The whistling north wind whistled, sweeping the dancing snowflakes.
On the Sea of Japan.
Three schooners escorted six Big Bird ships heading north.
This kind of two-masted schooner has actually begun to withdraw from the Ming Navy's battleship sequence, and is now used more as a patrol and reconnaissance ship.
The Big Bird ship produced at the Guangdong Shipyard has also undergone a series of optimizations.
The hull was strengthened, the sails were improved, and the ship became more slender to adapt to the waves of the ocean.
It is now the main trading ship used by the Ming Dynasty for ocean trade.
From Guangzhou when it was a free city in Japan and Straits, to the Chinese merchant ships that are now active again in the Indian Ocean, they are basically the big bird ships produced in Guangdong.
The sail is easy to maneuver, the speed is good, and the load capacity is huge.
Definitely one of the best cargo ship models of this era.
Now these six big bird ships carry a Ming Army dragoon battalion with a reinforced artillery company and a mounted infantry company, as well as their weapons, ammunition, rations, and war horses. At the same time, there are also 2,500 Liangjiang soldiers recruited to go north together. poor.
They now also have a flintlock rifle in hand and conducted a ten-day assault emergency training before departure.
The salary is not the ordinary coolie salary, but about 70% of the salary of Ming army soldiers, plus a land coupon of at least fifty acres of land for each person in five years promised by the Manchuria Reclamation Division.
Therefore, when recruiting people in Yingtian Mansion and Songjiang Mansion.
Quite a number of singles from Liangjiang signed up enthusiastically.
Without waiting for the spring to warm up, or even before the harshest winter in Manchuria had arrived, they took a boat north, bypassed the Korean Peninsula, and headed towards the place marked on the map as Vladivostok.
Zeng Ada, the commander of the Vladivostok Expeditionary Force of the Manchuria Reclamation Division and now a lieutenant colonel, stood on the deck of one of the warships, frowning and staring at the coastline along the way.
Next to him, there was also an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel on his shoulders, but he was wearing a white navy uniform, and his face was a little solemn.
He is the warship commander of this Vladivostok task force, Ye Tenghui, a descendant of the Lanfang Ye family.
At this time of year, most of the coastline in Manchuria is frozen.
So Zeng Ada and Ye Tenghui looked all the way and felt the colder and colder temperatures and the thicker and thicker ice on the coastline.
The two lieutenant colonels stood on the deck, frowning under the falling snow.
If the coast is still frozen when we arrive in Vladivostok, then all the preparations made over a month ago will be in vain.
The fleet will have to return home and wait until the ice and snow melt next spring before heading north again.
But if this happens, spring plowing will inevitably be delayed.
If the seedlings cannot be inserted early, the food of these thousands of people may have to depend on shipping supplies for at least two years, and the plan to expand the settlement of Vladivostok will be delayed by at least a year.
"I don't know where the emperor got the news. The coast here is sealed, and the place in Vladivostok has reached Ninggu Pagoda. Isn't it even colder?"
Zeng Ada wrapped her woolen felt coat tightly, but still couldn't feel any warmth.
It's freezing cold today. Thousands of people have been sent to such a bitter cold place, and they don't know if they can stand firm.
"It makes sense for the emperor to occupy Vladivostok, right?" Ye Tenghui said with a frown.
"Use 1,200 soldiers to drive a nail into the back of the Manchus. If Vladivostok can really be colonized, using the method of Borneo, large-scale immigrants can come here next spring, and then the Manchus will be cut off. The way out!"
"Maybe," Zeng Ada said with a frown.
"The General Staff asked us to pay attention to the movements of the Russians, but looking at the map, the Russians are still in the further north. How could they come to Vladivostok."
"Russian Cossacks have a large range of activities. They are nomadic tribes like the Mongols. It is not surprising to encounter Cossacks in Vladivostok."
Just as the two were talking.
The lookout soldier who was looking out on the mast shouted: "The ice on the coast is shallow! The coastline! The coastline is not frozen!"
The two of them were immediately overjoyed.
Ye Tenghui climbed up to the top of the jib in three steps at a time, holding the rope with one hand and holding a telescope with the other to investigate.
After a while, he also yelled: "I saw the coastline! The coastline is not blocked by ice! Oh my God! This place really has an ice-free port!"
Zeng Ada was also shocked.
He is from Chaozhou, Guangdong, and he has suffered a lot when he came to this cold Northeast.
Now I heard that such a cold place actually has a coastline that does not freeze in winter.
The chill in his body immediately dissipated.
"Vladivostok! It's Vladivostok! Lao Ye!! Hahahaha!! Long live King Ming!! Long live 1!"
Zeng Ada also saw the coastline that was not blocked by ice through the telescope.
Suddenly he shouted excitedly.
Although Zhu Daohua has now proclaimed himself emperor.
But a "veteran" like Zeng Ada, who has been calling Mingwang for so long, started to shout "Long live Mingwang" again when he got excited.
"Quick, quick, go along the coastline. From the map, Vladivostok is a bay!"
Both commanders shouted.
