Chapter 1223 Practical Difficulties
Tan Juren is not only responsible for diplomacy and the introduction of immigrants. In fact, even the development and infrastructure of the port will be part of his responsibilities in the future, and the burden is really not light. However, the current level of port construction is still significantly different from the several stops on the road, and it has not been able to fully utilize the advantages of this place's natural deep-water port. Of course, Tan Juren knew that this was not Roger's fault. In fact, the local objective conditions were just like this. There was a serious shortage of labor force and technical personnel with experience in commanding large-scale projects. No matter how good the plan was, it would be difficult to implement it.
The difference between Xingdao and other colonies in Haihan is that it is far away from the Han inhabited areas, and the surrounding countries do not have much contact with the Han government. There are huge differences in national culture. It wants to be as large as other overseas colonies. Absorbing immigrants from surrounding areas faces greater difficulties here. What's more, neighboring countries are already aware of the threat posed by Haihan's entry into this area, and they will never turn a blind eye to Haihan's almost "blood-sucking" immigration methods like Annan and Daming. Roger said that these countries have ignored Haihan's immigration. The demand has taken an obvious resistance, which is undoubtedly a quite troublesome issue.
During Roger's tenure, there is no hope of solving this problem, and judging from the current international situation, Tan Juren feels that this situation will probably last for a long time. If Haihan does not use simple and crude force to change the status quo, and only relies on trade and diplomatic efforts to open up joints, it will probably still take many years of operation to see results.
Roger's current attitude can certainly be understood as a work handover, but Tan Juren always felt that his words were a bit relieved. Rather than a work handover, it felt more like a successful transfer of responsibility. But Tan Juren can't say that the other party is unkind. After all, the military should not be responsible for these matters in the first place. One of his responsibilities when he went south is to take over these troubles. Trying to overcome the current difficulties is the correct way to deal with them.
"... Our military's goal is to allow the military dock here to accommodate a full fleet. Of course, port supporting facilities and shipyards needed to maintain warships are also necessary." Tan Juren's mind was slightly distracted. At the time, Roger was still looking forward to the future incessantly: "Only when a powerful enough naval fleet is stationed here can we truly control the navigation rights of the Strait of Malacca and make neighboring countries bow to us!"
Tan Juren glanced at the group of migrant workers working on the dock construction site, and couldn't help but smiled bitterly and shook his head slightly. If the labor force here is sufficient and the material supplies can keep up, it will not be difficult to build the military dock planned by Roger. Such fully equipped military ports have successful precedents in overseas colonies south and north of Hainan Island. But there are only about a hundred or so workers currently working on the dock. How many years and months will it take for these few people to realize the vision mentioned by Roger?
There are currently only over a thousand to less than two thousand people on the island. Counting only the young and strong labor force, a full dozen can make up a little over a thousand. If all of them are invested in the port project, the construction progress will certainly be much faster. But Xingdao is not just a port construction site. The construction of the people's living area has not been completed yet, and hundreds of new immigrants are still temporarily living in tents. In addition, in order to meet local food needs, large-scale agricultural development is urgent. Tan Juren can now think of seven or eight projects that require a large investment of manpower. It is impossible to concentrate the labor force to build a military dock.
Of course, from Roger's point of view, there is nothing wrong with proposing such a plan. After all, Star Island is a strategic location. At this stage, the military significance for Haihan is even greater than the trade demand. Naturally, the expansion of the dock will be based on the military. Fang’s opinion prevails. But now the management of the project construction on the island will soon be transferred to Tan Juren. The future labor deployment arrangements will probably have to be discussed between the two.
Regarding Roger's statement, Tan Juren casually echoed a few words, but did not immediately express his support. Roger didn't pay much attention to such details. After seeing the dock, he took Tan Juren to the military camp. I just took a quick look at it when I came over for dinner yesterday, but I didn't have time to take a closer look. In addition, there is a special arrangement made for Tan Juren and his entourage in the military camp today, which is a military parade of garrison troops to show the military's support for the newly arrived chief executive.
