1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 447 Changhua Progress
For any sovereign country, it is undoubtedly a hostile move for a non-national warship to approach its own coast or even sail into its own port.Even if Annan and Haihan have maintained the so-called ally relationship since the establishment of diplomatic relations, it cannot conceal the reality that there is a huge gap in the surface armed forces of the two sides. A condition in which a coastline has been placed under the control of others for an extended period of time.

Will the Annan court turn a blind eye to this situation?The answer is obviously no.Annan never conceded defeat even when facing huge conquest armies of empires like the Yuan and Ming. He did not hesitate to fight with the strength of the whole country. How could he be willing to bow his head in front of Haihan.He kept silent about this, and it was only to maintain the cooperative relationship with Haihan and use Haihan's maritime capacity to deal with the southern rebels.

Now Annan not only has the major ports north of Zhengjiang Hengshan under the actual control of Haihan, but also has to rely on Haihan for matters such as coastal defense and shipbuilding. There is hardly any influence at all.Before this, both parties tacitly did not bring up this issue for discussion separately. The main reason was also to maintain the not particularly strong cooperative relationship between the two parties.

Zheng Lin gritted his teeth secretly before responding: "Master Yan, has your warship encountered any restrictions when entering our port?"

Yan Chujie shook his head slowly and said: "That's not true, but I don't know if your country will continue this policy. In order to maintain a long-term and stable cooperative relationship between us, we need your court to make a more formal commitment .”

Zheng Lin took a deep breath, calmed down his emotions, and then responded: "I will report this matter to the court after I return to Annan, and then I will give you an answer."

Yan Chujie didn't intend to push Zheng Lin too hard, so he nodded and said, "In this case, I will wait for your country's reply with peace of mind."

The executive committee members raised various questions one by one, and most of them were beyond the authority of his special envoy for Zheng Lin, and it was impossible to give affirmative answers at all.However, for the executive committee members, Zheng Lin's attitude can basically be understood as the attitude of the Annan court, and judging from Zheng Lin's response, Annan did not just want to pay four port concessions and a few thousand labor force this time. Well, what they want to exchange for under such conditions is also quite valuable, and it is not a transaction that Annan took the initiative to pay back as everyone thought at the beginning.

For Zheng Lin, who came to Sanya full of hope, his trip as a special envoy is doomed to disappointment.Annan's quid pro quo has many uncertain factors, and these factors are potential risks for the Executive Committee.For example, the method of checking the number of laborers and the method of salary distribution, these seemingly inconspicuous details may become loopholes that hinder the implementation of the project.Of course, the most difficult problem to solve is that Haihan's own engineering and technical personnel are far from enough. There is no way to build a large port area on the coast of Annan while supervising the Changhua Shilu road construction project.

On July [-], Zheng Lin left Sanya and returned to Thang Long Mansion with the "Draft for Cooperative Development of South Seaport of Annan Country" drafted by the executive committee.This draft puts forward some specific requirements for the joint development of the port between the two parties, especially in terms of the number of laborers, jurisdiction, and ownership, and even lists extremely detailed provisions.In addition, An Nanguo's request for aid in the construction of shipyards and the purchase of large ships has also been reduced to a certain extent: in the next year, the order for large sea ships of [-] materials will be reduced to ten ships, but as compensation, an increase of ten ships can be made. An order for a sea-going ship of [-] materials; and the construction of three new shipyards requested by Annan has also been reduced to one, but this shipyard and the original Heitugang Shipyard will both have a sea-going ship of [-] materials. The manufacturing capacity can be regarded as making up for the gap that Annan's domestic shipyards are currently unable to manufacture large sea-going ships.

But even if the Annan court can pass the draft and sign the agreement in the shortest possible time, avoiding endless tug-of-war with Haihan on details, the earliest implementation time of this agreement will still have to wait three months later.This is because the Changhua Shilu Traffic Engineering Headquarters needs enough time to formulate the construction plan for the next six months or even a year, and only then can a part of the staff be dispatched to Annan's side to take charge of the work.

