Chapter 116 Overseas Inspection (3)

On the sea ahead, the outline of an island is gradually emerging. This is a very important stopping point on this route - Fushuizhou Island. The expedition team was relatively lucky. Although there were some twists and turns along the way, they finally made it in time.

We arrived here before dark, so we could dock on the boat at night and have a peaceful sleep.

After approaching Fushuizhou Island from the north, the two ships split into two routes, starting from the northern end of the island and traveling southward along the coastline of the island. According to the information available to the expedition team, the island is triangular in shape when viewed from the air, with the north

It is narrow in the south and wide in the south, and the only coast convenient for ships to dock is at the southern end of the island.

The field investigation results of the two ships were basically consistent with the data. Except for a two-hundred-meter-long arc-shaped beach at the southern end of the island, the other coasts facing the sea were all cliffs, and there was no place for the ship to dock.

.From a military point of view, this is a good thing, because in this way the defense pressure on the entire island is reduced a lot, and only a simple defense line needs to be established at the southern end to prevent the invasion of foreign enemies.

Of course, it is unlikely that the Executive Committee will build large-scale fortifications on such an isolated island in the ocean. After all, in an era without maritime boundaries, this place does not have much strategic value at all. The Executive Committee wants to develop it.

The only reason is that a docking point is needed between Hong Kai Port and the west coast of Hainan Island. Unless the Executive Committee takes large-scale military operations against Vietnam in the future, this small island may be designated as a military strategic point.

Seeing that the sky was getting dark, the expedition team did not immediately explore the island after stopping the ship and landing. Instead, they found a sheltered location on the coast to set up camp. According to previous observations on the ship, there were no residents on the island, so this

Everyone slept very peacefully one night.

However, starting from the early hours of the morning, it started to rain heavily, and then it was accompanied by strong winds. This caused some troubles for the original island exploration operation. The team members had to huddle in tents and cabins for a while.

It’s a boring morning. This area has a rainy season from May to August every year, so the timing of the expedition team’s arrival is indeed a coincidence.

It wasn't until after two o'clock in the afternoon that the rain gradually became lighter and the sky slowly began to clear up. The expedition team seized the time and divided into three groups. One group stayed on the ship, and the other two groups traveled north along the east and west banks of the island, at the northern end.

After meeting, return from the middle to the south end to complete the exploration of the entire island.

Although the coastline around the island is dominated by cliffs, the terrain on the island is relatively gentle. There is only a hill in the middle of the island with an altitude of only about 60 meters, which is considered the commanding height of the entire island. The team responsible for searching the east line set out

Soon, spring water was found on a slope. After a simple test by Dr. Morgan, it was determined that the spring water was fresh water that could be directly used. This good news made everyone quite excited. The discovery of fresh water means that everything here will be better in the future.

The opened sea transfer station will not require additional fresh water supply, and the upper limit of the population that can be supplied on the island will also increase a lot.

It took the two search teams a full three hours to complete the search of the entire island. No trace of human habitation was found on the island, and there were no large predators. In fact, except for various seabirds, there were almost no

The existence of other terrestrial animals. Wang Tom, who has been sailing at sea all year round, can be regarded as a half-seabird expert. Under his guidance, the team members got to know many kinds of seabirds such as white-bellied brown boobies, red-footed boobies, and seagulls.

.

The trees on the island are relatively dense, and most of them are typical island green forests formed by Jatropha trees. The height of these trees is about ten meters, and the diameter of the thickest trunk exceeds half a meter. Such trees often grow together in clusters.

Forming a very dense forest, it is the main habitat for various boobies on the island. In addition, there are clusters of dense and airtight bushes, which are commonly known as "horn trees". This kind of tropical common

Green plants can grow well even on coral sand or beaches, and are very vigorous. After inspection, members of the Ministry of Agriculture believe that in the future, the island can reclaim some relatively flat land on a small scale and plant some tropical fruits.

and vegetables, which can also effectively relieve the pressure of food supply.

In addition to fresh water, the biggest unexpected harvest is the guano resources on this small island. The dense woods have turned this uninhabited island into a bird paradise, and the large amount of guano has formed a guano layer over the years.

In a high temperature and rainy environment, it is gradually dissolved by the organic acids produced by plants. The phosphorus in the guano slowly penetrates into the soil, fills it, and cements it, and then changes into ornithophosphate, which is commonly known as

Guano phosphate rock. This kind of guano phosphate rock is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium elements. It is an excellent comprehensive fertilizer for crops. Its effectiveness is comparable to that of the famous Jin Kaola in later generations. According to Tian Yeyou's calculations, this

The guano phosphate rock reserves on the small island are at least 10,000 tons, which is worthy of large-scale mining.