The army troops currently stationed in Xingdao are organized into a reinforced battalion, with an artillery company added to the three infantry companies. In addition, there are health, communications, and logistics organizations directly under the battalion headquarters, plus several permanent navy ships. Among the personnel on the battleship, the local permanent force is about 1,300 to 400 people. Compared with the local population before Tan Juren arrived, this was nearly double the population. It was also a relatively special population ratio among Haihan's overseas colonies.
"Our place is considered an important border town, so the local garrison is also a front-line force, and daily training is carried out very closely." Roger paused and said proudly: "We have always carried out training according to the standards of war preparation."< br>
The "preparation for war" that Roger refers to is not just "preparation for war" in military functions, but that the troops under his command have been trained according to the standards of going to the battlefield at any time, which requires both officers and soldiers to be on high alert for a long time. The situation is definitely much harder than those troops stationed far away from the border.
Although Tan Juren has no military experience, he still has basic eyesight after traveling to so many places. The reviewing team started from a distance and walked over. The spirit they showed was indeed different from the garrisons in other places. The word "murderous" even vaguely appeared in Tan Juren's mind.
"Have your group of people ever performed combat missions here?" Tan Juren asked curiously.
Roger looked sideways at Tan Juren and saw that he seemed to have no other intention. He nodded slightly and said, "No."
Tan Juren was stunned at first, thinking that he had encountered an elite scene, but seeing that Roger's face was calm, it didn't look like he was suffering from a brain attack. After thinking for a while, I finally understood what Roger meant - the military may have some combat missions, but they were not dispatched in the name of the Haihan Army. The reason for this is naturally because the top military officials do not want these actions to cause tension in neighboring countries, or even cause greater misunderstandings.
There were many people on this occasion, so it was certainly not the right time to ask about the details of the operation. Although Tan Juren was curious, he could only suppress it for now, planning to wait until he had the opportunity to ask more about the details.
In fact, the things here are not complicated. Haihan sent troops thousands of miles away to occupy a strategic location like Star Island, with the purpose of forming actual control over the Strait of Malacca in the future. But to do this, one must be quite familiar with the local terrain, sea conditions and even customs. Although Haihan has a detailed map at hand, on-the-spot investigation is still essential. However, Haihan’s deterrence in this area is far from reaching the level where he can do whatever he wants. If warships are openly sent to cruise in the waters of Malacca, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance and dissatisfaction of surrounding countries and aggravate existing international conflicts. This is not The results that Haihan executives want to see. Under such an objective environment, the military will naturally adopt a relatively low-key action strategy, such as using civilian ships to conceal the identity and purpose of the operators. This is not difficult for Haihan, who is good at navigation. However, it is still necessary to keep the secret to the outside world, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble after the news spreads. As a senior officer responsible for directly commanding these reconnaissance operations, Roger would naturally not admit in public that the Haihan Army had conducted such operations, even if it was just a little bit.
The performance of the soldiers in the military parade was impeccable. In Tan Juren's opinion, this was the most neatly organized unit with the highest morale that he had seen since his trip south. This shows that Roger's previous boast about Haikou was not a boast. The troops under his command are indeed in excellent preparation for war. Tan Juren also did not hesitate to praise him, which made Roger feel proud and his impression of him also improved a lot.
Han Zhengshan stood not far behind Tan Juren and watched the military parade attentively. Among the stations heading south, only Xingdao held a military parade after their arrival. However, somewhat different from Tan Juren's idea, he believed that the event arranged by Roger was somewhat of a demonstration to Tan Juren. Han Zhengshan has been in Haihan for a long time, and he has a little understanding of the official situation of Haihan. He knows that Haihan is not as civilized and military as the Ming Dynasty, but that the status of military attachés is higher, and the local military attaches are responsible for the situation. There are indeed many situations where we have the final say. His boss came here to decentralize power from Roger. He didn't think Roger would have much favorable impressions of Tan Juren. Showing force in the name of a military parade and giving the new administrator a slap in the face seemed to be the purpose of this performance. real purpose.
