1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1704 Bastion Construction Site
The military stronghold under construction where the prisoners were escorted and the military pier not far from here actually belonged to two construction sites under the same project. Amphibious military stronghold, here is one of them.

Sing Tao and the Malay Peninsula in the north are only separated by a narrow Johor Strait, the narrowest point is only more than 1000 meters, and it faces military pressure from Johor across the strait all the year round.Although the Johor army had proved to be far from being the opponent of the Haihan army in the confrontation in 1635, Haihan did not dare to push too hard. Use the limited depth to deal with the opponent.Therefore, under Roger's strong advocacy, the Sing Tao authorities built strongholds in several strategic locations in the direction of the Johor Strait to implement his tactical thinking of "repelling the enemy from the coastline".

Of course, judging from the scale of the current garrison in Xingdao, it is still very difficult to fully implement this tactical thinking. The coastline of the Strait of Johor is as long as hundreds of miles. The strait is impenetrable for defense.The real purpose of Roger's move is not only to strengthen the defense of the border, but also to apply for more military budget from the Ministry of National Defense and obtain the opportunity to expand the size of the garrison.

The Star Island Garrison is based on the "South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade" built by Roger. After the Battle of Manila, the Ministry of National Defense has officially awarded this force the establishment of the "South China Sea Independent Battalion". Together with other ethnic groups that have been pending in the past The issue of the nationality of the soldiers was also resolved.Non-Chinese soldiers like Marcus and Dulu in this army will all be treated as regular soldiers in the future, and they will automatically obtain Haihan nationality and rank according to their military achievements in the past.The corresponding weapons and equipment, material supply, military budget, personnel training and promotion systems are all in line with the regular army, and in the future it will no longer be a militia with unclear positioning and ambiguous identities.

For Roger, who wanted to create a world in the South China Sea, it really solved the biggest worry.The soldiers under him may work hard for their livelihood at first, but after a long time, if they don't have an official status and no reasonable promotion channels, sooner or later, people's hearts will disperse.And Roger himself has no plans to support private troops. After all, almost all the weapons and equipment of the Xingdao garrison come from domestic supplies. This army has become a decoration, so after the army has formed combat effectiveness, he has been trying to solve the organization problem for this army, and now he finally got what he wanted.

What the Xingdao authorities need to do next is to build the island into the largest military base of Haihan Kingdom in the southern part of the South China Sea.Although Luo Jie and Tan Juren still have certain differences on this goal, the stronghold project that has already started must still be completed.In Roger's view, these strongholds are not only the forward fortresses to defend against the enemies in the north, but also the bases for crossing the Johor Strait to march north in the future. Therefore, even if sometimes he cannot come to supervise the work in person, he will let his deputy Ruan Phu work in various places on the northern coastline. Inspect the construction sites, and take a look at the nearby hard labor camps by the way to ensure that there are a stable number of hard labor labor available on various construction sites.

In fact, due to the limited population of Xingdao, there are labor shortages in various construction sites, so these prisoners in the hard labor camp have to bear high-intensity labor tasks.Even Lin Xingsui, a cell leader who has been taken care of by the government, is also unavoidable to participate in the labor like other prisoners, and does not have much privilege to enjoy.

After arriving at the construction site, Qin Huacheng noticed that they were not the only ones here. There were at least two to three hundred young and strong men busy on the construction site.Judging from the number of armed guards around, these people probably had the same identities as himself, and they were all prisoners from the nearby hard labor camp.

As for the so-called bunker that was being built here, Qin Huacheng felt that its appearance was inexplicably familiar.This kind of concave polygonal fortification actually exists in Manila, and the Spaniards call it a bastion.During the Dutch War of Independence in the [-]th century, the Spanish army suffered enough in the Netherlands due to the large number of bastions built by the Dutch.

