"Wait until we get to Hong Kong Island to purify them properly." This time the formation also brought along professionals who originally worked in the Guangzhou purification camp. The task force prepared to open a new decontamination camp on Hong Kong Island to process prisoners.
"They will take the opportunity to escape."
“I don’t think so, not even the shooters.
The fleet successfully passed through the Ma Wan Strait and rounded the southwest corner of Tsing Yi Island. This is already Victoria Bay, and Chen Haiyang can see a peninsula protruding in the direction of the mainland without a telescope - this is the location of the Stonecutters Naval Base in the old time.
"This is really a natural port." Chen Haiyang couldn't help but admired. The geographical conditions of Victoria Bay are indeed so superior that it can be used as a first-class military and commercial port. There are places everywhere that can be used as ports.
Now it is a deserted place with very few traces of permanent residents. According to the information provided by Guangzhou Station, there are only a few villages on Hong Kong Island and the surrounding outlying islands.
But opposite Hong Kong Island, there are Xin'an and Dongguan counties, both of which are the land of plenty in Guangdong, producing large quantities of rice, tea, indigo, tobacco, and sea salt. Economically speaking, it is a very prosperous area. Occupying Hong Kong is equivalent to the Australian and Song Dynasty regime gaining a straw inserted into the richest region of South China. A large amount of materials can be continuously shipped from here.
The Ming government was also aware of the importance of Hong Kong. In addition to guarding the Pearl River Estuary in Tuen Mun, Xin'an County was responsible for administering the Hong Kong area. Its county seat was the Dongguan Guard Qianhusuo City under the jurisdiction of the former Guangzhou Guard Office. . In the first year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, in order to consolidate coastal defense and defend Guangzhou, the area was separated from Dongguan and established as Xin'an County.
At its peak, Nantou Village here had 2,000 Ming troops stationed there and more than 100 warships. The city is an important transportation hub for rivers and seas and an important coastal defense military town.
Even now, there are still seven to eight hundred troops stationed here and more than fifty warships. This Nantou Village is now the Nantou District of Shenzhen. There is also a local attraction - Chen Haiyang visited Xin'an Old Town in the past. The two places are not far apart. If the Ming army wanted to intervene, they would have arrived on Hong Kong Island on the same day.
The staff of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Military Command Department speculated that the Guangdong Ming Army was unlikely to rashly attack the Australian and Song Army after their new defeat. Even if they wanted to attack, they couldn't assemble enough threatening troops. With the strength of the task force, it is fully capable of repelling the Ming army.
Chen Haiyang ordered the fleet to sail to Wan Chai, preparing to land near the Hong Kong and Macau Ferry Terminal in the old time and space to establish the first base. Although Hong Kong Island is China's largest island in terms of area, its terrain is mainly mountainous, and the limited plains are mainly concentrated in the northern part of the island facing Victoria Bay. Therefore, the main location for building the base and immigration area was also chosen here.
After the task force landed in Wan Chai, they conducted a brief occupation flag-raising ceremony.
"Raise the flag and salute" followed the shout of the salute soldier. The bugler blew the bugle. A flag was hoisted on a temporary moso bamboo pole. The sailors and sailors who lined up on the beach saluted at the same time and then sang "Ode to the Motherland" in unison. The first territory occupied by the traversers outside Hainan Island was declared complete.
Although he has landed on Hong Kong Island, Chen Haiyang decided not to substantively control the entire Hong Kong Island area for the time being - his troops could not be dispersed in many places, so he decided to temporarily gather the main force where the ships were berthed. This place was called Central in the old days. Chen Haiyang simply called the harbor and the fortress under construction "852 Base". As for what it will be called in the future, let the people in the Senate decide.
In order to keep abreast of the surrounding developments, Chen Haiyang sent a team carrying a radio to Lei Yue Mun by boat to establish an observation post on the main thoroughfare to the east of Hong Kong Island. Another team was sent to Kap Shui Mun to establish a west observation post. These two observation posts can roughly monitor the movements of ships in the east-west waterways of Hong Kong Island.
The armed survey team commanded by Huang Zhao marched towards Taiping Mountain on the second day of climbing 6. They will conduct a survey of the general topography of Hong Kong Island. At the same time, an observation post was set up on Victoria Peak.
Finally, patrol boat squadrons will form a maritime patrol line to ensure early warning around the entire base. At the same time, small groups of pirates operating in the local area were eliminated - Lantau Island has historically been a traditional anchorage for pirates at the Pearl River Estuary. The number of pirates assembled there sometimes amounted to more than 300 ships. Although the task force did not observe many ships when passing north of Lantau Island, there is no doubt that this area is the area with the most rampant piracy activities. The task force must be prepared to clash with local pirates at any time.
The task force's move to land on Hong Kong Island and build a stronghold was quickly discovered by the Ming troops stationed in Tuen Mun and Nantou. Tang Bao was delivered to Zhaoqing and Guangzhou.
