1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 541 Detective Li Dagui

Although at the speed of the "Lightning", there is no need to worry about being intercepted by enemy ships at sea, but Wang Tom does not want to directly expose this unique sailboat to the Dutch's vision.Regarding the reconnaissance plan for this small port on the east coast of the island, Wang Tom and the people from the Ministry of Security have already made other arrangements, and they do not plan to go directly to the island for reconnaissance at this time.

The "Lightning" spent two days cruising around Natuna Island. During the period, when passing by the sea area of ​​​​the port on the east coast of the island, it also conducted a long-distance observation of the local situation through a telescope.Wang Tom came to the conclusion that the size of the wharf was only equivalent to that of Changhua Port on Hainan Island, and it looked like the first phase of the project just after the end of the project. Probably no more than fifteen sea-going ships could enter the port at the same time.

In addition, according to the information provided by the Ministry of Security, the total population of the island is only about 3000, and the population near this small port is probably less than 200, and more than [-]% of them are Han Chinese or mixed races with Han blood. There are a small number of blacks, Indians and Nanyang natives, and the real Dutch probably only account for about [-]% of the local population.These few Dutch have an armed force of about one company. The main individual weapons are matchlock guns that have been basically eliminated by the Haihan Militia, and there are five to eight artillery pieces of different calibers.In addition, the Dutch also trained a group of indigenous militiamen with a number of about [-] people. However, in the eyes of the Haihan people, these indigenous soldiers who use cold weapons probably do not have much deterrent power. The presence of targets and humanoid sandbags.

After completing the voyage around the island, Wang Tom can basically confirm that there is indeed only one port on the island controlled by the Dutch that is relatively well-established. With a little modification, Haihan's port management method can be used to operate.It is not that there are no other coasts on the island that can be developed and built ports, but the natural conditions are not much better than the existing ports. There is not much potential for local development, and in the future it will only be used as a transit supply station at sea.After completing the reconnaissance mission around the island, the "Lightning" returned to the uninhabited island in the north, waiting for the arrival of the follow-up fleet.

On January 1631, 1, three Chinese sailboats and two "exploration-class" warships hanging behind finally arrived at the uninhabited island where the advance team settled.After all the personnel arrived, Tom Wang organized a mobilization preparatory meeting for this operation.

After introducing the situation of Natuna Island that he had reconnaissed a few days ago, Wang Tom began to explain the next action: "...we will send two lucky boats pretending to be Daming sea merchants to dock at the port on the island and supply supplies. , During this period, I will connect with the staff of the Ministry of Security lurking on the island to complete the information handover. Next, Commissioner Lin of the Ministry of Security will explain the situation to you.”

Lin Nan took up the conversation and said: "The Ministry of Security sent people to infiltrate the island to settle down and collect intelligence in March this year. So far, two effective reports have been sent to the base camp. The Dutch are not very vigilant about intelligence struggles. This may be related to the fact that they have no rivals in this sea area."

"Does the security department have many people lurking on the island? Can you give us some help when we seize the island?" Mu Xiabo asked.

"We only have two people on the island..." Lin Nan's face was a little bit embarrassed: "Because of the limited staffing, there are only about ten people in the entire Nanyang Intelligence Department. As for the help during the battle, I am afraid it will be even more limited. In consideration of keeping their identities confidential, the Ministry of Security did not issue musket-like weapons to hidden intelligence personnel."

"I understand." Mu Xiabo didn't ask any further after hearing this.It is obviously impossible to expect the latent personnel of the Ministry of Security to cooperate with the outside world. At that time, it will still have to rely on the militia to do it themselves.

"Let's go to Natuna Island tomorrow. I will lead the fleet to respond in the nearby waters. The landing personnel will be under the unified command of Major Mu Xiabai, and Commissioner Lin Nan of the Security Department will be his assistant, responsible for intelligence collection during this period." Wang Tom is very happy. The task assignment will start soon: "The landing time is tentatively scheduled for two days. If there are special circumstances, use the radio to communicate. Everyone must remember that if it is not necessary, do not conflict with the Dutch on the island. Our this time The task is to collect information here, and don't cause any other incidents!"

