Morgan deployed a platoon of troops at each of the two strongholds on Houlong River. He also took into account the strength comparison between the two sides, so that the garrison could still have enough power to carry out daily operations on the river sections upstream and downstream of the stronghold without reporting anything. Patrol and protect navigation safety. In terms of combat effectiveness alone, this platoon's strength can indeed handle an enemy's offensive several times greater than its own, provided it is well prepared for combat.
Now that Morgan is confident with his chest, Baikes and others will naturally no longer question the strength of their own troops. However, everyone knows that the sporadic conflicts in the past few days do not mean the end of the conflict between Haihan and the local indigenous tribes. As long as the nearby indigenous tribes still exist, such small-scale conflicts will continue. And it is very likely that it will intensify as the number of casualties gradually rises. Instead of relaxing the defense against sneak attacks by the natives, they must continue to strengthen.
To completely resolve the threat from the indigenous tribes, we can only wait until the oil field camps are settled first. However, limited by the existing transportation capacity, everyone can only wait patiently for the fleet to return to the coastal camp, load the goods and personnel, and then transport them here along Houlong River. This round trip cycle is at least two and a half days, and as time goes by, once the rainy season passes, the navigation capacity of the upper reaches of Houlong River weakens, and many supplies may not be transported directly into the mountains by ship. Therefore, the most important task at the moment is to transport supplies into the mountains.
For this reason, Baix made some adjustments to the original transportation plan and reduced the fleet that originally transported supplies to the two strongholds to one, because the garrisons and some supplies at the two locations were already in place, and the time required to travel to and from the coastal camps was longer. In short time, a fleet can make a round trip on the same day, and the transportation capacity can temporarily meet the needs of the base. The freed fleet will change its destination to the oil field camp. This will increase the transportation capacity from the coastal camp to the oil field by a quarter, which is expected to speed up the construction process of the oil field.
As Morgan and others expected, the attacks by the natives did not stop because they suffered losses in the previous conflicts, but instead became more frequent. When they found that the established strongholds and camps were difficult to break, they shifted their targets to the fleet that plied the Houlong River every day. The barges of these fleets have low sides and basically do not have much shielding and protection capabilities. The water surface of Houlong River is wide enough for them to use bows, arrows and spears to carry out projectile attacks. As long as they can focus their attacks on one place, they will definitely be able to create a certain amount of damage. The killing effect.
On April 28, dozens of armed natives from Maolishe were dispatched to ambush the fleet passing through in the river section between No. 1 and No. 2 strongholds. Although the escorting armed personnel opened fire at the first opportunity They fought back and killed and wounded several people, but in the short battle, Haihan's first death occurred since he entered Miaoli. During the battle, a soldier was shot in the body by a bamboo spear thrown by the natives from the river bank. Before he could reach the No. 2 stronghold and go ashore for rescue, he died of excessive blood loss.
Although we have been mentally prepared for the possible battle damage in the Miaoli project, when this situation actually occurs, it still makes people feel depressed. In order to prevent the morale of the garrison from being affected, Bai Kesi made a special trip to Stronghold No. 2 and held an enshrinement ceremony for the soldier who unfortunately died in action. According to the tradition of the Haihan military, after simple embalming of the body, the coffin must be transported back to Hainan Island and buried in the Martyrs Cemetery in Sanya.
Baikes also stated in public that he would personally apply for military merit for the soldier as a member of the executive committee and would issue special pensions to his family. Of course, the most important point is to avenge the murdered soldiers and gather troops at the right time to wipe out the local indigenous tribes.
As for when to clear out the enemy, Bai Kesi's decision of course does not count. It is up to the military officer Morgan to make the decision. When Baix returned to the oil field camp, Morgan informed him of the telegram just sent from the Sanya base camp. The fleet heading north to the Yellow Sea region had departed from the Victory Port Naval Base and would pass through the Fujian Strait. It was expected to stop at the Penghu base for supplies. In view of the current unstable situation in the Miaoli area, which has affected the development and construction process of the Hope Oil Field, both the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense believe that it is necessary to conduct a large-scale cleanup operation in the area, and the fleet going north will rush to Miaoli as reinforcements to participate in the war. By the way, this This operation was regarded as a drill before actual combat.
