1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 941 Star Island
The straight-line voyage from here to the Ambuna Islands is only about [-] nautical miles. With the speed of the Haihan sailboat, it can be reached in two to three days, which is about one-third shorter than the voyage from Ambuna Island to Belitung Island.Haihan wants to control the overall situation of the Strait of Malacca, so it is undoubtedly an excellent choice to settle in this place.

Of course, no matter how good the choice is, there must be enough resources to implement it. In the past two years, Haihan’s ability was only enough to reach the line of Ambuna Island. Build a new colony.However, at present, Haihan has achieved staged victories along the coast of Daming, and he can finally put his energy back to the south.

On December 1633, 12, the sixth day of the winter month in the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Yan Chujie planted a red and blue double-color flag symbolizing the Haihan regime on the coast of Singapore Island, and named the island Xingdao on behalf of the executive committee.

During the year, Haihan continued to move abroad. At the beginning of the year, he sent troops to capture two fortresses established by the Spaniards in Taipei, and then sent troops from Fujian to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to attack the Zhoushan Islands outside Hangzhou Bay.At the beginning of September, King Tom led a team to Miyako Island again, and wiped out the remnants of Shibazhi, which had been worrying about the Executive Committee.Then Yan Chujie led the team to the south for military exercises, spent more than two months in the South China Sea, and finally came to Xingdao at the entrance of the Malacca Strait to plant the flag.Haihan spent this year clearing up the obstacles on the road to expansion, and extending the actual control area to the north and south by about [-] nautical miles.

And what happened to Daming in the same year?In February, the peasant army invaded Hebei, captured Zhaozhou, Xishan, Shunde, Zhending and other cities one after another, and defeated the regular army led by Zuo Liangyu in Xingtai.In the same month, Kong Youde and Geng Jingzhong abandoned Dengzhou City and fled from the sea. The Shandong war finally came to an end, but these two rebel generals went outside the pass with artillery skills to surrender the wild boar skin, which left extremely serious troubles for Ming Dynasty.

After July, the Jin soldiers captured Lushun, an important town in eastern Liaodong. Officers such as Huang Long, the commander-in-chief, and Li Weiluan, a guerrilla, died in a fierce battle. Among the generals who led the post-Jin army was Kong Youde, who had defected from the Shandong war.

At the same time when the Haihan Fleet was cruising the expansion territory in the South China Sea, the Peasant Army of the Central Plains, under the siege and interception of the officers and soldiers, attacked all the way south into Huguang and Sichuan, and almost all the confidantes of Ming Dynasty fell into the flames of civil strife.Throughout the whole year, Ming Dynasty has been in the midst of internal and external troubles, the Liaodong territory was completely lost, the Jin army entered the pass aggressively, and the peasant army rebellion in the country has not been completely resolved. The entire empire seems to have been There are signs of faltering.At the same time, in order to avoid the war, the wealthy and well-connected upper class began to flood into the relatively stable Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and even went south to Fuguang, bringing false prosperity to these coastal areas.

The rapid expansion of the emerging regime and the sunset of the old empire are happening simultaneously in the Far East.So far, apart from Fuguang and Guangxi, Haihan has not exerted much influence on the internal and external crises facing Ming Dynasty, and is basically still in the position of a bystander.For Haihan, occupying the sea throat in the Far East as soon as possible is far more important than interfering with Ming Dynasty.The chaos of Ming Dynasty just happened to bring more wealth and immigrants into Haihan's rule, which was not a bad thing for Haihan.

In 1633, more than 7 naturalized citizens registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Haihan, an increase of 30% over the previous year. The proportion of naturalized citizens in Hainan Island, the main base of Haihan, also rose from 50% to [-]%.However, relatively speaking, places with a higher proportion of naturalized people are often newly opened colonies, because most of the personnel sent to these places for development have already obtained the status of naturalized people, and most of the rest are in the investigation period. And in order to stimulate the enthusiasm of population migration, stationing abroad can effectively shorten the naturalization investigation time of new immigrants and obtain naturalization faster.

