Due to the incessant rain for several days, the rising water could not contain the momentum of the forward movement at this bend of the river, and it had overflowed the riverbed and formed a mudflat about 200 meters wide on the bank, and the mud was far worse than that of the river bank at the mouth of the sea. This scene disappointed Morgan a little, he had hoped to set up a stronghold here with his back to the riverbank, so that the east and north directions would be close to the water, and the defensive area and corresponding pressure would be much reduced, but from what he saw, it was obvious that the stronghold camp had to keep a safe distance from the riverbank, otherwise it was likely that the camp would be flooded in the rainy season.

Except for flocks of wild ducks at leisure, there is no sign of human activity on the river beach. Morgan and his soldiers found a slightly higher slope, and after a simple determination of the topsoil and surrounding conditions, he identified this slope about 100 meters in radius as an alternative location for the stronghold camp. There is no trace of reclamation in the area as far as the eye can see, and it seems that it is not a daily activity area of the local aborigines, and it may be possible to avoid the aborigines more smoothly when they build a stronghold here in the future.

After completing his survey of the bend, Morgan saw that it was noon, and ordered the team to stop for dinner. However, the rain does not stop in this day, and there is no shelter nearby, so it is a bit troublesome to bury the pot and cook, so you can only nibble on some dry food to cushion the bottom. After eating, we re-boarded the boat and continued on the parade. To Morgan's relief, the river channel of Houlong Creek has been maintained at a width of two or three hundred meters, and the flow of water through the existing flat-bottomed barges must be no problem, but I don't know how long this kind of water can be maintained, and whether there will be such conditions after the rainy season has passed.

From there, it continues to swim upstream in the south, and Houlong Creek basically extends forward with a straight waterway. However, it is not difficult to see from the alluvial plains on both sides of the river that this small river has been diverted and flooded many times in history to wash away such a valley terrain about three or four kilometers wide between the rolling mountains.

The local indigenous tribes apparently lacked experience in the use of such a fertile alluvial plain, and there was no trace of land reclamation along the way, and it was not until about an hour after leaving the previous river bay that Morgan saw in the telescope what appeared to be a field of cultivation in the distance, but the scale was still very limited, and there were only twenty or thirty acres of land as far as the eye could see. Although these fields are still about a kilometer or so away from Houlong Creek, Morgan did not expect the barges passing on the river to hide their tracks, and the water vapor and soot released by the steam boilers could be easily spotted even at a greater distance, as long as the aborigines here were not blind, it was only a matter of time before they discovered these strange boats coming and going on Houlong Creek.

But the encounter with the aborigines came sooner than Morgan expected, and as the boat had moved forward a little further, Morgan noticed several people wading through the river 100 meters ahead. But the tools they use are not fishing nets, but bamboo harpoons. The natives, topless, turned their heads to look blankly at the steamship approaching in the distance, almost as Morgan spotted them.

"Be on guard!" Morgan knew that the other party's threat was extremely limited, but he was not careless because of this, and immediately gave the order.

The soldiers in the bow of the boat immediately pointed their rifles at the natives in front of them, but the natives seemed to be more nervous, and they ran up to the river bank with shouts and began to flee, but they did not forget to carry the bamboo baskets containing the fish on the bank of the river as they fled. Naturally, Morgan would not have ordered his soldiers to hunt down the natives, and watched them disappear behind the bushes on the riverbank.

Morgan did not feel relaxed when he saw the natives fleeing ashore in a panic, and the knee-jerk actions of these uncivilized natives actually reflected their vigilance and distrust of outsiders. If the other side does not even have the will to engage with each other, then the possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two sides in the future is very slim.

Another point worth noting is that since these natives will come to the river to fish, it means that their tribe should not be far from Houlongxi, and if this tribe is hostile to Haihan in the future, then the nearby river will obviously be within the range of the indigenous armed forces, which is also a potential threat that must be guarded against.

