As for the refugees collected from Zhejiang, the General Staff suggested setting up a transit center in Taiwan.
The refugees first arrived in Taiwan, were "hoarded" in Taiwan's camps for a period of time, and then transferred back to Lingao. Some of them could stay in Taiwan directly, open up Taiwanese land, and form a second colony.
Of course, the situation in Taiwan is more complicated. There are many forces in Taiwan, including the Dutch, Spanish and Zheng Zhilong, who all have their own territory: the Dutch control the officials, Zheng Zhilong occupies Beigang, and the Spanish occupy Chicken Coop (Keelung). Generally speaking,
From Taipei to Tainan, it stretches along the coastline towards the mainland. Taiwan's indigenous people, Malay immigrants and Japanese also have a small influence in the local area.
However, these forces are small in scale and occupy a small area. The Dutch, Spanish and Zheng Zhilong's forces are only centered on one or two castle support points and occupy a very small area in the surrounding areas. In addition to trade,
In addition, it collects tribute from the Sam people and indigenous peoples of Fujian.
The proportion of the latter is very small. Except for Zheng Zhilong who organized some local immigrants to engage in agricultural development, the main purpose of Europeans occupying these places was to serve as trading strongholds and collect local soil products-mainly deer skins from Taiwan.
In terms of the strength of the navy and army across the country, it is easy to eliminate these forces. According to historical data: the Spanish's total garrison strength in the chicken coop was only 90 Europeans, plus one or two auxiliary troops recruited from the Philippines. The Dutch in 1631~1632
The city of Relanja was still being built in the year,
The total European garrison did not exceed 400 people. Its sphere of influence reached its limit 30 kilometers outside the castle. In 1630, it was almost forced away by the Taiwanese indigenous Mujialiu Society. It was not until 11635 that the East India Company increased its troops on a large scale.
Defeat surrounding aboriginal villages and expand the area under your control.
Therefore, the threat of these forces on land is very small, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are vulnerable.
Sending an infantry battalion to strengthen a small amount of artillery is enough to sweep the entire island. But the situation at sea is more complicated. The Dutch are now trading partners, and their maritime strength in East Asia is limited, so they will not risk angering the Senate by taking hostile measures.
Action, the Spanish can only be regarded as a "presence" in the waters near Taiwan.
The only obstacle is Zheng Zhilong. The coast of Fujian is his main area of activity. The navy's transport fleet passes through this area and even lands on Taiwan Island to build a transit base. This matter absolutely cannot be hidden from him. If he wants to
Manual interference is a great obstacle to motivated action.
If it were to pass through the Taiwan Strait, given the tonnage of the Harmony ship and the combat power of the armed and escort warships, Zheng Zhilong would pose almost no threat unless he launched a large-scale naval battle.
In the Navy's deduction on the map, those who played Zheng Zhilong's side were rarely able to capture the transport fleet passing by in the Taiwan Strait. In other words, with the level of communication and navigation at the time, even if Zheng Zhilong deliberately wanted to start a fight, he might not be able to capture the fighter planes.
However, if you want to dock on the main island of Taiwan, you will inevitably have to enter and exit Taiwan's coastal harbors. Zheng Zhilong will have many combat opportunities. This must be taken into consideration.
Everyone believes that it is necessary to open a base in Taiwan. From the perspective of opening value, Taiwan is higher than Hainan. However, there are different opinions on where to choose as a transit base. There are many places included in the selection, including chicken cages and Tainan.
, Huālian, Kaohsiung and other places.
Chicken Coop and Fresh Water occupied by the Spaniards were first rejected. Although there are rich mineral resources near the Chicken Coop, including the famous Keelung Coal Mine and Jinguashi Gold and Copper Mine, it was very difficult to open and the geographical environment was extremely harsh. A large amount of investment was required.
Manpower and material resources are needed for rectification.
People’s records at that time also had no favorable comments about this place: “Chicken coop (keeang) and fresh water (tanooei)
It is not a good anchorage, and the people nearby are so vicious that we cannot interact with each other." "Don't you hear about chicken coops? How bad is the water and soil in freshwater? People will get sick when they arrive, and they may die from illness. Every servant who hears about chicken coops, how bad is fresh water and soil?
When they were dispatched, they all mourned as if they were sent to an extinct territory: the navy always guarded the ground in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was lucky to be able to survive. Those healthy men served as slaves, but the king was so ridiculed."
Chicken coops and fresh water are both located in northern Taiwan. This is the area with the richest precipitation on the island. The annual precipitation is more than 3,000 mm. In normal years, it rains for half of the year in Taipei. Areas with excessive rain are conducive to the growth of plants and microorganisms.
But it is not good for mankind. Therefore, the Fujian people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties called Taipei a place of miasma. The mortality rate of immigrants there was very high. If the transit foundation is set up here, the mortality rate can be imagined.
There was another major earthquake in Bibu, Taiwan in 1694. It was so strong that it created a 30-square-kilometer Taipei Lake in the Taipei Basin. No matter from which angle you look at it, the Taipei area is not a place that travelers should set foot in.
