Chapter 3031
While Roger was dealing with the envoys from the other three countries, Qian Tiandun was studying the nautical charts in another tent not far from the venue.
Qian Tiandun did not attend the meeting with the special envoys of the three countries with Luo Jie because he was not familiar with the international situation in this region and could not help much if he went there. It was better for Luo Jie to come and negotiate.
And he could just use this rest time to study the next action plan.
Thanks to the careful planning in advance, the Haihan army captured three islands without any blood, and the operation was very smooth. But Qian Tiandun did not relax because of this. In his view, this was just the first step for Haihan to break through the South China Sea and expand westward.
So far, this operation has successfully extended Haihan's sphere of influence through the Strait of Malacca. However, the northern end of the strait has an inverted trumpet shape. The distance between Phuket and Banda Aceh is more than 800 miles, which is eight times the width of the strait near Star Island at the southern end.
With such a wide sea area, Qian Tiandun believed that it would be difficult to fully control the trade routes here just with a few small islands adjacent to the coast of the Malay Peninsula on the east side.
Moreover, Haihan will enter the Myanmar Sea to the north and the vast Bay of Bengal to the west in the future, and it still needs more ports as a springboard.
As for the target area, there are actually not many options. In this vast sea area of millions of square kilometers, there are not many islands that can be used, mainly concentrated in the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands.
In fact, these two islands are more appropriately called the Andaman-Nicobar Island Chain. This arc-shaped island chain spanning two thousand miles from north to south is the natural dividing line between the Sea of Myanmar and the Bay of Bengal. If a transit supply port is to be built between the Strait of Malacca and the east coast of the Indian Peninsula, then only this island chain can provide an alternative location.
"If we want to choose a place to build a port on this island chain, what do you think are the pros and cons?"
Qian Tiandun did not make a decision directly, but wanted to test the officers standing beside him.
Takahashi Minami remained silent because he knew that this question was not posed to him. If Qian Tiandun needs to answer by himself, he will directly name him instead of referring to him as "you". This is a tacit understanding formed by the two of them over the years.
For officers with certain overseas combat experience, this question is not difficult, and soon everyone gave the answer in a variety of ways.
The benefits are obvious. The geographical environment determines the importance of these islands. Ships passing through these waters will not have many choices if they want to obtain supplies.
Moreover, these islands are almost all unclaimed land. It is said that except for some indigenous people who have settled on the islands, no country has built a port on this island chain so far, which greatly reduces the possibility of Haihan entering the island chain. Trouble encountered.
But when it comes to disadvantages, everyone's opinions are not unanimous.
Some people think that these islands are far away from the mainland and do not have enough population to implement various infrastructure projects. Even if you want to increase the island's population through immigration, because the local area lacks other natural resources with development value, such an environment will be difficult to attract foreigners to settle on the island.
Others believe that the local area lacks a natural port. Even if Haihan invests resources in development, the port after completion will not be able to carry trade functions. It will only exist as a fishing port or a shelter and supply port, and will not have the profitability that Haihan expects.
Qian Tiandun saw Li Yuande standing beside him looking a little eager to try, so he called him by name and said, "Yuande, what do you think?"
Li Yuande responded quickly: "I think it is not a good idea to build a port on this island chain. In addition to the reasons just mentioned by the adults, I would like to add one more point."
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "But it doesn't matter." Li Yuande continued: "As we all know, Westerners entered this sea area much earlier than us. If this island chain really has a place suitable for building a trade port, I think they have already taken action and will not leave it to us to develop.”
Someone retorted: "Is there a possibility that it is because the investment in building a port is too high and Westerners cannot afford such expenses, so they gave up occupying this island chain."
Li Yuande said: "Of course this possibility exists, but there are many merchant ships plying this area, and there are no naturally formed settlements in this island chain. I think this is also a clear signal. As for the real I think I should consult someone who knows about those islands.”
Qian Tiandun did not comment on Li Yuande's opinion, but looked at Gao Qiaonan.
Takahashi Minami knew that he had to express his opinion, so he immediately took over the conversation: "As far as I know, there is a team of Star Island Mercenary Group that has been operating in the sea area where this island chain is located for some time. Maybe More accurate information can be obtained from them. ”
The troops Takahashi Minami was talking about were naturally the 1st Battalion of the mercenary group that acted as pirates in this sea area some time ago. However, because the mission was too sensitive, the 1st Battalion did not join them. After evacuating Phuket, it is still operating in the Sea of Myanmar.
As for the current specific location, probably only Roger knew.
"General, Lord Roger is here."
When Cao Cao arrived, Roger entered the tent and was not surprised to see so many people gathered in front of the chart. He nodded to Qian Tiandun and said, "Are you in a meeting?"
Qian Tiandun said: "You came just in time. We are discussing whether this island chain in the Burmese Sea is worth developing. I heard that your mercenaries are familiar with the situation here. Can you please come over and answer our questions? Confused? ”
Roger smiled and said: "You have asked the right person about this. No need to call anyone else, I can answer your questions. If this island chain is so easy to develop, then why should I waste time and effort to occupy these three islands?" To act in this play?”
Obviously, in Roger's opinion, he would rather take the risk of occupying several islands belonging to other countries than develop the island chain that belongs to the Borderlands.
As for the reason for making this choice, Roger did not hide it and said it quickly.
First, the island chain is far away from the mainland and is difficult to develop. The only bay that has the conditions to build a large port is on the island of Middle Andaman, which is 1,500 miles away from the nearest large city, Banda Aceh. The distance from Siam in the east and Myanmar in the north is more than a thousand miles.
An island like this isolated overseas will face very high costs whether it is transporting supplies or immigrating immigrants.
Secondly, the indigenous people living in this island chain were extremely hostile to outsiders because they were captured by slave traders in the early years. They would definitely kill anyone they met. They were completely unable to coexist with immigrants, let alone Use it as labor to develop the island.
Thirdly, the land on the island is extremely barren and it is difficult to grow crops. The indigenous people make a living by hunting, fishing and picking wild fruits and vegetables. This basically cuts off the possibility of immigrants being self-sufficient through cultivating farmland, making it difficult to maintain large-scale immigrant settlements.
So despite the geographical importance of this island chain, it has remained in a primitive state for thousands of years.
(End of chapter)