"If we transport refugees at this rate, we will have a biochemical crisis here in a few days." Lu Wenyuan stood on the watchtower of the farm, looking worriedly at the refugee camps scattered down the hillside.
The transport fleet has come twice, transporting a total of 4,000 people, but the influx of people in the refugee camp continues unabated. Especially after Kong Youde's troops arrived at Dengzhou City, the people near Dengzhou fled in all directions to avoid the clamor of soldiers, and many hid on Qimu Island.
Lu Wenyuan could no longer grasp the precise number of refugees - people came in almost every hour. Coupled with the daily death toll, he could only estimate the approximate number of people in the refugee camp through the number of refugee rations distributed every night: the total number has exceeded 4,800.
Qimu Island is a very small island. Although food is not a problem and the accommodation is barely adequate, the consumption of drinking water cannot keep up. Providing only 1.5 liters of basic drinking water to each refugee consumes more than 10,000 liters of water every day. The water source on the island cannot supply so much water at all - it all depends on the rainwater stored in the water cellar that Lu Wenyuan collected in the previous stage.
At this rate, even if the daily population remains below six thousand, the island's water reserves will be exhausted in less than half a month. If there is no heavy snow to replenish surface water, a water fetching team will be sent to collect water from more than ten miles away.
Even worse is the excrement. Although the food supply level is very low and there are biogas digesters to deal with it, the daily amount of excrement is also considerable. Lu Wenyuan has already had to stop using several public relations toilets.
"You guys from the Planning Institute don't let go of anything..." He said through gritted teeth: If it hadn't been for the insistence of the Planning Institute, he would have built the toilet's sewage culvert directly into the sea and discharged it all into the sea, which is convenient. It's clean, why should we consider these issues now.
We still don't know when the next ship will arrive - the fleet needs to be unloaded, the gains and losses in transportation need to be assessed, and the transportation plan needs to be revised. This was originally planned, but no one expected that the speed of gathering refugees would be so fast. So fast. Right now he. We are in a state of "backlog of goods".
From the observation tower, you can see the lights on the pier and the sparse mast lights. In addition to a few fishing boats he collected himself, a special agent squadron was sent to him from Kaohsiung to protect the sea around the island. The guns of the four spy boats were covered with gun jackets and fishing nets, and the flags were hidden.
However, the cold wind that got colder day by day and the snowflakes that drifted from time to time reminded him. The harsh winter is coming.
The pools on the island and the surface runoff outside the island have begun to freeze. Under the strong northwest wind, the sea surface will soon freeze too - Lu Wenyuan has confirmed this from the mouths of local fishermen.
Once Longkou Bay freezes, the spy boats must retreat from here. However, there are now nearly 1,000 army soldiers equipped with artillery and typewriters on the island, and it is not a problem even if Kong Youde's entire army comes to attack. The only thing that worries him is the impact of the ice on ships docking.
After getting off the observation deck and returning to the warm conference room with a fire, Xie Yao, the special commissioner sent by the Ministry of Health to take charge of the health and epidemic prevention work in Qimu Island Refugee Camp, was waiting for him.
Xie Yao is an old man. In his fifties. He was originally a scholar with no fame, a bankrupt small landowner, and a little knowledge of medicine. I received training in modern Chinese and Western medicine in the training class of the Ministry of Health. Because I was from Shaanxi and considered "anti-freeze", I was sent to Shandong to take charge of the health work in the refugee camp, with dozens of health workers dispatched from Lingao under my command.
Wearing a half-worn uniform commonly worn by naturalized citizens, he sat by the stove and warmed himself. Saw Lu Wenyuan coming in. Want to stand up.
Lu Wenyuan waved his hand impatiently: "Stop getting up and let's talk about it. What happened today?"
"Disinfection liquid has been sprinkled on each barracks, and the killing rate of fleas and bed bugs is 90%." Xie Yao spoke slowly. "As of 17:00 this afternoon, thirty-one people have died, and all the corpses have been transported out. There are 109 new cases, plus those who have not yet recovered, excluding those who have recovered and died, the current number of patients The number of people is three hundred and seventy-five..."
Lu Wenyuan smiled bitterly: "Doctor Xie, what do you think the situation will be like tomorrow?"
"The weather is getting colder every day, and women, children, old and young may not be able to withstand it. A small cold and wind-chill can turn into pneumonia in no time. The medicine is not enough - it would be great if we could give them more bedding and cotton-padded clothes," said Xie Yao. . If it weren't for the chief's secret "sulfa tablets" and some other "Australian medicines", more people would have died just by decoction of the tablets.
It was out of curiosity about "Australian medicine" that Xie Yao signed up for the training course of the Ministry of Health at his advanced age at the time.
"However, the cold weather is also good. There are so many people crowded on the small island. If it hadn't been for the cold weather, I'm afraid there would have been an epidemic."
There is a huge gap in the warm clothing prepared for the refugees - it is really difficult for the Senate to prepare winter clothing for hundreds of thousands of people. Therefore, the former idea is to let the refugees light a fire and roast them slowly: compared with cotton, the supply of fuel is easier.
