Chapter 158 Aftermath
Chen Haiyang established three outposts on Lantau Island. [Read the latest chapter] A post was built on the southern coast of Lantau Island, directly controlling the three gates - the fleet will use it as an anchorage to attack the Pearl River.
The second outpost is located at Kwai Shui Mun in the northeast of Lantau Island. Across the sea from Ma Wan Island, it is the western outlet of Victoria Bay and an important passage from the South China Sea to the Pearl River Estuary. Shortly after the task force landed on Hong Kong Island, an observation post was secretly stationed here. Now Chen Haiyang has officially organized it into an outpost to monitor this important location at all times.
The last one was built on Tai O Island.
Tai O Island is the earliest village on Lantau Island. Not only is it the main population gathering area on Lantau Island, there are also salt fields there, which were once Hong Kong's main salt supplier. Historically, this place was famous for its salt production and smuggling of salt.
This island is very close to the main island of Lantau Island, so close that the strait that separates the two sides can be crossed by just crossing the water. The maritime location here is very advantageous. The Portuguese once attempted to establish a colony on Tai O Island as a port for trade with China. But with their defeat in the Battle of Tuen Mun, this attempt completely went bankrupt.
Now, the Australians are here.
Shi Zhiqi took the sailors to Tai O Island in a large boat. Most of the villagers in Tai O are from the Dan family, and the Dan family are all fishermen and sailors. There are many people who do some piracy during the peacetime - some of the pirates who were killed or captured were local villagers. At this moment, they heard that the bandits who had destroyed Zheng Bao's gang were coming. They were all frightened, but no one dared to resist. After some urgent consultations, several elders in the village were publicly recommended to greet them.
"The houses here are a bit like the houses of ethnic minorities." Shi Zhiqi commented while looking at the "ganlan" style stilts built in the village on the seaside, half water and half land.
Lok Lam said: "This is a shack. It is the characteristic of this place. Tai O Island is called the Venice of Hong Kong. It is a must-visit place when visiting Lantau Island. The seafood is very good."
The topic of seafood does not arouse the interest of any elders. Eating seafood has become a normal life among the elders.
The sailors brought the village messenger. The Dan family are very different from the local Cantonese people in terms of their dress and dialect. Of course Shi Zhiqi couldn't understand what they said, but there were not many Dan family members in the navy of the Lingao regime, and the two sides were able to communicate quickly.
The messenger presented a gift: fifty taels of silver and some scattered gold and silver to show his obedience. Shi Zhiqi said some polite words and ordered people to accept it. Said it would not disturb the local villages. As long as they obey the instructions of the Australian and Song Dynasty regime, their safety can be protected.
The inhabitants of Lantau Island, whether they are Cantonese, Hoklo, Hakka or Danjia, are mostly fishermen, boatmen and sailors. Chen Haiyang knows: According to the research of historians, they have been living a life of half pirates and half fishermen in this sea since the 10th century. Generally speaking, pirates are also good sailors. Although the residents here have the problem of "collaborating with bandits", they are an excellent source of naval personnel. What's more, he currently doesn't have enough strength to carry out "civil reform" here. Therefore, his guiding policy on local civil issues was tolerant and he did not take harsh measures against the villagers of Lantau and nearby islands. to avoid excessive hostility. All villages were asked to hand over the escaped pirates. Of course, they will definitely not hand over their relatives and fellow villagers, but they will not be polite to foreign pirates.
Under Shi Zhiqi's order, the villages on Tai O Island appointed liaison officers, who went to Hong Kong Island for meetings every ten days as stipulated. There is also what is called a “reasonable burden”. This reasonable burden includes the supply of fish, shrimp and seafood, as well as the free requisition of manpower and ships. This policy has also spread to every village on Lantau Island.
The outpost built on Tai O Island was built at a place called "Fangui Pond" by the villagers. This place was originally where the Portuguese built a fort and prepared to open up a commercial port. Many traces left by the Portuguese more than a hundred years ago can still be seen on the spot: stones and rubble used to build fortresses and buildings, and rusted iron tools. There are even a few shipwrecks left among the rocks.
A few days later, Wen Desi, Chen Haiyang and others led the military and civilian cadres of the task force to place an incense table on the beach in Tung Chung, and held a grand ceremony facing the sea to worship Song Duanzong. During the last stormy period of the Song Dynasty, the Imperial Court of the Southern Song Dynasty visited Lantau Island twice and stayed briefly in Tung Chung. It is said that Tuan Zong also died somewhere on the north shore of Lantau Island. Since the Lingao regime claims to be descendants of Yashan, this move helps to show its "orthodoxy".
A company of infantrymen of the 6th Army formed a square formation. There are 12 secret service boats lined up in the harbor. The elders were all respectful. Although they did not kneel three times and kowtow nine times, they bowed three times to ninety degrees. Later, Wen Desi read out the memorial text. This memorial text is said to be written by a talented student with a bachelor's degree in Chinese and a master's degree in history from a university in the Senate. It is not only a parallel prose, but also contains many rare words that need to be translated from the "Kangxi Dictionary". Wen Desi stumbled while reading it, and finally managed to read it. Consider it a gift.
