Bai Kesi and Yu Yao are both determined people, they know very well what they need to accomplish here, and they don't have much compassion for the uncivilized natives of this era. If the local aborigines in Miaoli were unwilling to accept the fact that Haihan had been stationed, then Bai Kesi and others would probably not have the patience to communicate and negotiate with them slowly, but would try the most direct and effective means of force to suppress or even expel these indigenous tribes, paving the way for the exploration and exploitation of oil fields.

For Haihan, the time saved in skirmishes that can be solved quickly is far more valuable than the military spending. Whether or not he could reach an understanding with the local aborigines was not the goal that Bai Kesi was pursuing, because he knew very well that it was not a task for one or two generations to get these mountain aborigines out of the tribe and join the Haihan, and the traverser did not have so much time to wait for the mountain people to slowly change their mentality.

After the implementation of the Miaoli oil project, Haihan will gradually introduce Han Chinese immigrants to settle in the area for subsequent development and construction, and may even build a petrochemical base and supporting urban facilities here as needed in the future, and these measures will inevitably conflict with the indigenous tribes over the ownership of the land. Rather than waiting until that time to solve the problem, it is better to start early and be prepared to drive the indigenous people away from this Haihan demarcated area from the beginning.

He is not an expert in this kind of heavy-handedness, so he must also listen to the opinions of military personnel. At present, among these traversers in Penghu, only Yu Yao has been to Miaoli and knows the actual situation best. But from Yu Yao's tone, Bai Kesi could vaguely feel that he was not very optimistic about the use of force.

"Can you elaborate a little bit?" asked Baks.

Yu Yao nodded and said: "Mr. Bai, then I'll say it bluntly, the two companies you brought over this time were originally stationed near Sanya, and the local natural environment is still somewhat different from that of Miaoli, and the place where the oil field is located is already located in the mountainous area, and this kind of wild environment will definitely take a certain amount of time to adapt to the troops who have no experience in mountain and jungle operations." Poisonous insects, snakes and ants in the mountains and forests, hot and humid environments, and even our supply lines can become a bigger problem than the indigenous tribes. In other words, if you rush into the mountains with these centaurs, I think there will be a certain risk. ”

Bai Kesi turned his head to look at Morgan and said: "I think there should be some objective reasons for the Ministry of Defense to make such an arrangement. ”

Morgan said quietly: "In the establishment of the Haihan Army, the troops with the mountainous and jungle environment as the main combat direction are, of course, the first to recommend General Qian Tiandun's special operations battalion. However, this unit is now far away from the front line in Zhejiang, and there will be other important tasks entrusted to them in the future, and it is unlikely that they will be transferred to the island of Taiwan to carry out the mission. Although the two companies assigned to the oilfield exploration team to serve as escort personnel have not been trained in mountainous environments for a long time, they are also troops who have been on the battlefield before, and they do not lack experience in actual combat. Coupled with the garrisons on Penghu and Taiwan Island, a battalion of troops can be assembled in the Miaoli area in the short term, which should be more than enough to deal with the natives whose weapons are only bows, arrows, bamboo and spears. ”

The two men disagreed, and it was clear that the top brass of the Ministry of Defense and the front-line commanders did not agree on the idea and had a different understanding of the arrangement of this task. In fact, the two companies transferred by the Ministry of National Defense to Bai Kesi are really not weak, in 1631, the Shilu mining area rioted, at that time into the Qiongzhong Mountains to quell the rebellion and chase after the begging troops, including the two companies that came to Penghu this time, to say that the experience of fighting in the mountain and jungle environment, in fact, there are still some. Moreover, the existing garrison on the island of Taiwan has been in the local area for about a year, and they should have adapted themselves to the environment and climate on the island relatively well, and if necessary, they can also mobilize some companies to concentrate on Miaoli to carry out tasks.

Yu Yao didn't insist on disagreeing with Morgan, but just shook his head slightly and said, "I'm not saying that our troops can't deal with the aborigines, it's just that this process may not be as easy as you expected." ”

"It seems that when you went to the local area, you were treated more than just unkindly, right?"

