1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 684 Waiting for assembly
"Everyone, the riots in the mining area have subsided. The militia army is chasing the rioters outside. You can rest assured about the safety issue. Later, troops will come from Changhua for reinforcements, and then we will take you back to Changhua by train. This sudden incident I am really sorry for disturbing you all!"

Although Gu Kai was apologizing to the visiting group, his expression was still very relaxed.Just now, the corpses of dozens of thugs had been hung upside down outside the barracks for public display. At this time, groups of thugs were no longer visible in the mining area.According to the report from the military, the rioting thugs chose to evacuate the mining area and retreat into the mountains to hide. Perhaps they have also realized that if they stay here any longer, they will only be encircled and suppressed by the Haihan militia.

"It's all thanks to Mr. Gu's command and the militia army's bravery and skill in fighting, so that the place can be kept safe!"

"With Mr. Gu sitting here, why should we worry about our safety..."

After the crisis passed, everyone quickly let go of their previous anxiety, and began to take the time to flatter Gu Kai.However, the members of the visiting group did not know the extent of the commotion outside. They only knew that Haihan canceled the afternoon visit because of this, and sent troops from the barracks to suppress it.For them, it doesn't matter what measures Haihan will take to deal with the so-called prisoner riots. Their purpose of coming today is to witness with their own eyes that the iron mine that Haihan claimed really exists, and the scale is far larger than they imagined.For this reason, Haihan even built a railway track passage that is tens of miles long at any cost, and transported thousands of people into this remote mountain to mine ore. Such investment also shows how much he attaches importance to this project and Haihan's terrifying Engineering construction capabilities.

The merchants knew very well that the purpose of the Haihan people showing them the Shilu Iron Mine was to promote their strength so that they could safely invest their money in Qiongzhou Island for business.Although there was a little unexpected situation during the investigation at this station, it will not affect their overall perception of Haihan, which is irresistible and powerful. Whether it is people's livelihood, commerce, navigation or military affairs, Haihan is in every aspect. The displayed strength makes them feel hard to pick.

It was also after looking at so many places that they understood why those close friends in the business circle recommended Haihan’s investment business to them, and why those businessmen who had investment experience in Qiongzhou Island were so anxious He asked the Haihan people to sign the cooperation agreement earlier, lest someone would take the opportunity.For the late Ming Dynasty that is gradually falling into chaos, Qiongzhou Island controlled by outsiders like Haihan will not face famine caused by wars and various natural disasters, but it is indeed an excellent investment place .

The only thing that makes these businessmen feel unsatisfied is Haihan's almost strict land policy.For those who intend to buy real estate and land in Qiongzhou Island, Haihan's policy is really unacceptable.However, compared with the benefits that can be obtained, it seems that it is nothing to suffer a little loss. After all, many pioneers have bought real estate in Sanya and other places according to Haihan's rules. It is no different from other places in Daming.

As for the Shilu Rebellion... Anyway, no one will settle down here to buy a property. Even if someone really intends to do so, Haihan has already made it clear that Shilu and Changhua do not accept outside investment— —Bringing you to visit is just to let you understand that Haihan has the production capacity in this area, not to let you invest money to join this business.Foreign non-naturalized personnel who want to purchase real estate in Qiongzhou Island are currently limited to a few big cities, and the policy does not allow them to find their own place to stay.

Of course, maybe after a few more years, Haihan will gradually digest all parts of Qiongzhou Island, and after establishing a sound grassroots management organization, it will gradually loosen the restrictions on the floating population.However, in view of the fact that the current security situation on the island is not particularly stable, there is definitely no hope for this in the near future.

While dealing with the compliments from the businessmen, Gu Kai looked at his watch from time to time.Although Lu Li reported that the situation outside was basically under control, Gu Kai still hoped that Qiao Zhiya, the backbone, would come back soon.After all, Qiao Zhiya is the local leader, and many follow-up matters must be directed and dispatched by a person who is familiar with the local situation.