Although the military and the Ministry of Security had planned and rehearsed this reconnaissance operation before departure, but after arriving here, no one dared to take it lightly.The Dutch armed forces on the island are not a problem for Haihan. If he wants to, the existing manpower can probably defeat the Dutch on the island, but what the executive committee wants is control over Natuna Island. It is by no means a simple battle to seize Hong Kong.As the commander-in-chief of this operation, what Wang Tom wanted was to complete the occupation of Natuna Island quietly, and any behavior that would startle the enemy would damage this mission.

On January 1, two blessing boats left the coast of the uninhabited island and headed south towards Natuna Island.

At the same time, Li Dagui was dragging a thigh-thick piece of wood to the yard, ready to saw it open.The Dutch on the island ordered two sets of log furniture from him a few days ago, and he only had half a month to complete the order, and the time was a bit tight.But Li Dagui didn't care about how much income this order could bring him, what he was worried about was another thing.

According to the agreed time, the contact person sent by the headquarters to collect information should have arrived seven or eight days ago. In the past, there was at most two or three days of error in the connection, but this time it was delayed for many days, and Li Dagui had no way to pass. Other channels contacted the headquarters, and some were worried that something unexpected had happened.

Li Dagui is one of the two spies assigned by the Ministry of Security on Natuna Island. He knows that there is a colleague of his on the island, but he doesn't know who this person is and what kind of identity he is lurking on the island.He knew that this was a deliberate arrangement by his superiors. Such a single-line contact method could better protect the intelligence network. Even if one of them had an accident, the other line could continue to operate.Li Dagui's communication channel with the headquarters is a Ming merchant ship that docks here every three months. At that time, he will find an opportunity to hand over the reports he wrote before to his colleagues on the merchant ship, and they will take them back to the headquarters in Sanya. .

Li Dagui's special status is also one of the reasons why he was selected by the Ministry of Security to carry out missions in such a remote place.His father was from Li. He settled down in Annan after going out to sea with Han merchant ships in his early years, and married an Annan woman as his wife, so he can be considered a mixed race.During the civil war in Annan, Li Dagui was also one of the refugees who fled. Fortunately, Qinghua boarded the immigration ship of Haihan, and his family moved to Heitu Port to settle down.

Li Dagui's father learned to speak Chinese when he was a sailor with the Han people, and even relied on this relationship to send Li Dagui to a private school for three years, so there was no language barrier between Li Dagui and Haihan's boss. Soon he was appointed to manage the local lumber camp.He was one of the first batch of naturalized cadres sent back to the base camp for further studies in Heitugang.It was during his return to Sanya for further studies that Li Dagui was selected by the intelligence department, which was still in its infancy at the time, so he changed from a clerk in the Ministry of Civil Affairs to an intelligence officer in the Ministry of Security.

Because Li Dagui's appearance is quite different from that of ordinary Han people, when the Ministry of Security was considering dispatching intelligence personnel to the Nanyang region, Li Dagui was selected.Because he had worked as a carpenter for a period of time during his stay in Heitu Port, and he had some skills, so he went to Natuna Island in this capacity and settled down on the island.

Speaking of which, he still has a high degree of freedom of movement here, and his immediate boss is thousands of miles away, so there is no way to monitor his work.And his duty is to continuously collect all kinds of local information, write reports and send them back to the headquarters on a regular basis.For a specially trained intelligence officer, it doesn't take much time and energy. After all, this island has only such a small population, and the port town where Li Dagui is located is so small that it takes half an hour to get around. After turning around the periphery for a full circle, there is really nothing to investigate.

Regarding the Dutch on the island, Li Dagui believed that they were no match for the Haihan militia at all. The executive committee only needed to send one or two companies of the army to wipe out the Dutch on the island.Moreover, this group of armed Dutch is not a regular army. One-third of them are veterans who have retired from the European battlefield and came to the Far East to try their luck for a job. Strong, the rest are some criminals and gangsters sent here.It would be hell if such an army could go head-to-head with the Haihan militia.