The fleet organization arranged by the Ministry of National Defense to go north this time is not only limited to the navy serving in Hainan Island. The garrisons deployed in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang will also allocate some ships and combat personnel including the army to join. In addition, The fleet provides logistical supplies for the expeditionary fleet. It is expected that this operation north to the Yellow Sea will become the largest expedition since Haihan established his army.
If this force can join the clearing operations in the Miaoli area, then Morgan will naturally no longer have to worry about insufficient local forces to take the initiative. Although the navy's ships were unable to contribute in the clearing operation, navy soldiers could land in Miaoli and assume the defense task of various camps and strongholds while the army entered the mountains to attack the indigenous tribes. Moreover, at least one battalion of the army in this expeditionary force went north with the fleet in order to take over the local defense in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, which was responsible for the special operations battalion. This temporary mission just allowed them to warm up in Miaoli first.
"As expected, we will be able to solve the problems of the indigenous tribes before the end of the rainy season." Morgan felt much more relaxed after receiving the good news, and was very optimistic about the prospects of the clearing operation.
"Then we just have to wait for the arrival of the large army?" Bai Kesi is also happy to accept this arrangement at the base camp. This is safer than taking risks with the local garrison.
Morgan responded: "Yu Yao must be asked to inform the Penghu base to prepare the supplies needed for the battle in advance."
The base camp decided to let the expeditionary force go north to intervene in the security war in Miaoli. This is naturally a good thing for Bai Kesi and others who are in charge of the oil project. However, the voyage from Sanya to Miaoli will still take several days. During this period, they still have to follow the previous regulations. The operation method is to continue to promote the construction of basic camps and strongholds along Houlong River.
After a large number of loggers arrived at the oil field camp, the progress of cutting down trees and clearing the ground finally increased significantly. After rough processing on site, most of the felled wood can be used to build defensive walls around the camp and make some simple tables and chairs. After most of the peripheral defenses were completed, the drilling site requested by Tian Yeyou was finally cleared, and formal drilling work could begin. And it has been a full week since they arrived at Chushuangkeng.
Although Baikes and others were all engineering students and were not superstitious about ghosts and gods, they still burned incense and offered sacrifices before starting drilling to pray for smooth mining. Morgan, however, believed in Western religion and had a different way of praying. Everyone is praying for the blessings of the gods in the dark for the same purpose, and it is considered harmonious to worship each other.
After a brief worship ceremony, the steam engine that had been prepared for a long time started up. Watching the drill bit slowly drilling into the ground, the emotions of several time travelers became slightly nervous. If oil is successfully drilled from here, then most of the mission of this trip will be completed. At the same time that Bai Kesi and others were staring at the small piece of land under the drilling well, the Haihan naval task force was sailing through the waters of the Seven Continents Islands in the northeastern corner of Hainan Island, heading to the next stop, Hong Kong Island.
The establishment of this task force includes a majestic-class flagship, four expedition-class warships and eight exploration-class light warships, eight troop carriers, 12 integrated logistics supply ships and four reconnaissance speedboats. . In addition, there are a group of merchant ships and civilian ships traveling from Sanya to the coastal areas of Guangdong, which can be regarded as escorts. And this is only a part of the task force. When the fleet joins the garrison in the southeastern coastal areas of the mainland, the scale may be expanded by two to three times on the existing basis.
The general in charge of commanding this fleet is Navy Commander Wang Tom. This is the second time he has led the army north to perform a mission after leading the army to attack Miyako Island in the second half of last year. However, the destination this time is much further than Miyako Island. If the trip goes well, the fleet will arrive in the Yellow Sea in the middle of this year and try to establish a stronghold on the Jiaodong Peninsula.
