1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1019 Practical Difficulties
Both Beks and Yu Yao are determined people. They are very clear about the mission they need to accomplish when they come here, and they don't have much compassion for the uncivilized natives of this era.If the local aborigines in Miaoli are unwilling to accept the fact that Haihan is stationed, then Bai Kesi and others will probably not have the patience to communicate and negotiate with them slowly, but will try the most direct and effective means of force to suppress or even expel these aboriginal tribes for the oil field. China's exploration and mining work has cleared obstacles and paved the way.

For Haihan, if a small-scale battle can solve the problem quickly, the time saved is far more valuable than the military expenditure.Whether or not an understanding can be reached with the local aborigines is not the goal that Beks pursues, because he knows very well that it is not a job that can be completed in one or two generations to let these mountain aborigines leave the tribe and join Haihan, and the traversers are not so More time to wait for the mountain people to slowly change their mentality.

After the oil project in Miaoli starts to be implemented, Haihan will gradually introduce Han immigrants to the local area for subsequent development and construction in this area. In the future, a petrochemical base and supporting urban facilities may even be built here as needed. These measures are bound to conflict with indigenous tribes over land ownership issues.Instead of waiting until that time to solve the problem, it is better to start as soon as possible, and make preparations to drive the aborigines out of this Haihan demarcated area from the very beginning.

To adopt such tough measures, Beks is not an expert, so he must also listen to the opinions of military personnel.Among the travelers currently in Penghu, only Yu Yao has been to Miaoli and knows the actual situation best.But from Yu Yao's tone, Beks could vaguely feel that he was not very optimistic about resorting to force.

"Could you be more specific?" Bex asked.

Yu Yao nodded and said, "Mr. Bai, let me just say it straight. The two companies you brought over this time were originally stationed near Sanya. The local natural environment is somewhat different from that of Miaoli, and the oil field The place where we are located is already located in a mountainous area. For troops who have no experience in mountain and jungle combat, it will definitely take some time to adapt to this wild environment. The poisonous insects, snakes and ants in the mountain forest, the hot and humid environment, and even our supply lines are all difficult. It has the potential to be a bigger problem than the native tribes. In other words, if you take these people into the mountains rashly, I think there will be a certain risk."

Beks turned his head to look at Morgan and said, "I think there should be some objective reasons for the Ministry of Defense to make such an arrangement."

Morgan said calmly: "In the establishment of the Haihan Army, the troops with the mountainous jungle environment as the main combat direction are of course the first to recommend General Qian Tiandun's special warfare battalion. But this army is now far away on the front line of Zhejiang, and there will be more troops in the future." There will be other important missions entrusted to them, and it is unlikely that they will be transferred to Taiwan Island to perform missions. The two companies assigned to the oilfield exploration team to serve as escort missions, although they have not been trained in the mountain environment for a long time, they have also been on the island. The troops on the battlefield do not lack actual combat experience. Coupled with the garrisons on Penghu and Taiwan Island, a battalion of troops can be assembled in the Miaoli area in a short period of time. This should be more than enough to deal with the natives who only have bows, arrows and bamboo spears. gone."

The two insisted on their own opinions. Obviously, the top officials of the Ministry of National Defense and the front-line commanders did not agree with each other, and they had inconsistent understandings about the arrangement of this task.In fact, the two companies transferred to Beks by the Ministry of National Defense are really not weak. In 1631, the Shilu mining area rioted. Speaking of the experience of fighting in the mountainous jungle environment, there are still a few.Moreover, the existing garrison on Taiwan Island has been there for about a year, and they should have better adapted to the environment and climate of the island. If necessary, some companies can also be mobilized to Miaoli to perform tasks.

Yu Yao did not insist on opposing Morgan, but shook his head slightly and said, "I'm not saying that our troops can't deal with the aborigines, it's just that the process may not be as easy as you expected."

Beks asked: "It seems that when you went to the local inspection, the treatment you received might not just be unfriendly?"

