Chapter 1034: The Belated Jeju D-Day
"If we continue transporting refugees at this speed, we'll have a biological crisis within days." Lu Wenyuan stood on the farm's watchtower, surveying the refugee camp sprawled across the hillside below with growing unease.
The transport fleet had arrived twice now, taking away four thousand people in total. Yet the tide of humanity flooding into the camp only increased. Particularly after Kong Youde's forces reached the gates of Dengzhou City—the civilians near Dengzhou fled in all directions to escape the clamor of soldiers, and many streamed toward Qimu Island.
Lu Wenyuan could no longer maintain precise head counts at this point. People arrived practically every hour. Combined with the daily death toll, he could only estimate the approximate population through the nightly distribution figures of refugee rations. The total now exceeded 4,800.
Qimu Island was small. Though food was not a problem and accommodation could barely be managed, drinking water consumption strained beyond sustainable limits. Merely supplying 1.5 liters of basic drinking water per refugee daily meant consumption exceeding ten thousand liters. The island's natural water sources couldn't meet this demand—everything now depended on the rainwater stored in cisterns Lu Wenyuan had excavated during the previous phase.
At this rate, even if the population stayed below six thousand daily, the island's reserve water sources would be exhausted within half a month. If heavy snow didn't replenish surface water, water-fetching teams would have to travel over ten li to find sources.
Far more deadly was the excrement situation. Though food supply levels were very low and biogas digesters processed waste, the daily volume remained considerable. Lu Wenyuan had already been forced to close several public toilets.
"You mismatched bunch of miserly Planning Commission bastards..." He gritted his teeth. If not for the Planning Commission's insistence back then, he would have run the toilet sewage culverts directly into the sea long ago, discharging everything into the ocean—convenient and clean. Why should he have to wrestle with these problems now?
He didn't know when the next convoy of ships would arrive. The fleet had to unload, evaluate transport gains and losses, and revise the transport plan. This was always part of the schedule—only no one had anticipated refugees gathering so rapidly. He was currently experiencing "cargo backlog."
From the watchtower, lights on the pier and scattered mast lights remained visible. Besides a few fishing boats he had collected himself, a special service squadron from Kaohsiung had been dispatched to protect the sea around the island. The cannons on these four special service boats were concealed under canvas and fishing nets, their flags hidden.
Yet the cold wind growing sharper each day and the occasional snowflakes reminded him that severe winter was approaching.
Ice had already begun forming on the island's pools and the surface runoff beyond the island. Under the biting northwest wind, the sea surface would soon freeze as well—Lu Wenyuan had confirmed this from local fishermen.
Once Longkou Bay froze over, the special service boats would have to withdraw. However, nearly a thousand Army soldiers equipped with cannons and typewriters remained on the island—even if Kong Youde attacked with his entire force, it wouldn't be problematic. What worried him was the impact on ship docking after the ice freeze.
Coming down from the watchtower and returning to the warm conference room where a fire crackled, he found Special Commissioner Xie Yao waiting for him. Dispatched by the Ministry of Health to oversee health and epidemic prevention work at the Qimu Island refugee camp, Xie Yao was a semi-old man in his fifties—originally a scholar without a degree and a bankrupt small landlord, he knew a bit of medicine. He had received training in modern Chinese and Western medicine through the Ministry of Health's training class. Being from Shaanxi, he was considered "freeze-resistant" and had been sent to Shandong to direct refugee health operations. Dozens of medics dispatched from Lingao served under him.
He wore a semi-old uniform commonly worn by naturalized citizens, warming himself by the stove. Seeing Lu Wenyuan enter, he attempted to rise.
Lu Wenyuan waved impatiently. "Don't get up. Just tell me. What's the situation today?"
"Disinfectant has been sprayed in all barracks. The kill rate for fleas and bedbugs is ninety percent." Xie Yao spoke slowly. "As of 17:00 this afternoon, thirty-one people have died, and the bodies have been transported out. There are one hundred and nine new patients. Adding those not yet recovered and subtracting those recovered or deceased, the current patient count is three hundred and seventy-five..."
Lu Wenyuan smiled bitterly. "Doctor Xie, what's your prognosis for tomorrow?"
"The weather grows colder by the day. I'm afraid the women, children, and elderly can hardly withstand it. A small cold or chill becomes pneumonia instantly. There isn't enough medicine." He paused. "If only we could give them more bedding and cotton clothing."
If not for the Chiefs' secret "sulfa tablets" and various other "Australian medicines," relying only on decocted herbal soup would have claimed far more lives.
It was precisely curiosity about "Australian medicine" that had prompted Xie Yao to sign up for the Ministry of Health's training class at his advanced age.
"However, cold weather also has advantages. With so many people crowded on a small island, if it weren't freezing, I'm afraid we'd have seen an epidemic long ago."
A huge gap existed in winter clothing and bedding prepared for the refugees—it was genuinely difficult for the Senate to prepare winter clothes for over a hundred thousand people. Therefore, the Forward Command's strategy was to let refugees build fires and heat themselves gradually. Compared to cotton, fuel supply was easier to manage.
