Lu Ming

Page 285

Seeing the third master's smug leadership, someone beside him couldn't help but began to say sarcastic remarks: "Biandan, you have no eyesight, and only thought of cursing after seeing the third master's promotion? It's too late!"

It was Master Yusheng who spoke.

Huang Yusheng, the young master of the former rich man's family, is much stronger now.He has a three-millimeter haircut, wears a denim shirt, folds his arms, and leans on the side of the boat with a smile on his face.

What Young Master Yusheng said is right, Third Master Wu has indeed been promoted.

On the first day after the pioneering fleet set off, at the deck combat meeting attended by all the squad leaders, the third master was personally appointed by the boss Wang Bo who presided over the meeting as the captain of the pioneering army and the deputy commander of the landing.

The title of squadron leader is very valuable, and it already belongs to the senior commander level of the pioneering army.

Since the establishment of the pioneering army is relatively loose, Sanye, as the squadron leader, has the right to command all local pioneering army teams, regardless of the total number of 200 or 500, in the absence of the traverser's boss.

Hearing Young Master Yusheng's teasing, He Biandan smiled apologetically and took out another cigarette from the bamboo cigarette case to offer: "Brother Scholar, I have always admired him."

"uh-huh."

Yusheng smoked the shoulder pole, and it seemed that he was not sour anymore.However, as the master of the team, he had a lot to say today.

After thinking about it, Yusheng said thoughtfully again: "I've come all the way from thousands of miles to come here... Zheng Hedao, brother, I'm afraid it's not easy to be an official!"

After Yusheng finished speaking, the scene suddenly became a little quiet.

The reason why the topic suddenly became serious was actually another unremarkable title given to Mr. Wu when he was promoted: Deputy Commander of Landing.

The so-called deputy landing commander, in human terms, is the pit master... the commander in charge of long-term stationing at the bridgehead.

Far away in the nameless sea, the Zhenghe Island that everyone has only seen on the map is not the Honji Coal Mine in Vietnam, which is close to Daming.Stationing in such a remote place, if something happens, it will be really ineffective, and it is all up to the family to earn their own life.

We all know the danger of this job.So after the past two days, everyone seemed to be lively and congratulated the eldest brother for his promotion every day, but in fact, his heart was a little bit drummed.

"what!"

The third master, who was silent before, probably felt the need to talk to his brothers.The next moment, he responded frankly: "The young master was joking, it's not easy at all."

"The officials under Marshal Cao are not the trash of the imperial court. If it weren't for my old Wu's blood and courage, and the support of you life-and-death brothers under my command, would Lord Wang be able to award this official title?"

As soon as the third master said these two words, the brothers immediately got excited: Yes, the official hat of the third master was also brought by our brothers who worked hard to help!

"Everyone knows that our pioneering army was originally formed to occupy the land of the savages. Nowadays, the military law is strict, and even if we don't have this official hat, you and my brother may have to go to Zheng He Island. Since everyone signed up to board Cao Dashuai's boat at the beginning, you don't have to regret taking the medicine today."

"Brothers, is this brother pertinent?"

Seeing the brothers nodding one after another, Wu Sanye clapped his hands with a smile: "It's a knife to extend the head, and a knife to shrink the head. If it's me, I'll spare a squadron leader for nothing. Do you think it's gain or loss?"

The third master broke the truth into pieces, and the brothers understood it.

Seeing the excitement in everyone's eyes, the third master knew it, and it was good for him: "You and I have known each other since the border of Yizhou, and now it has been a life-and-death friendship. I, Wu Meng, put my words here today: Brothers still support me, Lao Wu, and when I land on the shore, I, the squadron leader, will definitely protect my brothers carefully in the future!"

Speaking of this, Mr. Wu narrowed his eyes, bowed his waist, and lowered his voice: "Do you know what Mr. Wang promised to my old Wu Yun that day?"

A bunch of people put their heads together.

"Your Excellency told me privately that day: Wu Meng, the commander-in-chief is keeping an eye on this Zheng He Island! You guard the bridgehead well for me. Even if you open up the border for us, you will be a generation of wealth in the future."

At this point, the third master stretched out three fingers, and continued to imitate the tone of the adult that day: "Three years, just hold on to the most difficult three years. At that time, you have credit, and I will go through the formalities for you personally and transfer your compensation Converted into Zhang Sugang's shares... Do you know how much silver park Zhang Sugang has per square meter now?"

