1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 921

During the docking of the joint fleet in Vung Tau Port, there are still military exercises arranged. However, considering that Saigon Bay belongs to the sensitive area at the junction of Champa and Annan, the Haihan military did not arrange maritime projects at this stage when formulating the exercise plan. , but put the Marine Corps' landing and penetration exercises here.

The planned target area for the exercise is Tingshan, [-] miles north of Vung Tau Port, located inland. There used to be some mountain people living in this area, but after the opening of Vung Tau Port, the nearby residents basically moved to the port. The district has worked for Haihan, and the place has gradually returned to its original natural state. It can also be used as a training ground to avoid the trouble of leaking military secrets and disturbing the people.

Haihan and Annan each dispatched [-] soldiers to participate in the exercise of this project.In the early hours of the morning, the participants rowed a small boat from the port of Vung Tau across the bay to the north, landed on the coast about three miles away from Tingshan, and then divided into several teams and headed towards the mountain.The mixed teams of the two armies need to find their destination within a mountainous area with a radius of about [-] miles according to the randomly assigned map, and bring back the pre-arranged tokens.

Considering that many field military exercises with different contents have been held along the way, in the last joint military exercise, the headquarters did not set up other man-made obstacles for the soldiers. The team's ability to implement orienteering and teamwork.But this does not mean that the difficulty of this exercise project will be reduced. In fact, since the United Fleet arrived in Vung Tau Port, the rain here has not stopped.According to the actual measurement results the day before the exercise, the total precipitation within 24 hours has reached the level of moderate to heavy rain. It is really hard work to march into the mountains under such weather conditions.

The field military exercise held in Tingshan actually ended in only one day, but due to the rainy exercise, a large number of participating troops became ill after the event, which forced Yan Chujie to temporarily postpone his stay in Vung Tau Port. extended by two days.Fortunately, both the headquarters and the local government were prepared for this, but the situation did not worsen.

On the morning of October [-]th, Annan soldiers who had just finished their morning exercises on the pier suddenly discovered that several warships flying the Champa flag were slowly entering the port of Vung Tau.The officers leading the team didn't dare to be negligent, and sent people to report to Zheng Zuo while gathering people to board the ship for orders.

Zheng Zuo had already been notified by Haihan before this, and he was not surprised when he heard the news. He just asked the personnel on the pier to strengthen surveillance and not act rashly.He didn't quite believe the Haihan people's claim that the Champa army joined the military exercise temporarily. He always felt that it was a bit tricky. Otherwise, how could the Champa people come to join the South Navy exercise hosted by Haihan just in time for the last stop of the Annan Fleet? .

However, Zheng Zuo is not worried about his own safety. Even if Haihan is unwilling to help Annan deal with Champa, he will definitely not stand on the side of Champa against Annan. After all, Haihan has more interests in Annan than this neighbor Much more.And this incident is not necessarily bad news for Annan, because Zheng Zuo will go south with the Haihan Fleet next, and there is still a lot of time to get up close and observe the performance of the Champa Navy, which is definitely rare in recent years Good opportunity, it is much more intuitive than the text reports that I received before.

Although Annan, Champa and Haihan have in-depth military cooperation, in the place of Vung Tau Port, both sides adhere to the concept that the king does not see the king, and will not take the initiative to contact each other.This was a pain for Yan Chujie. His coordinating job was particularly troublesome. He had to take into account the attitudes and emotions of both parties, but also not have too much impact on the original exercise plan.It was not until October [-] that the communication between the three parties finally came to an end.

On October [-], the Annan Fleet sailed from the port of Vung Tau and headed north along the coastline of the Indochina Peninsula to return to its station.Only Zheng Zuo's team, a warship and a comprehensive supply ship were left to keep Vung Tau Port to continue to act with Haihan.According to the original plan, this team will participate in Haihan's South China Sea cruise and visit Haihan's territory in the South China Sea, the Abona Islands.

The next day, a new joint fleet joined by six Champa Navy sailing ships also sailed out of Vung Tau Port one after another, heading for Anbuna Port, [-] nautical miles away.Although the Annan Fleet withdrew from the United Fleet, the Haihan South Sea Fleet was newly joined in Cam Ranh Port, and with the joining of the Champa Fleet, the size of the entire fleet increased instead of falling, and it still reached the size of [-] ships. Moreover, there are two Majestic-class warships sitting in command, which can be regarded as a very powerful maritime armed force in the entire NH area.

Yan Chujie and Mu Xiabo led a flagship each, and divided the entire fleet into two teams, which intentionally or unintentionally separated Annan's and Champa's navy.The speed of the entire United Fleet is not fast. The headquarters has planned four days for this voyage. Even at the speed of a traditional sailing ship, it can basically complete this voyage.During this period, the United Fleet also practiced various tracking, anti-tracking, joint attack encirclement, sea area search and other projects in maritime operations, so that the fleet, which has had few military operations in the past year, can better adapt to the situation in the South China Sea. By the way, warm up for the upcoming military operations in the South China Sea.

Although Zheng Zuo brought two boats with him, he actually lived on the flagship where Yan Chujie was, so that he could observe the operation of the Haihan Command Center up close.After Haihan started the exercise, he found that the training intensity at this time seemed to be much higher than the previous voyage from Da Nang to Vung Tau Port.

The Champa Fleet, which only joined in Vung Tau Port, obviously couldn't adapt to such a rhythm, and could only undertake some tasks of mopping up the rear or liaising in the middle during the exercise.Zheng Zuo couldn't help regretting that he should grit his teeth and ask the court to spend more military expenses. If the Annan Fleet can participate in the second half of the exercise, it should gain a lot. ,

For the Zhancheng Fleet participating in the joint military exercise for the first time, it is indeed very difficult to keep up with the rhythm of the SH Han Fleet in action.Although most of the officers among them had been trained in the Haihan fleet, they realized the huge gap in combat level between the two sides when they actually acted together with the Haihan fleet. can make up.Fan Ji, the commander of Champa, could easily imagine what the battle would be like if he and Hai Han were confronted at sea.

