1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1023 Advance Team ([-])
As an uncivilized area, most of the island of Taiwan is still covered by forests. Due to the difference in climate and temperature caused by the great difference in terrain height, there are many kinds of trees growing here, including tropical, subtropical, temperate and frigid. There are more than 4000 species of trees, mainly broad-leaved forest and coniferous broad-leaved mixed forest.Among them, there are hundreds of species with economic value. Although Morgan is not a botanist, he can recognize some tree species. After entering the mountain for a long time, he identified camphor trees, masson pine, tung tree, lacquer tree, white sandalwood, Red cypress, fir, water willow, alder, cypress and many other trees that can be used as industrial raw materials.If Cai Hongzhan, the carpenter head of the Ministry of Construction, came here, I'm afraid his mouth would be watered down.

Although there are many similar virgin forests in the hinterland of Hainan Island, Morgan's daily activities are all in the urban area of ​​Sanya, and it is indeed difficult to have the opportunity to devote himself to the current natural environment.If you don't have a mission, you can take this errand as a pleasing camping and leisure trip.

But Morgan's good mood didn't last long, and soon the soldiers who explored the road ahead reported that they found an artificial hunting trap in the forest.

Morgan followed the soldier who discovered the trap to this place, and at a glance, he saw a tree with a thickness of a calf bent towards the ground in a strange arc, and a green vine stretched straight between the treetop and the ground. It seems that the tree is bent by the vine, but if you look closely, you will find that it is not a natural vine, but a thick hemp rope dyed green, and it is specially hung on the rope. There are many branches and leaves, and it is indeed easy to ignore its true colors at a glance.

"Boss, this is called a hanging bow cover. The villain was a hunter before he joined the army, so he can tell the details of this thing at a glance." The scout leading the way held a tree branch cut at the foot of the mountain to use as a trekking stick in his hand, and finished speaking Afterwards, he threw it to the place where the rope was hidden in the grass on the ground. Hearing a whoosh, the triggered mechanism was activated immediately, and the top of the tree tied with the rope bounced back at once. The strength surprised the onlookers. .

The scout continued to introduce: "This set is especially effective against prey that weighs no more than a hundred catties, such as sambar and goats, which can be thrown into the air in one fell swoop. If bamboo is used as a hanging bow, it will be more flexible." Jia, when I was in my hometown, my family used this trap to catch wild boars. This kind of trap is set up in the wild, and hunters usually visit once every two or three days."

Morgan looked at the thickness of the rope and the strength of the jump. If people stepped on it, they would probably be caught and bounced into the air to hang up.If a knowledgeable scout hadn't discovered this trap, someone would have fallen for it.Of course, the technical content of this hunting trap is secondary, and its appearance means that the natives will be active in this area, which is what Morgan cares about.

Morgan sighed and looked at the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain. It was only a mile or two away from the place where the natives set up a trap. The oil base that the Executive Committee valued so much should have a safety zone that was more than this little distance away. It seems that In the end, this trouble couldn't get around.Morgan doesn't want to speculate on what attitude the natives will take when they discover these "intruders" of their own. The security of key projects like the oil field cannot be placed on luck, and they must take some active actions to maintain the existence of the safe zone. .

According to the security plan formulated by Haihan after the Shilu riot in 1631, the area within five to ten miles of key industrial projects must be cleared as a safe area, and the specific standards depend on the importance of the project and the surrounding environment.Non-naturalized persons are not allowed to live or stay for a long time in the safe zone, and all external personnel who may become a safety hazard must be driven out of this zone.In an environment surrounded by mountains like Chusulphant Keng, a safety zone with a radius of at least five miles must be maintained, but the natives who haunt the vicinity probably would not agree with Haihan's unilateral demarcation of boundaries.

The ridge adjacent to the valley where the sulfur crater is located is not too high, and the top is about 500 meters above sea level. However, it took Morgan and others two hours to reach the highest point because there was no road and it was slippery due to continuous rainfall.Standing here and looking around, you can vaguely see the alluvial plain outside the mountains to the west, while in other directions you can see the boundless mountains.Although rainfall has a relatively large impact on visibility, you can still see that the central mountain range to the east is much higher than where you are.