Yu Yao nodded and said: "Although there was no direct armed conflict at that time, the hostile attitude shown by the local aborigines was already very obvious. They did not welcome outside groups to enter the area. As far as I know, in the early years Shibazhi was still When I was in Taiwan, several groups of immigrants migrated to the local area, but because of the resistance of the aborigines, they failed to take root in the local area in the end.”

Bai Kesi asked: "What is the reason for their xenophobia? Is it for the land or some strange beliefs?"

Yu Yao replied: "I think it's for food. Miaoli's local terrain is dominated by mountains and hills, and the few plains are mainly concentrated in the Houlongxi River Basin. The food crops grown by the Dajia people are concentrated in these alluvial plains." Region. Whether it is the Han immigrants who settled there before or us, the first choice of settlement must be the local aboriginal food-producing area, which of course will lead to difficult reconciliation contradictions.”

Bai Ke thought for a while and said, "If it is possible, how about we exchange food for peace? We can provide food to the indigenous tribes at a low price, and let them exchange the produce from the mountains."

Yu Yao shook his head and said, "Boss Bai, what you said was the old way to deal with the Li and Miao tribes on Hainan Island, but the situation here is a bit different. The Li and Miao tribes can be regarded as semi-civilized anyway. The nation is willing to accept the canonization and management of the Han court, admires rather than rejects advanced civilizations, and is willing to accept our kind help. However, most of the indigenous tribes on Taiwan Island are basically still in a primitive state. For them , there is only one kind of outsider, that is the enemy, they do not believe in outsiders, and will not accept any exchange terms. Of course, if we are willing to spend more time getting in touch with each other, we may be able to change their thinking and attitude, But unfortunately, the only thing we lack is enough time."

Yu Yao's remarks are more essential. The ethnic policy implemented by Haihan in Hainan Island does not apply to Taiwan, where the situation is different. Although it is not impossible to communicate and negotiate, the Executive Committee probably will not Willing to let Bex's team spend too much time dealing with such "little problems".This time, the fleet departed from Sanya nearly two weeks earlier, because the Executive Committee hoped that every second counts on this project, and the sooner the oil field can be put into production, the better.

Hearing this, Beks also felt that what Yu Yao said was worthy of attention, so he asked Morgan for his opinion.Although Morgan is a doctor, his hands that can hold a scalpel can also play with various killing weapons. Before coming here, he was already mentally prepared to use force, and what Yu Yao said These only further affirm the need to use strong measures.

Morgan shrugged and said, "I think Yu Yao has made the situation very clear. If we don't want to waste time, then we'd better start formulating a specific action plan as soon as possible. You should have prepared a sand table here, right?"

Yu Yao went to Miaoli for a field trip, one of the purposes was to make a sand table for deduction, so he took Bai Kesi and others to another room with a large space, and there was a huge four-meter square on the ground. Sand table model.The mountains, rivers, and coasts above are clearly outlined. Bai Kesi and others have seen the Miaoli satellite image in the large database, but it is at least [-]% similar to the sand table in front of us. Considering the changes in water and soil over hundreds of years, the sand table Accuracy is pretty good.

"Although the accuracy is not very precise, the error will not be too large." Yu Yao is quite satisfied with the sand table he made himself: "You can see the general terrain of the Miaoli area from the sand table. I also marked the location on the sand table in advance."

The central mountain range on Taiwan Island runs through the entire island from north to south, leaning towards the east coast, and the west coast is mostly a coastal plain. However, only in Miaoli, the mountains extend all the way to the coastline.This kind of terrain has been vividly reflected on the sand table. Only the area along the Houlongxi River Basin has a relatively flat valley terrain.The flow direction of this small river is also quite tortuous. There are at least two [-]-degree turnings between the mouth of the sea and the exit of the sulfur pit at the destination.The location where the sulfur pit is located is no longer on the downstream alluvial plain, but on the bank of a river valley in the mountainous area.

