Chapter 3563
As night fell, Zheng Agui's company hurriedly hurriedly set up five marching tents before dark, so they no longer had to spend the night under the covers.
His four platoons were stationed in four of the tents, and the remaining tent was occupied by the office space of the company headquarters, as well as bunks for the cooking squad, communications personnel, medical soldiers, quartermasters, company commanders, and deputy company commanders.
A drainage ditch was dug around the tent to prevent water accumulation during rainfall.
Zheng Agui personally supervised the distribution process of the dozen kilograms of wine distributed by the Logistics Office of the Battalion Headquarters. In the end, there was no overdose incident that he was worried about.
Of course, since the portion each person gets is only a small cup, few people will be satisfied with this way of sharing the wine. It can only be said to be better than nothing.
Although there should be no enemies in this place, Zheng Agui still made arrangements for night watch after dinner in accordance with the field combat regulations.
Afterwards, he summoned his squad platoon leaders to convey some news and superior instructions brought by today's combat staff Juan.
"According to instructions from superiors, the exploration mission originally planned in the New World has been temporarily cancelled. The Bangui Battalion will rest in Beimen Port for seven to ten days. After that, it may have to set off again to the Banda Sea area to continue fighting the Spanish."
"Our company is currently losing 17 people in combat. I just went to see the situation of the wounded. It is estimated that about half of them will be able to return to the team to participate in combat missions. The impact will not be too big."
"The company's ammunition and material supplies will be completed before departure. If there is any equipment that needs to be repaired or replaced, report it to the quartermaster as soon as possible."
"While stationed at Beimen Port, the scope of activities is not allowed to leave the developed area without authorization. There are indigenous tribes in the nearby jungle, but their attitude towards us is not clear yet. The battalion headquarters requires that active contact be avoided as much as possible to avoid unnecessary conflicts. ”
Someone asked: "What is the fighting strength of the local indigenous people? Can they compare with the indigenous people of Luzon?"
Zheng Agui explained: "Of course their combat power is far inferior to ours, but if there is a conflict with them and it affects our subsequent combat missions, it is not worth it. The battalion headquarters does not want us to waste precious resources on this .”
When Zheng Agui said this, everyone understood. They are located four to five thousand miles away from the Davao Port in Mindanao, and all supplies currently have to be transported thousands of miles from the Davao Port. Even if the cost is ignored, the quantity is limited and must be used first. against the more threatening Spaniards.
Another person said: "Since we want to concentrate our firepower on dealing with the Spaniards, why do we come all the way to this remote place to build a port stronghold? Could it be that the higher-ups want to launch a north-south attack for the Spaniards? That would be too forced."
Zheng Agui said: "The superiors arranged to go south to the New World, but it was not just to suppress the Spanish."
Zheng Agui participated in a short-term training in Manila at the beginning of the year. During this period, he had the opportunity to come into contact with some senior generals, so he had some inside knowledge of the Luzon authorities' arrangement of this expedition.
He knew that the Spaniards were just a side dish of this expedition, and that the real target was actually the New World where they were currently. Attacking the Spanish colonial forces in the southern seas was just a matter of hunting rabbits. However, the superiors probably did not expect that Spain has not been idle in the past two years. It has quietly built many armed strongholds in the southern seas and equipped them with a large number of artillery. It also quietly mobilized a considerable number of armed warships, resulting in The expedition fleet almost had its teeth broken when it tried to destroy these Spanish colonies.
The harassment of Spanish armed warships forced the expedition fleet to temporarily adjust its mission and first clear a relatively safe route in the relevant waters to ensure that personnel, materials and energy could be continuously transported to the colonial points in the New World.
But Zheng Agui only knew that his superiors valued the development of the New Continent more, but did not know the real reason. Therefore, the only information he could tell his subordinates was the priority of the southward mission.
Of course, judging from the current situation, due to the stubborn resistance of the Spaniards, the distinction between primary and secondary tasks seems to be increasingly blurred.
The secondary mission that was originally planned to be done as a side trip has now become a prerequisite for completing the main mission. Even the troops who have arrived at the New World settlement have to rest and recuperate before getting back to work.
Someone added: "Although this New World is a no-owner's land, its location is so remote that even the Spaniards didn't come to seize it. It doesn't look like a good place!"
Without Zheng Agui opening his mouth, someone retorted: "When did you miss the place that the higher-ups were interested in? You forgot about the places we conquered in the past two years. It didn't take long for us to mine a lot of copper and gold mines."
Zheng Agui added: "It is said that several gold mines have been discovered on the east coast of Mindanao, where we gathered before. As for what treasures are buried in the New World, I don't know, but I heard that the Xingdao Region also sent a team The fleet came here to establish a colony.”
Someone curiously asked whether the movements of the Xingdao fleet were related to his own actions, but Zheng Agui could not answer. He only heard some rumors when he was in Manila, but the competition between the two regions for the development rights of the New World was information that he basically had no access to at this level.
Finally, someone asked, since Xingdao has sent troops to the New World, will it come to help in the war?
Zheng Agui felt that although this matter could not be said to be completely impossible, the probability should be extremely small. When troops were sent to attack the Philippine Islands two years ago, the pressure was not less than it is now, but the Luzon authorities did not find any reinforcements to help.
Speaking of the reason for the difficult fight this time, Zheng Agui believed that the main reason was that the preparations before the war were not sufficient, and he did not expect to fight with the Spaniards for so many days. Now that the battle situation has gradually entered the rhythm of the Haihan Army, the difficulty of subsequent operations should also be reduced.
The whole company had a holiday the next day, so Zheng Agui was able to take a break from the busy schedule and go to the nearby coast to enjoy the sunshine and beaches.
When he returned to the barracks for lunch at noon, he passed by the camp headquarters and saw notices being posted here. He looked at them for a while and barely understood the contents.
The content of this notice is for soldiers who are stationed here. If they are willing to move their families here to settle down in the future, they can receive a certain amount of land per household and a certain amount of settlement allowance. The treatment is better than the conditions that the government used to recruit immigrants in new colonies.
However, these conditions have limited appeal to Zheng Agui. He has already purchased real estate in Manila, the capital of the Luzon region, and settled his family there. The convenience of life there is by no means comparable to that of this remote New World.