Chapter 3561
After arranging the implementation measures for various industries, the two brothers divided the work on the next arrangements.
The second eldest brother, Luo Shengding, stayed at Swan Port to supervise the implementation of various infrastructure projects and ensure that the immigrants could settle down and carry out production activities as soon as possible. The boss, Luo Shenghuai, led a small-scale armed fleet to sea again and continued to explore unknown areas southward.
From the map, Swan Harbor is located close to the southwest corner of the continent. Luo Shenghuai's goals are, first, to confirm that there are no colonies from other countries in the nearby area, and second, to continue to look for more livable areas like Swan Harbor on the coast for the purpose of establishing new colonies in the future.
After the fleet traveled more than a hundred miles south, it soon discovered another natural harbor near the coast.
The terrain features here are quite similar to Swan Harbor. It is also a large lake formed near the mouth of a river, but its area is actually much larger than Swan Lake.
The lake is divided into two parts, the north and the south. Either one is at least two to three times the size of Swan Lake. However, the sedimentation situation here is more obvious. The navigation conditions in the lake are far inferior to that of Swan Lake, so it is not suitable. Developed into a large cargo port.
There is a vast expanse of alluvial plain on the east coast of the Great Lakes, most of which is natural pasture. Whether it is used as pasture or to cultivate and build plantations, this place is undoubtedly an excellent choice.
Luo Shenghuai personally led the cavalry to land and spent a few days investigating this plain. It extends eastward to the inland for thirty or forty miles, and the north-south only explored area is two to three hundred miles long.
Based on this preliminary estimate, Luo Shenghuai estimated that the area of this coastal plain that can be used for agricultural development is at least several million acres. This is simply unimaginable for Star Island where farmland is scarce.
Continuing to explore southward, Luo Shenghuai's team discovered many locations with similar geographical environments along the way, but the harbor conditions were, without exception, far inferior to those of Swan Harbor.
Luo Shenghuai also had to admire his father's ability to strategize thousands of miles away and select the most livable location in such a vast continent in advance.
The fleet sailed straight south to the southwest corner of the mainland, then turned east along the coast. After walking for about two days, it finally found another bay suitable for building a port. This place is about one thousand two to three hundred miles away from Swan Port.
The good news is that in this coastal area explored by the fleet, no colonies established by other alien civilizations have yet been found. As for the sporadic indigenous tribes, the threat they could pose to Haihan was extremely limited, and they were automatically ignored by Luo Shenghuai.
Another good news is that in the areas explored in the past few days, the natural environment is considered relatively livable, even better than the base camp Star Island, and it will be easy to house hundreds of thousands of people here in the future.
Luo Shenghuai also understood why before setting off, Roger had told the two brothers that the colonies established in the New World in the future would change the future of Xingdao and the Luo family.
And this is just a corner of the New World. Luo Shenghuai can conclude that there must be more livable areas on this continent.
However, considering the consumption of materials and manpower, Luo Shenghuai did not continue to explore eastward. He ordered people to erect an inscription at the harbor he finally found to commemorate the landing of the expedition fleet here, and then led the team back to Swan Harbor. Since the New World is full of unclaimed land, and Haihan has no competitors at all, there is no need to rush. He believes that the Swan Harbor colony should be built first, and after sufficient population and material supplies are available, he can circle back. It's not too late either.
At the same time, on the northern coastline of the New World, another expedition fleet finally arrived at its intended destination.
Although the expedition fleet dispatched by the Luzon Region reported the news of its arrival in the New World to the Executive Committee a few days ago, in fact it was only the vanguard of the fleet. The main force of the fleet is traveling to Sulawesi Island, Maluku Islands and other places near the Banda Sea. It has been performing combat missions and only recently crossed the Timor Sea and arrived in the New World.
It is precisely because the fleet needs to pass through the Spanish territory when it goes south and has to compete with old opponents, so this fleet does not carry many immigrants, but mainly combat troops.
In addition to establishing a stronghold in the New World, its mission is also to attack Spanish forces in the sea along the way.
To this end, the Manila authorities deployed a number of main forces from within their jurisdiction that had fought against the Spaniards many times, such as the Bangui Battalion, the Subic Battalion, and the Cavite Amphibious Force.
However, the combat missions on the way were obviously not as easy as expected. The Luzon fleet had to spend more time dealing with the Spaniards, which also caused their arrival in the New World to be greatly delayed, and they had to separate several ships midway. Symbolically, a leading force was formed and rushed directly to the intended landing point.
However, they hurried slowly and hurriedly, and finally fell behind the Star Island Fleet, finishing second with only a day's time difference, and were forced to give up the first place to set foot in the New World to the friendly forces.
However, as Roger told his two sons in the telegram, this first achievement is actually just a pure honor at present and will not have much practical effect. The Luzon authorities also understand that the Executive Committee will definitely allow the two regions of Luzon Star Island to develop the New World simultaneously, rather than allowing one of them to monopolize the continent.
This is not only to arrange healthy competition between the two regions, but also to allow them to check and balance each other in the New World to prevent one company from losing control after becoming dominant.
But when the soldiers from Luzon disembarked and landed on this new continent, they did not show much excitement, but more exhausted after days of fighting.
Zheng Agui stood on a big rock and shouted loudly to his men, asking them to assemble the team as soon as possible so that they could go to the camp to rest as soon as possible.
Zheng Agui was just a rookie squad leader during the battle for the Philippine Islands two years ago, but now he is a well-known combat hero in Bangui Camp, a captain and company commander who commands more than a hundred people. Qiu Yong, Qin Bo and others who worked under him at the time have now been promoted to squad platoon leaders.
Before going south this time, he had just completed a short-term refresher training in Manila. As long as he gained some military exploits during the expedition to the New World, he would have a great chance of being promoted to a higher position and military rank after the war.
But after arriving in the New World this time, Zheng Agui did not feel as relaxed as he had after finishing his combat mission two years ago. He could clearly feel that the battle with the Spaniards in the nearby waters was not over yet, and the opponent's resistance seemed to be much tougher than two years ago.