Chapter 4022
Chapter 4022
Chapter 4022
The biggest problem facing Zhenhai Port right now is the slow progress of infrastructure projects, hampered by the shortage of manpower and supplies. The only solution Takahashi Minami can offer is to delegate authority to the stationed troops, tacitly allowing them to use force to quickly acquire the necessary resources.
The effectiveness of this move remains to be seen, but Takahashi Minami will not place all her hopes on such unconventional methods. After all, acquiring resources through plunder is only a temporary solution and has many drawbacks; it can only alleviate the immediate predicament and should never become a long-term dependence.
In addition to this, Takahashi Minami also had to solve another long-standing problem for the stationed troops: medical services.
Prior to this, Zhenhai Port was only equipped with two military doctors and five medics, responsible for treating illnesses for the garrison troops and immigrants. The garrison clinic was just a small mud-brick hut, with almost no capacity to treat seriously ill or injured patients. Medical equipment and medicines were heavily dependent on logistical supplies, and shortages of medical care and medicines were a common occurrence there.
Such medical conditions have indirectly led to several deaths in Zhenhai Port in the past two years due to insufficient medical care.
Considering that Zhenhai Port will become a bridgehead for advancing into the Suez region, and that many wounded and sick soldiers would likely have to be sent to Zhenhai Port for treatment should war break out in the Suez region, Qian Tiandun decided to build a decent hospital there.
This time, Takahashi Minami brought a medical team to Zhenhai Port consisting of five military doctors and fifteen medical personnel, as well as two folk doctors from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions who are skilled in treating tropical diseases.
Next, a local hospital staffed with military doctors will be established in Zhenhai Port. Medical equipment and medicines will be greatly replenished, and at least fifty beds will be set up to treat seriously injured and sick soldiers.
The establishment of Fubo Academy is also good news to celebrate for Zhenhai Port. Although the two places are far apart, the children of the stationed troops and immigrants who want to study at Fubo Academy can apply to the government and receive corresponding subsidies.
For example, the government will reduce or waive the students' round-trip ferry fare between the two places and their tuition fees during their time at school. They will also receive allowances and scholarships for living expenses. This is one of the benefits that students can enjoy while stationed at Zhenhai Port.
After a brief three-day rest at Zhenhai Port, the chieftains of several nearby tribes came to pay homage to the high-ranking official from Haihan who had crossed the sea.
Zhenhai Port is located on the East African coast, so the surrounding tribes are mostly Black people. They don't speak the same language and can only guess what the other person is trying to say through gestures.
Fortunately, Takahashi Minami did not object to this. He patiently received the tribal chiefs, accepted the furs, ivory and other gifts they offered, and then gave them a batch of Haihan porcelain in return.
These tribes have already attached themselves to Zhenhai Port, but their size is very limited. The largest of them has only five or six hundred people, and the total number of the tribes combined is less than a thousand.
These small tribes were far less capable than the Xihu tribe recruited at Fubo Port. Even if they provided labor, they could only muster a hundred or so able-bodied men. Their tribal territory offered little in the way of resources, making them of little value to the special operations division. The black slaves provided by Portuguese and Arab slave traders were mostly from similar indigenous groups along the East African coast. Therefore, to manage the slave laborers currently housed at Zhenhai Port, the garrison selected some men from the tribes to serve as foremen, specifically responsible for directing the slave laborers of their own kind.
These native foremen did not resent this employment relationship, nor did they treat these slave laborers as their own people. When they raised their whips to lash the slave laborers, they showed no mercy and were even more ruthless. In their understanding, different tribes might fight each other for survival, and it was not unusual for them to capture members of rival tribes to serve as slaves. Naturally, they would not be polite to the slave laborers managed by the Haihan army.
In fact, slave traders rarely went out to capture slaves themselves. Merchants and mercenaries rarely ventured into the dangerous African interior on a large scale. Most slaves were actually sold to slave traders by tribal chiefs and local kings, and their sources were mostly prisoners of war and convicts.
Over time, the plundering of more slaves from other powers became a pretext for some tribes to wage war. The largest kingdoms in West Africa, such as the Ashanti, Dahomey, and Mali, all grew and prospered by operating the slave trade.
After seeing off several indigenous chieftains, Takahashi Minami led his troops on another journey north, passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Red Sea.
The garrison at Zhenhai Port also dispatched four ships to participate in this voyage, primarily serving as guides. During their stay, in addition to guarding Zhenhai Port, another important task for these warships was to investigate and collect information about the Red Sea, especially the hydrographic and nautical data of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Qian Tiandun believes that after the Suez Canal is opened, the Red Sea will become one of the busiest shipping routes between Asia and Europe, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait will become a key waterway like the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Hormuz, so it is essential to have all relevant information.
When Qian Tiandun led his fleet to visit Suez last time, although he traveled through the Red Sea, it was only a cursory visit to this long and narrow sea area, which is more than 4,000 miles long from north to south and has an average width of more than 400 miles.
To advance into the Suez Canal, it was necessary to plan a reliable route in the Red Sea, be familiar with the wind and ocean current directions at different times of the year, and know the places along the coast where one could hide, take shelter from the wind, and stop for supplies.
Minami Takahashi's journey didn't require a rush, so the planned route was to sail along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, turn back at the Suez region, and then sail along the western coast of the Red Sea on the return trip. This way, they could gather as much information as possible about both sides of the Red Sea and correct any inaccuracies in the nautical charts.
Takahashi ordered that all ports, large and small, be stopped and inspected along the way. If a place had resources or a large population, it might become one of the targets for the Haihan army to plunder.
Of course, Takahashi Minami wouldn't rush into action during this northward journey, lest it disrupt the research schedule. However, on the return trip, when they reached the vicinity of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, they could then look for suitable targets along the coast.
Of course, resorting to force is not the first choice. Takahashi Minami will try to persuade them first and then resort to force, to see if he can recruit natives who are willing to go to Zhenhai Port through mercenary means.
The fleet's ballast included a considerable amount of goods favored by the natives, such as sugar, wine, and iron products. These items could potentially be traded with local tribes for able-bodied laborers. After all, hired men were more likely to obey orders, while those captured were far less so.