Morgan made an estimate based on the scale, and asked Yu Yao for verification: "From the end of the plain, there are still about three kilometers to go upstream?"

Yu Yao nodded and said, "Yes, this distance is considered the most dangerous part of the road. The lower reaches of the plains are relatively open, making it easier to move in immigrants or deploy troops, but the few miles into the mountains are all It is a primeval forest, and because of the terrain, Houlongxi cannot be navigated all the way, and it must be landed to reach the predetermined location. With our current conditions, we can only open a forest trail in the local area in the short term."

Beks couldn't help frowning and said, "It's not easy to transport so many drilling tools for several miles in the mountains."

The drill pipes used for drilling are all iron guys with a length of several meters. It is indeed hard work to lift these materials into the mountain by manpower.Although this kind of rough work does not need to be done by the traveler himself, it must also be considered that it will take a lot of time and manpower.

Liu Shanxia, ​​who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "When I was doing construction work in Kaohsiung Port in the south, I heard that Taiwan Island also has a rainy season. Will the water level in Longxi be a little higher during the rainy season?"

Yu Yao said: "Strictly speaking, there is no real rainy season in Taiwan, only the plum rain, and the time is probably in April and May. However, there is no data for reference as to whether the water level of Longxi will rise during this period. gone."

The last time Yu Yao went to Miaoli was in March, and it was not the rainy season at that time, and before him, no one from Haihan went so far inland to survey the terrain.

Bai Kesi said: "If the water level of Houlongxi can guarantee navigation during the rainy season, then our early work will be much easier. I think we can give it a try."

Bai Kesi was the person in charge of this project, and all the military personnel's actions during this period were just to cooperate with his work. Seeing that he had made up his mind, Yu Yao didn't say anything more.After all, the objective conditions are like this. If you miss this year's rainy season, you can only use manpower to slowly transport all the materials into the mountains.

But even if Houlongxi can be sailed all the way, it is still a very difficult job to bring a huge team to the local area.The delivery batches of material personnel, the deployment of armed guards, the guarantee of supply lines, the handling of emergencies, etc., there are many things that need to be carefully discussed by Beks and others.But before that, Bex had to check the transportation situation first.

"At the end of last year, Sanya shipped four small steam engines. How are they in use now?" Bex asked.

"It has been installed on the ship, and it has been tested in the military port, and it can be used normally." Yu Yao replied: "But considering the actual situation in the local area, don't expect any good performance in terms of speed. It is estimated that in the future The speed at the upstream of Longxi Estuary can be at most three knots."

Inland river steamships have been carrying passengers and cargo on the Tiandu River and Linchun River in Sanya before, and the technology of marine steam engines is relatively mature. Last year, several steam engines were shipped to Penghu, where they were installed and built in advance. on board the flat-bottomed cargo ship.Several barges can be towed behind this kind of cargo ship, and more materials and personnel can be transported at one time.However, the Houlong River was narrow and shallow. Although the marine steam engine was powerful enough, it did not dare to drive forward at full power, otherwise the barge behind would be stranded on the river beach, and the trouble would be serious.

Beks nodded and said: "This time we also brought two spare steam engines, a total of six ships, if we can go directly to the sulfur pit, then we can finish transporting the supplies in two or three days at most. Make arrangements and send them as soon as possible." In the past two days, the steam engine has also been installed on the ship."

Morgan said: "Since time is urgent, don't delay. I suggest sending a team as soon as possible to establish a forward base near the mouth of Houlongxi."

Regarding how to land on an unfamiliar coast and establish a temporary base, this is a basic combat skill that the Haihan Army must learn regardless of sea or land.With a base on the coast, the Haihan army can advance, attack, retreat, and defend, and can have a basic supply point, so there are more options for action.The Penghu base has already prepared relevant combat materials, and it is time to wait for a suitable departure time.Beks has temporarily put the issue of the indigenous tribes behind him, and how to take action as soon as possible is the priority at present.

(End of this chapter)