When Gao Qiang heard the news, his face flushed with excitement, and he hurriedly stood up and said loudly: "Please rest assured that the Military Commission will definitely live up to the expectations of the organization." ”

Li Ming smiled and said, "Okay, don't show your determination now, wait for the battle meeting, you can show yourself well." By the way, Song Tao, how long have they been gone, I have been inspecting the military factory for a while, and I have never known the news of this kid. ”

Gao Qiang smiled and said: "This kid has been traveling north along the Huerha River for more than two months with more than a dozen veterans of the mountain regiment and the nearby indigenous militia, disguised as a Tartar and sitting on a broken boat. Some time ago he sent back a telegram saying that he had reached the Huifa River valley.

According to the telegram he sent, the hydrological conditions of the Huerha, Songhua, and Gray Pai rivers were even better than we had previously estimated. They have passed through Huifa City and drifted all the way to the mouth of the Meihe River in later generations, and the hydrological situation has gradually deteriorated, but it can still meet the navigation of ordinary inland river barges. Now that they're on their way back, they should be back soon. ”

Li Ming nodded and said: "It seems that the waterway of the Huerha River, the Songhua River, and the Gray Pao River has been opened, and your eastern theater can go directly to the hinterland of the Tartars through the waterway of Guò, and the mouth of the Meihe River is more than 100 kilometers away from Shenyang, so that you can form a flanking trend from the east and west against the Tartars." Okay, let's go and see the deck barges assembled at the shipyard, the waterways have been opened, and then we will have to point all at them. ”

The two of them chatted while walking, and as soon as they walked into the door of the shipyard workshop, they met Li Qicong from the shipyard head-on. Li Ming smiled at him and said, "Lao Li, why did you come to Mudanjiang Town, and you are still watching it yourself as a big factory director here." ”

Li Qicong said with a smile: "I've only been here for a few days, and the shipyard is also producing inland river barges for the Western Theater of Operations. If you want to see the river barges produced by our shipyard, I'll show you. ”

Li Ming and Gao Qiang were led into the workshop by Li Qicong, and the factory buildings here are also woodcarved flutes made of logs. Although it does not look good on the outside, it is strong and durable, and this kind of wooden workshop has a low construction cost and a short construction period. Mudanjiang Town Shipyard is just a transitional shipyard, and most of the production workshops are mainly assembly-based, and the equipment is very simple.

In the huge woodcarved flute workshop, deck barges are lined up in the workshop. The inland steam deck barges produced by the shipyard are all 25 meters long and 6 meters wide. It is divided into two types of ships. One is a non-powered deck barge, where the entire deck is flat and empty, which can load supplies, personnel, and even vehicles and construction machinery.

The other is a steam-powered barge, which is equipped with a high-power steam-powered unit to tow ten unpowered deck barges on the water, with a maximum speed of 10 knots on the water and a cruising speed of 6 knots per hour. The bow and stern of the barge were each equipped with a wooden machine gun turret covered with thin steel plates, equipped with a twin water-cooled heavy machine gun mounted on a rotating bracket, and a shield on the front of the machine gun.

The cockpit and steam-powered unit were located in the middle of the hull, with a tall chimney on top. There is a coal bunker deck at the front and rear of the cockpit, and a coal bunker deck can also be freed up to load cargo or install guns. Usually only one coal silo deck is retained, which is sufficient to meet the design range of the river deck barge.

Li Qicong patted the deck barge next to him and said excitedly: "The deck barge we designed is based on the hydrological conditions of the rivers reported by Song Tao. In this era, the water resources of the Outer Northeast and Liaodong were far more developed than those of later generations, and such a steam-powered deck barge towed ten non-powered deck barges, all the way through the Huerha River, Songhua River, and Gray Pao River, and could sail all the way to Fangzhou City, which was the mouth of the Meihe River in later generations.

It is less than 200 kilometers from Shenyang, and it is said that after the ash chop flows through the mouth of the Meihe River, it is a long way west before the river becomes complex and narrow. Our fleet of inland river barges drove along this waterway all the way to the mouth of the Mei River, passing through Huerhawei, Hasansuo, Jianluwei, Sachahewei, Ula, Wuyewuwei, Nadanfu, Huifa and Fangzhou, in only five days. ”

Li Ming also said with emotion: "If we advance to the west by land from Mudanjiang Town, Ningguta, and Mao Lianwei, then the attacking troops in the Eastern Theater will have to set off at least a month in advance, and only then can they keep up with the rhythm of the Western Theater, but now that the Eastern Theater has this waterway channel, it can completely coordinate with the Western Theater."

Moreover, the most troublesome logistical problems in the Eastern Theater have also been solved. Land attack troops can be replenished when they sweep through the mountains to the front line of the Wuye Wuwei to ensure the continuous attack capability of the land and mountain troops. ”

After coming out of the shipyard, Gao Qiang took Li Ming around Mudanjiang Town to inspect the training of units in the western garrison area. He also went to the tunpu of several nearby mountain brigades and, on behalf of the Military Commission, expressed his condolences to the officers and men of the mountain brigade guarding the area.