Yu Yao nodded, "Although there was no direct armed conflict at that time, the hostility shown by the local natives was already very obvious, and they did not welcome foreign ethnic groups into the area. As far as I know, in the early years, when Shibazhi was still in Taiwan, he also migrated several groups of immigrants to the local area, but because of the obstruction of the aborigines, they were unable to take root in the local area. ”

"What is the reason for their xenophobia? is it for the land or some strange faith?"

Yu Yao responded: "I think it's for food." The local terrain of Miaoli is mainly mountainous and hilly, and the few plains are mainly concentrated in the Houlongxi Basin, and the grain crops planted by the Dajia people are concentrated in these alluvial plains. Whether it is the Han immigrants who have settled in the local area or us, the preferred place to settle down must be the local indigenous grain-producing areas, which of course will be difficult to reconcile. ”

Bai Ke thought for a moment and said, "Well, if it is possible, how about we exchange grain for peace? We can provide food to the indigenous tribes at a low price, and let them exchange the produce from the mountains." ”

Yu Yao shook his head and said, "Mr. Bai, what you said was the old way to deal with the Li and Miao clans on Hainan Island in the past, but the situation here is a little different. The Li and Miao ethnic groups can be regarded as semi-civilized peoples, willing to accept the canonization and management of the Han court, admiring more advanced civilization than rejecting it, and willing to accept our kind help. But most of the indigenous tribes on the island of Taiwan are still basically in a primitive state, and for them, there is only one kind of outsider, and that is the enemy, they do not believe in outsiders, and they will not accept any quid pro quo. Of course, if we are willing to spend more time and take our time, we may be able to change their thinking and attitude, but unfortunately, the only thing we lack is enough time. ”

Yu Yao's remarks are more essential, the ethnic policy implemented by Haihan on Hainan Island is not applicable to Taiwan, where the situation is different, and although it is not impossible to communicate and negotiate, the Executive Committee will probably not be willing to let Bai Kesi's team spend too much time dealing with such "small problems." This time, the fleet departed from Sanya nearly two weeks ahead of schedule, because the executive committee hoped that every second would be the case on this project, and the sooner the oilfield could be put into production, the better.

When Bai Kesi heard this, he also felt that what Yu Yao said was indeed worthy of attention, so he asked Morgan's opinion again. Although Morgan is a doctor, his hands that can hold a scalpel can also play with all kinds of killing weapons, and he was mentally prepared to use force before he came here, and what Yu Yao said only further affirmed the necessity of using strong methods.

Morgan shrugged and said, "I think Yu Yao has made the situation very clear, and if we don't want to waste time, then it's best to start working on a concrete course of action as soon as possible." You should already have a sand table here, right?"

Yu Yao went to Miaoli to do a field trip before, one of the purposes was to make a sand table for deduction, and immediately took Bai Kesi and others to another room with a large space, and sure enough, there was a huge sand table model four meters square on the ground. The mountains, rivers, and coasts above are clearly outlined, and Bai Kesi and others have seen the satellite map of Miaoli in the big database, but it is at least eight points similar to the sand table in front of them, considering the changes of water and soil in hundreds of years, the accuracy of this sand table is quite good.

"It's not very accurate, but it's not too big. Yu Yao is also quite satisfied with the sand table he made himself: "The general topography of the Miaoli area, you can see it from the sand table, and I have also marked the main locations on the sand table in advance." ”

The central mountain range on the island of Taiwan runs through the island from north to south, skewing to the east coast, and the west coast is mostly a coastal plain terrain, but in the Miaoli area, the mountain range extends to the coastline. This topography is vividly reflected on the sand table, and only the coastal areas of the Houlongxi basin have relatively flat valley topography. The flow of this small river is also quite tortuous, and there are at least two 90-degree turns between the mouth of the sea and the exit of the sulfur pit at its destination. The location of the pit is no longer on the alluvial plain downstream, but along a river valley in the mountains.

