1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 22 Meeting (Part [-])

The sky was getting dark, and according to the requirements of the Executive Committee, the people who were active outside had basically returned to Base No. [-] or the ship.Some young people who couldn't be idle set up small stoves at the entrance of the base, and while grilling the few pots of seafood and shellfish left by the chefs in today's cooking class, they loudly talked about the battle that took place this afternoon.Although there were only a dozen or so people who actually witnessed the battle, the military strategists who were in the camp seemed to have been there, analyzing the gains and losses of the two armies in a serious manner.

The meeting in the prefab room is still going on, and the last is the report from the Military Police Department, which is undoubtedly the most concerned content of all the participants.As the first battle after coming to this time and space, the military and police department's performance today can be called excellent, the response is quick and proper, and it has also achieved excellent results in the subsequent counterattack.Although one person was unfortunately injured in the process, in general, the response of the Military and Police Department was not at fault, and the results were quite impressive. Before the Military and Police Department reported the situation, several departments had already begun to compete for this battle. 's harvest.

However, Yan Chujie's speech only briefly mentioned the battle process. In his opinion, there is nothing to write about in such a one-sided battle. However, after the cross-examination of dozens of prisoners, he obtained a lot of valuable. intelligence.

"First of all, it is about the sea power of the Yacheng garrison, which is also the military force that is most likely to threaten our security at present. According to the confession of the prisoners, there are currently seventeen ships in Yacheng Water Village. Different uses are divided into blessing boats, grass-skimming boats, Haicang boats, Cangshan boats, net shuttle boats, eagle boats, etc. However, several of these large boats were dispatched to Qiongzhou to transport materials some time ago, and currently there are only water villages left. Two Haicang ships support the facade - including the Haicang ship that was captured today. It is also worth noting that the weapons of these Ming soldiers are seriously lacking in maintenance, especially the muskets, which are rusted in my opinion. It is almost the same as the unearthed cultural relics, I am afraid it is difficult to use it in actual combat.”

"... Regarding the military strength of Yazhou Shuizhai, it is being compiled as one general, one general, two sentries, three hundred officers and soldiers, and three hundred rudder soldiers. According to the account of the captured officer Luo Shengdong, The actual strength of Shuizhai may be slightly lower than this figure, but the difference is not very big..."

"Wait a minute." Tao Donglai interrupted Yan Chujie and asked, "Isn't there a fairly common phenomenon of empty pay in the army at the end of the Ming Dynasty? Is this officer's confession unreliable?"

Yan Chujie had actually thought of this issue during the interrogation, but Ning Qi believed that the confessions of the prisoners were more credible, because the naval forces were no more professional than the army, and could hardly replicate the usual empty battalion of the army, with superiors. The way to deal with it by temporarily arresting a group of peasant soldiers during the inspection—not to mention the peasants, even ordinary fishermen and sailors would not be able to manipulate warships.

Of course, there is another reason that the officer's self-confidence has obviously suffered a serious blow, and his mental state is extremely uneasy. Both Yan Chujie and Ning Qi believe that this prisoner who has not received professional anti-interrogation training is impossible to fabricate lies in this mental state. of.And Tao Donglai also accepted after listening to the explanation, and told Yan Chujie to continue.

"After the interrogation, our military and police department together with the shipping department conducted a comprehensive assessment of the military strength of Yazhou Shuizhai." Yan Chujie glanced down at his record and continued: "We believe that the premise of not taking the initiative to attack Now, Yazhou Water Village poses a very limited threat to us at present. Our leading advantage in the military command system and ordnance technology cannot be made up by the small gap between the numbers of the two sides. Moreover, the scheduled trip of this team is half a month. After being captured by us, there will be no more warships coming from the direction of Yazhou in the short term."

"Then what is the military strength of Yazhou City?" Tao Donglai asked noncommittally.

"The garrison in Yazhou City is a 700-household office, and the number of people in the garrison should be about 1000. However, these garrisons belong to the military system. A considerable part of the soldiers come from the local military households in Yazhou, and they are usually responsible for farming and food delivery. Organized to guard Yazhou City during the war." Yan Chujie paused before continuing: "This is what we used to call peasant soldiers, most of the captives think that the combat effectiveness of these guard soldiers who guard the city is even lower than theirs , the fighting will and fighting skills are quite lacking, and the number of people is much smaller than the establishment, it is estimated that [-] people can be gathered, thank God."

"The real war five scum..." Tao Donglai couldn't help but sighed: "It's no wonder that in history, Hainan has been looted by pirates many times in history. It's hell to rely on this kind of soldiers to defend the territory."

"At least it's less of a threat for us, and that's not a bad thing. But we can't take it lightly because we have another adversary that hasn't appeared."

"pirate?"