However, Morgan is in a hurry to survey the terrain upstream, and he has no time to explore the specific location of this indigenous tribe for the time being. Otherwise, he would have liked to take his personal equipment to track down the natives and see where their nest was.

Over the next few miles, Morgan noticed that the west bank of Houlong Creek gradually transitioned from plains to hills, while the east bank changed in the opposite direction. Referring to the map in his hand, Morgan knew that the next 90-degree bend was ahead.

This bay has a radius from north to east, but it does not turn as resolutely as the nearly right-angled bay downstream, so the current is not as turbulent as the downstream bay. Morgan continued to follow the previous method, disembarking and going ashore to survey on foot, looking for suitable areas to set up camp. However, judging from the topography here, it is unlikely that Morgan will find a location with a natural defensive advantage, which will inevitably greatly increase the amount of work in the subsequent construction of the stronghold. The only advantage of this terrain is that it is easy to observe the dynamics of the surrounding area, and it is enough to build a three- or four-story observation tower inside the stronghold, which is enough to see the situation within a radius of several miles.

In fact, when Yu Yao came here for a field trip the previous time, he also made a brief stay in these places, but at that time, it was mainly for the purpose of verifying the survey map, and he did not come with a specific purpose like Morgan to investigate the terrain and landforms in detail. And the location chosen by Morgan here is basically certain to become the place where Haihan will build a large number of buildings in the future.

After inspecting the bay, it was already dark. Considering the unfamiliar geography here, Morgan would not venture to sail again, so he found a nearby river bank with a slower current, and then all the people disembarked and set up a temporary camp.

Although Morgan's troops were not field troops, because of the special nature of this mission, a lot of field equipment was also distributed before departure, such as marching tents, kitchen utensils, improvised fortifications, etc., which were set up very quickly, and hot food was eaten after more than an hour. At this time, the drizzling rain finally stopped, and the soldiers took advantage of the warmth of the meal to take off their wet uniforms and put them on the fire to bake. Although everyone is issued a military raincoat, it is inevitable that a lot of rain will soak into the inner layer of the military uniform through the collar during a day of outdoor action.

At present, Haihan has trial-produced a rubber-coated raincoat, and the chemical department has prepared carbon disulfide with charcoal and sulfur, which is used to dissolve the rubber and apply it to the surface of the cloth to achieve an excellent waterproof effect. This method was originally invented by the Englishman MacKindosh at the end of the 19th century, and the English word for "raincoat" is also named after the inventor's name, Mackintosh, but the time-travelers did not hesitate to let the invention appear more than two centuries earlier after having rubber production capacity.

However, due to production costs and production capacity problems, only traversers and a small number of naturalized senior cadres and officers can be eligible for distribution of this rubber-coated raincoat for the time being. At present, the standard raincoat issued by the military is still made of oilcloth made of fabric, although the waterproof effect is not bad, but this thing is extremely flammable, and there are certain safety hazards, only because of the relatively low cost has become the first choice for military procurement.

Morgan still sent a telegram to the Penghu base at the agreed time, informing him of the progress of today's expedition, and briefly mentioning two sentences about the encounter with the natives in the wilderness. Morgan's camp chosen today is already located on the edge of the mountain, and it is expected that it will be only three to four kilometers away from the destination out of the pit, and if it goes well, he will be able to reach his destination tomorrow morning, provided that this section of the waterway is sufficiently navigable. Otherwise, if you want to abandon the ship and go ashore by land, it will be difficult to estimate the time.

The next morning, Morgan and his men set out on the road at dawn and continued eastward by boat. Although the terrain in this area is not steep and steep, the ridge at an altitude of about 500 meters has a very obvious drop from the coastal plain on the west coast.

The mountain range here runs north-south, and the Houlong River, which originates from the central mountain range, cuts the ridge horizontally from east to west, tearing it in two unjustifiably. The sulphur pit oil field that Haihan is looking for is located in this valley that lies across the ridge.

