1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 919 Next Step

Among the four southern ports, Cam Ranh Port is the only port completely managed by the military, and the person in charge here is Mu Xiabai who has been stationed in Annan for many years.He, Feng Annan, and Qian Tiandun were one of the first trio stationed in Annan. Now Qian Tiandun has been transferred to ZJ as the head, while Feng Annan is in the Tushan base in the north. military affairs.

For Haihan's garrison in Annan, the past two years have been relatively easy. Since the summer of 1631, when Mu Xiabo led his troops to defeat the Dutch twice in the Abunna Islands, they have basically never carried out combat operations. task.Although the Dutch were unwilling to fail, they were severely injured by the Matalan army in the Battle of Batavia the following year, completely losing their ability to avenge Haihan in the short term.And Haihan was able to have more time to build military facilities in Cam Ranh Port and the Annbuna Islands in the South China Sea, preparing for the future expansion of the territory to the south.

Mu Xiabo was still a bachelor when he traveled through time, but he married a Ming woman as his wife the year before last. The eldest son is almost two years old, and the second child is already seven months old in his wife's womb. Life is quite good. Very at ease.

"How is it? My life as a local rich man is okay?" Mu Xiabo hosted a banquet in his manor for Yan Chujie and his party, and chatted about the current living conditions during the meeting: "Now that I have a wife and son, suddenly I don't think it's interesting to lead soldiers to fight everywhere, and I want to spend some time at home with my family."

"It's because you haven't moved for too long that's why you're lazy." Yan Chujie gave his judgment with a smile, but he didn't believe that people like Mu Xiabo would really be free, and wanted to sign up to leave Sanya to go out When fighting the world,
"I have no place to move if I want to!" Mu Xiabo said with a wry smile, "I would like to go south as soon as possible to take down all Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, but the Military Commission has never issued such an order! I can travel far now. At that time, it was basically a trip back to Sanya every year to report on work.”

"In the past two years, the focus of the Executive Committee has been on Daming, so the Military Commission arranged to take over Taiwan last year and attack Zhoushan this year. The south is relatively peaceful. Of course, it is time to start construction." Yan Chujie explained.

"Old Yan, you don't need to talk about these official words, tell me the truth, when will the south arrange the action?" Mu Xiabo waved his hand to express his dissatisfaction with his explanation: "Take a break for two years, the bones It's all rusted, or I can just retire earlier."

"You're only in your early forties, and you're in your prime, so why retire?" Yan Chujie naturally wouldn't take Mu Xiabo's complaining words seriously: "The Military Commission has arranged such a large-scale military exercise this year because it attaches importance to the situation in the South China Sea .The south side doesn’t stay still, but we have to wait for a suitable time to activate it.”

Mu Xiabo sighed: "Wait a minute, it will take another two years for the Dutch to rebuild Batavia! Even if they can beat them, it will inevitably take a lot of effort. Let me tell you, last year Badawi After the chaos in Yada, we should have led our army south, took advantage of his illness and killed him, and picked up this bargain in one go, and now we have firmly held Batavia in our hands."

"You are talking out of anger!" Yan Chujie shook his head and said, "Batavia is more than 600 nautical miles away from the Ambuna Islands and more than 500 nautical miles away from Sanya. Even if it is won, it will not be so easy to manage. That place is no better than Daming The influence and status of the Han people in the local area are not dominant, and the executive committee has not moved southward because of careful consideration."

Mu Xiabo said: "Old Yan, you should save these words to comfort Roger when you go to Anbuna! I guess he has been squatting there for a long time. After he came back from FJ last year, he sent back every month. The telegrams are all complaining that there is nothing to do. He has no family, so he can only spend all his extra energy on military training. I heard that he trained a multinational army on Abuna Island, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

In 1631, shortly after Mu Xiabai defeated the Dutch on the island of Abunna, he was transferred back to Annan to take up the post, and it was Roger who took over his seat in the local guard.However, during the Haihan attack on Penghu last year, Roger was transferred to FJ to participate in the war, and returned to the South China Sea after the incident, just in time for the chaos in Batavia.At that time, Roger had nothing to do on the island of Annabuna, so he made a report and applied to the Military Commission, and set up a military training camp there, and selected suitable young men from slaves from various countries in the South China Sea for training, so as to train a team of soldiers. The local armed forces adapted to the environment of the South China Sea are the target.

