1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 450 Yu Yao's Reason

After He Xi also finished reading the official document, Maliko signed it and asked Yu Yao to take it into storage.This matter was originally led by the military, and the Garrison Office only provided assistance. The military team will be responsible for the specific conscription measures, and the funds will be specially allocated, so Maliko only needs to sign and file.

However, Yu Yao didn't leave immediately after getting the signed document. Maliko saw that he was still not finished, so he took the initiative to ask him if he had anything to say.

Yu Yao hesitated for a moment before he said, "I talked with Xiao Liang two days ago. We thought that if we want to expand our actual control area at the mouth of the Pearl River to the east, the arms deal with Daming this time will actually It's an opportunity to take advantage of."

Maliko is also a shrewd person, and he immediately understood what he meant when he heard this: "You mean to exchange arms for land?"

Yu Yao nodded and said: "That's pretty much what it means. As for the operation method, you can control it flexibly, whether it's rent, land purchase, or cooperative development. In short, first occupy the land in a legal name. As long as Once the place is occupied, what we want to do in the future is still up to us.”

The method Yu Yao said is actually not new. Haihan used a similar method when he established the coastal stronghold in Annan. The rent of the Heitu Port Concession was simply paid to the Annan court in the form of Haihan artillery.In order to obtain long-term and stable military assistance from Haihan, the Annan court had to swallow their anger and hand over some harbors with superior natural conditions on the coastline to Haihan in the form of concessions. These lands that have been handed over probably There is no longer any possibility of going back to Annan's name.And this kind of routine seems to be logically applicable to other regions that need Haihan's military assistance, such as the Ming Empire, which is currently preparing to strike.

Maliko responded: "You can think of this idea, and there should be smart people in the staff department of the base camp. After all, this method has already had a successful precedent in Annan, but it was not mentioned in the official document of the base camp, which means it must still be There are certain issues that cannot be resolved at this stage.”

"I don't think so." Yu Yao shook his head and retorted: "The base camp didn't propose such a method, probably because they don't understand the current situation in the Pearl River Estuary and Hong Kong Island. When they exchanged weapons for concession rights in Annan, It was also a method first proposed by the Heitu Port Management Committee. In the final analysis, the parties involved have more say in this matter. For the arms deal with Daming, the Executive Committee and the Military Commission are the decision makers. There is nothing to say about this, but this matter is completely It can be led by our Guangzhou Office, after all, we are the ones who know the current situation of Daming best, not the group of people squatting on Hainan Island... Sorry, my tone was a little too aggressive."

Yu Yao realized that his words were a bit out of line, so he calmed down a little, and then said: "The executive committee wants to reach a military cooperation relationship with Daming, economic considerations should only come second, and political needs are the real ones. Purpose. Using arms to exchange for the political status in the eyes of the Ming court, or to exchange for some more practical conditions, these are the directions we can try. If we don’t try, how will we know whether we can do it or not?”

Maliko and He Xi glanced at each other. The two had worked together for more than two years, and they had a good understanding at work. After exchanging glances, they basically understood each other's meaning.Regarding Yu Yao's thoughts, I have to say that both of them were a little moved by hearing it.

If after going through various efforts, the Ming court can see all kinds of arms provided by Shanghai Han, and is willing to pay some economic or political conditions in order to obtain these military aids, then what Yu Yao said is that this kind of arms-for-land Possibilities do exist objectively.

Of course, even if such a plan is made, words such as "military use" and "naval base" will definitely be avoided during the real negotiation period, and the direction of land use will definitely be commercial ports and warehouses on the surface. , Wharf and other civilian channels.As long as the land is in hand, what he wants to do at that time is Haihan's final decision.

"You and Xiao Liang have been to Hong Kong Island several times, right? How is the situation there now?" He Xi asked.

As soon as Yu Yao heard He Xi's question, he felt confident, and immediately responded, "Wait for me for a minute, and I'll be right back."