"That's right." Yan Chujie nodded and said, "When I led a team to Yulinjiao for investigation in the morning, I found that there were still stone-built houses on the mountain. I asked the fishermen. It was a stronghold built by pirates in the past. It is said that Luhuitou Peninsula There are even bigger pirate dens on the island. We don't know when they will come here, how big they will be, the only certainty is that they will appear in front of us in the near future."

"Definitely?" Someone in the executive committee chewed on the meaning of Yan Chujie's words.

"Definitely! The fishermen's statement is consistent with the father and son of the Yu family. Several pirates come to Yulin every year, so when they saw our ship sailing into the harbor, they knew how to escape." Yan Chujie was very Definitely give the evidence that you know.

"What solution does the military police have?" Some people's emotions have become tense because of this.

"Solution? I'm afraid we don't have the ability to take the initiative to solve the external threat of force at this stage. But don't worry too much, we have already prepared the solution." Yan Chujie responded confidently: "As long as everyone cooperates well. With the work of the Military and Police Department, we will definitely defeat any enemy who dares to attack!"

The response plan of the Military and Police Department is mainly divided into three parts: First, establish a reasonable patrol system and patrol scope.Given that the threat of force is unlikely to come from land, the Ministry of Military and Police suggested that the scope of maritime patrols should be expanded from the existing Victory Harbor to at least cover the bay between the southern end of the Luhuitou Peninsula and Hutouling in the east. .At present, there are three sailboats in the Crossover Group, two of which can be kept on duty and one on standby. In addition, iron-hulled fishing boats can be dispatched if necessary, so monitoring the surrounding waters is not too difficult.After expanding the scope of maritime surveillance, in the face of the threat of sea attack, at least one hour of early warning time can be obtained, and this period of time is enough for the military and police department to mobilize manpower to wait for work in Victory Port.

As for the need to take care of the manpower occupation at the critical stage of the infrastructure project, the Military and Police Department believes that this is extremely necessary, and this view is also supported by the Maritime Department. Several sailing captains.And Yan Chujie, of course, has his own calculus about this - the initial stage of the crossing group must be military control, so the captains trained by the shipping department must also be placed under the command of the military and police department in wartime. It is difficult to say whether it is included in the naval establishment.

Second, establish a fixed observation post on the mountains of Yulinjiao as soon as possible.Yulinjiao has an excellent geographical location. According to the on-site inspection of the Military Police Department, in fine weather, the visibility of the sea can reach about [-] kilometers. The fixed observation post and the mobile maritime patrol sailboats can be described as the early warning mechanism in the south. Nothing is lost.The military and police department has a staff of three people per shift, every two days, and is equipped with binoculars, firearms and military radios.

Third, some simple fortifications should be gradually built outside the No. [-] base of Victory Port, such as trenches, defensive walls of civil structures, and the wartime traffic road connecting the No. [-] base to the temporary wharf of Victory Port, etc.The reason for this is to take into account that if there is an extreme situation and the incoming pirates have too much momentum to resolve the battle on the sea, the traversers can also retreat to the land for defense, and the bastion-style bunker plus Sharp firearms, the Military and Police Department believes that relying on such a defense system, at least thousands of pirates can be blocked.

The first two points of the military and police response plan were passed without any objection, but the third point caused a lot of controversy, and the reason is naturally the allocation of human resources.How much labor would it take to build fortifications around Base [-]?Ning Qi, who was in charge of human resources, simply said harshly that there was one order of life, but no labor force.

Yan Chujie gritted his teeth in anger: "Today's arrest of these dozens of people is all thanks to the military and police department. Just now Liu Shanxia said that the construction department needs labor, and Sun Changmi said that the shipping department needs sailors, and labor and management didn't say a word. Now I want to The labor force builds fortifications, you will play this for me?"

"Old Yan, there are priorities!" Ning Qi could only persuade patiently: "You have also listened to other departments' reports just now. Now there are so many projects waiting to be started, step by step!"

"The projects from other departments are important, so it's not important to build fortifications? I hope everyone here can figure out one thing. When it comes to a critical moment, fortifications are our last means of life-saving!"

"You don't need to say it, Lao Yan, I think so, the fortifications must be repaired, but..." Tao Donglai's tone changed: "...the priority can be a little later, and starting tomorrow, organize various departments after dinner. The young people who will be there will work voluntary for another hour, and the content is to build the fortifications that Lao Yan just mentioned."

Yan Chujie's face softened a little, but he didn't give in at all: "You just perfunctory me, if something really happens, don't blame the military and police department!"

"Don't be angry, old man, isn't it just building a bastion? When our soil cement workshop is put into operation, we will build a string of cement bunkers along the coastline for you, and build the Victory Port into a South China Sea fortress. You can do whatever you want at that time. !" Someone from the Ministry of Industry kindly comforted.

Yan Chujie couldn't help laughing and crying, but he also knew that the biggest difficulty facing Chuanzhong was the severe shortage of labor, so he didn't insist too much on it.

(End of this chapter)