Morgan estimated it according to the scale, and asked Yu Yao for verification: "From the end of the plain, there are about three kilometers upstream?"

Yu Yao nodded and said, "Yes, this distance is also the most dangerous section. The terrain of the plains downstream is relatively open, and it is easier to move in and deploy troops, but the miles into the mountains are all primeval forests, because of the topography, Houlongxi cannot be navigable all the way, and it is necessary to reach the predetermined place by land. With our current conditions, we can only open a forest trail in the local area in the short term. ”

Bai Kesi couldn't help frowning and said, "With so many drilling tools, it's not easy to transport a few miles in the mountains. ”

The drill pipes used in the drilling are all meters long, and it is indeed hard work to carry these materials into the mountains by manpower. Although this kind of menial work does not need to be done by the traverser himself, it must also take into account the amount of time and manpower required to do so.

Liu Shanxia, who had been silent, suddenly said a sentence: "When I was working on the Kaohsiung Port in the south before, I heard that the island of Taiwan also has a rainy season, will the water level in Longxi be slightly higher in the rainy season after that?"

Yu Yao said: "Strictly speaking, there is no real rainy season in Taiwan, only the plum rain, and the time is probably in April and May. However, there is no data for reference on whether the water level in Longxi will rise after this period. ”

The last time Yu Yao went to Miaoli, it was March, and it was not the rainy season at that time, and before him, no Haihan people had gone so far inland to survey the terrain.

Bai Kesi said: "If the water level of Houlong River in the rainy season can ensure navigation, then our preliminary work will be much easier, I think we can give it a try." ”

Bai Kesi was the person in charge of this project, and all the actions of the military personnel during this period were only to cooperate with his work, and Yu Yao saw that he had made up his mind, so he didn't say anything more. After all, the objective conditions are like this, if you miss this year's rainy season, you can really only use manpower to slowly transport all the materials into the mountains.

But even if Houlongxi can be navigable throughout the whole process, it is still a very difficult errand to bring a large team to the local station. There are many batches of materials and personnel, the deployment of armed escorts, the guarantee of supply lines, and the handling plan of emergencies, etc., which need to be carefully discussed by Bai Kesi and others. But before that, Bai Kesi also needs to implement the situation of transportation.

"At the end of last year, Sanya brought four small steam engines, how are they being used now?" asked Bai Kesi.

"It has been installed on the ship, and it has been tested in the military port, and it can be used normally. Yu Yao responded: "But considering the actual local situation, don't expect any good performance in terms of speed, it is estimated that the speed of going upriver from the mouth of Houlong River can be at most three knots." ”

Before that, the inland steamship has been on the Tiandu River and Linchun River in Sanya to play the task of passenger and freight, and the technology of the marine steam engine is also relatively mature, and several steam engines have been shipped to Penghu last year and installed on the flat-bottomed cargo ship built in advance here. This kind of cargo ship can tow several barges in the back, and can transport a relatively large number of materials and personnel at a time. However, Longxi was narrow and shallow, and although the marine steam engine had enough power, it did not dare to move forward at full power, otherwise the barge behind would run aground on the river beach, and it would be a big trouble.

Bai Kesi nodded and said, "This time we also brought two spare steam engines, a total of six ships, if we can go straight out of the sulfur pit, then at most two or three days can be transported to the supplies." You make arrangements to load the steam engines on board as soon as possible. ”

Morgan said: "Since time is very urgent, then don't delay, I suggest sending a team of men and horses as soon as possible to establish an advance base near the mouth of Houlong Creek." ”

As for how to land on an unfamiliar coast and establish a temporary base, this is a basic combat skill that must be learned by both sea and land in the Haihan army. After having a base on the coast, the Haihan army can attack and retreat, and can have a basic supply point, so there is more choice in action. The Penghu base has already prepared the relevant combat materials, and is waiting for a suitable departure time. Now that the issue of indigenous tribes has been put behind him, how to act as soon as possible is a priority now.