When the third master said this, he was already laughing from ear to ear.He patted his thigh vigorously, pointed at the group of younger brothers in front of him, and uttered his native dialect: "Nong's bastards, follow me, and there will be a day when Bai Xiangle will be happy!"

Hearing that my family only needs to stick to it for three years before they can go to the legendary Shanghai Bund flower business, a group of core younger brothers suddenly became enthusiastic, and expressed that they would follow the elder brother to do a good job in their careers.

And at this moment, the sound of a few rumbling gun salutes from the distant sea also put a perfect end to the heroic words of the third master: a fast sailing boat with beautiful lines appeared in people's vision.

The "Yuandou" exploration ship is the first exploration ship named in the earliest period.So far, Yuandou has been upgraded to the fourth generation.

The latest generation of Yuandou is a shallow-draft professional exploration ship.It is equipped with advanced sonar and radar, and even a computer surveying and mapping recording system, which can be described as a model of non-martial ethics.

The reason why the pioneering fleet anchored in the lagoon was to wait for the arrival of the Yuandou.

In fact, as early as a month ago, the Yuandou was ordered to come to the Nansha waters to carry out surveying and mapping operations.

After the two sides met today, the Yuan Dou soon berthed near the flagship of the fleet.Next, a small boat carried a few figures who climbed down the rope ladder and boarded the Yuandou.

After that, the fleet first launched a round of replenishment to the Yuandou.Each ship then dispatched small boats to hoist supplies and shuttle them back and forth.

In the evening, the captains who received the order gathered on the flagship deck for a briefing.

In the end, Mr. Wu, who came back from the meeting, told everyone: The way forward is clear, and we will start tomorrow.

Early in the morning of the second day, with the sound of a trumpet, the fleet pulled anchor.

After this departure, commander Sha Zhengming ordered the collective to adjust to a low speed of 3 knots.All the ships lined up in a single column, with the Yuandou as the navigator, and plunged into the depths of Nansha.

Along the way, the column slowly followed the Yuandou, circumventing various dangerous areas carefully, and stopping from time to time to repair and measure the route.

With the rough route detected by the Yuandou in advance, there were no major twists and turns along the way.The advanced technology beyond the times provided a guarantee, and the fleet was able to escape numerous hidden reefs and dark beaches.

Driving carefully in this way, the sea journey was less than 500 kilometers, and it took another 5 days to walk abruptly.It was not until November 11 that the pioneering fleet passed through the Nansha Islands, which are familiar to people in later generations, and saw the yellow-green land color belt on the horizon.

Even in later generations, Palawan Island, which is close to the humid tropics of the equator, is the best preserved island in South Asia.What's more, it's the seventeenth century.The western part of the island, where the fleet finally arrived, is completely in a primitive tropical style.

This tropical dense forest terrain is excellent for tourism.However, in the eyes of those with telescopes in the fleet at this moment, this place is literally hell—dense dense primitive tropical plants occupy every inch of land on the island, and the density far exceeds that of the coast of Vietnam where everyone has stayed before.

Thinking of opening up plantations and mines in this environment in the future, all the traversers in the fleet at the moment felt their scalps tingle.

Chapter 637 Arrow

Zheng He Island, known as Palawan Island by later generations, has a long and narrow terrain.It lies obliquely in the South China Sea like a pole, with a length of 600 kilometers from east to west, but only 40 kilometers from north to south at its widest point.

The left and right ends of the pole on Zhenghe Island connect the Philippines and Brunei in later generations.

One of the key reasons why Dayan Kingdom chose Zhenghe Island to plant its flag this time is because there is a rich nickel-chromium mining area in the south of the island.

In later generations, the mines on Zhenghe Island shipped high, medium and low-grade nickel-iron ore, plus abundant chromite, and most of the products were exported to China.

The shipments here account for 16% of the annual shipments of nickel mines in the Philippines, and it is one of the three major nickel mining areas in the country.

……

In the south of Zhenghe Island, there is an unnamed harbor at the end, where the development fleet is quietly moored.

On the deck of Yuandou, which is closest to the coast, a group of people use binoculars on tripods to observe the coast covered by tropical plants in turn.

Wang Bo, the commander of the pioneering army who was in charge of this landing, looked through the telescope with his front feet, and then leaned over and crawled on the table to turn over the map.

