1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 216
Even if Li Jifeng and Liu Xiang really had some contacts in private, the goals pursued by the two parties are still quite different.Merchants like Li Jifeng must be in order to ensure smooth and stable shipping routes and obtain more commercial benefits, while pirate gangs want to continuously expand their power and defend their right to survive at sea.Such a cooperative relationship with different goals is destined to be very fragile, and the pressure that Li Jifeng can exert on Liu Xiang's side must be quite limited, at least the time travel group cannot bet all their treasures on him.

"And what about the pirate gang on Dangan Island?" Yu Yao continued to ask.

Schneider said: "I heard Li Jifeng's tone, the group of people on Dangan Island should be working alone, not Liu Xiang's subordinates."

"It's so troublesome to be so close to the Wanshan Islands!" Xiao Liang muttered while looking at the map, frowning.As Schneider predicted, the Military and Police Department will obviously feel a headache for such a situation.

"How about killing this group of people directly, and then we take this island?" Schneider offered to propose a solution, which was inspired by his previous question and answer with Yu Xiaobao.Although Yu Xiaobao's method is very direct and simple, sometimes simple and rude can be regarded as a way to solve difficult problems.

"The possibility of victory is very high, but the possibility of complete victory is very small." Xiao Liang checked the map carefully and commented: "If what Li Jifeng said is true, there are only one or two hundred pirates in this group, then we have to take this The place should not be difficult. But the island has more than ten square kilometers. If these people escape to the dense forests and mountains on the island, it will be difficult for us to send enough people to chase them slowly on the island. If someone escapes from the island Go, then our actions will be exposed, which may attract the attention of other pirate gangs."

Yu Yao added: "Dangan Island is only a few nautical miles away from Hong Kong. If someone hides until night and then takes the opportunity to release a boat into the sea, we will have no choice but to intercept it."

"In addition, even if we take down this place, I'm afraid we won't be able to garrison this place for the time being." Xiao Liang said regretfully.

Schneider wondered: "Why don't you send people to station there? To monitor the waters east of Hong Kong, Dangan Island is a very good observation point. The east end of the island is only ten nautical miles away from Fotangmen, the gateway to Hong Kong. When it’s good, the naked eye can observe the situation on the nearby sea surface.”

"Of course I know this, but don't forget our current level of armaments. Just one supply problem is very difficult to solve. Moreover, our existing militias are very limited in size, only a few hundred people, and they are often out of training during the training period." Before it was finished, it was pulled out to serve as a regular army envoy." When it comes to this problem, Xiao Liang is really helpless, the lack of soldiers is one of the important reasons that limit the speed of the crossing group's outward expansion, but if you want to expand the number of troops, you have to face More practical questions.

"Isn't the establishment of your military and police department ready to be promoted to the battalion level? Mr. Tao and Mr. Yan were promoted to the rank of major three months ago. The reason given by your military and police department at that time was to facilitate management. The rank of major serves as the battalion commander!" Schneider said disapprovingly.

Schneider remembers this very clearly. At that time, the Military and Police Department made a lot of noise in order to expand the establishment. Later, this matter was specifically submitted to the Executive Committee for discussion. Although many people questioned the expansion speed and funding planning of the Military and Police Department. But in the end, he agreed to the request of the Military and Police Department, and agreed to the plan to recruit the third batch of naturalized militiamen. At the battalion level, the total number of militia plus security will reach more than 500 people.

"Is there a lot in one battalion? Then I'll count it for you." Yu Yao wrenched his fingers and began to count the existing establishment of the military and police department: "Now there are four companies in the militia, and Heitu Port has taken up one company. Therefore, there are actually only three companies in the base camp. Among them, the security team still occupies a company's establishment, and the real armed militia has only two companies. Now one company is doing sea training and is preparing to develop into a navy in the future. , the other company mainly focuses on artillery training, and intends to serve as a garrison for the coastal fortifications of Shengli Port in the future. The scale of the existing troops is not even enough to meet the current military needs. How can there be any places to be stationed in overseas strongholds? Even if It is the stronghold of the Wanshan Islands, at least it will have to wait until the end of this year and the beginning of next year to implement the plan, and it will be next year as soon as possible to take action on Dangan Island."

"But there are more than 500 militiamen in your military and police department. Is it really that difficult to send a few people to build a stronghold on the island?" Schneider didn't quite agree with Yu Yao's explanation.

"The more than 500 people are not all combat troops!" Xiao Liang shook his head and retorted: "These 500 people include security, artillery, sailors, logistics, logistics, communications, medical and other professional militiamen. These auxiliary soldiers are not It is suitable to be sent to the front line to perform combat missions. Although we have hundreds of people, the real army combat troops are actually very limited."

"And this kind of monitoring base must be visited by our people, otherwise the radio station will not be available, and the meaning of establishing a base will be lost." Yu Yao went on to talk about another reason: "This kind of mission is more dangerous than stationing There are too many Ya Offices and Guangzhou Offices, and that stronghold may be attacked by pirates and needs to be stationed for a long time. The Executive Committee may not agree to the military and police department taking this risk.”

