1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 115 Overseas Investigation ([-])

Complaints are nothing but complaints, but we are all adults and know that things should be prioritized. Since everyone has chosen to participate in the time-traveling, they must do their part in this group.Although there will be some difficult jobs in the initial expansion process of the Traveling Group, at least the members can clearly see the hope ahead.Whether it is a Vietnamese bride or a Ming Dynasty bride, Tian Yeyou is also very clear that these things will not be a problem for the future time-traveling group. As long as they survive the initial period of entrepreneurship, the hundreds of people in the time-traveling group will sooner or later become all walks of life under the new regime. Privileged figures in all walks of life.Good days are still far away, but not out of reach.

After enjoying the barbecue feast for lunch, the two ships left Yinggehai Salt Works, bypassed Yingge Tsui, and headed north along the west coast of Hainan Island.The coastal area on the west coast of Hainan Island has a large alluvial plain and is rich in water conservancy resources. Along the coast, you can see large or small river estuaries emerging continuously.The largest Thanksgiving Plain in Hainan Island is located here, covering an area of ​​more than 400 million mu, almost all of which are plains and terraces below 50 meters above sea level.Such a geographical environment is very suitable for large-scale planting of tropical crops. On the way, the fleet stopped many times and sent the team member belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture ashore to sample the soil.

This section of the coastal plain is a fertile area. When the expedition team landed, they could also see that a lot of fertile land had been reclaimed in the distant inland area.However, compared to the future large-scale collective farms planned by the Ministry of Agriculture, the current level of land development here is purely minor.

In the location of Dongfang City in the later generations, the expedition team could see densely populated villages by the sea with binoculars on board.However, when the two strange-looking sailboats of the expedition team appeared on the sea, several small fishing boats floating on the sea quickly fled to the shore, and it seemed that they were once again regarded as uninvited guests.The expedition team also had no intention of causing trouble, and did not choose to land here, and directly bypassed the coastal headland and sailed to the lower reaches of the Shilu River.

The lower reaches of the Shilu River is a very typical delta plain formed by the long-term alluvial deposition of sediment carried by the river.Judging from the satellite map carried by the expedition team, the silt deposited at the mouth of the Shilu River has made this place completely impassable for large ships.However, perhaps because the expedition team came here 400 years earlier, the degree of sedimentation in the river is far less serious than that shown in the satellite photos.Tian Yeyou believes that this difference is caused by the vigorous mining of Shilu iron ore in later generations. The effect of large-scale ground mining on the upper reaches of the Shilu River on the surface water and soil directly forms sediment deposition in the downstream area, which can be regarded as a textbook. Examples of negative impacts of mineral development on the ecological environment.

The fleet stopped after traveling upstream for a few miles along the river.The river ahead became narrower and narrower, and Wang Tom was worried that it would be troublesome if the boat could not turn around and drive out.As for the smooth passage by rubber assault boat, but there is still a full [-] kilometers away from the Shilu Iron Mine. Obviously, it is not practical to send a small team of assault boats to go deep inland to conduct surveys. idea.

"It seems that in the future, we can only build a transfer wharf downstream near the estuary, where sea ships dock and unload the coal, and then use flat-bottomed cargo ships with shallow drafts to transport the coal to the upstream iron mines," said the Ministry of Shipping. Seeing that he could no longer go upstream, Xie Chun had no choice but to devise another shipping plan.

Xie Chun has always been very keen on military operations. Since he participated in the second Victory Port battle and artillery design seminar, he has spent more time in the Military and Police Department than in the Shipping Department.This time, I heard that the executive committee's overseas mine division plan needs to organize an exploration team, and Xie Chun also signed up to participate in the first time.

"The Executive Committee wants to develop the Shilu Iron Mine as soon as possible. They should come to see this place for themselves. This place can't be developed in a short while!" Tian Yeyou also sighed: "It's so far from the coast, and the There is no direct navigation. At that time, the model of the base camp will have to be replicated again. First, the forward base will be established by the sea, and then the things will be transported to the inland bit by bit. And this distance is farther than the two bases of the base camp. Several times, in the future to build land passages, the amount of work will definitely not be small."

According to the location on the satellite map, the fleet continued to drive north for a few miles, and arrived at the location of the later Changhua Port.Although there is a port name here, it is not a large seaport, but a small fishing port near the sea.This place is already at the northernmost end of the alluvial plain of the delta at the mouth of the Shilu River. The sandbar formed by the erosion all year round forms a large natural breakwater on the outside of the harbor, and then forms a pocket-shaped harbor in the inland near the north bank. Although the area is smaller than The harbor of Shengli Harbor is much smaller, but the location and environment are excellent. Even if a tsunami occurs on the outside sea, it is difficult for the waves to reach this harbor.