"Improve the housing for refugees. Build more huodilong heating. At least two flues for every barrack," Lu Wenyuan instructed.
After seeing off Xie Yao, Lu Wenyuan paced the conference room several times, then ordered his orderly to find Wang Ruixiang for consultation. Chen Sigen had gone out with the Special Reconnaissance Detachment—he needed to continue monitoring combat operations between Kong Youde and the government army. Ever since Kong Youde's trajectory had shifted, Chen Sigen had grown deeply uneasy about the historical process and was monitoring both sides with increasing intensity. The Special Reconnaissance Detachment, reconnaissance cavalry, and plainclothes spies maintained near-constant surveillance of both the government soldiers and Kong Youde's forces. For such missions, Chen Sigen would deploy for days at a stretch once he went out.
On the large map behind him, the latest status of all parties was densely marked with small colored flags. Since Kong Youde had reached the gates of Dengzhou City on November 22nd, there had been small-scale armed clashes between the two sides, but combat intensity remained low. Overall, the situation remained a temporary stalemate.
Of course, this stalemate would soon break. To execute the Senate's resolution—letting Kong Youde plunge Shandong into chaos and capture large amounts of supplies while ensuring Sun Yuanhua could "preside over the pacification"—both the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and Lu Wenyuan were conducting active strategic operations. Messengers and intelligence agents traveling to Dengzhou, Laizhou, and various locations throughout Shandong flowed in an endless stream.
Though Lu Wenyuan had not visited Sun Yuanhua personally, he had written several letters as a fellow believer, making various speculations about Kong Youde's movements and providing subtle reminders about the issue of the original Dongjiang units in Dengzhou. In particular, he had pointed out that Kong Youde's mutiny was "fire ignited from accumulated kindling, not extinguishable by a ladle of water"—the Dongjiang units in Dengzhou were all unreliable.
Lu Wenyuan didn't expect Sun Yuanhua to follow his advice completely. He merely wanted to leave an impression, preparing the ground for approaching and manipulating Sun Yuanhua in subsequent phases.
At this critical juncture, Lu Wenyuan wanted no epidemic or similar disaster breaking out in his base camp. Moreover, too many people gathering was conspicuous.
Wang Ruixiang was in his bedroom formulating "grand plans"—specifically, a plan for entering Liaodong. As a major advocate of the Liaodong initiative, he had long attempted to establish relations with the Manchus and was therefore keenly invested in Operation Generator. Once a foothold was secured on the Shandong Peninsula and a base established on Jeju Island, maritime communication with the Manchus would be established.
In Wang Ruixiang's view, though the Manchus were barbaric and backward, they possessed abundant resources. The industrial-agricultural price scissors could be wielded to great effect in shearing their wool. If that truly proved impossible, rescuing more captured Han population to Lingao to enrich the labor force would also be valuable.
Hearing Lu Wenyuan's concerns, he grinned. "Fuck, what's there to worry about? Shouldn't we be going to Jeju Island?"
From Qimu Island to Jeju was only one-third the distance from Qimu Island to Kaohsiung. Large ships weren't necessary—ordinary vessels could handle the run. Ships could complete a round trip in less than four or five days, far faster than transporting directly to Kaohsiung.
"But so far, the Jeju Island landing operation hasn't begun." Lu Wenyuan frowned. By right, the Jeju landing should have started a month ago.
Now the calendar had reached the end of 1631, yet still no telegraph signal had arrived from the direction of Jeju Island. Where on earth had the Second Fleet gone?
"This is indeed strange!" Wang Ruixiang scratched his head. "I think we have to send a telegram to ask!"
While the radio waves of the telegram jointly signed by Wang Ruixiang and Lu Wenyuan cut through the sky, the Second Fleet, having set sail from Kaohsiung, had already arrived in Jeju Island waters.
The Second Fleet launched its landing operation nearly a month later than planned. The consequences of the Navy's rapid expansion were now revealing themselves one by one. The Second Fleet's flagship Zhenyang had suffered a major steam engine failure halfway between Hong Kong and Kaohsiung—one boiler failed, forcing a return to Hong Kong for repairs. After other ships arrived in Kaohsiung and began comprehensive inspection and troubleshooting, Nongchao and Daishuang were found to have problems of varying degrees, mainly in power systems: boilers, steam engines, crankshafts... some ships also exhibited leakage problems. Only Fubo remained in normal condition.
After emergency repairs by the repair ship docked in Kaohsiung, the Second Fleet had finally, barely, completed preparations. They launched the Jeju Island campaign just before New Year's Day of 1632.
The four warships—Zhenyang, Nongchao, Daishuang, and Fubo—sailed through the waves in a wheel formation on the sea surface. All had hoisted sails, sailing at six knots per hour, with faint black smoke rising from their chimneys—boilers were not at full power—to accommodate the H800s and special service boats in the formation. These followed closely behind under full sail.
This was nearly the entire combat fleet and two-thirds of the transport ships of the Second Fleet. The vessels were fully loaded with soldiers, supplies, and construction materials.
The sun rose slowly, illuminating the deck. In the distance, a verdant large island had emerged on the sea surface.
Jeju Island.
(End of Chapter)