"Rebuild more houses for the refugees, and get more fire dragons. Each barracks has at least two." Lu Wenyuan instructed.
After seeing off Xie Yao, Lu Wenyuan paced back and forth in the conference room for several times, and ordered the orderlies to find Wang Ruixiang to discuss: Chen Sigen had led the special reconnaissance team out, and he wanted to continue to monitor the combat operations of Kong Youde and the army. Ever since Kong Youde's trajectory changed, Chen Sigen became very uneasy about the historical process and monitored both sides more closely. The special reconnaissance team, scout cavalry and plainclothes spies monitored the officers and soldiers and Kong Youde's troops almost 24 hours a day. Chen Sigen would go out for this kind of task for several days.
On the large map behind him, the latest status of each party is marked with colorful flags. Since Kong Youde's troops arrived at Dengzhou City on November 22, there have been small-scale armed conflicts between the two sides, but the fighting was not intense. Generally speaking, there is still a temporary stalemate.
Of course, this stalemate will soon be broken. In order to implement the determination of the Senate: that is, to allow Kong Youde to disrupt Shandong and seize a large amount of supplies, and to ensure that Sun Yuanhua can "preside over the counterinsurgency", the Foreign Intelligence Service and Lu Wenyuan are both here. Carry out active strategic activities. There was a constant flow of messengers and intelligence agents going to Dengzhou, Laizhou and various parts of Shandong.
Although Lu Wenyuan did not go to Sun Yuanhua in person, he wrote several letters to Sun Yuanhua as a church member, made some speculations about Kong Youde's movements, and also gave implicit reminders about the issues of the former Dongjiang Ministry in Dengzhou. In particular, it was pointed out that Kong Youde's mutiny was "motivated by accumulated salary and cannot be destroyed without a spoonful of water" - the old Dongjiang troops in Dengzhou were not reliable.
Lu Wenyuan did not expect Sun Yuanhua to obey his words, he just wanted to leave an impression on him first and prepare for the next step of approaching and manipulating Sun Yuanhua.
At this juncture, Lu Wenyuan didn't want any plague to happen in his base camp. Furthermore, too many people gathered and it was too conspicuous.
Wang Ruixiang was formulating a "grand plan" in his bedroom. To be precise, it was a plan to go to Liaodong. As the main advocate of the Liaodong plan, he had always tried to establish relations with the Manchus, so he was very enthusiastic about Operation Engine. Once a foothold was established on the Shandong Peninsula and a base was established on Jeju Island, maritime communication lines with the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were established.
In Wang Ruixiang's view: Although the Manchus were barbaric and backward, they had abundant resources and could use the scissors of industry and agriculture to shear their wool. If that doesn't work, it would be good to rescue more of the captive Han population and come to Lingao to enrich the labor force.
Hearing Lu Wenyuan's worries, he cracked a smile and said, "Hey, what's there to worry about? Shouldn't we go to Jeju Island?"
The distance from Qimu Island to Jeju is only one-third of the distance from Qimu Island to Kaohsiung. There is no need for a large ship, and ordinary ships can also transport it. The ship can go back and forth in less than four or five days, which is much faster than transporting directly to Kaohsiung.
"But so far, the landing operation on Jeju Island has not been carried out." Lu Wenyuan frowned. Logically speaking, the landing on Jeju Island should have started a month ago.
It is now the end of 1631, and there is still no telegraph call sign from the direction of Jeju Island. Where did the Second Fleet go?
"This is indeed a bit strange!" Wang Ruixiang scratched his head, "I think we have to send a telegram to ask!"
When the radio waves of the telegram jointly signed by Wang Ruixiang and Lu Wenyuan pierced the sky, the Second Fleet from Kaohsiung had already arrived in the waters of Jeju Island.
The Second Fleet launched the landing nearly a month later than expected. The consequences of the rapid expansion of the navy began to be revealed one by one at this time. The flagship of the Second Fleet, Zhenyang, suffered a major steam engine failure halfway through the ferry from Hong Kong to Kaohsiung. One boiler failed and it was forced to return to Hong Kong for repairs. After the other ships arrived in Kaohsiung, they began a comprehensive overhaul and inspection. It was found that there were also problems in getting rid of the tide and waiting for frost: mainly in the power system: boilers, steam engines, crankshafts... Some ships also had water leakage problems. The only one in normal condition is the Fubo.
After some emergency repairs by the repair ship anchored in Kaohsiung, the Second Fleet finally reluctantly completed the preparation work. He launched a conquest of Jeju Island before New Year's Day in 1632.
The four battleships Zhenyang, Zongzhao, Waiting for Frost, and Fubo were sailing in a wheel-like formation on the sea. They were all sailing and sailing at a speed of 6 knots per hour. There was a faint black smoke coming from the chimneys. - The boiler is not using its full strength - it is necessary to take care of the h800 and spy boats in the formation. With their sails fully loaded, they followed closely behind.
This is almost the entire combat fleet of the Second Fleet and two-thirds of the transport ships. The ships are fully loaded with soldiers, supplies and building materials.
The sun was rising and shining on the deck. In the distance, a large green island has emerged on the sea - it is Jeju Island. ! ~!
