1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 141 Organizing Refugees
"Fortunately, there is such a river!" Tom Wang exclaimed.

If the Qinghua River hadn't been here, blocking the route for the refugees to flee north, these people would probably not be here long ago.But what these refugees didn't know was that even if they crossed the Tsinghua River, within forty miles to the north, there were still two tributaries diverging from the upper reaches of the Tsinghua River that would block their way.Moreover, from Tsinghua to the north, it gradually enters the Red River Delta area with dense water network, where the river density is several times higher than here, which will greatly increase the difficulty for them to flee north—of course, this is not easy for them to rush to gather refugees and send them to It is definitely a good thing for the Transit Group, which is engaged in infrastructure development in Xingang.

In order to avoid confusion, the fleet did not dock immediately, but anchored at a distance of [-] meters from the shore, regardless of the eager eyes of the refugees on the shore.But even so, a few refugees jumped off the river and swam to the fleet, hoping that the people on board would pull them aboard.

"These damned monkeys!" Under the influence of several big bosses in the military and police department, Wang Tom also learned to use "monkey" to refer to these Vietnamese natives.Most of these people are dark and thin, with haggard faces. This nickname is really not too outrageous.Although Wang Tom was a little dissatisfied, he still picked up the fishing pole on the deck and prepared to rescue the refugees who swam over.

"Don't worry about these people, otherwise the people on the shore will jump into the river and swim over." The chief military officer Qian Tiandun finally appeared on the deck and said expressionlessly.Behind him was a little man in a camouflage uniform, who was the corporal Gao Qiaonan who had just joined the military and police department.

Gao Qiaonan was not originally assigned to be Qian Tiandun's entourage, but only under the command of Qian Tiandun in terms of organization.But after Luo Wudan's incident, Qian Tiandun directly asked the senior officers of the military and police department to ask for someone, and asked him to be by his side as an orderly.This is a great opportunity and honor for Gao Qiaonan who is determined to climb up. He didn't know until before he set off that the Lieutenant Qian Tiandun he "saved" that day turned out to be the chief military officer of the overseas colonization team. This made Gao Qiaonan feel that he was one step closer to his goal.So there is no need to talk about Gao Qiaonan's personal service along the way. Even Wang Tom joked that this was not an orderly at all, but an extra "shadow" of Qian Tiandun.

The sides of several Chinese sailboats are relatively high, and people in the water cannot reach the sides of the ships.The people on board had all been ordered by Qian Tiandun, so naturally they would not try to catch people.Seeing that there was no hope of getting on the boat, those people had no choice but to swim back to the river bank.There were also two blind-eyed people swimming directly towards the "Flying Speed". They probably saw that there was a low gangway at the stern of the ship to get on board. As soon as they reached the gangway, they were driven by Takahashi quickly. Nan pulled out the wooden club at his waist and drove them back into the water one by one.

Tom Wang didn't object when he saw this, he knew that Qian Tiandun's order sounded a bit cold, but it was actually right under the current environment.With so many refugees eager to flee north gathered by the river, once the basic order is lost, the situation will become difficult to control.

"Put up the loudspeaker, first announce our policies, and then send people ashore to organize refugees." Qian Tiandun issued an order calmly.

The military and police department conducted deduction on various situations that may occur during the voyage, especially during the transshipment of Vietnamese refugees, and formulated a response plan one by one.The current situation was also expected by the Military and Police Department. The colonization team on the ship only needs to proceed step by step according to the plan formulated in advance.

Soon a loudspeaker was set up on the deck of the "Flying Speed", and the person in charge of the policy presentation was Zhou Hengxing, the chief civil affairs officer of the colonization team.Zhou Hengxing himself is a native of Hainan. He is familiar with the customs and various dialects of Hainan. .But for a period of time after that, the two-way popularization of Hainan Mandarin and Mandarin across the group's jurisdiction was very fast. Even foreigners like Morgan and Johnson learned a few simple Hainan Mandarin. The importance and existence of Zhou Hengxing's translation The feeling naturally becomes gradually weaker.

This time the executive committee organized an overseas colonization team, Zhou Hengxing naturally would not let go of this opportunity of "overseas gilding", and signed up immediately.Considering that his consistent excellent performance has proved his working ability, and it is also a disguised "reward" for his early achievements, the executive committee fulfilled his wish and appointed him as the leader of the colonization team. civil affairs official.