Although the rain had largely stopped, the amount of water in Houlong Creek did not seem to be affected, and Morgan watched as the plains on the banks of the river gradually disappeared, replaced by rapidly rising mountains on both banks. Although Morgan was aware that the mountains were mostly inhabited by indigenous tribes, as far as he could see, it was a completely untouched primeval forest. As far as the eye can see, there are towering trees hugging several people everywhere, and the birds and insects in the forest are full of life.

However, Morgan is not in the mood to enjoy the natural scenery, and this section of the channel is now much narrower than the plains beyond the mountains, only less than 30 meters wide, but fortunately the water depth is still navigable. Morgan slowed the boatman's speed and asked two soldiers to stand at the bow with bamboo poles and keep probing to the bottom of the river to make sure there were no reef shoals in the water that would threaten the boat's progress.

Morgan remembered the information provided by Yu Yao, and mentioned that there were many shoals in the upper reaches of Houlong Creek, and there were difficulties in navigation, but he did not encounter such a situation along the way, and it seemed that it should be a positive impact of the rainy season.

Of course, there is another strange phenomenon that also attracted Morgan's attention, that is, when he traveled all the way from the mouth of Houlong Creek to the mouth of the sea here, he did not find the boats of the indigenous tribes on the river, not even canoes and bamboo rafts. If it weren't for the poor craftsmanship of the natives to build water vehicles, it was very likely that they were hiding their strength and deliberately did not release it for the Haihan people to see.

Morgan believes that even if these natives living in the mountains could not build large ships that could go to sea, they should not be able to build low-tech water vehicles such as canoes or bamboo rafts. And if they hid the vehicles they built before the arrival of the Haihans, this would be a bit deep.

Morgan couldn't guess the starting point of the natives' move for the time being, so he could only think about seeing the move. But one thing Morgan is sure of is that no matter how many tricks the natives have, it is still difficult to change the balance of strength between the two sides in the face of the absolute military superiority of Haihan. Let him come as many times as he wants, I will only go all the way, with the gun in hand, and Morgan is not afraid of how much of a formation the primitive forces in this vicinity can make. He only brought about 20 people to dare to enter the mountain, which was also a full trust in Haihan's own force.

About two hours later, Morgan's team arrived at their intended destination. Despite the detailed map and Yu Yao's guidance, it took him more than ten minutes to determine the location of the pit that had been in the minds of the Executive Committee, and the location of the oil field was said to be on the gentle slope on the south bank of Houlong Creek. Of course, the place is still undeveloped and untouched, and there seems to be no obvious human signs, which should be good news for Haihan. At least when Haihan develops this area in the future, it will not have disputes with the aborigines over the ownership of the homestead and other reasons. Of course, the premise is that there are no indigenous tribes within a radius of ten miles around here, otherwise the other party will definitely regard this area as their own, and will not sit idly by and watch the Haihan people settle down here.

However, God did not show goodness, and at the same time that Morgan's team arrived at the pit, it began to drizzle again. Morgan could only let go of the excitement of finding his destination first, and directed the soldiers to set up tents on the shore and carry some supplies off the ship. Although he had already found this place, Morgan did not just go back after taking a look, he had to roughly check the surrounding environmental conditions here, such as whether there were conditions for building a wharf, whether it could build oil refining facilities and workers' living quarters here, and so on.

It is of utmost importance to ensure that there are no indigenous activities in the surrounding area. It would be best if armed conflict could be avoided, and the pressure to build oil fields and settlements on the Haihan side would be greatly reduced.

Morgan divided his men into two teams, one to carry and guard supplies on the shore, and he himself led the other group and began to feel up the mountain, intending to find a slightly higher place to observe the situation in the area. The ridge on the south side of the pit is about 500 meters above sea level, and the mountain is relatively gentle, which is suitable for temporary observation points.