At present, from Ningguta and Mudanjiang Town, all the way to the first line of Mao Lianwei and Tawenbao, there are dozens of mountain brigades and more than 200 indigenous villages. The Far East Company-controlled area has extended hundreds of miles to the west, and more and more poor tribes have migrated thousands of miles from the north and west.

In recent years, the Far Eastern Company has sent a large number of newly annexed natives to form caravans to roam around the Northeast. The policies of the Far Eastern Company were propagated everywhere, and various Far Eastern Company goods were also taken out to trade with some small tribes.

After several years of development, the Far East Company has become the largest tribe with a population of hundreds of thousands in the eyes of many natives in the northeast, and they have also defeated the tribe of the old Han king in the eastern Jianzhou. The strength is strong, and the wealth is rivaled by the country.

What makes those poor tribes most excited is that as long as they are attached to the Far Eastern Tribe, they can be divided into an inherent mountain and forest area to build a village and establish a village, and no matter who they are, they will be treated equally. They can hunt and fish in the mountains and forests around their villages at will, and they only need to hand over a small amount of old ginseng herbs and mink furs to the Far East every year, without the slightest exploitation of the big tribes in the past.

And as long as they moved with their families, the Far Eastern tribes would build "luxurious" houses for their villages. You can also exchange the mountain goods collected by the village in the mountains and the Far Eastern tribes for various production and living materials.

In one fell swoop, the Far East Company's practice broke the social form of the Outer Northeast since ancient times, causing countless small tribes that were originally dependent on large tribes to migrate their families to the Far East Control District. Relying on the strong is the way of survival of small tribes in the Outer Northeast, and it is also natural to be exploited by others.

But the policy of the Far Eastern Company made these poor small tribes see hope at once. Even the lower-level people of the big tribe fled the tribe with their families and came to the Far East control area.

As a result, the indigenous people in the area controlled by the Far East Company are becoming more and more dense. If you want to settle these natives, you have to expand outward. Far East

At present, the company's main enemy is the Later Jin regime in the west, and it does not want to provoke the tribal alliances in the east and north, such as the Huerha, Woji, and Varkha tribes. So the Far Eastern Company expanded only to the east.

The outer northeast is vast and sparsely populated, and these attached tribes can be easily settled in the vast mountains and forests. So far, the number of natives who have joined the Far East Company has reached more than 100,000.

Li Ming walked for several days in the nearby mountains, during which time he lived in some indigenous villages. He was also warmly welcomed by various villages, and every night there were many indigenous "beauties" vying to sleep, almost scaring Li Ming to death.

The officers and soldiers of the mountain brigade stationed in the mountains and forts, as long as they are not on duty, will go to the surrounding indigenous villages to hunt wild food, and the indigenous "beauties" like the soldiers of the Far Eastern Company the most, and even many women who have men are willing to hook up with the Far Eastern soldiers, hoping to keep a seed.

Leaving the vast mountains, Li Ming returned to Mudanjiang Town. As soon as I entered the town, I heard someone shouting in the distance, "Dude, I miss you to death, come...... Let my brother hug ......"

Li Ming rolled his eyes, and knew that it was Song Tao without looking at anyone. He pushed away Song Tao, who pounced on him, and scolded with a smile: "You stay away from me, what does a big man look like when he is sticky?" ”

Song Tao put his arm around Li Ming's shoulders and said with a smile: "You have entered the mountain, hehe...... I heard from the soldiers of the mountain company that the indigenous women in the mountains were as enthusiastic as fire. If you stay in an indigenous village, you will take the initiative to burrow into your bed. The soldier of the mountain brigade who went with me to reconnoiter said that he once met some old natives in the woods, and before he could go over to flirt, several of them pounced on him and wheeled him. Haha......"

Li Ming shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I've been staying in the village for the past few days, and I can't sleep well, for fear that some indigenous girl will get into the house and harm me." ”

Song Tao listened to Li Ming's words and immediately burst out laughing.

"Then you close your eyes and pretend to be asleep, and let those hungry old ladies satisfy their hunger. Maybe in a few years, a bunch of snotty bear children will come down from the mountains to look for you in Vladivostok, and call you dad when they see you. ”

Li Ming and Song Tao talked here for a while, and then they talked about business.

"This reconnaissance is still smooth, right?"

Song Tao shook his head and said, "As soon as we arrive in Ula City, we won't be able to go on, the Tartars there are too dense, and most of their villages are built along the river. Many times we had to lurk during the day and walk at night, all the way to Huifa City. But this waterway really doesn't say that compared with the small ditches of more than ten meters in modern society, the hydrological conditions of the rivers in this era are very good. In the future, when we conquer the Outer Northeast, we must also make full use of the waterway transportation between Liaodong and the Outer Northeast, which is too convenient. ”

Li Ming nodded and said, "After we go back this time, the Military Commission will hold a military meeting to make specific arrangements for the second phase of next year's Pingliao military plan." Before the winter, we will also leave Vladivostok with the field division and take a boat to Jeju. It's going to be there this winter. I will serve as the commander of the Eastern Theater of Operations, with you, Hao Changfeng, and Wang Yaowu as deputy commanders, and Shi Mingfeng as political commissar. ”

When Song Tao heard this, he said excitedly: "It's finally time to fight the tartars, paralyzed...... My sword has long been hungry and thirsty, baa ho ...... "R1152