There are many types of maps.There are not only high-precision digital color maps of various scales brought by later generations, but also real-time topographic maps of the [-]th century that were measured and controlled by drone remote sensing when the Yuandou came to explore.

However, Wang Bo, who had been frowning after studying for a long time, still put forward an additional request: "It's quite different from our time. In this case, let's take a look around and see the situation."

Pan Mingzhong, the exploration team leader standing beside him, shrugged his shoulders indifferently when he heard the words: "Whatever, if Commander Wang says to go around, then go around."

Pan Mingzhong, the temporary captain of the Yuandou/captain of the exploration team, was the first generation of exploration team leader in the early days of Time Travel.In fact, two years ago, Lao Pan had "retired and returned to the field" and sat in an office as the minister of the environment in the cabinet, holding a high position.

If it wasn't for the important task this time, which requires an experienced veteran to preside over it, he wouldn't leave the mountain temporarily and go to the distant South China Sea to resume his old business.

Wang Bo's request was very reasonable, but what Pan Mingzhong said just now, after all, he could hear a trace of displeasure.

The reason is a long story.

When the Yuan Dou came to the southern part of Zhenghe Island for detection, it had actually selected the most suitable location for setting up a landing point—it was in this unnamed bay where the fleet is now moored.

From a safety point of view, the promontory on both sides of this place goes deep into the coast, which can well block ocean storms and is a natural and excellent harbor.

From a production point of view, among the several large nickel-chromium mines on the island in later generations, one of them is inland not far from the bay... This is not counting some small deposits that cannot be found in the data, maybe it is nearby.

In addition, in the inland not far from the bay, there are several small valleys under the ridge.

These small valleys all agree with the requirements of the agricultural department: the rubber saplings at the beginning, the agricultural department hoped to be placed in a sheltered area.

Combining the above conditions, the Yuandou, which came to detect in advance, determined the unnamed bay as the best place to build a bridgehead.After meeting with the fleet, Yuan Dou led the fleet to this place immediately.

It's a pity that after Commander Wang went to the field to observe it today, he finally decided to "go around and have a look".

This detour is tantamount to implicitly casting a vote of no confidence in the landing point chosen by Pan Mingzhong. This kind of approach must have made Lao Pan a little unhappy.

But Wang Bo is the person in charge of the landing, and the soldiers who will land in the future will also be his soldiers. The final decision on the landing point is still in Wang Bo's hands.

Moreover, even if it is a public scene, there is nothing wrong with Wang Bo's request: when you first arrive in a place, it is always right to see more.

So even though Lao Pan was a little slanderous, he immediately ordered the boiler of Yuandou to increase the pressure and turn around to go to sea.

The current position of the fleet is in the south of Zhenghe Island.The so-called "go around and have a look", of course, is not to go around the island, but to take the shortest road, sail along the southernmost tip of the main island, and go around the tail of the island to see the other side.

From this point of view, it took three days.

It was not until the evening of the third day that the Yuandou returned to the bay before departure.

This is impossible.Counting all kinds of fragmentary reefs, the number of large and small islands around Zheng He Island exceeds thousands.If it weren't for the steam power and advanced electronic equipment on the Yuandou, which was scurrying around Zheng He Island in the [-]th century, ordinary ships would definitely be shipwrecked.

After the Yuandou returned to its voyage, the large troops who had been waiting for a long time finally collectively lit a fire and left this quiet and beautiful nameless bay.

The landing point finally selected by Wang Bo is actually not far from the Unnamed Bay, just 10 kilometers further south.

This is also a bay, and its location is already close to the end of the island.

Now that the location is determined, this bay has a new name that has been booked in advance: Hongshi Bay.

The name Hongshiwan was established to commemorate the fifth traveler who "died in the line of duty" not long ago.

In other words, in the past seven years, in the dangerous and primitive seventeenth century, where there was a shortage of medical care and medicine, the total number of people who have traveled through all kinds of accidents and deaths due to diseases has so far been only 5 people, which is not a big miracle.

This point confirms a truth from the side: after becoming a master, diaosi starts to cherish his life and fear death every minute.

The name of the newly deceased time traveler was Zhang Hongshi.The reason why this gentleman died in the line of duty was because he laughed loudly at an internal reception two months ago... Then he suffered a myocardial infarction and couldn't be cured, so he became the fifth unlucky person.

In view of this, when the Yuandou set off, it had already received instructions from above: the bay where the landing point is located will be reserved as Hongshi Bay.