The reinforcements from Qiao Zhiya and Changhua almost reached the Shilu mining area, and the number of troops directly exceeded the thousand-man mark.The militia army who came for reinforcements even used trains to install four small-caliber artillery in case of emergency.The Li people, who only use primitive cold weapons, want to break through Shilu. I am afraid that it will be difficult for the young and strong Lidong who gather the entire Qiongzhong area to achieve their wish.

"Send the visiting group away first, and then deal with the rest of the matter." As soon as Qiao Zhiya saw Gu Kai, he didn't have time to elaborate on his battle experience in the jungle, so he hurriedly began to assign work: "Later, you will also work with the visiting group. Withdraw, I will arrange a platoon of troops to escort you to Changhua...By the way, have you already contacted the base camp? What is the attitude of the executive committee now?"

"I have contacted. Both the Executive Committee and the Military Commission believe that we should take this opportunity to remove the cancerous tumors in the Qiongzhong area, so they will organize a special force in Sanya, and they will be sent here in a few days." Gu Kai said at this time He was completely relieved, and introduced the latest situation to Qiao Zhiya: "In addition, the Ministry of Security will also intervene. Their people will leave from Danzhou today, and it is estimated that they will arrive in Changhua tomorrow."

"The people from the Ministry of Security..." Qiao Zhiya wanted to complain, but swallowed it after thinking about it.Although his identity does not need to be feared that the Ministry of Security will take advantage of him, but Gu Kai is one of the executive committee members and the head of the Ministry of Justice, and has inextricable connections with the Ministry of Security. It is better not to say such things in front of him. It is better to speak out.

Gu Kai continued nonchalantly: "The Ministry of Security has been guarding Danzhou for half a year without arresting anyone. This time we have news, we must act quickly. Otherwise, how will they explain to Hao Wanqing when they go back? How to explain to the executive committee?"

"Then what does the executive committee mean that we are holding back for the time being?" Qiao Zhiya continued to ask.

Gu Kai nodded and said: "The Military Commission thinks it's safer to send special mountain troops over here. In addition, if you want to go into the mountains to suppress bandits, you still have to stockpile a batch of combat supplies. The materials in the Shilu mining area alone are definitely not enough. You Say yes? Don’t worry, Lao Yan said in the telegram that when the troops are transferred, you will still be in charge of the specific operations.”

Qiao Zhiya didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I'm not planning to take this battle, but I'm afraid that there will be other variables if the time is prolonged. But this time, it's right to be cautious when going into the mountains to suppress the bandits."

Qiao Zhiya has been in Changhua and Shilu for nearly two years. In addition to directing projects and managing administrative affairs, he also regularly leads troops to conduct field training in nearby forests.He still has some understanding of the situation in the Qiongzhong mountain area.When fighting deep into the mountains, apart from the common difficulties of marching and sleeping in the open, the biggest problem is actually getting supplies. Since there are no decent roads at all, to transport the large amount of supplies needed by the army into the mountains, all you can rely on is manpower and There are two kinds of animal power.However, the limited animal power in the Shilu mining area is almost all used in the mine, and Tian Yeyou, who is in charge of mining, probably would not agree with the military to requisition all the livestock used in production.If you really want to go into the mountains to suppress the bandits, you may have to wait for the military to coordinate a batch of pack horses from other places.

As for which army Sanya was going to send over, Qiao Zhiya didn't need to ask too much to know that it must be the Annan militia army that had just returned from the South China Sea.After all, only the militia group organized by Qian Tiandun and others in Annan had mountain warfare as their main training subject.Although he has not commanded the Annan militia before, Qiao Zhiya can trust Qian Tiandun's method of leading troops, and this troop is not a fledgling rookie, but a reliable troop with several actual combat experience.Bringing such an army into the mountains to fight, it is indeed more sure than the local militia.

After Qiao Zhiya handed over the official duties to Gu Kai, he personally escorted him and the visiting group to the train station and returned to Changhua by car.It happened that the reinforcements from Changhua were gathering outside the train station, and the visiting group was fortunate enough to see the Haihan militia at close range.It's just that the appearance created by the uniform military uniforms, weapons, and neat formations has far surpassed the appearance of the guards that are commonly seen in other regions.Immediately, some people took the opportunity to flatter, praising the militia army for its "tidy military appearance", "mighty and majestic" and so on.