For example, in the planned new colony where Yan Chujie is now planting the flag, most of the thousands of people who will move in in the next six months will come here as naturalized people to settle down.

"We will build a military base and a commercial port here, and in a few years it will become a regional trade center, replacing the function and status of Batavia to a certain extent." Yan Chujie unabashedly promoted Haihan to his allies His ambition: "Whether the Dutch make concessions in the negotiations will not affect the development of the situation. Even if they guard the stronghold of Batavia in the future, they will only gradually decline."

"What about the state of Johor? Speaking of which, this is also the territory of the state of Johor. Will Haihan use force to resolve this matter?" Zheng Zuo asked with concern.

Johor is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, separated from Sing Tao by a strait more than 1000 meters wide, so close.In the past, the stronghold established by the Johor State on Sing Dao was completely destroyed by the Portuguese, but this does not mean that they completely gave up their pursuit of this land.If Haihan came here to establish a stronghold, it is hard to predict what attitude the Johor National Assembly will take.If we only look at the relationship between countries, it is very likely that Johor will have a hostile attitude towards Haihan. After all, Portugal has formed an alliance with Haihan. From the perspective of Johor, these two groups of people are of course the same.

"If they are honest, they can talk about anything, and if they have differences, they can be resolved through negotiation. But if they try to use force to resolve territorial disputes, then we don't mind teaching them a lesson." Yan Chujie's answer Ambiguous and very official.

However, Zheng Zuo has been dealing with Haihan for several years, and he has long experienced the ability of these high-ranking officials of Haihan to play haha.From Yan Chujie's answer, he can confirm at least two things. First, the Haihan people have not greeted Johor before this move. Second, the Haihan people will not hesitate to start a war in order to occupy this place.

Haihan's combat strength will be higher than that of Johor. Zheng Zuo is sure of this point. After all, Johor can't even defeat the Portuguese, and the Portuguese are defeated by Haihan. The gap in strength between the two sides is still obvious. It was no wonder that Yan Chujie was so confident.However, from Annan's point of view, Zheng Zuo really hoped that Johor would do something. After all, a dead friend would never die, and the strength of the surrounding countries would be weakened by the war, which would be beneficial to Annan.

Since Yan Chujie clearly stated that Haihan would build a regional trade center here, Annan and Champa naturally couldn't miss this good opportunity to make a fortune. Now Zheng Zuo and Fan Ji expressed their intention to participate on behalf of their respective countries.The strategic significance of a place like Xingdao can be seen at a glance on the sea chart provided by Haihan, and there is no need to explain too much at all. Annan and Champa must not be able to cross the sea to expand their territory here, but they can follow the sea. It's also good for Han to come over to get some benefits.

Of course, the investigation in Xingdao is not just a flag-planting event. The Ministry of Construction needs to complete the preliminary port topographical survey here to prepare for the next infrastructure project.The military will station a force here to declare Haihan's occupation of this place to surrounding countries.

On the third day after the fleet arrived here, a Portuguese fleet found cooking smoke rising from the coast while passing through the nearby waters, so they leaned over to check the situation.For the Portuguese, in order to ensure the safety of this waterway, the armed strongholds and population settlements along the strait must be removed one by one, but what they did not expect was that the Johorans who appeared in the strait this time were not lifeless , but a large Haihan fleet.

In order to avoid suspicion, the Portuguese merchant ship did not get too close to the coast. After watching it from a distance for a while, it turned its bow and left.But it is conceivable that the Portuguese's mood at this time should be very complicated. They want to monopolize the Strait of Malacca, and wish to exclude all competitors from this area, but Haihan's strength is there, and it is clearly not what they want. Fortunately, Haihan is at least an ally of those who can be driven away. When they enter this area, the direct threat to the city of Malacca will not be too great.

As for whether Haihan's fleet happened to pass by here, the Portuguese probably would not have too much hope for it.Because in the past two years, they have never seen the Haihan warship set foot in this place, and based on past experience, as long as the Haihan warship appears, most of the area will be included in the Haihan governance. down.