However, Xie Chun from the Ministry of Shipping believes that Tian Yeyou’s view may be difficult to realize in the short term: “This place is too far from the base camp. It would be better to transport guano back from here than directly to the east and west islands of Sanya Bay or Yalong Bay.

By excavating on several small islands, the transportation route will be shorter and mining will be more convenient."

Tian Yeyou retorted unconvinced: "We can also mine the phosphate rock here and sell it to the Vietnamese as fertilizer."

Xie Chun tutted: "Brother, you are stupid! There are more than 3,000 islands in Halong Bay. If you want to dig up guano and sell it to the Vietnamese, we can just dig it in Halong Bay. Why bother going to such a far place!"

In my opinion, the only place where the guano on this island can be used will probably have to wait until we open the mine in Shilu. There are millions of acres of coastal plains there, and no amount of guano will be enough to go there.

Fill it out there."

The fleet was originally scheduled to continue heading west the day after completing the island survey, but unexpectedly a small unexpected situation occurred. The members of the mining exploration team had little opportunity to eat because they had been staying in the inland area for a long time.

In order to get fresh seafood, I ate too much in the two days after departure and had diarrhea that made me unable to stand up straight. So the entire expedition team had to postpone their trip for a day and stopped to let these gluttons

To recuperate the body. Morgan even used his precious strategic reserves for this purpose and gave each of them a bag of glucose water to replenish the body's lost water.

For the sake of uniting the team members, the expedition team unanimously agreed not to mention this matter in the communication with the base camp. Wang Tom only said that he had to be delayed for a day on Fushuizhou Island due to weather conditions. The executive committee did not doubt him, but only gave instructions to the expedition

The team must pay attention to safety, and there is no need to rush to complete the inspection mission. It is not too late to wait until the sea conditions improve before setting off. This small episode made several perpetrators, including Ida Yeyou, very embarrassed, and they all expressed that they would work later

Make amends for this mistake.

After resting for a day at Fu Shui Chau Island, the two ships set off to sail westward in the early morning. It is only more than 60 nautical miles from Fu Shui Chau Island to Hong Kai Port. At the normal speed of the two sailing ships, it will take five or six hours if everything goes well.

can reach the destination.

At noon, islands began to appear on the sea surface in the field of vision of the expedition team. An hour later, the density of islands on the sea began to increase rapidly. Most of these islands stood directly on the sea surface like mountain peaks protruding from the sea.

The appearance of the island in ordinary people's impressions is quite different. There are many mountains and islands on the sea, dotted in various shapes and forms, which are quite spectacular. It is no wonder that this place was rated as a World Natural Heritage Reserve in later generations.

Tian Yeyou, who has always been obsessed with this place, couldn't help but muttered: "This place looks a lot like Guilin. I should have taken my girlfriend to Guilin first to satisfy my craving..."

From a geographical structure point of view, Halong Bay and Guilin do have something in common. Both show very significant karst landform features, but one is on land and the other is on the sea. And the members of the expedition team who came here for the first time had almost no

Once he was overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery here, even the well-informed Tom Wang couldn't help but said to Morgan: "I think I have to revise my previous thoughts. Being sent to this place by the executive committee may not necessarily be a bad thing.

"

The crew lowered the sails consciously and sailed through this rare island wonder at a slow speed. It was not until the sky got dark that the reluctant crew raised the sails and accelerated at the urging of old Morgan: "Sooner or later, this place will be

We will have a lot of time to visit here slowly in the future. What we need now is to stop the ship and dock as soon as possible. No one can guarantee that we will not hit the rocks here after dark!"

June 20, 1627, the eighth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of the dawn of the Ming Dynasty. Four days after setting off from Victory Port, the expedition team finally arrived at the destination of the trip without any danger, which was the location of Hong Gai Port in Vietnam.

From a military perspective, the location and topography of Hong Kai Port are not ideal. The harbor is narrow and short, wide on the outside and narrow on the inside. It is in the shape of a cone. It is even difficult for large ships to turn around in this harbor, let alone

There is no depth of defense to speak of. In terms of defense, the only natural terrain that can be relied upon is the coastal hills near the port's entry into the sea. As long as a few coastal defense guns are set up here, the firepower will be enough to cover the entrance and exit of the entire harbor.

But in any case, this is not a location suitable for development as a commercial or military port. The cargo terminal seems to be its only reasonable use. And outside the harbor, there are thousands of large and small islands densely clustered on the sea.

, which makes the difficulty of sea defense here increase exponentially.
Chapter completed!