As soon as Yu Yao left, Maliko turned to He Xi and asked, "What do you think?"

"Let's listen to his opinion first, but I think we can try it. If this is done, the Guangzhou Office will be upgraded to the Guangdong branch just around the corner!" He Xi also had a face eager to try.

After a while, Yu Yao hurried back with his laptop: "I can't explain clearly, I'll call up the map, it's more intuitive."

"The last time we went to Hong Kong Island was last month. According to our continuous observation and intelligence collection for more than a year, we have a relatively good understanding of the situation of Hong Kong Island, especially the situation of the troops stationed on the island." Yu Yao While explaining, he called up the satellite map of the waters of the Pearl River Estuary on the computer, and then zoomed in on the Hong Kong Island: "At present, the troops stationed by the Ming Army on Hong Kong Island belong to the Nanhaiwei, with less than 500 troops and about ten ships. , of which only six ships can be used for combat. Their station is located in Shau Kei Wan on the north side of Hong Kong Island, which is also the key point controlling the Lei Yue Mun Waterway. The place they chose is very elegant."

It can be clearly seen from the map that the Lei Yue Mun Waterway is the narrowest strait waterway between Hong Kong Island and the mainland, and the Ming army is stationed in Shau Kei Wan next to Lei Yue Mun, which indeed controls the direction of Fujian to enter and exit the Pearl River. Best location on Mouth Waters Fairway.Of course, whether it can be really controlled is another matter. At least judging from the situation a year or two ago, it is only about four nautical miles to the east from Liyumen, and after leaving another Strait Buddha Hall Gate, At sea, the Liuxiang pirate group has the final say, and the Ming army's control area is really limited.

Pointing to the map, Yu Yao continued to explain: "There are not many residents on Hong Kong Island, probably less than [-] according to official statistics. The means of earning a living, because there are more ships passing by in the local area, so the income level of the local residents is not bad. The natural disasters in various parts of Guangdong in the past two years have not affected this area. Compared with other areas in Guangdong, the social environment is much calmer. .”

Maliko interjected: "There are Ming troops stationed on the island, I'm afraid it's impossible for them to withdraw from this area automatically. After all, Ming is not Annan, and it's really unrealistic for us to exchange such a large island with dozens of artillery pieces. "

"Director Ma is right." Yu Yao did not refute Maliko's opinion, but nodded and said: "Besides, the location of this island is too critical. Controlling this place is almost equivalent to controlling the outlet of South China. Even if a person is a wimp, he will not give up this place easily."

"Then what do you plan to do?" Maliko asked.

"We can achieve control of this area in stages, so we don't have to eat it all at once." Yu Yao continued pointing to the map and explained, "The good thing about Hong Kong Island is that it is big enough. Claim territory on the south side of the island."

Maiko and He Xi looked at the south side of the island following his direction, and there is indeed a very unique natural harbor here.Tai Shue Wan, Sham Wan, and Aberdeen Bay between Ap Lei Chau and Hong Kong Island were very prosperous ports in the time and space before crossing, and hundreds of ships docked here all the year round.There is also a plain area near the coast that can build a large number of facilities and accommodate a certain number of people.

And Ap Lei Chau, which is protected outside this series of harbors, is like a barrier, which can shelter these harbors from wind and rain, and at the same time provide excellent military defense conditions.The terrain here is very similar to the Black Soil Port, and there are islands outside the harbor. Only a few coastal defense guns need to be built on the islands to completely control the route in and out of the harbor.

Another geographical condition that cannot be ignored is that the north and south of Hong Kong Island are completely separated by the mountains in the middle, without interfering with each other.This geographical condition allows Haihan, who is trying to establish a stronghold in the south, to have ample room to display, and at the same time, he can get rid of Ming's monitoring.