After listening to their explanation, Schneider realized that his previous thinking was really too simple. Planning a military operation is not just a simple decision of "fight" or "no fight", there are many other factors to consider.And the current military scale of the Traversing Group is not enough to support a large-scale outward expansion-even if this expansion is just to establish one or two more overseas strongholds, it is not so easy to achieve.

Xiao Liang sighed: "If the executive committee had let go and approved our militia training plan, maybe we wouldn't have to worry so much now."

"It's not those intellectuals who are obstructing! I don't understand any military knowledge. Every time I have a meeting, I know to use the budget of our military and police department to talk about things. Apart from stumbling the military and police department, I can't help you! The report on the expansion of the militia I have called countless times, but which one did not call back with the excuse of budget overrun." Yu Yao complained angrily, and when he looked up, he found Schneider's face was not very good-looking, and quickly explained: "Mr. Shi, I am not saying you."

Schneider's complexion is indeed not good, because he was also included in the people who voted against the expansion plan of the Military and Police Department.For the ever-expanding power of the Military and Police Department, the civil service system has always been very vigilant, especially when it comes to proposals such as increasing military expenditures and expanding the establishment, they are generally opposed.

This is not entirely because the civil service system unconditionally wants to compete with the military and police department. In fact, in terms of budget, the relevant departments do have difficulties. The cost of raising a soldier requires several labors to fill the gap. The expansion of the military and police department A company may be just a sentence, but for the human resources department, hundreds of additional labors are needed to make up for this funding gap, and the financial department has to change the various budget arrangements that have been made.No matter from which angle you look at it, the military expansion is a measure that affects the whole body. Moreover, considering the current policy of the Transit Group that focuses on the development of commerce and trade, the military expansion will undoubtedly greatly occupy resources in foreign trade and slow down the rate of income from foreign trade. , and these things are not well understood by the military and police department and are unwilling to understand.

This kind of disagreement can be resolved through communication within the executive committee, and most of them reach some kind of agreement after mutual compromise.But ordinary members may not know the basis for the decision-making of the executive committee, so there are quite a lot of people who have more extreme ideas like Yu Yao.Moreover, this kind of thing is also difficult to explain, because the position is different, and the height of the problem is different. The outsiders may only regard the military expansion as a purely political standpoint or economic issue, but only a few people who have the decision-making power know How much is involved in this, and what difficulties will be encountered in implementation.

There is nothing to say about not being in his position and not seeking his own politics, so although Schneider's face is a bit ugly, he has no intention of explaining the twists and turns of the inside story to them at this juncture-even if he explains it, they may not be able to understand it. Instead, the decision-making process of the Executive Committee may be considered too bureaucratic.

"So now even though we know that Liu Xiang's territory is in the east of Hong Kong, and that there is a small colony of pirates on Dangan Island, we still can't do anything?" Schneider still feels a little unwilling that the information he has collected so hard can't be used immediately.

"Military construction is not for immediate war, but for victory when war begins." Xiao Liang had to reiterate what he said before: "The work we are doing now will not come in handy immediately. It may even never play a role in battle, but the preparations that should be done must be done, and it must not be sloppy at all, because any negligence in the preparation stage may cost the lives of soldiers !"

"Understood." Schneider replied listlessly, stood up and said: "You guys continue to study strategies, I'd better go and see if the goods ordered yesterday have arrived."

After Schneider left, the remaining two people gestured at the map for a long time, and finally Yu Yao couldn't help but give up: "If you want to garrison troops on Dangan Island, you have to go to at least one platoon, but with the current size of the militia, I estimate that the executive committee can at most approve a platoon establishment for the Wanshan Islands, and there is probably no way for Dangan Island."

Xiao Liang also sighed and said: "There are no soldiers available, no matter how well planned, this battle cannot be fought. According to the arrangement of the base camp, I am afraid that there will be no militiamen who can be dispatched in the near future."

What Xiao Liang said was correct. The Executive Committee still needs to use the militia in other places recently. The Pearl River Estuary plan can only be put on hold temporarily, and further plans can be made when the demand for military strength can be alleviated.

After the second echelon completed their investigation of Iron Furnace Harbor, the results of their investigation had been fed back to the base camp via telegram on the way.And the decision-making speed of the base camp was also very fast. Only two days later, a second expedition team was sent to Iron Furnace Port.In addition to people from the shipping and military police departments, the second expedition team also included technical personnel from the Ministry of Construction, and Anxi, an authority on saltworks construction.

Although the Executive Committee has not yet announced the final decision, Anxi's personal action has actually confirmed that Iron Furnace Port will be the next construction area of ​​the Crossing Group, and it is very likely that it will undertake the main production task of salt in the near future. .