Also going north with him were Chen Yixin, a young officer who was preparing to return to the army after attending the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, and Hao Wanqing, the second-in-command of the Haihan Security Department who had been transferred because he was from Shandong. Wang Tom and Chen Yixin had traveled between the mainland and Hainan several times, but Hao Wanqing left Hainan Island for the mainland for the first time after crossing. He was obviously not used to sea voyages and had not eaten much since the voyage.
"Director Hao, no matter how uncomfortable you feel, you still have to eat. We have to walk for at least two days to get to Hong Kong. I'm afraid you will fall ill before that time." Tom Wang did not see Hao Wanqing come out to eat during lunch time , and went to visit him in his cabin. For people who have lost their appetite due to seasickness, there is actually no immediate solution. They can only forcefully eat the food and let their bodies slowly adapt to the bumps of the sea.
Hao Wanqing's face turned pale and he responded feebly: "I didn't expect that I was so useless. There is still such a long way to go. Now I am going to drag everyone down."
"You just have too little time on the boat and you are not used to the wind and waves on the sea. You will be fine in a few more days." Wang Tom comforted him a few words and asked Hao Wanqing's entourage to slowly feed him some rice porridge before leaving. leave.
Returning to the command cabin on the deck, Chen Yixin asked him about Hao Wanqing's condition. Wang Tom shook his head slightly and said: "In this situation, Minister Hao probably needs to rest on Hong Kong Island for two days to recover."
Chen Yixin said: "What about our mission? Taiwan is waiting for us to get there before taking action."
Wang Tom said: "Things in Taiwan are more important. I plan to rest for only one night after arriving in Hong Kong. Then we will leave first and wait for Minister Hao to recuperate in Hong Kong Island before arranging another boat to Penghu. Anyway, we are going to Miaoli. The mission will take some time to complete, so he should be able to catch up.”
"It seems that this is the only way." Chen Yixin had no objection to Wang Tom's arrangement. Compared with this matter, he was actually more concerned about the current situation on the island of Taiwan: "I heard that old Morgan was not doing well in Miaoli. It went too smoothly, but the resistance of the local natives seemed to be fierce.”
Wang Tom nodded and said: "The local supply line is more than thirty kilometers long, and the oil mining area has penetrated deep into the inland mountainous areas. It is indeed difficult for three companies to dedicate troops to wipe out the indigenous tribes. The natives are warlike. If we don't clean up their lair, this security war will have to continue day after day. So our mission this time is to help Morgan clear out the local indigenous tribes. Mountain jungle warfare is your special operations battalion's specialty. , then it will most likely be your people who will be the vanguard.”
Chen Yixin went south to participate in the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China on behalf of the special operations battalion this time, and he also brought a platoon of soldiers with him. The original purpose was to have them participate in the celebration parade in the name of the special operations battalion, but he did not expect that he would receive other soldiers during this trip. combat mission. Fortunately, in order to participate in the military parade, the individual soldiers brought all their equipment with them when they went south, so there shouldn't be any major problems in carrying out this kind of combat mission.
The fleet arrived at Hong Kong Island on May 2. After staying for one night, Hao Wanqing was left there to rest temporarily while the task force continued north along the coastline to the Fujian Strait. Three days later, the task force successfully arrived at Magong Port, Penghu, the second stop of the trip.
Originally, during this period, Hao Wanqing would represent the Executive Committee to meet with representatives of Ming Fujian officialdom and business circles. However, because Hao Wanqing was still staying in Hong Kong to recuperate, all meeting arrangements had to be postponed.
The arrival of this huge fleet naturally attracted the attention of the Fujian government office in Penghu. In addition, the naval base in Penghu began to clean up the docks a few days ago and ordered large quantities of supplies from Ming merchants. These signs combined with the arrival of the fleet, It was clearly a harbinger of war. Although Xu Xinsu was not worried that Haihan would take military action against Fujian, he sent his fourth son Xu Yuzhuo to Penghu to consult Haihan about the intentions behind these recent movements.
(End of chapter)