1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3650

From Hai Han’s perspective, Dong Shangyi was of course happy to see Portugal fall, and even wished Xingdao would send troops to take over this port city and bring the entire Strait of Malacca under its rule.

The geographical location of this waterway is so important that many countries have been fighting for control of it for nearly a hundred years. It was only in the past twenty years or so that the situation has calmed down a little due to the intervention of Hai Han.

In the long run, it is of course necessary for Hai Han to control the Strait of Malacca in order to fully guarantee the safety of the strait's navigation.

This is actually the same logic as when Hai Han supported the Xu family to control Fujian while at the same time sending troops to attack the Spanish and Dutch strongholds on Taiwan Island. How can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's bed?

However, he was just thinking about it. During his visit to Sing Tao, Roger explained that Hai Han still had many overseas projects that needed Portugal's assistance, and maintaining a partnership would benefit both sides. Allowing Portugal to maintain a long-term presence in Southeast Asia would also help balance the influence of European countries.

Dong Shangyi might not fully understand the long-term significance of these arrangements, but he also knew that Hai Han’s foreign policy almost never made mistakes. Even if he could not see the wisdom in it at the moment, when he looked back in ten or eight years, he might understand the mystery.

After leaving the disappointing city of Malacca, Dong Shangyi and his party continued to move northwest along the strait waterway and arrived at Penang, another enclave of the Sing Tao region in the strait two days later.

This was one of the three enclaves occupied by the Singapore-Taoist coalition forces at the northern end of the strait at the beginning of last year in the name of suppressing bandits.

However, Penang is not very large and there are no special products on the island, so it is temporarily only built as a maritime supply point. In addition to one or two thousand immigrants, there is currently only one company of troops stationed here.

Of course, given Hai Han’s prestige in the region, no country would be so blind as to set its sights on this place, even if the number of troops stationed there is small.

Since Sing Tao Island is currently mainly allocating its immigration resources to the New World in the South, the development and construction of Penang is almost stagnant and there is really nothing to be said for.

Dong Shangyi only stayed in Penang for one night and set off early the next day to rush to his next destination.

Langkawi Island, located only two hundred miles north of Penang, is also one of the new islands occupied by Hai Han in the strait last year. However, when Dong Shangyi heard that the construction progress of Langkawi Island was similar to that of Penang, he immediately lost interest in visiting it. He decided to skip this place and go directly to Phuket, the current base of the Special Operations Division.

Among the three islands newly occupied by the Sing Tao coalition last year, Phuket, the northernmost one, is the largest. According to the cooperation agreement between the two coalition forces, the southern Penang and Langkawi islands are both under the management of Sing Tao, while Phuket is requisitioned by the special operations division as the main base in Southeast Asia.

The Hai Han Army has long been known as an invincible force, and Qian Tiandun and the troops he led were one of the main contributors to the Hai Han Army's undefeated record.

Everyone knows that the Special Operations Division is the ace unit of the Hai Han Army, but few people can clearly explain how strong this unit is and in what aspects it excels. This conclusion is only deduced from its brilliant battle record.

Two years ago, after the Special Operations Division left the northern part of the mainland and went south to fight in distant overseas countries, not many people in China could contact them. Only occasionally did they read about the Special Operations Division's attack on cities and strongholds in the newspapers. Dong Shangyi was fortunate to have had contact with Qian Tiandun when he was a teenager. That was many years ago when he followed his father Dong Yanyun to escort supplies to Qian Tiandun's army.

At that time, Qian Tiandun's troops were attacking Penghu, and Dong Shangyi met him in a hurry. But later, Qian Tiandun led his troops northward and stayed in Shandong and Liaodong for many years, so Dong Shangyi had no chance to see this famous and victorious general again.

This time, representing Fujian on a visit to Sing Tao Island, the Special Operations Division’s base was not actually a must-visit destination, but Dong Shangyi thought it was a rare opportunity, so he specially arranged this trip.

Although there was some selfish motive in this, Dong Shangyi believed that making friends with Qian Tiandun would be beneficial to Fujian. Moreover, Qian Tiandun's special warfare division had already penetrated deep into the Indian Ocean region, and if the route was expanded westward in the future, Fujian might have a chance to catch the wind.

Compared with the other two islands where the development process has been suspended, the construction here in Phuket is progressing much faster. The port in the south of the island has built four docks with more than 20 berths, enough to berth ships of all levels including the Majestic.

Two coastal defense batteries were built on high ground above the port. Although only a few artillery pieces are deployed at present, their firepower range is enough to blockade the sea at least six or seven miles away from the port.

When Dong Shangyi arrived, there were not many warships anchored in the port, but civilian ships accounted for the majority of the ships at the docks.

On the roof of the warehouse at the civil dock, there is a huge advertising sign that is more than ten feet high and thirty feet wide. On it are three eye-catching characters "Fu Rui Feng", indicating the identity of the big money owner who has invested a lot of money here.

Dong Shangyi was naturally well aware of the importance of this colleague. The Fu Ruifeng Li family had made great contributions to the Hai Han government in the early years and was the most trusted merchant of the Hai Han Executive Committee. Fu Ruifeng existed almost everywhere in Hai Han's territory, even in Phuket, which was thousands of miles away from Hai Han's mainland.

As the saying goes, competitors are enemies. The Li family, like the Xu family, mainly engages in maritime trade and shipping, and there is a direct competitive relationship on many routes. Dong Shangyi saw the giant signboard announcing the existence of Fu Ruifeng here, which meant that the other party had already taken the lead. Naturally, he would not be in a good mood.

Fortunately, his visit was not met with cold reception. The person who came to the port to greet him was Qian Shaobao, the son of Qian Tiandun. This treatment was no less than what he received in Manila and Sing Tao Island.

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Qian Shaobao told Dong Shangyi that Sing Tao had sent a telegram informing him of his visit after he left, so they had made preparations in advance and would go out to welcome his arrival.

Qian Shaobao said: "Our place is simple and inconvenient, I hope Mr. Dong will not despise it!"

Dong Shangyi quickly responded, "Mr. Qian, you are too polite. I am honored to be greeted by you in person!"

Since Sing Tao took the initiative to send a notice, Dong Shangyi's anxious mood was relieved a little. He thought that the other party had expected his purpose, and since they welcomed him with such a warm attitude, this trip would not be in vain.

Qian Shaobao had already prepared a carriage. After picking up Dong Shangyi, he drove him to a nearby military base and introduced him to the current situation in Phuket on the way.