Four days later, the vanguard of the Combined Fleet arrived at the port on the east coast of the main island of Ambuna.After more than two years of construction, the port here is much more complete than when it was taken from the Dutch, but it still seems a bit stretched to receive such a large fleet.Fortunately, Roger, who was stationed here, had already been notified by the military in early September, so he had more time to prepare locally. Otherwise, let alone staying in the Port of Ambuna, even docking would be a disaster. big problem.

"It's been a long time since my place has been so lively. Someone like me who can't stand loneliness, would have been the island owner of this place for two full years." At the welcome banquet held for the United Fleet, Roger He sighed and said: "I originally thought that I would take over half a year here to replace Lao Mu, and then I would go south. I didn't expect to stay here for two years. If I knew this, I shouldn't apply for transfer back after I finished fighting in Taiwan last year. Staying in FJ, this year I will go north with them to play ZJ, no matter how bad it is, at least Wang Tom went to play Miyakojima some time ago, and I can also drink some soup along with it.”

Yan Chujie smiled and said, "Don't make yourself look like an idler. You haven't been idle in the past two years, have you? Lao Tao specially told me this time to take a good look at the multinational troops you trained on Ambuna Island. If you really If you boasted so well in the report, then the establishment of the South China Sea Special War Battalion will be awarded to you."

Roger said sternly: "What is bragging? Am I, Roger, the kind of person who plays tricks? Boss Tao's worry is a bit unnecessary. After you have inspected the goods later, you will know that this trip to the South China Sea was not in vain!"

After Roger took control of Ambuna Island, training special forces based in the South China Sea became one of his main tasks.With Qian Tiandun's successful example in front, the senior military officers guarding a peaceful area have personally trained a special operations force, which has become one of the means to consolidate their position when there is no battle to fight.As long as it can be approved by the Military Commission and get the official establishment, this semi-private army will become legal, and it can even be transferred to other places with the officers, just like Qian Tiandun's Annant War Camp followed him It's the same as transferring to FJ and then going north to ZJ.

Of course, in order to avoid the emergence of local warlords, the Military Commission still has restrictions on the size of this kind of private army named as a special warfare force. In principle, it will not exceed the establishment of a battalion, and will not be stationed in the same place for more than three years.In this way, even if the commander has some unreasonable ideas, this amount of troops is not enough to form a malignant tumor in the place.

It has been a year since Roger came to the Abona Islands to form and train this army, but so far it still uses the local militia. Although the weapons and equipment are no different from the regular army, they have not been approved by the Military Commission. This is still an informal civilian armed force, which has many inconveniences in terms of action, and it is even more impossible to transfer to other places with Roger.Therefore, Roger must first apply for the establishment of this troop before he moves his home. Otherwise, one day the Military Commission will transfer the order, and the hard-trained troop cannot be taken away, and it will be completely done for others. Wedding dress.

"Let's put the military affairs aside for now. I am here this time to take on the tasks of several departments." Yan Chujie quickly changed the subject: "The executive committee needs to learn more about the current development status of Ambuna Island. Take me around the island first."

"No problem, even if you don't mention it, I will arrange it." Roger said straightforwardly: "I have not only trained the army in the past two years, but also the construction and development of the island. On paper If things can’t be reflected, I still have to let you see the results of my work with your own eyes.”

When Haihan captured the island in 1631, there were only a few small plantations and a small fishing port on the island.The island's production is not even enough to feed the local residents, who have to rely on the supplies brought by Batavia for several months every year.After Roger took over here, the relevant departments began to arrange development projects such as infrastructure construction and investment promotion, trying to build this place into a support point for Haihan's future South China Sea strategy.Even if there is no condition for building a large port here, at least it can become a relay point for nearby supplies.

After Roger took over here, in addition to attracting investment to develop cash crop plantations, he also developed a fairly unique local trade project, that is, the slave trade.Western colonists continuously transported slaves from Batavia and other places, and exchanged the population here for commodities produced in Haihan and Daming.And because of its special geographical location, Ambuna Island also enjoys some policy inclinations in foreign trade, and can use the entrepot trade to earn profits for local construction.

Some of the slave population imported from Ambuna Port were transported back to Sanya for redistribution, and the other part stayed in the local area as a labor force. Some of the lucky ones were selected to serve in the multinational force formed by Roger.The reason why these people are said to be lucky is that they were able to apply for Haihan nationality soon after enlisting in the army, which is at least half a year to a year earlier than their compatriots who stayed in the plantation as migrant workers.Moreover, enlisting in the army basically means that their future life is guaranteed, and this starting point is a bit higher than that of ordinary naturalized people out of thin air.

After Haihan transported several batches of Han immigrants from HN Island to Ambuna Island in the early stage of construction, the subsequent population import basically relied on the slave trade.Therefore, the population structure of the island has also changed significantly in the past two years. From the beginning when the Han people accounted for the majority of the total population, the proportion gradually declined. Today, among the more than 5000 permanent residents on the island, the Han people only account for about [-]%. , the rest of the population is like the World Expo, where people of different skin colors and beliefs live together.According to the statistics of the civil affairs department, there are more than [-] countries where the population of Ambuna Island comes from.

Of course, such a complex population composition has also brought about many problems. The differences in language, culture, and customs have made the integration of the islanders face many difficulties.However, more than half of the foreign population is imported into the local area as slaves. Before obtaining naturalization, they have no personal rights at all. way of life to adapt to the social system under the leadership of Hai Han.

(End of this chapter)