When Han Zhengshan was on duty in Hangzhou, he also watched the Zhejiang Ming Army's drills. In terms of strength alone, it seemed that it was not weaker than the Haihan Army, but the difference in weapons and equipment could be seen at a glance. One side mainly uses cold weapons, supplemented by a small number of matchlock guns, while the other side has almost all members equipped with more advanced flintlock guns, and their clothing is lighter, eliminating the need for heavy helmets and armor.
During the training in Sanya, Han Zhengshan also tried the rifles installed by the Haihan Army, and naturally understood that this thing was much more powerful than the muskets such as the Bird Gun and Lumi Gun equipped by the Ming Army, in terms of range and lethality. , accuracy or reloading speed, the performance of Haihanjun's rifle is obviously superior. This can also explain why the Haihan Army does not need to be equipped with a full set of armored helmets, because the enemies the Haihan Army needs to face are almost impossible to break into close combat under the suppression of powerful firepower.
Han Zhengshan still lacks a comprehensive understanding of Haihan's power structure and bureaucracy. Based on the information he currently has, he infers that the status advantage of Haihan's military attache comes from the strong combat effectiveness of the army, and his superiors are currently The environment should be in a relatively weak position.
"I'll have to find an opportunity to talk to the chief about this later..." Han Zhengshan looked at the neat formation of the Haihan Army on the school field and secretly made up his mind. Unknowingly, he had subconsciously tied his future and destiny to his boss Tan Juren.
After watching the military parade and inspecting the military camp, it was already noon, and Tan Juren and others went to the officers' canteen for another meal. But today it’s just daily meals, no big fish or meat.
The plan for the afternoon was to visit local populated areas. At present, two immigrant villages have been built locally, and the hundreds of newly arrived immigrants this time will be resettled in these two villages, which are only two miles apart, almost like chickens and dogs.
Compared with the stops Tan Juren visited along the way, the proportion of Han immigrants here is the highest. According to statistics given by Roger, the proportion of Han among the local people is as high as 90%. The immigrants brought by Tan Juren this time are still mainly Han people, so this ratio has not been significantly affected. Of course, for people who have obtained Haihan national status, there is no racial distinction. The criterion that distinguishes their social status is only the difference in labor points and grades.
Compared with the military camps, the living conditions in the immigrant villages seem to be slightly better. The houses are all wooden structures with adobe walls and thatched roofs. They are still Chinese-style structures, not the bamboo and wood stilt houses common in Southeast Asia. Tan Juren randomly entered several immigrant homes to check. The furnishings in the houses were similar to those of residents in other colonies. Although they were simple, they were fully equipped. Farm tools, cooking utensils, and bedding were all distributed uniformly. Although the living conditions were not rich, they were adequate. Meet basic needs.
Since the local labor force was mostly allocated to the construction of various infrastructure projects before this, the scale of cultivated farmland is currently limited, and food production has not yet reached the level of complete self-sufficiency. Therefore, the food rationing system is still implemented, and the island's food reserves It's all in the military's granary, and there really isn't much leftover food in people's homes. Fortunately, this place is close to the sea, and there are a variety of nutritious wild fruits and vegetables. Even if the food supply is short-term, people will not starve to death.
Of course, for Tan Juren, the food issue must not be ignored. Self-sufficiency is an agricultural goal that must be implemented as soon as possible. The team heading south this time included specially equipped agricultural technicians, as well as a large amount of seeds of grain, vegetables and tropical cash crops distributed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Next, large-scale farmland water conservancy and large-scale plantations will be started locally. construction. However, this also has a necessary prerequisite that cannot be bypassed, that is, there must be sufficient labor input.
"The population is the biggest flaw here!" Tan Juren couldn't help but sigh in his heart after checking the situation of the immigrant villages.
(End of chapter)