Haihan's strong ability in logistics and construction was once again demonstrated at this time. In the two days after landing, the military not only built three trestles near the coast for ships to dock, but also built ten trestles on the shore. A prefabricated boat house, and the most basic peripheral fortifications.After the completion of this temporary military base, it will be able to accommodate [-] to [-] soldiers for long-term stationing, and a coastal defense battery facing the sea will be built near the barracks.

The only thing that makes Yan Chujie feel regretful is that there is no real natural harbor here, so in terms of subsequent port construction and defense deployment, Haihan must devote more energy and investment.The tentatively selected campsite is located on the coast opposite to Sentosa Island. This location is one of the most important container terminals in Singapore in another time and space, and the terrain is just fine.Although it is not as good as natural ports such as Cam Ranh Bay in Annan and Kaohsiung Port in Tainan, it is definitely better than the islands of Ambuna and Belitung. At least the conditions of the ports here are no problem for berthing [-]-ton or even larger cargo ships. In the future The development potential is also large enough.

The real problem that caused Yan Chujie a headache was not the future development and construction of Xingdao. In this regard, Haihan has too much theoretical accumulation and practical experience for reference. As long as there is enough manpower and capital investment, building a new colony is just a matter of It's just time, but who should give the command of the garrison here makes him quite embarrassed.

In view of the geographical location and strategic significance of Xingdao, it will definitely be the command center of the military in the South China Sea for some time to come, and the commander here will undoubtedly be the controller of the armed forces in the South China Sea. There is no doubt that Mu Xiabo and Roger are both qualified to compete for this seat.

Both of these two had military experience before participating in the time-traveling, and their professional qualities were comparable. It is obvious to all.Yan Chujie personally prefers Mu Xiabo a little more. After all, Mu Xiabai is seven or eight years older than Roger, and he is more stable in his affairs. He has always led troops in the South China Sea area, and it is reasonable to go up a promotion.After Roger left Hainan Island, his service experience in the South China Sea was basically limited to Abunna Island, which was relatively insufficient.

However, Roger has an advantage that no one in the military can catch up with, that is, in his service experience before crossing, he was briefly stationed at Changi Naval Base in Singapore with the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy for half a year.

Of course, whether this can be regarded as an advantage depends on how it is said. After all, the Changi Naval Base is a product of another time and space hundreds of years later. At that time, Singapore was not really comparable to the deserted Sing Island. , and the Changi Naval Base is a place reclaimed from the sea at the eastern end of Xingdao. The current Haihan does not have such engineering capabilities to replicate a naval base for Roger to use.

But Roger's short service experience in this place did help him adapt to the geography and climate here faster as a commander. When the posture sailing boats went to Haihan, their route passed through the Strait of Malacca and they made a short stop here in Singapore.For the garrison with the navy as the main body in the future, a commander who is familiar with the sea conditions and has rich sailing experience is obviously more suitable.

As for who should be appointed as the commander here, the Military Commission had actually discussed it before, but it did not come to a conclusion that was recognized by the majority.Both candidates have their own advantages, and it is difficult to simply comment on which one is better.Yan Chujie went south this time to mobilize them together, because he also wanted to combine his actions during this period of time to see how the two performed and what their plans for the future were.

Taking advantage of the time he was staying in Xingdao, Yan Chujie spent one night, called the two into his tent, dismissed the guards, and then frankly stated the opinion of the Military Commission to them.

"The Military Commission's employment standards are uniform. Whoever has the greatest advantages and who is more suitable for this place will stay here as a commander. Note that the advantages I mentioned are not only the accumulated military exploits in the past, but also the quality of the person himself." Yan Chujie He emphasized: "I hope that you can talk about your own advantages from an objective point of view, so that the Military Commission can have some reference."

"Respect the old and love the young, Lao Mu will speak first." Luo Jie spoke first, but took the initiative to give Mu Xiabo the opportunity to speak first.Of course, in a one-on-one debate, it may not be a good thing to speak first, and it is very likely that the opponent will catch the words in the speech and fight back.

(End of this chapter)