The location of Chusulkeng has just entered the mountainous area. To the east, there are vast mountainous areas with an altitude of about 3000 meters. I don’t know how many unknown indigenous tribes exist in these mountainous areas.Although Morgan is not afraid to make enemies of these uncivilized natives, the feeling of the enemy being in the dark is still uncomfortable.If Haihan wanted to take root in this ravine and exploit oil fields, he had to face not only the extremely inconvenient geographical environment here, but also the greater potential threat from the indigenous tribes whose attitudes were not yet clear.

Looking at the Houlong Creek at the foot of the mountain from here, you can see the small river running through the forest. The upper waterway runs east along the mountain, forming a nearly 180-degree bay, and then at the edge of the ridge where Morgan is located. At the foot of the mountain on the east side, two other small rivers flowing from the mountain area, one from the south and the other from the north, converge. The rivers have been scoured for many years to form a small triangular plain in the valley.

Morgan changed to a position with a better view, and raised the binoculars to observe the valley plain separated from the sulfur crater by a ridge. The land must be very fertile in places like this where waterways intersect. People can be organized to reclaim the valley plain, so there is no need to work hard to transport grain into the mountains.

However, the wish is beautiful, but the reality may not be so smooth. Morgan soon saw a scene in the telescope that he was not happy to see.There are quite a few bamboo buildings on the edge of the valley, arranged sequentially along the hillside, and it is indeed difficult to see them under the cover of trees.That is to say, Morgan looked slowly with a telescope in his hand. He first saw the cultivated fields on the river bank, and then followed the vines to find the village hidden in the mountains and forests.

Morgan guessed that these natives built their villages on slopes at the foot of the mountain, probably in order to prevent these small rivers from flooding their homes when the water level rose after the rain.Morgan observed carefully for a while, and guessed from the size of the village he saw, that there were at least a hundred families in this tribe.Perhaps the hunters who set traps in the forests we passed just now belonged to this tribe.

Morgan made a general visual inspection, and the distance between the location of this indigenous tribe and the Chusulphant Pit must be less than five miles. In the future, it is impossible to let this tribe exist on the side of the couch when exploiting oil fields in the Chusulphant Pit.The most ideal solution would be to let these natives voluntarily move away, but Morgan didn't have much confidence in reaching an understanding with the other party.

"Go down the mountain!" After confirming the location of the tribe, Morgan was not in a hurry to investigate it immediately, but planned to turn back first.The team I brought with me was only about [-] people in total, and I went into the mountain lightly, with limited supplies, so it was safer to avoid accidents as much as possible.

When Morgan returned to the mountain, the remaining subordinates had set up a temporary camp, and followed Morgan's instructions to investigate the surrounding area and the nearby river bank.They are not trying to find traces of indigenous activities here, but to assist the surveyors of the Ministry of Construction to simply divide the construction land first, so that construction can start as soon as possible when the subsequent large troops move in.If possible, it would be best to find signs of oilfield burial here. After all, according to the information Haihan has, the oilfield in Chusulphokeng is extremely shallow, and the discoverer dug it out on his own field with a hoe and shovel. Most likely, there are signs of spontaneous gushing. If the oil outlet can be found, it can save the trouble of subsequent exploration.

However, because the time was too short and there were too few people entering the mountain this time, the soldiers hadn't found anything worth paying attention to yet.Morgan did not pin all his hopes on his subordinates. After all, oil exploration is a very professional skill. The Ministry of Industry has done a lot of equipment work for this, and almost all the knowledgeable people are transferred here. Just a few small soldiers dug out the oil field. Doesn't it seem that the executive committee's troublesome planning and command are worthless?
Morgan still focused on surveying the terrain in his own area of ​​responsibility, that is, finding suitable locations to serve as defensive points on the periphery of the oil base.The terrain of this kind of ravine and river valley is full of strategic passes and loopholes everywhere. Unless a high wall can be built around the base to enclose the base, it is impossible to make it leak-proof. This is the most troublesome thing for Morgan.