Huālian has also received support from many people. The advantage of Huālian is that it is extremely safe. It is located in the eastern part of Taiwan and is separated from other parts of Taiwan Island by mountains. The surrounding terrain is steep and most areas are not suitable for ships to dock.
Most of them are very steep coastal terrain, and only the river mouth has parking terrain. As long as a base is established at the river mouth, it is impossible to land from other places. Historically, before the highway was opened to traffic in 1932, Huālian could only be connected with other parts of Taiwan by boat.
It is known as Taiwan's "outlying land island". Throughout the 17th century, except for the Spanish who went to Huālian to mine placer gold in 1622, no one was interested in this place.
Huālian is rich in mineral resources, of which three types can be mined immediately by travelers: silicate serpentine asbestos, marble, and limestone. Huālian will be the most important cement producer in Taiwan until the 21st century. It can produce high-grade cement.
The cement is supplied locally to Taiwan. There is also a small amount of iron ore in the local area. The reserves are not large, but it is easy to mine. In addition, many of the serpentine mines in Huālian are accompanied by iron ore, magnetite and pot magnesium. Huālian
At that time, the surface of the country should have been more or less scattered except for coal mines, which was very suitable for small-scale groups like Lingao to carry out mining.
In terms of fresh water resources, there are three relatively large rivers in Huālian, and there are many impact plains that are not small in size, and there is certain potential for farming.
But in the end, too much rain in Huālian made this place unselected. The excessive rain made the local environment unsuitable for large-scale relocation. During the period of Japan's arrival in Taiwan, there was a plan to establish an agricultural reclamation area in Huālian, but in the end due to the relationship between climate and disease
Ultimately failed.
The last ones to be considered were Pingtung and Kaohsiung. This area is on the Tainan Plain, which is relatively suitable for living and farming in Taiwan. Kaohsiung has a port. Although the port at that time was not renovated and could not berth large ships, it could berth 1,000-ton or less.
The sailboat can still do it.
Pingtung and Kaohsiung are mountainous areas to the south and Dutch influence to the north. At present, the Dutch and the Senate have a commercial agreement, and the two sides maintain a "peaceful" commercial cooperation relationship. The Dutch have no strength and dare not take risks.
At the risk of offending large suppliers, they attack Pingtung and Kaohsiung's transit base. The Dutch can also play a role in isolating Zheng Zhilong. Moreover, considering Zheng Zhilong's current busy conquest situation along the coast of Fujian, he may not be able to do so.
It’s time to deal with “land thieves”.
"We transport immigrants from Zhejiang to Pingtung, Kaohsiung. Not only can we have a suitable place for quarantine and purification, some people can also start agricultural development on the spot. The Chianan Plain is the best agricultural production area in Taiwan, regardless of sunshine, rain or land.
They are all top-notch. We can completely intensify development in the form of large-scale farms, which will provide a much better production environment than the small-scale farmer economy here in Hainan. It will be a leap forward for our agricultural production. Yes.
This will greatly improve the situation in which we basically rely on imported food." Luo Feng said at the end of his speech in which he emphasized the benefits of using Kaohsiung as a base.
"What should Zheng Zhilong do if he wants to harm us? His hometown is in Fujian." Someone raised an objection. Zheng Zhilong regards Fujian as his hometown, and he has an official status, so his power cannot be underestimated.
"We don't need to be afraid of his sailing fleet. At the end of 1631, after our 854 and the first batch of 901 were completed, our fleet was like a god in the Taiwan Strait. The steam engine fleet was deployed forward to Kaohsiung, which would have a huge impact on the fleet passing through the Taiwan Strait.
Our ships conduct regional escort." Navy staff officer Li Di said, "Our navy has full sea control around Hainan Island and up to Hong Kong Island.
The stationing of the steam engine fleet in Kaohsiung will deter Fujian and the various forces along the coast of Zhejiang from daring to act rashly. It will ensure the safety of Jeju Island in the north and Hong Kong Island in the south."
The specific measure is to form two detachments. The Taiwan detachment, with 854 and 4 901s as the core, is stationed in Kaohsiung and is responsible for monitoring the coasts of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. The focus is to ensure "free navigation" in the Taiwan Strait.
Escort the transport fleet through. The Denglai detachment with three 901 ships as its core is stationed on Jeju Island and can carry out intervention missions on the Shandong coast and the Bohai Bay area at any time.
In addition to the hybrid warships, the detachment also included a number of modified large-tonnage sail warships. The warships of the two detachments adopted a partition escort method. The transport fleet sailed in groups during the voyage, and each transport ship was equipped with
There is sufficient self-defense firepower.
These seven steam engine warships are expected to operate in this sea area until the beginning of 1633. By this time, the second batch of 901 ships built in Lingao can be put into active service, and the previous batch of warships can be replaced and returned to Lingao.
maintain.
These two detachments will be based in Kaohsiung. The port facilities and reserve materials that provide logistical support for steam engines and sail hybrid warships are much more complex than those for sail warships, so the ships heading north to pick up refugees will not be empty.
Worry about the tonnage. In addition to the materials needed to transport refugees, the materials needed to open sub-bases in Kaohsiung and Jeju Island are also enough to fill the cabin.!