But after staying here for more than half a year, Li Dagui also knows that the power of the Dutch is not just the situation that can be seen on the island.When the Dutch attacked the island 30 years ago, they dispatched more than 20 ships and nearly a thousand infantry.Li Dagui also knew that the place 2000 miles south of this island is the stronghold of the Dutch, and even the omnipotent Haihan Executive Committee does not currently have the ability to get involved in that place.

Li Dagui worked on carpentry until the afternoon, and when it was almost time to prepare dinner, someone stood outside the yard and shouted: "Li Dagui, a merchant ship came to the port, and I need a carpenter to repair the planks, so hurry up and bring your tools and go." Bar!"

Li Dagui responded, saying in his heart that it was finally time.Immediately responded, he quickly put down the work in hand and went back to the house to pack things.Li Dagui took out the written report from under the bed board, put it in the interlayer of the wooden box containing the tools, and then went out with a large box of tools to the dock.

Li Dagui's residence was less than one mile away from the pier, and he saw two Chinese-style lucky boats docked at the pier from a long distance away.This scene surprised him a little. It wasn't these two ships that came here to hand over information to him in the past. Could it be that he made a mistake?
But after getting closer, Li Dagui has confirmed from the lantern hanging at the stern that this is indeed the intelligence ship of the Ministry of Security. It seems that a new ship has been replaced. He can only think that this is probably because the other party arrived seven or eight days late. s reason.

When Li Dagui walked to the pier, he saw a few people dressed as Ming businessmen beside the two ships, discussing with the Dutch about the berthing fee to enter the port through an interpreter.One of them turned his face and glanced at him, and Li Dagui almost cried out in fright.

Li Dagui never thought that he would meet Mu Xiabo in this place. When he was in Heitu Port, Mu Xiabo was an officer in charge of local security in the military, so Li Dagui naturally recognized him.Fortunately, he was quite calm, after taking a look at Mu Xiabo, he immediately lowered his head, and stood beside him with lowered eyebrows.

Mu Xiabo obviously noticed him, and greeted him: "Master Lin, the carpenter has arrived, hurry up and take him on board to do some work!"

After Li Dagui followed Lin Nan into the cabin, he lowered his voice and asked in surprise, "Brother Lin, why is General Mu here?"

"Don't rush to ask about this matter, give me the report first." Lin Nan stretched out his hand and said, "When General Mu returns, you can ask him face to face."

"This... I don't dare to be in a humble position!" Li Dagui quickly took out the report from the interlayer of the tool box and handed it to Lin Nan.

"If you don't ask him, he will also ask you." Lin Nan patted Li Dagui's shoulder and said, "You take a break first, and I will deal with the outside affairs."

After a while, Mu Xiabo came to the cabin, and Lin Nan followed behind him.Li Dagui hurriedly got up to say hello, Mu Xiabo waved his hands and said, "You don't need to have so many rules, just sit down and talk. Are you Li Dagui? I remember seeing you in Heitu Port before, when you were working under Zhou Hengxing."

"Yes, yes, the chief has a good memory. At that time, the position of the humble position was the supervisor of the logging field, which was managed by Director Zhou." Li Dagui quickly responded: "If it weren't for the support of the chiefs, the humble position would not have had the opportunity to complete such an important task for the executive committee. .”

"I won't say polite words. The purpose of our visit to this island this time is to thoroughly understand the defense situation here. We will take this place within fifty or sixty days at the latest!" Mu Xiabo said concisely Knowing the purpose of coming: "Li Dagui, I have read the report you wrote before on the way. Judging from the content of the report you wrote, the defense of this place seems to be very weak?"

"With the strength of our army, we should be able to go down with a drum." Li Dagui explained: "Although there are more than 100 Dutch soldiers on this island, these people are not regular soldiers, and they don't have much training at ordinary times. From the point of view of a humble position, it is only at the same level as the Daming Guard Army. If the Executive Committee wants to seize this island, it will not be too difficult."

(End of this chapter)