Before dark, many prisoners returned to the mining area from the nearby mountains and forests to return to the camp. These people chose to escape temporarily for various reasons, but after seeing the troublemakers retreat, they quickly made a choice.Freedom is indeed precious, but compared with freedom, survival seems to be a more important reason, and the choice of fleeing the Shilu mining area will greatly reduce the possibility of survival while gaining freedom.

Qiao Zhiya did not punish the returning prisoners, but ordered people to collect them, and then escort them back to the prison area and lock them up.But this time Qiao Zhiya has been a little more careful. All prisoners must check their identities, so as not to repeat the same mistakes and be mixed into the prison area by someone with a heart.The confessions obtained from the captive mobs showed that the previous riots were due to the fact that the other party took advantage of the loophole of the hard labor camp’s lack of verification personnel. this riot.

Fundamentally speaking, the management system of the hard labor camp is set by the judicial department. It is actually nothing to do with Qiao Zhiya if he wants to be held accountable. Almost all the management systems were formulated when he managed the organization.However, when Ren Liang was the leader, he probably did not expect that the labor camp with only a few hundred people would expand tenfold within a few years, and some of the management systems established at that time were not in line with the current actual situation.For example, he never imagined that there would be people sneaking into the labor camp in groups to lurk, and then waiting for an opportunity to instigate a riot.

Qiao Zhiya can't think of a better way to improve the current management system for the time being, but it is definitely right to imprison these prisoners first, and let the police department take care of the rest.What he has to do now is to quickly clean up the battlefield, calculate the general losses and results, and then interrogate the captured prisoners to obtain further information.

All departments were busy until very late that day, and it was not until the next morning that the loss statistics were collected in the hands of Qiao Zhiya, who hadn't slept all night.

First of all, in terms of personnel, a total of 31 police officers responsible for maintaining daily security in the prison area and mining area were killed in the riot, seven were seriously injured, and 29 were slightly injured.Three other people were missing. If they hadn’t escaped with the thugs, they would have been kidnapped and taken away by the thugs. The possibility of the latter is obviously much higher, because most of the policemen have family members, so the possibility of collusion with the Li people is extremely low.In terms of the number of casualties alone, this is definitely the heaviest loss since the establishment of the Police Department.The vast majority of the policemen who died were directly smashed to death by mobs with gravel, iron tools and other objects when they were unprepared.And because most of the police were not equipped with deadly weapons, they were completely unable to resist the impact of the mob's large numbers of people in the early stage of the riot, which led to the surprising number of casualties.

The military also killed three people in this riot, 27 people were injured to varying degrees, and there were [-] missing persons.These missing persons were all from the first batch of troops who went into the mountain to search for fugitives and were ambushed. They, including the platoon leader, failed to escape.Qiao Zhiya later led a team into the mountain to respond, and only brought back some people, failing to organize an on-site search and rescue in time.As for the possibility of their current survival, Qiao Zhiya also thinks that it is not optimistic. If they can't return to the Shilu mining area by themselves tomorrow, it may already be a disaster.

In addition to the loss of personnel, the fixed assets of the mining area also suffered a certain degree of damage.The burned sheds and production materials are still minor problems, and the mining machinery destroyed by the mobs is the major loss.Without these steam-driven mechanical devices, the production efficiency of the entire Shilu mining area would be reduced by at least half.It's no wonder that when Tian Yeyou came to Qiao Zhiya's side to submit the loss report, he couldn't help shouting that Qiao Zhiya should be killed, and that all prisoners who participated in the riot must be hanged.

It wasn't until Qiao Zhiya asked him how long it would take to recover that Tian Yeyou's mood slowly calmed down.

"Most of them can be repaired, but they need the corresponding parts and skilled workers." Tian Yeyou said helplessly: "We probably can't solve it ourselves, it depends on the efficiency of Tiandu Industrial Zone. .”

(End of this chapter)