If there really is an ice-free port in the outer northeastern region, then by the beginning of next spring, Ming Dynasty will definitely be able to transport tens of thousands of immigrants to settle here with its advantages in shipping!
Now, as the advance team, what they have to do is to build ports and fortresses to ensure the safety of the subsequent landing teams.
"We're here! We're here!"
Ye Tenghui took a deep breath.
The front of the telescope.
A good harbor appeared in front of us.
Judging from the shape and hydrological characteristics of the harbor, this is a natural deep-water port, and it is easy to dock large ships with thousands of stones.
"Warships on alert! Hot air balloons take off!!"
Following Ye Tenghui's order.
A hot air balloon rose from the warship.
"Report! No human habitation found!"
Zeng Ada and Ye Tenghui looked at each other.
Zeng Ada took a deep breath and said, "Send someone up to have a look first. This place is close to Ninggu Pagoda and is the headquarters of General Jilin of the Qing Tartars!"
Ye Tenghui also nodded: "Proceed with caution!"
Dozens of ships docked far away on the sea, and a small Ming army team cautiously docked in a small boat.
Cheung Bao Tsai is the commander of this advance team.
After the boat docked, he immediately led a military officer and jumped out of the boat, and immediately fell into knee-deep snow.
"Change the sled! Quick, quick, quick!"
Cheung Bao Tsai said loudly.
"Explore a ten-mile radius and sound the signal immediately if there is any abnormality!"
"As you command!"
More than thirty members of the advance team put on sleds one after another and then stood up on the snow.
In order to use the winter combat in the outer Northeast region, this mounted infantry battalion can only give up its war horses - after all, fighting on horseback in the Northeast winter is risking its life.
Therefore, the soldiers of this advance team have undergone special training in snow combat.
The steel helmet on the head is wrapped with a white wool snow cap.
He was also wrapped in a white cotton coat, with a white blanket used as a cloak outside.
Each one was wrapped like a polar bear.
In order to avoid snow blindness, this advance team was also equipped with goggles.
These equipment can be prepared for an army of thousands of people in a short period of time.
It is enough to show the strong industrial strength of Ming Dynasty.
soon.
After a short period of adaptation, more than thirty members of the advance team carried muskets and grenades on their backs and paddled in all directions on sleds.
An hour later.
Members of each advance team return.
Zeng Ada on the boat breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems that this Manchuria area is indeed vast and sparsely populated, and the number of people is so small!"
Ye Tenghui smiled when he heard this and said: "This is also due to the policy of the Qing Tartars prohibiting Han people from going to Manchuria. In addition, the Qing Tartars have often sent troops to Manchuria for more than a hundred years to capture the local natives and serve as Sauron. Bing, in the long run, the population of this Manchuria area will naturally become smaller, and it will become a no-man's land."
Historically, the Russians have coveted the Northeast region.
They also succeeded in taking the outer northeastern region away from the Qing Dynasty.
Fortunately, China still has a large population.
After the Qing Dynasty's control over society weakened in the late Qing Dynasty, a large number of immigrants from Shandong and Hebei poured into the Northeast.
under the advantage of population.
Inner Northeast finally became a Han territory like a Han province.
The proportion of Han population in the three eastern provinces is almost higher than that in some provinces in the Central Plains.
In this era, occupation, reproduction of the population, and the exclusion of foreign races.
It is opening up a living space for future generations.
The merit lies in the present time and the benefit lies in the future.
"In this case, let the army land first, build a proposed military fort, and then let the accompanying soldiers and civilians land. The port and bastion must be built as soon as possible. As long as there is a port protected by a bastion, even if General Jilin of the Qing Dynasty takes over It’s useless even if the three or four thousand flags are pulled down!”
Zeng Ada said.
Soon, under the command of two commanders of the navy and army.
One thousand two hundred Ming troops landed and watched the surroundings with vigilance.
under their protection.
More than two thousand accompanying soldiers and civilians began to board Vladivostok.
Cut down trees.
After igniting a fire to burn the surrounding snow and frozen-hard ground, the work began in full swing.
There are abundant forest resources.
There is no shortage of building materials for ports and bastions.
Construction progress will be rapid.
Zeng Ada and Ye Tenghui also came ashore. The forts built with logs and rammed earth were covered with black soil.
Zeng Ada held up a handful of black soil.
There was surprise and joy in his eyes.
“What a fertile soil!!”
"If the temperature in spring and summer is suitable, this is some kind of bitter cold place where prisoners are exiled! It's clearly Jiangnan outside the Pass!"
Ye Tenghui also rubbed the black soil and said.
“Great place, great place!”
Zeng Ada dug down with a hoe, digging straight for one or two meters.
The black soil has not bottomed out either.
The soil was still dark, as if covered with a layer of black oil.
Black and shiny.
Ada Zeng straightened up.
"The Manchu Tatars who attack your mother, such a good place is left in ruins, a waste of natural resources! What a waste of natural resources!"
Zeng Ada's nose felt sore as he spoke.
When my mother went to Nanyang.
More than thirty people died in the whole clan, and only a few survived in the end.
Go to Nanyang to make a living.
That means fighting with your life.
(End of chapter)