This second expedition team stayed in the Iron Furnace Port area for three full days, and made a very detailed investigation of the local hydrology, geography, and conditions for the construction of the colonial site.At the request of the Executive Committee, the Ministry of Construction has even selected the site for the construction of the colonial site and the first phase of the salt field project, and made a more detailed plan.Although the military and police department has given up the plan to set up coastal defense guns at the mouth of the iron furnace port, there must still be the necessary lookout and early warning posts. , and specially boarded several commanding heights of Iron Furnace Corner to determine the site of the outpost.And because Anxi has rich practical experience, he will carry out overall checks, summarize the preparatory work done by various departments, and then formulate a unified construction plan.

In order to cooperate well with the development project of Iron Furnace Port, the executive committee had to activate control measures again, providing policy preference for the preparation work of the Iron Furnace Port project, requiring all relevant departments to fully guarantee the needs of materials and personnel.Especially for the large amount of cement needed to build the salt ponds, the executive committee even did not hesitate to stop the coastal defense fort workers at the port of Shengli Harbor in advance to save the cement for a limited supply to the Iron Furnace Port project.Of course, the consequences of doing so were naturally strongly protested by the Military and Police Department.

In terms of manpower, the human resources department also responded to the call of the executive committee and began to recruit a new batch of members for the immigrants who came to Shengli Port one after another.Some of these new members will be assigned to the existing Salt Works Commune to fill the labor vacancies left by the salt workers who will be transferred to Iron Furnace Port.The remaining people will be assigned to Iron Furnace Port. After completing the initial infrastructure tasks, they will all be included in the establishment of the future Iron Furnace Saltworks Commune.

At the same time, the reconstruction and expansion of the existing Shengli Port Salt Field has not stopped.Although the innate geographical conditions of the Shengli Port Saltworks limit its development, a small half of the area has yet to be fully developed and utilized. After this part of the renovation project is completed, the production capacity of the saltworks is expected to be doubled on the current basis.

Of course, this kind of relatively large-scale construction of new colonies must also involve the participation of militias.In order to ensure the security of the new saltworks effectively, the Military and Police Department must send at least one platoon of militiamen to garrison it.This is undoubtedly another test for the currently stretched militia force. Of course, the Military and Police Department did not forget to take advantage of this opportunity and once again proposed to the executive committee to expand the militia establishment.

But this time Yan Chujie learned his lesson and learned the lesson from the rejection of previous proposals, and instead proposed a curvilinear solution to save the country, that is, only to expand the number of trainees, not to expand the establishment of the official militia.

Simply put, this plan is to popularize popular military training and conduct large-scale phased military training for naturalized people of a certain age group.This kind of training does not seek to train all commune members to the combat level of the militia, but requires mastering basic military skills and knowing how to obey and execute military orders.The naturalized people who have undergone this kind of training will not be the main force of military operations in the future, but they may serve as auxiliary arms such as logistics and supplies, and if necessary, they will be used as a source of troops to supplement the main combat force.The real establishment of full-time soldiers is not affected by this training plan, and there will be no expansion for the time being—if expansion is really needed, it can be recruited directly from naturalized civilians who have received certain military training.

No matter in terms of military expenditure or manpower, this plan is much more economical than the military expansion plans originally proposed by the Military and Police Department, and the impact on the economy and human resources of the Traveling Group is not that great, and the current development trend of the Traveling Group It is true that more people with certain military skills are needed, so the executive committee has little resistance to this proposal. If there is no accident, this plan will be passed at the centralized voting meeting of the executive committee this week.

The reason why the base camp is eager to start the new saltworks project is that on the one hand, it has formulated a corresponding development plan because of objective needs, and on the other hand, it is the news from Vietnam.

On the second day after the second echelon set off from Shengli Port to Guangzhou, the coal carrier returning from Heitu Port brought back news that there was a big businessman in Thang Long Mansion in the north, that is, Hanoi, who hoped to conduct a large-scale business with the Crossing Group. Salt trade - 200 catties of Haihan refined salt per month.The other party said that as long as the supply is stable, the price and transaction method are easy to negotiate.At present, due to the civil war, the local salt production has been almost abandoned. The price of salt on the market has soared, several times higher than the normal price, and there is still a price but no market.The merchants sent from Heitu Port tentatively quoted a price of [-] taels of silver per thousand catties, but they agreed quickly.

This price has reached as much as four times the price of the current supply of private salt, and the demand from the other party is also large enough. It is a very profitable deal for the Transit Group, and it is definitely impossible to let it go—— It is worthwhile to seize this big deal, even if it is to temporarily suspend the supply of salt to the mainland.

Moreover, the other party also agreed to barter when necessary. For example, the high-quality rice produced in the Red River Triangle can be used as a price in exchange for the refined salt produced in Haihan.In addition, under the repeated testing of the Black Earth Port, the other party seems to be very interested in the arms produced by the Transit Group, and intends to buy them for trial use.

(End of this chapter)