Although three months is definitely a very long period for the Annan court, for the technicians of the Haihan Construction Department, these three months mean that they have to work overtime to complete what should have been a longer period of time. Tasks undertaken during the construction period.

From Changhua Port by the sea to the mining area of ​​Shilu, the straight-line distance is as long as [-] miles, but fortunately, most of the road is plain, so the difficulty of road construction is not particularly great.The plan of the Engineering Headquarters is to build the road in sections. Once a section is completed, a section of track will be laid forward, and the road will gradually advance inland.The benefits of doing so are also obvious. All kinds of engineering materials and construction personnel can be transported to the front-line construction site in the fastest way. After the whole line is completed, the convenience of railway transportation will also improve the construction efficiency of the development of Shilu Iron Mine.

On the same day that Zheng Lin left Sanya and returned to Annan, the steam locomotive carried by the No. [-] "Explorer Class" ship of the Militia Navy finally arrived safely in Changhua Port after a week of wandering at sea.

The locomotive prepared by the industrial sector for the future Shilu Iron Mine is the "Hercules Type II" that has been produced this year after remodeling. This new type of locomotive is the same as the "Hercules Type I" currently used on the Sanya-Tiandu track In comparison, without much change in volume and weight, the power output has increased by 20%, and the trouble-free running time has also nearly doubled.Some of the parts that have been exposed to problems on the "Hercules I" have been technically improved on the new model, and some key pipe valves have even used the material reserves for crossing. It can be said that this locomotive has already represented what the industry can do at present. the highest technical level achieved.

While this large iron lump with a total length of more than seven meters was being manufactured in Tiandu Industrial Zone, the shipyard was already refitting the ship for its transportation.At present, none of Haihan's ships can directly load this heavy behemoth. In the end, the Ministry of Shipping can only report to the Military Commission to provide an "expedition-class" warship that has already entered service, and carry out inspections on its hull. Technical modifications to meet the needs of this particular mission.

So under the order of the executive committee, an "expedition-class" warship with a displacement of [-] tons was dragged onto the slipway again, and the transformation took place for more than a month.The shipwrights removed the original main deck and the second deck used to arrange the naval guns, and made a huge grooved cargo hold to accommodate the scheduled large cargo.At the same time, the cargo terminals of Shengli Port and Changhua Port have also undergone corresponding reconstruction, and the two sets of hoisting facilities removed from the "New World" have been installed on the terminals.

If it hadn't been for two years of operation, this kind of project that requires the cooperation of many units may have many problems.But this time, the executive committee personally came forward to coordinate, and all units worked together. It took only two months to complete the corresponding work after the development period of the Shilu project was determined.

After the locomotive was transported to Shengli Port, it was directly dragged from the special track to the dock by animal power, and then hoisted.This link is probably the most nervous part for everyone. The locomotive head weighing several tons is slowly put into the special cargo hold under the traction of steel wire cables. Finally, a collective sigh of relief.

The carrying capacity of the "expedition-class" warship is not a problem. The combined weight of the artillery on the ship has already greatly exceeded the weight of this steam locomotive. However, the artillery was arranged after repeated calculations and long-term counterweight balance tests. , but the big guy of hoisting cannot be adjusted in advance at all, and can only be completed by relying on the experience of technicians.Fortunately, everything went well in the end, and the balance of the ship was not affected after the locomotive boarded the ship.

However, in the process of transportation, there was still no carelessness in the slightest, Yue Zhiyun personally acted as the captain and escorted the ship.Ships have been traveling on offshore routes in order to avoid the rough seas as much as possible.With the performance of the "expedition-class" warship, it could have arrived in Changhua in two or three days, but after installing this big guy, it took a full week to go at sea.

After arriving in Changhua, it took a full two hours to re-hoist the locomotive from the ship to the shore.However, the locomotive cannot be put into use immediately after it arrives. In order to prevent accidents, a considerable number of important parts are dismantled and transported separately before shipping, and they need to be reassembled here in Changhua.In addition, the track distance laid in Changhua is also very limited. The construction time is only more than a month. At present, only the roadbed laying of only two or three kilometers from Changhua Port to the northern part of Changhua County has been completed. Not fully laid in place.