After the ceremony, the entire army of the Army fired three times, and then the spy boat in the bay fired three times. For a moment, thick smoke billowed and the momentum was astonishing.
The Battle of Lantau Island completely eliminated the interest of other pirate gangs in the Pearl River Basin. Now that Liu Xiang is avoiding the Australians, and the reckless Zheng Bao has been completely destroyed, everyone has a better understanding of the strength of the Kun thieves or the Australians. As a result, almost all pirates in this area disappeared.
From a topographic point of view, there is an almost closed inland sea between Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island and the mainland. Now the inland sea is completely controlled by the task force, and the Ming navy in Tuen Mun and the south end of Xin'an has not made any move to challenge the Australian sea rights. Navy patrols in Nantou Village were also cancelled.
Another result of the Battle of Lantau Island was that Chen Haiyang had to postpone the time to enter the Pearl River Estuary and start a full-scale operation. He has too much to digest. Captives and captured ships filled the 852 base, and he needed more food, craftsmen, and soldiers to cope with it.
So he asked for further reinforcements from Lingao, otherwise the task force would not be able to take care of both the construction of Hong Kong Island and the Pearl River harassment operation. Just 2,000 prisoners and several hundred immigrants from Lantau Island must be guarded by at least one company.
The Sixth Army volunteered and sent two infantry companies. Although the Navy is not very happy with the hands of the Army, Hong Kong Island is unlikely to be dominated by the Navy. The reinforcements from the Army can at least share their combat pressure.
With the arrival of the Army, civil affairs and engineering personnel also continued to arrive along with the spy boats transporting supplies. They built a dock and built a simple ship repair yard. Warehouses and barracks were built, steam engines were installed, and construction kits were used to expand the purification camp. After completion, the purification camp will be able to accommodate 5,000 people.
Chen Haiyang ordered the sailors to speed up the renovation of the ships seized from the pirates - especially those I-shaped shallow-draft sampans and long dragons. They will be very useful in landing battles in inland waters. With such an i-boat, soldiers can be transported to and boarded almost anywhere without having to consider water depth.
The entire Hong Kong Island base became very lively, with noisy construction sites and workers everywhere. In the bay near Hong Kong Island, large steam-propelled patrol boats are patrolling in a majestic manner, reminding who is the master of this sea area.
The power of the ships in Chen Haiyang's hands has further increased. Four Type II single-masted patrol boats were allocated to him from Lingao. This is an improved iron-ribbed wooden hull ship that was recently launched. The iron-ribbed wooden hull ship was chosen to take into account the productivity and material supply capabilities of the Lingao industry at this stage. The tonnage of each ship was expanded to 15o tons and equipped with 18 artillery pieces. Although this kind of ship is not suitable for entering inland rivers with complex waterways such as the Pearl River for combat, it is an absolute weapon for controlling the waters of the Pearl River Estuary. It can effectively monitor various maritime passes around Hong Kong Island. This allowed him to free up enough troops to enter the Pearl River to fight.
He designated the troops entering the Pearl River Estuary as 5 squadrons of 20 spy boats and 1 squadron of single-masted patrol boats. 1 large boat squadron. In addition, there is also a temporary "i-boat brigade" using captured pirate sampans and long queues. The large ships seized from the pirates were fumigated with drugs and a dozen ships in better condition were used. Chen Haiyang equipped it with sailors and marines, and also slightly modified it. These ships would serve primarily as transports, carrying supplies and prisoners captured in combat.
The survey ship sent by Chen Haiyang, escorted by patrol boats, came to the Pearl River Estuary in advance to conduct actual measurements of water depth and topography. There is obviously a big difference between the waterway map of the 21st century and the actual situation in the 17th century. Chen Haiyang did not want the ship to run aground before the battle began - this would affect his and the navy's reputation.
Of course, everything Base 852 is doing cannot be hidden from the Ming army posts along the coast. Although they didn't actually respond. But the warning that the Kun thieves were about to launch a large-scale invasion soon spread to Guangzhou and Zhaoqing.
Although Zhaoqing fell into a dull state of no war and no peace, at the governor's office in Guangzhou, the matter of paying money to the Australians was in full swing. The leader of the peace negotiations was Li Fengjie, the governor of Guangdong. Soon after receiving the news of the defeat, he quickly summoned his staff and his closest officials to secretly discuss countermeasures. Everyone believed that after this defeat, Guangdong must clear their relationship as soon as possible. Of course you have to play it quickly.
Li Fengjie's sedan chair was carried across the street, which was almost entirely filled with government offices. There were originally very few pedestrians on the road. Most of them were clerks and servants of various government offices and servants of officials. It's summer now, the afternoon is hot, and there are very few people on the street. a! ~!