Compared with the previously unnamed small bay, the freshly baked Hongshi Bay has only average wind protection conditions.Moreover, the location of this place is not very good, it is a little far from the mountains in the center of the big island.

Generally speaking, mineral deposits are generally near mountains.The landing point is farther away from the mountains, and it may cost more to build roads and other infrastructure in the future.In terms of security, more resources will be invested.

In this era of tropical island road construction, even if it is a mine road, it still needs to be filled with human life.Every extra meter of road repaired may cost an extra life.

In short, according to the existing information at hand, whether it is later generations or real-time information, the conditions of Hongshi Bay are not as good as the previous unnamed harbor.

However, there is a saying that is clear: one white covers all ugliness.

Even though Hongshiwan has various flaws, in Wang Bo's eyes, one unique characteristic overwhelms the rest: the platform.

Yes, on the coast of Hongshi Bay, there is a natural platform six or seven meters above the ground.

This terrace is in the shape of a trapezoid, with an area of ​​more than one mu of land at the top.The natural terraces are covered with tropical trees.It can be seen from some exposed stone piles that the platform is probably made of stone, and it may be the remnant of a certain section of the mountain system.

The natural vegetation camouflage did not escape Wang Bo's eyes.When he passed by the sea yesterday, he saw this terrace at a glance.

In Wang Bo's eyes, this is the ideal bridgehead base.As long as the vegetation above the ground is uncovered, a wall can be built.At that time, a fortress with a natural base of 5+ meters will have a defense capability that will explode.

In addition, the terrace is next to the sea.With this condition, when the port is built in the future, walls can be built on the periphery, and the core building can be brought within the firing range of the city head with the minimum cost.

As for the other conditions... In Wang Bo's opinion, safety is the first priority at all times.Facing such a wild area, we can only talk about other things if we have a firm foothold first.

In the end, Wang Bo made a final decision and chose Hongshiwan platform as the first stop for landing.

As I said before, since my family does not have the final decision-making power, the rest of the traversers have no objection to Commander Wang's choice.Even if there was, everyone didn't show it on the surface.

Next, it's time for Mr. Wu to appear.

After the fleet repaired and prepared for a day, on November 1634, 11, when the morning light was about to rise, several small boats were put down in the coastal waters of Hongshi Bay.

Wu Meng, the leader of the new branch of the Pioneering Army, was still fully armed this time. He boarded the ship himself, led his brothers, and was the first to land on the beach, rushing to the beach of Zhenghe Island.

What Wu Sanye didn't know was that he accidentally made history again - he was also the one who took the first step abroad on the coast of Hongji, Vietnam.

Not the same as the coast of Vietnam.From the beach on the shore of Zhenghe Island, various bryophytes began to grow.Only 30 meters deep into the coast, the explorers encountered dense tropical forests.

All kinds of trees and vines with unknown names are arrogantly covering every corner, arrogant and abrupt, and outsiders don't even have a place to step down.

After going ashore for a preliminary inspection, Mr. Wu was also secretly dumbfounded by this tropical environment.

Based on his many years of experience in "survival in the wild", he quickly ordered: establish a position on the beach, and urgently dispatch construction personnel to "clear the shooting area".

For the side that has the advantage in long-range firepower, the shooting range is the most important thing.As soon as the third master came ashore, he was keenly aware that tropical forests were the most serious threat at present.

So, next, the small boats shuttling between the open seas quickly adjusted their supplies and brought in engineers wearing rattan hats and holding axes and saws.

These people have been working for Mr. Cao all year round, and many of them are criminals who have been reeducated through labor.Knowing that one's own life is worthless in this kind of place, coupled with the promise of "labor commutation", so all of them were brave. After landing, they went straight to the nearest forest to log, using the spirit of ants to eat elephants, and started bit by bit destroy ecology.

At the same time, those left behind on the beach also got standard wooden squares.These wooden squares are all sawn-off timber, and two people can build them.

Using these wood materials and cloth bags filled with sand on the spot, pioneer soldiers who had received training in advance could quickly build several hexagonal fortifications on the beach.

Over time, these fortifications can also be connected to each other and become a tactical support point.

The militarized landing procedure that seems to be facing a big enemy, in the eyes of some people in the fleet, is just taking off their pants and farting, without any practical significance.

However, later that day, the reality hit the optimists hard: After a scream, a group of construction workers panicked out of the dense forest.