Not only that, Roger's training camp has also received a lot of foreign orders, and all businessmen who invest in the local industry on Abuna Island have the opportunity to select and send personnel to the local training camp for training.Since the employers of these personnel are mostly from Southeast Asian countries, the Ministry of Security has also set up a special local office to find candidates for development from among the trainees.

Yan Chujie said: "The troops trained by Roger are said to be quite strong. This time, I am also representing the Military Commission to inspect the results. If it is really as good as what he said in the report, then I will give it a staffing."

Mu Xiabo said: "But this time going south to Ambuna Island, do we really have to bring so many ships there? The small port of Abuna Island can't accommodate so many large ships."

Yan Chujie put away the smile on his face, and said sternly: "Not all the ships heading south this time will berth at Anbuna Port, we will have other arrangements."

"Other arrangements?" Mu Xiabo immediately reacted: "Is it going to launch operations in other places?"

"The South China Sea has been suspended for two years, and it's time to make a move." Yan Chujie did not deny Mu Xiabo's guess this time, but he did not specify what action he would take.

"It's fine with your words!" Mu Xiabo knew that military secrets should not be detailed at the dinner table, so he didn't rush to ask further.

Haihan's South China Sea development strategy is aimed at controlling the two most important waterways between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.As long as the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait can be controlled, the sea channel for the Western world to enter the Far East will be basically controlled, and the benefits during this period are simply incalculable.But if you want to win these two places, you must have a strong enough strategic support point in the South China Sea.At present, Haihan only owns such a place as the Annabuna Islands in the South China Sea, and there is no good port in the area, and its ability to support the navy is limited. In fact, it is not an ideal enough choice.

One of the purposes of Yan Chujie leading the fleet south this time is to conduct an investigation in the South China Sea and find a suitable foothold for the next step of Haihan's southward expansion.The choice made this time will directly affect Haihan's determination of whether the next strategic goal is Malacca or the Sunda Strait.The large-scale task force can also ensure that it will not be affected by ships from Western colonial countries during the South China Sea inspection.

As the most southern military base in Haihan, Cam Ranh Port will play an important role in the future southward expansion, so the Military Commission is also very concerned about the construction status here. One of the purposes of Yan Chujie's visit to Cam Ranh Port this time is to It is to inspect the construction of the military port here and the training level of the South China Sea Fleet.

In the past few years, Haihan has invested millions of yuan in the construction of Cam Ranh Port, and transported more than 20 Han immigrants from Ming Dynasty to adjust the local population structure. The investment is quite huge.What has been built here is not only a military port wharf that is several miles long, but also a powerful coastal defense artillery fortification at the entrance of the harbor, a huge camp that can station [-] soldiers, a shipyard affiliated to the military, and The South China Sea Fleet is composed of more than [-] ships of various types.

At present, there are nearly [-] people living in Cam Ranh Port, of which more than [-] people are militiamen stationed here, and the rest of the people, regardless of their occupations, almost all serve the military base here.Among the resident population statistics of the four southern ports, Jinlan Port has the highest proportion of naturalized residents, accounting for more than [-]% of the total population, even a little higher than the proportion of naturalized residents in Sanya Port, the headquarters of Haihan.

However, the person who is most interested in the local situation is not Yan Chujie who came here to inspect, but Zheng Zuo, the young prince of Annan.Zheng Zuo showed great interest in the specific operation of a large military port like Cam Ranh Port. This is because Annan is also preparing to build a military port on the coast near Hue Province. With the usual practice in the past, it is natural to follow the example of Haihan Operate in the planning mode of the military port.The reason why Zheng Zuo went south with the fleet this time was not only to supervise the army, but also to inspect Haihan Port to learn experience.

In order to allow Zheng Zuo to investigate more comprehensively, Yan Chujie specially increased the original three-day stay to four days, leaving a special day for someone to take Zheng Zuo around the port area.Yan Chujie is not worried that Zheng Zuo will have a clear view of the military secrets of Cam Ranh Port. The construction capabilities of the two parties are too far apart. The shrunken version of the sample comes out even if it is very powerful.