The crew continuously measured the hydrological data on the slowly moving sailboat, and finally confirmed that this harbor can pass at least two thousand tons of ships.If the channel to enter the harbor can be further cleaned and excavated, then it will not be a problem for larger ships to sail into the harbor.What needs to be done to develop this harbor in the future is basically to build a row of piers and trestles on the shore for ships to dock.

Seeing that the sky was getting dark, the expedition team chose to anchor and stop the ship here, and sent two investigation teams to conduct a simple search and investigation within three kilometers of the shore.The result of the investigation reassured the members of the investigation team, but also a little bit disappointed - the neighborhood was sparsely populated, and the investigation team only found four or five sparsely populated houses, and even a decent village was not formed.Under such an environment, there is naturally nothing that can threaten the strength of this expedition team, but if the executive committee wants to develop this place in the future, it will undoubtedly need to transport a large amount of labor from other places, which will also be a big burden.

After the expedition team had dinner, Tom Wang first arranged the shifts for the night shift. From [-]:[-] p.m. to [-]:[-] a.m., a total of nine hours, divided into three shifts.All personnel are not allowed to disembark and go deep inland without permission.Then, according to the consistent tradition of the Time Travel Group, the heads of various departments gathered in the living room of the cabin for a brief meeting, the main content of which was to sort out the content of today's inspection.

At [-] o'clock in the evening, the expedition team got in touch with the base camp by radio according to the agreed time, and reported the content and achievements of the first day's investigation.Relying on military short-wave radio stations, even if the expedition team travels thousands of miles away, they can still easily get in touch with the base camp.Of course, this connection will be largely affected by terrain and weather, but in this time and space, the radio station is the only fast and efficient long-distance contact method that can be used by the traveling people.

Nothing happened that night, and the fleet was ready to set off again the next morning.Due to the abundant time, the fleet was not in a hurry to sail to the Beibu Gulf in the west, but continued to go north along the coastline, and arrived at Danzhou Bay, the largest bay on the west coast of Hainan Island, at noon.

The shape of this bay is similar to that of Shengli Harbor. There is also a huge deep-water harbor hidden behind a relatively narrow gorge, but the area of ​​Danzhou Bay is several times larger than that of Shengli Harbor.In later generations, the coastal areas here were very prosperous seaports, but in this era, obviously, there are not so many logistics that need to be transshipped here. Apart from some fishing villages, there are also salt pans on the coast.

"Danzhou has coal, but the quality is not very good. It's all lignite." Tian Yeyou introduced what he knew to his teammates: "In fact, most of the coal we imported in the early stage came from Danzhou. I once I wrote a report and hoped that the executive committee would consider taking the initiative to participate in the development of coal mines in Danzhou, but this place seems to be a bit more troublesome than Yazhou, so the executive committee does not plan to extend its hand here for the time being.”

Among the cities in the northern part of Hainan Island in this era, apart from Qiongzhou Fucheng, Danzhou should be regarded as the second.The Ming court’s rule over Danzhou was far stronger than that of the remote Yazhou. After repeated studies, the executive committee believed that there would be many variables in sending people to Danzhou to operate coal mines at the current stage, and the base camp was basically separated from here. In the whole of Hainan Island, if there is an emergency, the rescue will be delayed. In the end, it was decided to temporarily abandon direct business activities to Danzhou.

The expedition team did not disembark at the port in Danzhou Bay, but left quickly after a quick circle in the port.However, the local people obviously would not turn a blind eye to the appearance of these two strange ships, and soon a local Baojia reported the sightings to Danzhou City, but because the expedition team did not go ashore to harass the people, the incident ended in nothing It's over.

After sailing out of Danzhou Bay, the fleet first found an uninhabited coast to stop, and the crew went ashore to bury pots and make meals.At two o'clock in the afternoon, the fleet readjusted its course and headed west.For most members of the expedition team, this was the first time in their lives that they sailed away from the coast on the real sea, so everyone seemed extremely excited.However, the crew who are responsible for driving the ship and calculating the route are not so easy. Although the location of the next target is clearly marked on the map, without satellite navigation, it is necessary to find a place in the vast sea with an area of ​​no more than two square kilometers. The small island is not an easy thing to do.

Although there are several old crew members on board the two ships, the unfamiliar sea they faced this time created a lot of difficulties for this voyage. The crew had to constantly adjust their course according to changes in ocean currents and wind direction during the voyage. .It wasn't until the sky became dark that Wang Tom, who had been standing at the bow of the ship looking at the target with binoculars, exclaimed excitedly: "We're here! We've arrived at our destination!"

(End of this chapter)