1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3647

Dong Shangyi was a complete layman when it came to these high-tech things, and after hearing this explanation he still didn't understand the principles behind them. He could only sigh that Hai Han's military technology was unfathomable, and that the Hai Han army actually found such powerful weapons difficult to use.

But in fact, the technician who explained it to him had only a superficial understanding of his company's military products due to his different majors.

Thermite ammunition is not ineffective, but it cannot be fully utilized on the battlefield of this era. Thermite ammunition targets thick steel armor, but in this era, few countries can even equip steel armor on a large scale, let alone armored weapons. Using thermite ammunition is simply an overkill.

In wars of this era, it is more practical for weapons to kill combatants efficiently. For such a goal, the Hai Han Army actually has more suitable ammunition in its alternative list, that is, white phosphorus bombs, incendiary bombs that truly aim to kill a large area of ​​people.

White phosphorus bombs with gelatin added can attach to various substances and burn after explosion. If they attach to a person's body, regardless of whether they are wearing armor or not, they will not be able to resist the burning of the white phosphorus bomb and the armor and body will be burned through.

However, these advanced ammunitions are not simple to use, prepare and store because the materials used to make them are extremely flammable. Hai Han is not currently manufacturing this type of ammunition on a large scale. It is only slowly improving the manufacturing process and usage plans as a technical reserve, and there are no plans to officially equip the military with them in the short term.

The bauxite on these two islands is just one of the many mineral deposits in the Xingdao area.

Bangka Island and Belitung Island, 800 miles southeast of Sing Island, are home to the largest tin mines in the South China Sea.

On the island of Sumatra, across the Strait of Malacca, is Hai Han's most productive oil base, the Dumai Oilfield, as well as coal, copper, and gold mines on the west side of the island. The area where the Dumai Oilfield is located has long been incorporated into the jurisdiction of Sing Tao Island and has long been independently operated by Hai Han, while the other several mineral deposits are jointly developed by Hai Han and the island's Aceh State.

These mineral deposits not only brought rich financial income to the Sing Tao region, but also provided a large number of jobs, making miners one of the largest occupations in Sing Tao.

However, for the Sing Tao authorities, there is another invisible benefit that is difficult for the outside world to perceive, and that is to promote the rapid realization of primary industrialization in the Sing Tao region.

The mining industry in Xingdao has been booming in recent years, which has greatly boosted the upstream and downstream industrial chains. The widespread use of mining machinery and equipment here has led the Haihan Industry Department to set up a logistics support department in Xingdao to provide repair and maintenance for local equipment.

Downstream industries such as petrochemicals, smelting, and metal processing have naturally taken root in these mining areas.

These industrial facilities, which represent the cutting edge of Hai Han technology and require huge investments, are not something that can be obtained casually. Xingdao has done a lot of work for this, even giving up a larger proportion of mining revenues to the Executive Committee in order to obtain these much-needed industrial facilities.

Xingdao's high investment in the industrial sector also brought long-term high returns. The mining industry made Xingdao important to Haihan not only in terms of its geographical location, but also as a source of industrial raw materials.

Dong Shangyi didn't understand how industry worked, but he had been to Sanya and other places, visited some industrial zones, and roughly understood that the reason why Hai Han developed so fast and had such strong national strength was all based on the so-called "industry". Xingdao used industry as one of its basic industries, and its status was even much higher than traditional industries such as agriculture, which was significantly different from Fujian.

Even though both are engaged in maritime trade, Sing Tao's purpose and management methods are very different from Fujian's.

Dong Shangyi could vaguely feel that the two heads of Sing Tao did not regard maritime shipping and trade as a means to make a fortune, but rather as a tool to continuously develop and expand their sphere of influence.

According to what he had learned, the colony that Xingdao had established on the new continent in the south this year was 8,000 miles away from its base camp, and it would take an ordinary ship more than half a month to reach its destination.

Dong Shangyi was actually somewhat interested in the routes between Sing Tao and the New World colonies, but the Sing Tao authorities explicitly refused Fujian Shipping Company's participation at this stage.

The reason was still related to the agreement reached between Dong Shangyi and the Luzon authorities. Because of the fear that Sing Tao's development progress and route operations in the southern new world would be leaked, Fujian Shipping, which had close ties with Luzon, could no longer participate in Sing Tao's related projects.

Guangdong Furuifeng Trading Company, which firmly chose Sing Tao as its partner, obtained the qualification to participate in the operation of the Sing Tao to New World route, and is said to have already established a special cargo fleet for this purpose.

Dong Shangyi was also helpless about this. The cooperation between Fujian and Luzon was what the Xu family had always advocated. After all, Luzon was close to Fujian and was one of Fujian's most important sea routes. However, this offended Sing Tao, causing a series of cooperation projects to be affected, which was a completely unforeseen situation.

Fortunately, Sing Tao needed Fujian to provide more maritime transport and shipbuilding capacity at that time, so even though there were some differences on the issue of Luzon, some cooperation projects in the field of shipping and maritime trade were still negotiated.

After visiting the nearby mine and returning to Xingdao, Dong Shangyi wanted to end his trip in Xingdao and set off for the next destination. However, the ship he left on Anbuna Island for repair had not been completed yet, so he had to wait a few more days.

Roger knew that Dong Shangyi also came from the military, so he arranged an additional tour for him to visit the most distinctive local armed organization at the Sing Tao military base - the Sing Tao Foreign Mercenary Corps.

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Although this armed force has long been well-known in Southeast Asia, Dong Shangyi from Fujian knew little about it. He even didn't quite understand why Singapore, which already has a strong military force, would need to organize a special armed force composed of foreign personnel.

In his opinion, this mercenary armed organization might just do some miscellaneous work to select military talents from young and strong people who have not yet been naturalized.

But when he arrived at the mercenary group's base, he soon realized that his idea was a little off. The equipment level of this armed organization was not like that of a miscellaneous logistics unit, and its combat effectiveness might be better than that of regular armies in many places.

All members of the mercenary group were equipped with firearms, and they were a hot weapons unit formed entirely for the purpose of carrying out combat missions. In Southeast Asia, the only army that was stronger than this mercenary group was probably the regular army of Hai Han.