Rexens, the commander of the Spanish army, mentioned in a letter to King Philip II in 1574 that the progress of the Spanish army in the Netherlands was hindered by the bastion built by the Dutch, so it could not balance military expenses and combat operations. Thoroughly clear the local rebel area before the supplies are exhausted.The result was exactly the same after that. In 1575, the Spanish government went bankrupt, and the mercenaries launched mutinies one after another because they could not get the military pay.

Of course, the Spaniards' loss was not in vain. They quickly learned the design features of this new type of fortress and applied it to their own fortress construction.However, Manila in the Far East acquired this kind of advanced knowledge a little later, and only had time to use the design style of bastions to build city wall fortifications on the west side of Manila City, that is, in the direction facing the coastline.The purpose of doing this was originally to defend against enemies coming from the sea, but the Spaniards really did not expect that the Haihan people who attacked here a few years later did not choose to land and launch an offensive at this location, so the bastion-like section of the building was built. The city wall has basically not played a role in the battle.

However, the Spaniards' research and application of the bastion is obviously not comparable to that of the Haihan people who have accumulated hundreds of years of history. Therefore, the Spanish-style fortifications in Qin Huacheng's impression are still far less complicated than those built by Haihan. This kind of bastion like a hexagram.

Qin Huacheng only stopped to observe for a moment, and then a guard came over and urged him to join the labor immediately.Qin Huacheng didn't dare to be negligent, and quickly went to the cart to get the shovel and baskets as instructed, and entered the construction site with the others.

There is no quarry near the construction site, and the building materials used are mainly sand and soil, plus local soil and cement produced in Xingdao, and then mixed with water to make concrete, supplemented by a skeleton made of bamboo and wood. As a building material to build the outer wall part of the bastion.Originally, according to the construction standards, the skeleton should of course use metal ribs to be considered qualified. However, Xingdao's military budget is limited, and even Roger believes that according to Haihan's external expansion speed, the service life of these buildings should not exceed five years. , so there is no need to waste the steel that needs to be transported across the sea to build this kind of fortification.

After testing by the garrison, this non-standard concrete structure is enough to withstand the relatively common army artillery bombardment of this era at a relatively short distance. It is difficult to collapse a parapet made of this material with a thickness of more than one meter with solid shells.

In fact, Qin Huacheng has seen such a building method before. There are immigrants from Daming in Manila every year. Most of these people go to the plains on the north bank of the Bashi River to cultivate wasteland and farm. They are yellow mud and straw plus water. Stirring is used as building materials, bamboo fences are used as the skeleton, and round wooden beams and columns are used as supports to build the walls of the house.The way the Haihan people built the fortress seems to have strengthened and improved it a lot.However, Qin Huacheng also had to admit that if he was asked to think about it, he would definitely not be able to think of such a construction method. It is said that the Haihan people are omnipotent, and it seems that at least they are really good at building fortresses.

Qin Huacheng was assigned the task of following Lin Xingsui to shovel the reconciled concrete onto a human trolley with a shovel. He himself seldom engaged in physical labor. In addition, he spent more than ten days at sea, and he was tossing all the way. , I was sent to Xingdao to do this kind of heavy physical work not long after I took a break. After a few shovels, I felt backache and back pain, and my hand holding the shovel was shaking a little.

Seeing this, Lin Xingsui sneered and said, "You're such a bad boy, your arms start to tremble after only a few moves? If you work like this, I'm afraid you won't even be able to eat dinner!"

Like the hard labor camps in other places under Haihan’s rule, the labor points system is also used here. After a job is completed, points will be accumulated. After more, they can be exchanged for various benefits, and even offset the sentence.But if you steal and play tricks during labor, instead of getting points, you may be subject to further punishments. Deduction of food is one of the punishments.

Qin Huacheng had already heard of this rule when he entered the hard labor camp, so he could only defend himself: "My serious illness has not yet recovered, so I am exhausted. I hope Master Lin will forgive me!"

Seeing that he was already sweating profusely, Lin Xingsui shook his head and said, "Even if I don't bother you, you won't be able to pass the gate of the guard, so you can do it yourself!"

