Chapter 3563
Chapter 3563
Chapter 3563
As night fell, Zheng Agui's company worked hard and finally managed to build five marching tents before dark, so they no longer had to sleep under the sky.
The four platoons under his command were stationed in four of the tents, and the remaining tent was squeezed with the company headquarters office, as well as bunks for the cooks, signalmen, medical soldiers, quartermasters, and the company commander and deputy commander.
A drainage ditch was dug around the tent to prevent water accumulation during rain.
Zheng Agui personally supervised the distribution of more than ten kilograms of liquor issued by the battalion's logistics department, and in the end, the excessive drinking incidents he was worried about did not occur.
Of course, since each person only gets a small cup, few people would be satisfied with this way of distributing wine. It can only be said that it is better than nothing.
Although there should be no enemies in this place, Zheng Agui still made arrangements for night guard after dinner in accordance with the regulations for field combat.
Afterwards, he summoned his squad and platoon leaders to convey some news and instructions from superiors brought by combat staff officer Juan today.
"According to the instructions of our superiors, the original exploration mission in the New World has been temporarily canceled. The Bangui Camp will rest in Beimen Port for seven to ten days, and then we may have to set off again to the Banda Sea area to continue fighting the Spanish."
"Our company has lost 17 men in combat so far. I just went to check on the wounded. It is estimated that about half of them will be able to return to the team to participate in combat missions. The impact will not be too great."
"The company's ammunition and material supplies will be completed before departure. If there is any equipment that needs to be repaired or replaced, report to the quartermaster as soon as possible."
"While stationed at Beimen Port, we must not leave the developed areas without permission. There are indigenous tribes in the jungle nearby, but their attitude towards us is unclear. The battalion headquarters requires us to avoid active contact as much as possible to avoid unnecessary conflicts."
Someone asked: "How strong are the natives? Can they compare with the natives of Luzon?"
Zheng Agui explained: "Of course, their combat power is far inferior to ours, but if we clash with them and it affects our subsequent combat missions, it will not be worth it. The battalion headquarters does not want us to waste precious resources for this."
After Zheng Agui said this, everyone understood. They were four or five thousand miles away from Davao Port in Mindanao, and all the supplies had to be transported from Davao Port. Even if the cost was ignored, the quantity was limited, and they must be used first to deal with the more threatening Spaniards.
Someone else said, "Since we are concentrating our firepower on the Spanish, why do we have to come to this remote place to build a port base? Could it be that the higher-ups want to attack the Spanish from both the north and the south? That's a bit too much."
Zheng Agui said: "The higher-ups arranged for us to go south to the New World, but this was not just to suppress the Spanish."
Zheng Agui participated in a short-term training in Manila at the beginning of the year, during which he had the opportunity to come into contact with some senior generals, and thus had some knowledge of the inside story of the Luzon authorities' arrangements for this expedition.
He knew that the Spanish were only a side dish in this expedition. The real target was actually the new continent. It was just a matter of picking up the straw and killing the rabbits. However, the superiors probably did not expect that Spain had not been idle in the past two years. It quietly built a lot of armed bases in the southern waters, equipped with a large number of artillery, and quietly mobilized a considerable number of armed warships, which caused the expedition fleet to almost break its teeth when it wanted to destroy these Spanish colonies.
The harassment by Spanish armed warships forced the expedition fleet to temporarily adjust its mission and first clear a relatively safe route in the relevant waters to ensure that personnel and supplies could be continuously transported to the colonies in the New World.
However, Zheng Agui only knew that the superiors paid more attention to the development of the New Mainland, but he did not know the real reason. Therefore, the only information he could tell his subordinates was the priority of this mission to the south.
Of course, judging from the current situation, due to the tenacious resistance of the Spaniards, the priority of these tasks seems to be becoming increasingly blurred.
The secondary mission that they had originally planned to do along the way has now become a prerequisite for completing the main mission. Even their troops that have already arrived at the colonies in the New World have to make a surprise attack after resting.
Someone else said, "Although this New World is an unowned land, it is so remote that even the Spanish did not come to occupy it. It doesn't look like a good place!"
Before Zheng Agui could even speak, someone retorted, "When have we ever missed a place that the higher-ups have taken a fancy to? Have you forgotten that those places we conquered two years ago were soon mined with a lot of copper and gold mines."
Zheng Agui added: "It is said that several gold mines have been discovered on the east coast of Mindanao Island where we gathered and set out. As for what treasures are buried in the New World, I don't know, but I heard that the Xingdao District has also sent a fleet to open up a colony here."
Someone curiously asked whether the movements of the Xingdao Fleet were related to his own actions, but Zheng Agui could not answer. He only heard some rumors when he was in Manila, and the competition between the two regions for the right to develop the New World was information that he could not access at his level.
Finally, someone asked, since Xingdao sent troops to the New World, whether they would come to help in the war.
Zheng Agui felt that although this could not be said to be completely impossible, the probability should be extremely small. When the troops were sent to attack the Philippine Islands two years ago, the pressure was no less than it is now, but the Luzon authorities did not find any reinforcements to help.
As for the reason why the battle was so difficult, Zheng Agui believed that it was mainly because the preparations before the battle were not sufficient. He did not expect to fight the Spaniards for so many days. Now that the battle situation has gradually entered the rhythm of the Hai Han army, the difficulty of subsequent operations should also decrease.
The whole company had a holiday the next day, and Zheng Agui was able to take a break from his busy schedule and go to the nearby coast to enjoy the sunshine and beach.
When he returned to the barracks for lunch at noon, he passed by the battalion headquarters and saw a notice being posted there. He leaned over to look at it for a while and could barely understand what was on it.
The content of this notice is aimed at the soldiers stationed here. If they are willing to move their families here to settle down in the future, they can get a certain amount of land and a certain amount of resettlement fee according to their household. This treatment is better than the conditions that the government used to recruit immigrants in the new colony.
However, these conditions have limited appeal to Zheng Agui. He has already purchased a property in Manila, the capital of the Luzon Region, and settled his family there. The convenience of life there is by no means comparable to this remote new continent.