According to the investigation team's previous investigation, the language of the people here is basically the same as that of the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. Naturally, Zhou Hengxing, who is proficient in multiple local languages, can't be troubled.In his speech, he first told these refugees that the purpose of this fleet is a coastal port hundreds of miles east of Hanoi, and that a large number of laborers are now in need.Refugees who are willing to go with the fleet will get food, shelter and work after arriving at the destination. The fleet will be responsible for all food and clothing expenses for everyone, and ensure that as long as they abide by the rules, their personal safety and personal property will be effectively guaranteed. protection.The most important thing is that none of them will be forced to serve in the military, let alone be sent to the battlefield of the civil war between the North and the South.

Of course, if there were no refugees who were interested in following the fleet, the fleet would not have the time to rescue them.As for whether they will be arrested by the army sent by Qinghua City to search for civilian husbands because they are stranded here, that naturally has nothing to do with the fleet.

For these refugees, they have lost a lot of things in the process of fleeing, and they only carry some clothes, food and a small amount of money with them.The most important thing is that they have lost the land and production tools they depend on for their livelihood. Even if they can escape to the farther north, they will face great pressure to survive for a long time.If no external aid is found, many of them will have to face the threat of food shortage after a period of time. At that time, they will either starve to death on the way to escape, or they will have to rob other refugees of food to survive.

Although there is a famous grain-producing area not far to the north, these refugees will probably not have the courage to go there to find food, because the grain-producing areas near Hanoi are almost all owned by the royal family, nobles, and wealthy families. Refugees like them appear In those places, they will soon be arrested as civilian husbands and sent back to the war zone.

Under such circumstances, these strangers who appeared by the Qinghua River in a large boat provided them with another way out.A no-man's land far away from the battlefield, and food and shelter can be guaranteed, the most important thing is that these strangers seem to have enough strength to maintain the local social order, which is undoubtedly much better than an endless escape road up.

After Zhou Hengxing preached the policy twice, he then began to explain how those who are willing to board the ship should join.First of all, Zhou Hengxing asked all the people on the shore to retreat ten feet away, and then the fleet would send people ashore to register and select. Those who qualified would be allowed to board the ship, and those who were not selected after registration, would wait for the fleet to complete the selection. After killing people, they will also be ferryed to the other side to help them escape.

At first, there was still some hesitation in their hearts. Those who planned to wait and see all made up their minds to sign up. Even if they couldn't be selected by the fleet to go to the northern port, at least they still had a chance to take the opportunity to cross to the other side.

You must know that the residents within [-] to [-] miles of the vicinity have escaped completely, and there are no boats on the river. If you miss this fleet, you may really have no chance to cross the Tsinghua River. .Only a few single young adults swam across the river desperately, while the vast majority of refugees with their families were stuck here and could not move forward.The garrison in Tsinghua City has already started patrolling every now and then, arresting the fleeing people in the surrounding areas and putting them in the civilian camp.

Whether voluntary or involuntary, the vast majority of refugees pinned their last hope on this fleet. Under the repeated reminders of the loudspeakers, the people on the shore finally withdrew for a certain distance to give the boats that were about to dock The team left some space.

"The armed personnel of our ship go ashore first to be on guard. Don't all other ships come ashore. Come one by one, and let the next one come up after it is full." Qian Tiandun first communicated to the commanders on other ships through the walkie-talkie The staff gave the order, and then Tom Wang drove the "Speed" slowly closer to the shore.

In order to prevent running aground on the river beach, the boat anchored two or three meters away from the river bank, and a springboard was put on the ship's side, and then the armed men quickly landed.During this period, the loudspeaker on the ship kept repeatedly reminding the refugees to stand still and not to go forward, but some people who were eager to escape rushed over regardless.Under such circumstances, Wang Tom's handling was quite decisive, and he shot two of the unlucky ghosts in the legs directly. The blood spurting out and the wailing of the wounded immediately stopped other people who wanted to seize the opportunity.

Then the "Sea Training 01" ship followed the "Flying Speed" and docked. After disembarking, more than 20 militiamen immediately took over the task of guarding and blocking the periphery.These militiamen responsible for maintaining order are not equipped with matchlock guns, which are not very useful in such occasions where zero-distance contact may occur.Instead, there is a Kabar camping knife in hand. This half-meter-long dog-leg knife is very suitable for individual soldiers to use in hand-to-hand combat. Among the large number of "controlled knives" purchased by the Executive Committee, this kind occupies a considerable share. , It was originally intended to be used to equip the militia.

The black blade set off the streamlined silver blade very brightly, and the uniform weapons also made these militiamen look more deterrent.Of course, the knives purchased by the executive committee were not produced by the original factory, but imitations from Yangjiang in China. However, judging from the level of weapon production in this era, these knives can already be regarded as rare treasure knives.

(End of this chapter)