"Wait until we get to Hong Kong Island to decontaminate them properly." This time, the formation also brought along professionals who originally worked in the Guangzhou decontamination camp. The task force is preparing to open a new decontamination camp on Hong Kong Island to deal with prisoners.
"They will take the opportunity to escape."
"I don't think so, not even anyone who sees a typewriter shooting.
The fleet passed Ma Wan Strait smoothly and bypassed the southwest corner of Tsing Yi Island. This is already Victoria Bay. Chen Haiyang can see a peninsula protruding from 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 exclaimed. 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 that can be used as ports everywhere.
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. They are both the land of plenty in Guangdong, producing a large amount of rice, tea, indigo, tobacco, and sea salt. Economically speaking, they are quite prosperous areas. Occupying Hong Kong is tantamount to
The Australian and Song Dynasty regimes obtained a straw leading to the richest area in southern China. A large amount of materials could be continuously shipped from this place.
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 in 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 and more than 100 warships. The city was a strategic hub for river and sea transportation and an important coastal defense military town.
Even now, there are still 700 to 800 troops stationed here and more than 50 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 that day.
The staff of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Military Command Department speculated that the Guangdong Ming Army was unlikely to launch a rash attack on the Australian and Song Army after their new defeat. Even if they wanted to attack, they could not assemble enough threatening troops. With special
The strength of the contingent was 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 Ship Terminal in the old time and establish the first base. Although Hong Kong Island is the 17th largest island in China in terms of area, its terrain is mainly mountainous, with limited plains concentrated there.
The northern part of the island faces 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, a brief occupation flag-raising ceremony was held.
"Raise the flag! Salute!" Following the shout of the salute, the bugler blew the bugle. A flag was raised on a temporary bamboo pole. The sailors and sailors lined up on the beach saluted at the same time, and then sang "
"Singing the Motherland". The first territory occupied by the travelers outside Hainan Island was announced.
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 at the place where the ships were berthed. This place is
In the old days, it was called Central. 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 dispatched 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 control the harbor.
Ship movements in the east and west waterways of the island.
The armed survey team commanded by Huang Paw will head for Victoria Peak on the second day of landing. They will conduct a survey of the general topography of Hong Kong Island and set up an observation post on Victoria Peak.
Finally, the patrol boat squadron will ensure early warning around the entire base in the formed maritime patrol line. At the same time, we will eliminate small groups of pirates operating locally - Lantau Island has historically been a traditional anchorage for pirates in the Pearl River Estuary. The various groups of pirates assembled locally sometimes
There will be more than 300 ships. Although the task force did not observe many ships when passing through the north of Lantau Island, there is no doubt that this area is the area with the most rampant pirate activities. The task force must be prepared to voice conflicts with local pirates at any time.
Prepare.
The task force's move to land and build a stronghold on Hong Kong Island was quickly discovered by the Ming troops stationed in Tuen Mun and Nantou. The news was passed to Zhaoqing and Guangzhou.
But the Ming army was no longer able to make a substantive response. The morale of the officialdom and the army had dropped to the extreme. Although according to the Tong newspaper, the number of bandits who landed on Hong Kong Island was only a thousand people and the ships were only forty or fifty, but I heard that
The officers and soldiers of the Guangdong Navy, whose firearms were extremely powerful, did not want to fight with them. The naval warships sent from Tuen Mun arrived at the Sulfur Strait in a symbolic manner, and then retreated. The two sides fell into a silent stalemate. As for the
There was no sign of large groups of Ming troops dispatching in the south. Only sentries observed that a small number of Ming army spies arrived in the Sha Tau Kok area across the bay.
A simple interrogation was conducted on the captured pirates, and it was found that they were actually fishermen from nearby islands. Because they owed debts to the fishing pens, they were forced to do something at sea and finally decided 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 successively snatched more than a month ago. Before they were caught, they had already succeeded several times, and everyone had
I got about ten taels of silver.
The crew and owner of the cargo ship were still detained on the ship - it is said that they had to join the battle during the battle, otherwise they would have their heads chopped off. There were also seven or eight pirates who kidnapped those who could not escape on shore when the pirate ship docked. Some of them were kidnapped.
Once the money was redeemed, they were released. Those who had no money were kept on the ship to coerce them into committing piracy.
At that moment, Chen Haiyang took care of releasing the captured people and ships on the spot, and also replenished them with the captured food and money so that they could return home safely. More than twenty prisoners left with great gratitude. Those who were left behind were screened out
Pirates. Zhao Yajin had already been killed by a typewriter bullet in the battle.
No valuable trophies were found on the ship, mainly daily necessities such as grain and salted fish. According to the confession of the captured second leader Liang Sanshi, 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 the villain to pay it back, so he took the risk. Please forgive me, deputy!" A few people in ragged clothes were on the beach.
Begging.
"Whether you are a pirate or a bandit, you always say that you have no choice but to do it. In fact, most of them are indolent people!" The Cantonese vernacular translator was a scholar with a childhood background who had just come out of the purification camp. He angrily told Chen Haiyang
Said, "Please pay attention, chief!"
When the captured pirates saw that the translator next to them spoke poorly, they all grabbed the ground with their heads and begged. The name of the pirates has now spread to the Pearl River Estuary area. Just looking at their hair, you can tell that they have fallen.
In the hands of thieves - and their "cruelty" is famous.
Chen Haiyang knew that the fish farm was extremely exploitative. When he was in the fleet, although he no longer practiced the idea of "remembering the bitter and thinking of the sweet", when he visited the revolutionary traditional education base, most of the places involving militiamen
They all involve terms like "fishing pen" and "fishing tyrant".
Fishing owners take advantage of their control over funds and the market to purchase catches at low prices and sell daily necessities and food at high prices, making a huge profit from it. Moreover, they can easily control the fishermen by lending them high-interest loans.
Fishermen often have to invest a lot of money at one time in production and operation, and their demand for loans is much higher than that of farmers, so they are 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 properly," 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 and recruiting personnel and materials on the spot still needs to be established as soon as possible.
"If we want to enter and leave 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."
"This will require an increase in land forces. If Tung Chung is occupied, troops will need to be sent 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."