Chapter 3604
Although Li Zhencheng was eager to let the supply fleet complete loading and unloading in a few seconds and immediately embark on the return journey, the actual operation could not be as smooth as he expected.
After spending two days unloading cargo, some supply ships needed repairs and maintenance before they could safely complete the thousands-mile journey back to Manila. There are no professional institutions such as shipyards in Beimen Port, so carpenters and crew members can only do it themselves. This process can be long or short, and it is not surprising that it takes ten days and a half.
The Taiwan fleet must escort the supply fleet back to the safe zone in the north before it has the opportunity to turn around and enter the battlefield again. The war is almost over. If we delay it for a while longer, we might not even be able to get the leftovers by then.
In desperation, Li Zhencheng also sent shipwrights from his fleet to help, hoping to complete the repair work of the supply ship as soon as possible and shorten his stay here as much as possible.
Beimen Port is not a big place, so Li Zhencheng had nothing to do, so he visited the whole place in only two or three days.
In addition to visiting the local development progress under the leadership of the local civil affairs officer, he also visited the camp where prisoners of war were held.
This is a relatively new place for Li Zhencheng. When he was born, the island of Taiwan was already under the rule of Haihan. After that, there was no war on the island, so there was no such institution as a prisoner of war camp.
The conditions of the prisoner-of-war camp in Beimen Port are naturally very crude. The prisoners of war all live in shacks made of tree branches. Even the fences surrounding the camp are sparse. It seems that they may not be able to stop people.
However, so far, the escape rate of prisoners of war held here is quite low. Because according to the investigation, there is no man's land within a hundred miles around Beimen Port. Even if someone successfully escapes from the prisoner of war camp, it will be difficult to survive in the wild environment for a long time without carrying any survival supplies.
At first, some people were lucky enough to run away, but later the garrison troops brought back the bodies of several fugitives who died in the wild. In addition, the government would arrange for these prisoners to work outside. They gradually learned about the dangerous environment around them. Although there were no wild beasts nearby, However, there are countless snakes and insects that can kill people, and they are difficult to guard against. Most of those who escaped the prison camps died from these poisons.
As time goes by, there is no longer any desire to escape. Older prisoners will also inform newcomers of these situations to discourage them from escaping. You can at least survive if you are detained here. If you escape, you will really have a narrow escape.
The vast majority of these captives were immigrants kidnapped from various colonial settlements after the war began. The ethnic composition was diverse, and Spaniards only accounted for about one-third. In fact, the number of military personnel who were actually captured on the battlefield was not too many.
The prisoners who will be brought back to Manila by the supply fleet this time are basically military personnel. After taking away these more dangerous personnel, the pressure on the guards of local prisoner of war camps will also be reduced a lot.
Li Zhencheng read the confessions of these prisoners of war, hoping to find information about the Spanish fleet encountered on the way, but unfortunately nothing was gained.
Unwilling to be reconciled, Li Zhencheng simply applied to interrogate the prisoners of war in person. Perhaps there were omissions in the previous interrogations, and he might be able to find flaws.
After examining it day and night for two days, he really found some clues.
A sailor who had served on a Spanish warship claimed to know information about the secret port, hoping to use the information he had in exchange for freedom from Li Zhencheng. Li Zhencheng didn't trust this sailor. If he really had such information, why didn't he confess when he was interrogated before?
This was either deliberately concealed before, or deliberately fabricated in order to be released. It must be one of the two. No matter what the situation is, what this guy says cannot be taken lightly.
The most important thing is that this man was rescued after escaping from a sunken warship. He was the only one alive on the whole ship. No one else knew him in the prisoner of war camp, so there was no way to obtain circumstantial evidence for what he said.
But after Li Zhencheng went through all the people who could be interrogated, he found that only this sailor still had the possibility of a breakthrough, so he could only interrogate this person again. Even if a dead horse is used as a living horse doctor, you still have to listen to what information he can provide.
"As long as we verify that what you said is true and it is a port we have not discovered yet, then you will be free. But if we find that you are making up information, then you may have to work as a coolie here until you die. You Think carefully and tell us what you know in detail.”
After the man listened to the interpreter, he did not confess immediately. Instead, he asked Li Zhencheng to ensure that he would have a reasonable way to return to Spain after his release.
This concern is not unreasonable. If he is released on the spot, there will be no channel to Spain. He will not be able to swim all the way back to Europe thousands of miles away, and regaining freedom will not make much sense.
Li Zhencheng was well prepared for this: "We will send you to Manila first, and then take a boat to Xingdao. At that time, we will give you a safe identity and transfer you to the Portuguese. You can take a Portuguese merchant ship back to Europe."
This is undoubtedly an extremely troublesome route, but Haihan and Spain are currently at war, and the two sides have no mechanism for exchanging prisoners. If this guy wants to return to Spain, he can only do it in this tortuous way.
As for pretending to be a Portuguese, this should not be difficult for him as a Spaniard. After all, the languages, cultures, and races of the two neighboring countries are very similar. As long as he does not take the initiative to admit it, it is basically unlikely that he will. Exposed.
Although he may feel a little frustrated mentally, he wants to return to distant Europe, and this seems to be the only feasible solution at the moment.
After the conditions were negotiated, the sailor began to explain what he knew to Li Zhencheng.
His original fleet was deployed in Central America, and it was not transferred to the East until the middle of this year. And he clearly remembered that the trans-oceanic route passed through a series of islands in the South Pacific, and then all the way west along the north coast of Papua Island into the Maluku Sea, which is currently the most intense sea area.
While traveling on the north coast of Papua, the fleet stayed at a certain port for three days. He was convinced that that was the secret port Li Zhencheng was looking for.
Although the specific location of the port was not marked even on the nautical charts used by Spain, the sailor claimed that he could deduce the approximate location of the port based on the speed and course at the time and pointed it out on the chart provided by Li Zhencheng. Corresponding location.
Of course, the range he drew was not accurate. If calculated based on the scale of a nautical chart, Li Zhencheng estimated that it was at least two to three hundred miles in radius.