"Xiao Yue, you have worked hard all the way to bring this big guy here. I asked the cafeteria to prepare a banquet for everyone to eat and drink well in the evening, and we will go back after a day or two of recuperation." Liu Shanxia, ​​on behalf of the local engineering headquarters, welcomed the undertaking The arrival of Koshizumo and others from the Ministry of Shipping for this transportation mission.

Yue Zhiyun smiled bitterly and said: "Then you must be busy, at least you have to catch the wind for me several times. The first batch of this new locomotive is planned to build four, and all of them will be invested in the Shilu project. It will definitely be added after the opening of the double track. It is said that the small locomotives used in mines will be phased out in the future, and they will be replaced by Hercules series. It is very troublesome to transport such a big head across the sea. When busy."

"So in the future, the Heitugang Coal Mine will also change to this kind of large locomotive?" Tian Yeyou asked hurriedly beside him.After completing the iron ore exploration in Shilu, he went back to Shengli Port to live for a while, but maybe he was used to staying outside, but after returning to Shengli Port, he felt that something was wrong, and finally he took the initiative to report and apply to come to Changhua. .Although he is a professional in exploration, he also directly participated in a lot of infrastructure projects during his time in Heitu Port. Now he can be regarded as a generalist. Although he is far from Liu Shanxia's professional level, he can do on-site supervision and the like The job is still no problem.

"They have to be replaced. The Tiandu Iron Mine has already begun to replace them. It is said that the small locomotives that have been eliminated will be used on the track line between Tiandu and Tielu Port. In the future, they will be responsible for transporting salt from Tielu Port to Tiandu Industrial Zone. Already." Yue Zhiyun conveyed the latest developments in the base camp to everyone present.

"Is the track line from Tielugang to Tiandu also completed?" Someone in the crowd asked, and it seemed that they hadn't been back to the base camp for a long time.

"Hey, rare visitor! Isn't this Xie Chun?" Yue Zhiyun looked around after hearing the reputation, and found his old colleague in the crowd: "Why don't you go back to Shengli Port to see us when you have time? Shengli Port has changed a lot now Very, if you don’t go back and have a look, I’m afraid you will get lost in the future!”

Xie Chun had worked in the shipping department from the beginning, and the two of them could be regarded as old colleagues.However, when the Black Earth Port was being developed, Xie Chun volunteered to go to the Black Earth Port and was appointed as the local shipping officer.After Zhou Hengxing was transferred back to Sanya to take over as the director of the port area management committee, Xie Chun also served as the local civil affairs chief, which was a small step up.For the past year or so, he has been staying with Annan almost all the time, and it is true that he has not been back to Sanya much.

Xie Chun smiled and said, "I came to Changhua with the same mission as you. I'm afraid I won't have time to go back to Victory Port this trip..."

It turned out that when Xie Chun came to Changhua on this trip, he escorted two ships totaling more than 70 tons of coal, as well as tar and asphalt, which are special products of Heitu Port.Of course, if it was just these cargoes, there was no need for him to personally dispatch them. More importantly, there were also a group of naturalized cadres on board who had been recommended by the management committee to Sanya for advanced studies in Heitu Port because of their good performance.But Xie Chun had to go back to look after the house, so this group of people could only be sent to Changhua, and then take a boat to Sanya from here.

After listening to Xie Chun's narration, Yue Zhiyun nodded and said: "That's right, I will go back after unloading the goods and rest for a day, and I can bring all the people from Heitu Port with me. By the way, I heard that you will share These people in Heitu Port have all quietly started families there one by one?"

Xie Chun patted Tian Yeyou next to him and said, "It's not this guy who took the lead! Ever since he came back from Guangxi and married a young lady, the people in Heitugang have become more active, and this year there are several people I married a girl from Daming. It is estimated that there will be two or three marriages to be arranged in the second half of the year, but unfortunately the distance is too far to give out wedding candy to everyone in the base camp."

"Aren't you the same about me?" Tian Yeyou choked back: "In the first half of this year, you have already traveled to Lianzhou three or four times. When will you bring your daughter-in-law back?"

(End of this chapter)