1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3656

Being able to travel on the same ship with Qian Tiandun naturally gave Dong Shangyi many more opportunities to interact with him, which was exactly what he wanted. Both in public and in private, he hoped to have a better relationship with a legendary figure like Qian Tiandun. This opportunity was much more difficult than representing Fujian on an overseas visit.

What made Dong Shangyi a little inconvenient was that his rival Li Yuande was another passenger invited to take the boat. And Li Yuande's personal relationship with Qian Tiandun was obviously much closer than his.

Whenever Dong Shangyi wanted to find an opportunity to chat with Qian Tiandun, Li Yuande would "happen" to appear and intervene in their conversation intentionally or unintentionally. This made it impossible for Dong Shangyi to mention some sensitive topics and he could only chat about some meaningless gossip.

After two days on the boat, Dong Shangyi finally found a breakthrough after many attempts. To be more precise, he found Li Yuande's weakness.

Li Yuande was born into a business family, while Dong Shangyi was born into a military family and had experience in leading troops in battles. When it comes to military topics, Dong Shangyi is much more professional than Li Yuande.

Sure enough, after switching to a field that the other party was not so good at, Dong Shangyi had more say and could discuss some topics related to military thought with Qian Tiandun.

Although Dong Shangyi was not a famous general and did not have many outstanding military achievements, when his father Dong Yanyun arranged for him to join the army, Xu Xinsu's troops were already training new troops according to Hai Han's guidance. Therefore, the military theories that Dong Shangyi learned were of the same lineage as Hai Han, and there would be no barriers in communication.

Qian Tiandun was a little curious. Since Dong Shangyi joined the army early and his father paved the way for him, he must have had a bright future in the army. So why did he change his career and become a civil servant halfway through?

Dong Shangyi explained honestly: "Perhaps my military talent is limited, which disappointed my father. Later, he hoped that I could inherit the family business and become a staff counselor."

This answer was somewhat unexpected to Qian Tiandun, but after careful consideration, it was reasonable. Dong Yanyun was Xu Xinsu's most trusted aide, and since Dong Shangyi had not shown extraordinary talent in the military, it would be a wise choice for him to change to a civilian career instead of doing nothing in the military.

Judging from the fact that Xu Yuzhuo arranged for him to represent Fujian in visiting overseas regions and negotiate cooperation agreements with senior officials from various places, Dong Shangyi should have gained Xu Yuzhuo's trust. This may indeed be a development path that suits him better than joining the army.

But Qian Tiandun could tell from their conversation that Dong Shangyi was no mediocre in military affairs, and that his career change midway might have been more in accordance with the wishes of his father and the Xu family rather than his personal wishes.

This may involve the issue of power distribution within the Fujian Xu Group, which is not what Qian Tiandun wants to investigate in depth.

Dong Shangyi has been studying the Indian Ocean charts these days, so the questions he asked Qian Tiandun were quite profound: "According to the charts, between Phuket and Ceylon, there is a huge bay spanning more than 4,000 miles, the east and west ends. Why didn't the general choose to find a place along the coast of the bay that is more suitable for building a port and stronghold?"

Qian Tiandun said: "You mean, the special warfare division's approach carries a greater risk, right?"

Dong Shangyi nodded and added: "The two places are so far apart that it is not only inconvenient to transport supplies on a daily basis, but if there is an emergency, it will be too late for the two places to help each other, right?" Qian Tiandun saw that he was asking seriously, so he patiently explained: "Your idea makes sense, but our goals are different. You want to occupy the coastal areas of the bay, and I choose to control the routes in and out of this sea area."

"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. As long as the special operations division controls both ends of the bay and establishes a stable route between Phuket and Ceylon, then theoretically the entire bay will be within our sphere of influence. These coastal areas in the bay are like meat already in a bowl. We can eat them whenever we want!"

"As for risks, there are certainly some. But I believe that the combat effectiveness of my soldiers is enough to deal with the opponents in this area."

Qian Tiandun had actually explained it very clearly, but Dong Shangyi, who was not familiar with the situation in the Indian Ocean, still did not quite understand it. He could only turn around and look at the sea chart hanging on the wall of the cabin to compare and understand Qian Tiandun's plan.

Qian Tiandun added: "Of course, if others want to imitate my method, they will indeed face greater risks and may not be able to defend the forward base thousands of miles away."

This time Dong Shangyi understood what Qian Tiandun meant, which was that this plan could only be carried out by the special operations division with superior combat effectiveness. If other troops were used to carry out this plan, the effectiveness might not be guaranteed.

In fact, the fundamental purpose of Qian Tiandun’s plan is to save as much resources and time as possible during the expansion process.

Only two strongholds are needed to control the entire Bay of Bengal and the Burmese Sea. There is no more efficient solution in the world. However, there are only a few armies in the world that have the ability to implement this plan, and the special warfare division is one of them.

Dong Shangyi could not fully understand the value of Qian Tiandun's words at the moment, but when he arrived at the Hambantota Port on the southern tip of Ceylon a few days later and saw the coastal defense artillery fortifications under construction on both sides of the harbor's entrance and exit channels, he understood why Qian Tiandun was quite confident about the local security.

The port area of ​​Hambantota Port is not very large, but the relatively narrow channel provides a natural barrier for safety here. As long as anti-sea strike firepower is set up on both sides, it is easy to block the channel and build a solid barrier outside the port.

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As for the defense facilities against land attacks, that is truly Hai Han's signature skill. Various bunkers, trenches, barbed wire, chevaux de frise and other defensive fortifications deployed around the base, plus dozens of gun positions for deploying artillery, form a defense line that is dozens of feet deep and has a three-dimensional firepower network, which is sufficient to withstand any form of attack.

The candidate to guard the Hambantota Port was none other than Takahashi Minami, a well-known hard-working soldier in the Hai Han army. With him in command, it was no wonder that Qian Tiandun could confidently make plans in Phuket.

The location of Hambatota Port is considered a remote area that is out of reach for Hai Han, so the number of immigrants currently settled here is much smaller than that of Phuket.

But even so, Dong Shangyi noticed that there was still a very conspicuous Fu Ruifeng sign here. It seemed that as long as the special operations division reached, Fu Ruifeng's business existed.