Although the livable area on the south side of Hong Kong Island is far inferior to that on the north side, this is not a big problem for Haihan, which currently has a limited population.Even if there is a surplus population, the preferred resettlement site will be Hainan Island rather than the Pearl River Estuary.The first choice for the Executive Committee to select overseas bases is not to see how many people can be accommodated in the area, but to look at the geographical location, environment, and the difficulty of military defense.Although from time to time, Haihan's Haihan stronghold has only fought a defensive battle like Lijiazhuang, but this does not prevent the military from still taking defense as one of the first conditions for selecting overseas strongholds.

It's not that the military people are too cautious, it's really out of helplessness. After all, the Haihan militia's strength is limited, and there is no way to deploy enough armed forces in every stronghold, so they have to rely on the local In the natural environment, build some fortifications fortifications that allow a small number of armed personnel to rely on the terrain for defense.This pattern starts from the Black Earth Port and runs through all overseas strongholds and colonies so far.When the military team of the Guangzhou Office inspected the topography of Hong Kong Island and selected the site, they also took this factor into consideration.

Yu Yao explained: "We don't need to take over the entire Hong Kong Island, as long as we can get the Ming government to agree to us to set up a commercial post and build a pier in the southern area of ​​Hong Kong Island, the goal will be achieved. This area is enough to station a complete army all year round. Combat fleet, plus a battalion of army forces, this kind of force configuration is basically enough to deal with all kinds of emergencies in the coastal areas of Guangdong. Now that the Military Commission has delegated the authority to recruit troops, we can completely follow the model of Heitu Port , establish a military training base on Hong Kong Island, and form an independent battalion in the Guangdong theater."

"A fleet plus a battalion of troops?" Maliko shook his head involuntarily: "Yu Yao, you plan to upgrade the military team stationed in Guangzhou to the Guangdong Military Region!"

"Upgrading to the Guangdong Military Region is also beneficial to the development of the Guangzhou Office." Yu Yao was pointed out by Maliko, but he did not deny: "The main function of the current Guangzhou Office is to manage economics, trade and immigration. It can be politically and military The effect is still too small. Although our development phalanx is to clear the way for money, we must maintain enough oppression when necessary. There are still many people outside who just regard us as businessmen and lack a sense of awe for us , I think this situation should be changed. After all, it is not two years ago. What we have to do now is to protect our own interests, expand and control a larger territory, and stop pretending to be sheep so low-key gone."

"It seems that you have been pretending to be very hard for the past two years!" He Xi joked: "But Wanshan Port has only been in use for about a year, and you will be moving so soon, and the construction costs there have not been recovered yet. "

"Wanshan Island doesn't need to be abandoned. It can continue to be used as a military stronghold. The location there is still very good." Yu Yao once again pointed to the map on the computer screen: "From the south of Hong Kong Island to Wanshan Port, the distance by sea is only More than 30 nautical miles, even a traditional Chinese-style sailboat can reach it in one day, so if you connect the east and the west, you can completely control the waters of the Pearl River Estuary."

"You have a good abacus!" Maiko continued, "Then, have you compiled these ideas into written materials?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Yao nodded immediately and said, "I've compiled a copy. If necessary, I'll improve the content as soon as possible."

"Then take some time to prepare. Since you are going to do it, you must first say hello to the base camp." Maiko's words are considered to have finalized the basic direction, and Yu Yao is asked to come up with a written plan first, and then publish it in the name of the Guangzhou Office Back to the base camp, the executive committee will discuss and decide whether to implement it.

"It's not too late, I'll do it right now." Yu Yao was so excited, he closed the notebook and put it under his arm, and hurried out.

"According to what he just said, how feasible do you think this is?" Maliko asked He Xi after Yu Yao's footsteps disappeared outside the door.

"I'm more optimistic. It's not difficult to apply to Daming for the reason of building a commercial wharf. Didn't the Portuguese just apply for a place next to it?" He Xi's face looked relaxed: "It doesn't matter. In any respect, the strength of the Portuguese is not comparable to ours, and now we have a very harmonious relationship with the Guangdong government, so the possibility of this matter is very high."

(End of this chapter)