1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3663

If Dong Shangyi had not agreed to come to Ceylon when he visited Phuket, he would definitely not have received such an invitation. Even after arriving in Ceylon, if he had not confessed his views on Hambantota Port to Qian Tiandun, he might not have had the opportunity to be invited.

Although this cannot be said to be a pure coincidence, there are indeed many prerequisites for it to happen.

Dong Shangyi felt that Qian Tiandun probably saw his courage and vision, but it was more likely that Qian Tiandun was considering future cooperation with Fujian. Taking him to see the situation in the unknown areas of the West with his own eyes and understand the local business information would make Fujian more confident in investing in the special warfare division.

But whether for public or private reasons, Dong Shangyi felt that he could not refuse such an invitation. What's more, Qian Tiandun had already taken the initiative to express that he could personally initiate negotiations with Fujian and arrange his itinerary for the next period of time.

As for whether Fujian would agree to Qian Tiandun borrowing people, Dong Shangyi felt that this question did not need to be considered at all. Xu Yuzhuo was eager to place some people in the special operations division and even gave Dong Shangyi clear instructions on this. If Qian Tiandun personally asked Fujian for people, he would definitely be happy to see it happen.

If there is any disadvantage, it is that he will have to continue to drift on the sea for a while. However, for someone like him who travels around the sea all year round, this is not a big hardship. If he can gain Qian Tiandun's appreciation and add an achievement to his personal resume, it will be a great deal.

Dong Shangyi figured out the pros and cons in a moment, bowed and accepted Qian Tiandun's invitation, and the matter was settled.

Dong Shangyi then inquired about who else had been invited, and not surprisingly, Li Yuande from Fu Ruifeng was also among those invited.

In addition to them, there are also Sing Tao representatives who are about to arrive at Hambantota Port, Roger's adjutant, and Tan Tianlei, the son of Tan Juren.

Although Xingdao has shifted its development focus to the new southern continent at this stage, it has not interrupted its cooperation with the special warfare division. As for Qian Tiandun's westward expansion plan, Roger also paid close attention to it, so he specially sent people to participate in the operation to explore the western Indian Ocean.

If they could use the special operations division's westward advance to successfully extend their reach to the Middle East and even the Red Sea coast leading to the Mediterranean, Roger would definitely actively participate again.

After all, that area is a key zone connecting the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Its significance is no less than the development of Singapore Island and the control of the Strait of Malacca. If we can get a share of it, its influence will be enough to benefit future generations.

So after receiving the notice from Qian Tiandun, Roger did not hesitate to let Tan Tianlei represent Xingdao to participate in this operation, and specially allocated several ships from the Xingdao fleet for this purpose, and also sent a batch of supplies to the special operations division.

As for Beijing, which was farther from the Indian Ocean, Qian Tiandun did not plan to wait for them to send someone over. The only ones who were working on this matter were the Special Warfare Division and Xingdao, and he was not willing to let the Ministry of National Defense send someone to pick up the spoils.

However, if the report submitted after this operation can help apply for more military budget next year, Qian Tiandun would not mind if the Ministry of National Defense sent officials to inspect and investigate and share some of the credit.

While waiting for people from Xingdao to come, Dong Shangyi was not idle either. He ran to the port to see the special operations division's preparations before departure.

He found that Qian Tiandun's preparations for this operation were no less than a large-scale expedition. First of all, the combat ships participating in this operation were a standard Hai Han armed fleet, with a Majestic-class battleship as the flagship, four Exploration-class warships, eight Exploration-class warships, two Swordfish-class reconnaissance ships, two Barracuda-class troop transports, and ten Yugong-class heavy-load supply ships, a total of 27 ships.

Such a large fleet is sufficient to carry out medium-sized combat missions. It should be noted that the fleet previously sent by Fujian to Luzon to assist in the war was not as large as this.

Dong Shangyi therefore believed that the nature of this operation was both exploratory and reconnaissance, as well as a display of force. Once they encountered hostile forces or small regional countries that might become stumbling blocks for Hai Han's westward expansion, Qian Tiandun might just take the opportunity to eliminate them.

If there were no signs of immigrants being transported yet, Dong Shangyi would even suspect that Qian Tiandun was planning to do it in one go and immediately send personnel to the local area to establish a colony once he found a suitable place.

But Qian Tiandun himself did not seem so optimistic. During a meeting, he told Dong Shangyi that even if the reconnaissance operation could be successfully completed, the special operations division would still need time to prepare for the next step, which might take one or two years at the fastest, or three to five years or even longer at the slowest.

At the same time, Qian Tiandun also admitted to him that the biggest factor restricting the progress of the special operations division's operations is still funding.

The special operations division does not have a jurisdiction with long-term operation and stable financial revenue, and its own self-generating ability is extremely limited, so the source of military expenditure still mainly depends on the appropriations of the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense.

The more money you allocate, the bigger the steps you can take. When money is insufficient, you can only tighten your belt and reduce the frequency and scale of your actions.

Of course, as Hai Han's ace army, the Special Warfare Division's treatment was far from being enough to require them to cut back on food and clothing. However, Qian Tiandun had always been ambitious, and he would often go on large-scale operations that would take him thousands of miles forward, so the expenses would inevitably make the Executive Committee feel painful.

"If the Executive Committee doesn't give us money, it's useless no matter how powerful the Special Warfare Division is. We need to find out the situation in the west this time so that we can submit a report and ask for money. Whether it's building a colony or a military base, we have to wait until we get funding before we can put it into practice."

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Hearing Qian Tiandun talk about the situation of the Special Operations Division, Dong Shangyi couldn't help but feel that reality was somewhat ironic. The expansion of the Special Operations Division was limited by military funds, and it had to stop in a small place like Hambantota Port. Fujian, on the other hand, has always had a military budget but nowhere to use it, and even the opportunity to send troops to other places to help in the war has to be fought for by itself.

In this sense, the cooperation between the two sides is quite complementary. Dong Shangyi thought that if the territory controlled by the Special Operations Division becomes larger in the future, there will sooner or later be a situation where the troops are insufficient, and the Fujian Army may have the opportunity to become a supplement to the Special Operations Division.

Of course, even in the role of supplementary or auxiliary, Fujian will also face fierce competition.

The closest one is Xingdao, which has close cooperation with the Special Operations Division. A little further away is the Hai Han army stationed in various places in the South China Sea. Even some countries in the surrounding areas, such as Annan, Champa, etc., are also happy to send their own troops to serve as auxiliary forces of the Special Operations Division.

Moreover, Fujian’s strength is not particularly outstanding among these competitors, and it still needs to seize opportunities through various means.