Sure enough, not long after, a guard noticed Qin Huacheng's "slow" rhythm of doing two rests, and came over with a baton and stood by the side to beat a few times, telling Qin Huacheng to work harder.Qin Huacheng knew that even if he showed weakness and complained at this time, it would probably be useless. Instead, the guards would think that he was looking for an excuse to be lazy, so he could only grit his teeth first and speed up the pace of work.

Qin Huacheng quickly understood why he would be noticed if he slowed down a little here. Once he slowed down, the trolley carrying concrete would have to stay at his place for a longer time, and as soon as its operating frequency changed, his The responsible loading position has a backlog of the second and third trolleys, which will naturally be noticed by the guards.

After finally holding on until the whistle sounded, everyone got a short rest time. Qin Huacheng let go of the shovel, sat down on the ground, and gasped heavily.Seeing that the place to fetch water was only a few feet away from him, he couldn't walk over to fetch water to drink like others.

When Qin Huacheng felt a little better and struggled to stand up to drink water, the short rest time had already come to an end.Looking at the small carts in front of him, Qin Huacheng could only lick his dry lips vigorously, then bent down to pick up the shovel and started working.

During this afternoon, Qin Huacheng was warned several times by the guards because he was not efficient enough in his work. Although considering that he was a newcomer, he was not punished for skipping dinner, but the labor points for half a day were deducted. half.However, on Qin Huacheng's first day at work, he did not have a clear understanding of the importance of the labor points, so he didn't think it was a pity.

When it was time to call it a day, Qin Huacheng finally understood why he had to specially arrange a carriage to pull the labor tools. At this time, let alone a shovel, he didn't want to hold even a light straw stick in his hand. If he thought about it, no one else was better than himself. where to go.When he came, he felt that Sanlidi was not far away, and it was only a few steps away, but when he returned, he felt that the road was so long. He even wondered if the guard who led the way was deliberately detouring to entertain the prisoners.

When we returned to the hard labor camp, it was already dinner time, but Qin Huacheng felt that he was overtired and his whole body was sore.Although he was quite hungry, he didn't have any appetite. If Lin Xingsui hadn't reminded him that he wouldn't have anything to eat until tomorrow morning, Qin Huacheng really wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

The dinner in the hard labor camp consisted of diced jicama and brown rice cooked in one pot, plus a spoonful of pickles, which was Qin Huacheng's ration for tonight.This jicama was originally a crop produced in the Americas. The roots that grow underground are edible. The Spaniards brought this crop to the Far East, and then gradually spread it in the South China Sea through sea trade routes.Jicama can be harvested within half a year of planting, and the yield per mu can reach several thousand jin. It is rich in starch, sugar and protein, and can be eaten raw or cooked.

Qin Huacheng grew up in Manila, so of course he had eaten this food before. As soon as he ate it, he felt the familiar taste. He was filled with emotion in his heart. He never thought that he would be able to eat this familiar food on the first day when he crossed the sea and came to Xingdao. food.For a moment, he even had the illusion of returning to Manila.

The smell of sweat and conversations around him immediately brought him back to reality. This place was No. [-], No. [-] Battalion A of Xingdao Hard Labor, where he, Qin Huacheng, might have to spend the next three years.As for Manila, it was five thousand miles away, far away and untouchable, and it was not even known whether it would be possible to return there alive in the future.

"No! I, Qin Huacheng, can't just accept my fate!"

Qin Huacheng shook his head vigorously, trying to get those decadent thoughts out of his mind.After going through this series of ordeals, Qin Huacheng became more and more unwilling to give up struggling and bow his head to fate. Now that he had already arrived at the hard labor camp in Xingdao, his downhill road should be considered to have come to an end, and he had to think carefully about what to do next. In order to get rid of the current predicament, at least let yourself live a little easier during Xingdao.

(End of this chapter)