Chapter 3012
On the last day of December 1656, Padang Port on the west coast of Sumatra Island.
According to the Han calendar, it is already the twelfth lunar month of winter, and it is time to wrap up in thick winter clothes. However, Badong Port is located in the tropics, the temperature is still over 20 degrees, the vegetation is lush and green, and there is no sign of late winter.
Badong Port is located on a seaside plain where many rivers flow into the Indian Ocean. It has abundant water resources and is very suitable for cultivating crops.
The indigenous people who settled here are called Minangkabau people. Although this race has a matrilineal clan structure, it is not closed. As early as more than a hundred years ago, they built a trading port here to sell various products produced locally. Grow agricultural products and wild spices to sell to outside traders.
After Aceh conquered this place in the last century, it further expanded the original port and sent people here to guide the indigenous people to grow various spices in an attempt to build it into a spice industry base.
Wherever there are valuable spices, there will be Western colonists who get wind of them, and Badong Port is no exception. Soon the Portuguese, Dutch, and British came one after another. While purchasing spices from the local area, they also continued to explore the possibility of colonizing Badong and even occupying it.
The Minangkabau people, who were gradually getting richer, began to feel dissatisfied with the exploitation and suppression from the Aceh royal family, and tried to gain independent status by forming an armed force.
Some Western countries have noticed this momentum, and with the purpose of causing trouble for Aceh, they have also begun to sell weapons to the Minangkabau people to help them fight against Aceh's rule. Of course, such assistance was not free. Western colonists hoped to enhance their influence in the region in this way, and by the way, they could also obtain huge profits from arms transactions.
When everyone was trying to get involved here, Haihan also lost no time in joining in the fun.
However, Haihan's participation was not proactive like that of Westerners, but came by invitation. To be precise, Aceh spent a lot of money to specially invite him.
The foreign mercenary regiment affiliated with Xingdao stationed in Badong Port a year ago, and there was a full battalion of troops when they arrived, and they were also equipped with multiple armed warships equipped with artillery.
Regarding the stationing of the mercenary group, Aceh's official statement is to protect Haihan's business interests and personnel safety in Badang Port. But the actual situation is that before the mercenary group came here, Haihan did not have any property in Badong Port. This statement is obviously a lie.
The mercenary group soon showed the locals their true purpose of coming to Badang Port. They raided several nearby tribal armed forces, destroyed these tribal locations mercilessly, and transported large numbers of captives away by sea.
As for where these prisoners were sent, basically no one locally knew the truth. There were only some unconfirmed rumors, and it seemed that they were all taken to some remote island to mine.
Although the mercenary group's initial operations went smoothly, it did not completely destroy the confidence of the Minangkabau people. They have dealt with the Malacca Dynasty, Tammu Kingdom, Aceh Kingdom, and all kinds of Western colonists here. The new mercenary group is just another invader trying to dominate this place.
The Minangkabau people wisely gave up confrontation on the frontal battlefield, but attacks against mercenary groups and Aceh government agencies continued.
This forced the mercenary group to abandon multiple strongholds originally established near Badang Port and shrink all garrison troops to Badang Port in order to protect Aceh's government agencies.
The protracted security war has forced Aceh to continue to pay mercenary groups to maintain their garrison at Badang Port. However, a telegram sent from Xingdao to Badang Port recently seems to be changing the situation here.
"The Star Island Command requires us to adjust our deployment and set off to the northern waters of the Malacca Strait as soon as possible to perform new tasks. Everyone, our vacation in Badang Port is coming to an end."
Shao Tianhu, commander of the first battalion of the mercenary regiment, showed the telegram in his hand to the officers present, and everyone couldn't help but let out a sigh of reluctance.
Although Shao Tianhu has a Chinese name, his appearance has obvious Western characteristics. This is because he is only a quarter of Han Chinese. His father is a mixture of Han and Persian, and his mother is a European from Sardinia in the Mediterranean. people.
The place where Shao Tianhu was born is not the territory of the Han people, but Goa on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. If we look at his place of origin alone, he can be regarded as a descendant of Portuguese colonization.
However, when Shao Tianhu was young, he crossed the ocean with his parents and lived in Malacca City. Later, he moved to Xingdao under the rule of Haihan to settle.
In order to be able to apply for Haihan nationality, Shao Tianhu chose the shortcut of joining the army. And he does have talent in this area. In his first two years in the army, he was continuously promoted for his repeated military exploits.
At this time, Roger also noticed this budding young man and gave him two options. One was to continue to serve in the Haihan Army. However, due to his background, it was difficult for him to get the opportunity to go to a military academy for further studies. Opportunities and room for further advancement in the military are limited.
The second way is to retire and join the mercenary group. Not only can you have a higher position and authority, but you can also get opportunities for training and further study. In the future, you can be transferred back from the mercenary group to serve in the Haihan Army. At that time, his service experience in the mercenary regiment can be declared to the Ministry of Defense as a special contribution, and his promotion will no longer be restricted.
Shao Tianhu chose the second path without hesitation. As for whether Roger's arrangement was to test his loyalty or to take this opportunity to hone his abilities, he actually didn't care. Because someone like him is of non-Chinese descent and does not have the protection of family inheritance, it is indeed difficult to hold important positions in the military. He has to find another way to have a chance.
So he got the coveted opportunity to further his studies and went to the Army Academy in Sanya for half a year of training, and then retired and transferred to a mercenary group.
As one of the few officers who had received Haihan's orthodox military training, Shao Tianhu was appointed as the commander of the first battalion in the mercenary regiment in just two years.
In the history of the Star Island Foreign Mercenary Corps, Shao Tianhu was definitely one of the youngest senior officers. The first major task he received when he took office was to lead his troops to Badong Port to quell the chaos.
The First Battalion only carried out relatively intensive combat missions in the early stage of entering Badong Port and defeated several major local rebels. After that, it was relatively easy and only needed to protect the urban area and government agencies near Badong Port. Unless Aceh has a request and provides corresponding supplies and combat military expenses, the mercenary group will generally not take the initiative to attack again.
After the combat missions were significantly reduced, Shao Tianhu said that being stationed here was like taking a vacation, which was not an exaggeration. Of course, the reason why the officers sighed was not just that this relatively easy foreign mission had come to an end.
(End of chapter)