But the Ming army was no longer able to make a substantial response. The morale of the officialdom and the army has dropped to the extreme. Although according to the Tong newspaper, the bandits who landed on Hong Kong Island were only a thousand people and the ships were only forty or fifty. However, the officers and soldiers of the Guangdong Navy who heard that their firearms were extremely powerful did not want to fight with them. They start a war. The naval warships sent from Tuen Mun arrived at the Sulfur Strait symbolically and then retreated. The two sides fell into a silent stalemate. As for the Ming army in the south, there was no sign of large groups of troops dispatching. Only the sentries observed that a small number of Ming army spies arrived in the Sha Tau Kok area across the bay.
A brief interrogation was conducted on the captured pirates, and it turned out that they were fishermen on nearby islands. Because of the debt he owed to the fishing company, he was forced to do something at sea.
The ship that was sunk was the fishing boat owned by the leader of the group named Zhao Yajin, and the other two captured were offshore cargo ships that they had robbed more than a month ago. Before they were caught, they had succeeded several times, and each of them got about ten taels of silver.
The crew and owner of the cargo ship were also detained on the ship - it was said that they had to participate in the battle, otherwise they would have their heads chopped off. There were also seven or eight pirates who kidnapped people who could not escape on shore when the pirate ship docked. If you have the money to redeem them, you let them go. If you don't have the money, you stay on the ship and coerce them to become pirates.
At that moment, Chen Haiyang arranged for the captured people and ships to be released on the spot, and also replenished them with the captured food and money so that they could return home safely. The twenty-odd prisoners left with great gratitude. Those left behind are the screened pirates. Zhao Yajin had been killed by a typewriter bullet during the battle.
No valuable loot was found from the ship, mainly daily necessities such as grain and salted fish. According to the confession of the captured second leader Liang Sansan, the slightly valuable trophies were all in the villages on the shore.
"It's true that the interest on the fish farm is too heavy. It charges three or four cents in interest. It took several years for this villain to pay back the debt, so he took the risk. Please forgive me, my deputy." A few people in ragged clothes were struggling on the beach. Begged.
"Whether you are a pirate or a bandit, you always say you are forced to do so. In fact, most of them are indolent people." The Cantonese vernacular translator was a scholar who had just come out of the purification camp and said angrily to Chen Haiyang. , "Please pay attention."
When the captured pirates saw that the translator next to him was speaking poorly, they all grabbed the ground with their heads and begged bitterly. The name of Kun Thief has now spread to the Pearl River Estuary area. Just by looking at their heads, you can tell that they have fallen into the hands of the thieves - and they are famous for their "cruelty".
Fish pens are extremely exploitative, and Chen Haiyang knows that. When he was in the fleet, although the idea of "remembering the bitter and thinking of the sweet" was no longer popular, when he visited the Japanese traditional education base, most places involving militia would involve "fishing pens" and "fishing tyrants". "Such a noun.
Fishing owners take advantage of their control over funds and markets to purchase catches at low prices and sell daily necessities and grains at high prices, making huge profits from it. And by lending high-interest loans to fishermen, it is easy to control the fishermen in their own hands. Fishermen often have to invest a lot of money at one time in production and operations, and their demand for loans is much higher than that of farmers, making them more likely to fall into such a loan shark trap.
However, Chen Haiyang's mission was not to fight against the fishing tyrants. He decided to leave this matter to the civil affairs commissioner who came with the team.
"Let them work hard in the purification camp first, and then let them be interrogated." Chen Haiyang said.
Many couriers who could speak the local language were sent from the civil affairs team accompanying the army. Under the escort of armed soldiers, they went to various villages on Hong Kong Island to deliver messages - asking them to immediately send people to the 852 base for a meeting to prepare to select liaison officers .
Although the force is limited and the task force is not yet able to effectively intervene in the local civil affairs system, a system for organizing local recruitment of personnel and materials still needs to be established as soon as possible.
"If we want to enter and exit the Pearl River Estuary as we please, we must firmly control the Lantau Channel." In the temporary headquarters set up in a large tent, Chen Haiyang explained the upcoming battle plan to his men. "The northern part of Lantau Island, There is a village called Tung Chung. It is the main anchorage for pirates at the Pearl River Estuary. We must destroy the pirate base in Tung Chung."
Wen Desi said: "We haven't started a war with the Ming army yet. If we fight the pirates first, will we be attacked on both sides?"
"The Ming army may not actively fight with us, but the good thing is that pirates are a big hidden danger for us - there will be many ships going between Hong Kong Island and Lingao in the future, and their harassment will be very difficult for the navy. Headache."
"In this way, we need to increase the number of troops in the six places. If we occupy Tung Chung, we need to send troops to guard it."
"It doesn't matter if we don't occupy Tung Chung first. As long as we can destroy the pirate fleet assembled there at any time, the pirates will naturally not dare to show up there." v! ~!