On September 25, the Haihan Navy and the Annan Fleet held the largest maritime military operation in recent years in the waters near Cam Ranh Port.More than [-] ships participated in the exercise, divided into red and blue armies. The red army is composed of the combined fleet that traveled south from Da Nang, playing the offensive side, while the South Sea Fleet stationed at Cam Ranh Port is the blue army that is playing the defensive side.

The fleets of both sides practiced tactics in standard combat formations at sea, and fired blank bombs to simulate the wartime environment.For the Annan Fleet, this is the first time to participate in a maritime combat operation of this scale. Although it is only a drill, it is enough for it to learn a lot.Tactics such as seizing the T prefix, if it hadn’t been drilled by the Haihan fleet, it would have been difficult for Annan’s officers to imagine such a tactic of making full use of the ship’s side artillery out of thin air.

Zheng Zuo also participated in the entire sea exercise on his own flagship. In addition to learning the tactics during the battle, Zheng Zuo really coveted the configuration of Haihan, a giant ship with cannons.The Haihan Majestic-class battleship has dozens of broadside guns, and the last round of shelling at close range is enough to destroy a sailing ship. Even though it only fires blank shells, Zheng Zuo can fully imagine that this kind of warship will launch in wartime. true power.The steam propulsion system makes this huge ship extremely flexible on the sea, and it is difficult for a warship powered only by sails to escape its pursuit.

During the two-day military exercise, the red and blue armies each had one victory and one defeat, which was considered a tie.However, the performance of the Annan Fleet was slightly worse. It was still difficult to achieve complete synchronization with the Haihan Navy in naval battles, so that it dragged down the performance of the Red Army on the first day of the exercise.Fortunately, Yan Chujie adjusted his combat deployment in time, and arranged for the Annan Fleet to line up alone in the second day's exercise, launching an attack on the Blue Army at his own pace.This time, there is no need to cooperate with Haihan's action rhythm, and the effect is much better if he launches the offensive alone.

On September 27, the fleet set off from Cam Ranh Port and continued to march south.At this time, the size of the fleet has expanded a lot, because the South China Sea Fleet has also joined this fleet.The huge fleet sailed out of Cam Ranh Port one after another, and the distance between each team was about ten nautical miles.

When the fleet left Cam Ranh Port, it happened to meet two Portuguese merchant ships traveling together to enter the port for supplies. After seeing this huge fleet, they immediately gave way to the channel and lowered their sails to show peace.The sailors on the ship watched the fleet sail out of the harbor dumbfounded, and some even started to sign the sign of the sign of the cross.Some knowledgeable people have already figured out who among the many forces in the South China Sea is going to be unlucky.

Starting from Cam Ranh Port and traveling about 170 nautical miles southwest along the coastline, it is the last stop of the United Fleet, Vung Tau Port.The concession area that Haihan delineated here is the Vung Tau Peninsula, which protrudes into the sea and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. This place is very close to Saigon, an important seaside town in Champa Kingdom. More than half of the various transactions between the two parties are completed in Vung Tau Port every year. goods, so the business atmosphere here is relatively thicker.

The place name Saigon appeared around the Ming Dynasty. After Zheng He’s seven voyages to the West, many coastal countries in the Middle East and East Africa sent envoys to pay tribute to Ming Dynasty, and Saigon was the place where the tribute ships from the West were on their way. One of the ports of call has the meaning of "paying tribute from the West".The straight-line distance between Vung Tau Port and Saigon is less than a hundred miles, and it is an offshore area, and flat-bottomed boats can also go back and forth between the two places.Every year when the grain harvest season comes, a large number of Saigon civilian ships are loaded with grain and transported from Saigon to Vung Tau for trading.However, when the United Fleet arrived at this place, the grain trading period had already passed, so there was not much prosperity in the port, and only a small number of Champa merchant ships docked.

The significance of the existence of Vung Tau Port is the trade window between Haihan and Champa. More than [-]% of the trade here takes place between Champa and Haihan. It can be regarded as Haihan’s export of goods and values ​​to Champa. main channel.

(End of this chapter)