The expedition continued until dusk fell. Today’s food level has improved a lot compared to yesterday’s. The scout who was a hunter was so itchy after he came down from the mountain. He temporarily went to the woods near the camp to make a few traps. It didn’t take long. I caught two pheasants and a small sika deer.Seeing that the deer was too small, Morgan felt compassion and asked someone to let it go.But this time there were still fishing nets in the supplies. Several soldiers led the fishing nets down to the river, and after a while, a net of fish weighed more than 20 kilograms. Now there are not only grilled fish to eat, but also fish soup drank.

After dinner, Morgan took out the radio on time, and sent a telegram back to the Penghu base to report the general progress of the day according to the agreed time.Later he received a call back from Penghu, saying that the large army would depart from Penghu for Miaoli tomorrow.In addition, Tian Yeyou, who is currently working as a supervisor at the Jilong Gold Mine, will also come to meet up by boat from Taipei, and Morgan will be in charge of the contact at that time.

Morgan and Tian Yeyou are also old acquaintances. When Haihan sent a team to Beibu Gulf to investigate the coal mine in Heitugang, they were both members of that team and had the experience of going out on missions together.But in the next few years, Tian Yeyou didn't return to Sanya very often, and the chances of the two meeting each other were also rare.If they hadn't been assigned to Miaoli to perform special missions this time, the two of them would have to wait until the next meeting.

Although there are still many potential problems that need to be resolved in the development of the oil project in Miaoli, so far, everything seems to be going smoothly. There have been no injuries or head-on conflicts with the indigenous people.Morgan can only hope that this peaceful state can continue, as long as possible.

There was nothing to say that night, and early the next morning, Morgan ordered everyone to prepare and return to the coastal base after breakfast.This inland reconnaissance operation has basically achieved its intended purpose. It has roughly clarified the navigation conditions of Houlongxi and the conditions along the watershed, and determined the escort plan, and discovered at least two indigenous tribes of unknown strength.

When the large forces arrive and the project is officially launched, the information obtained through investigation will come in handy.But for the specific details, especially the protective role the military will play during this period, Morgan feels that he still needs to go back and study it carefully.He himself is not particularly good at commanding troops. As for how to command the three companies of the army to deploy a solid defense line between the coast and the oil field, it will take time to think over and over again the details of the deployment.

But no matter how you think about it, it is impossible for the natives on Taiwan Island to be more powerful than the established professional army. The Haihan army can deal with the army of the feudal dynasty. The threat that this primitive tribal armed force can pose is even more limited. .Therefore, Morgan's pressure is not on how to defeat the indigenous armed forces in the vicinity, but more on how to arrange troops to minimize the destructive measures that the indigenous tribes may take to Haihan after the situation worsens. Negative effects on oil fields.In other words, the safety of production facilities and personnel in the oilfield is the top priority of the Haihan Army stationed here.

Just in case, the coal transported into the mountain this time is much more than the demand, but there is no need to transport all of it back on the return journey.Morgan asked the soldiers to unload the excess coal to the shore and pile it up, and spread some banana leaves on top to cover it.Anyway, it will be back in a few days, and the coal will never fly away. Even if some natives find it, they probably won't know what the black stone is.

The boatman driving the boat used the pole to make the steam tug turn around first.Then the barge was hung up again, and the piston of the steam engine buzzed, startling a group of birds in the silent mountain forest.Although the steam engine works well, the movement is really not small. It is afraid that it can spread a few miles in this forest, and it will expose its whereabouts from a long distance away.

This return journey is going down the river, and the speed will be much faster than when it came. At noon, it has reached the first [-]-degree bend when it came. I looked around, and saw that the half-human tall stone pagoda that I ordered my subordinates to pile up with stones was still the same, and it seemed that no one else came here for activities in the past two days, otherwise, driven by curiosity, most of them would move to this stone pagoda. Last move.

(End of this chapter)