Chapter 1428 - Scavenging

The hard work of this expedition would not go to waste. At the very least, dismantling the iron ribs and transporting them back to Manila would prove valuable—this was all malleable iron, which would save him enormous manpower and resources in metallurgy.

But he soon received a gift more precious than iron. The pearl divers he had hired discovered "a surprisingly large cannon" resting on a reef barely two meters underwater. Evaristo Okamoto descended himself. Through the clear blue water, he recognized it immediately: a Dahlgren gun.

This was one of the Nongchao's two main guns. The Navy salvage team had successfully removed one using winches, but this piece had sunk deep into the reef and defied retrieval. The typhoon had dislodged it from the depths and pushed it onto the shoal. Its carriage had been destroyed in the storm, but the gun body remained intact—marine organisms hadn't even had time to encrust the entire barrel.

Hale ordered salvage to begin at once. With the help of blocks, tackles, and the reef itself, hundreds of coolies toiled for three full days before finally hauling the Dahlgren gun from the water onto the shore.

Feeling as if he'd unearthed treasure, Evaristo Okamoto immediately set about measuring the cannon. He soon discovered it had not been manufactured to the English system. Though he had no metric measuring tools on hand, it was easy enough to deduce that the caliber was 130 millimeters.

"For a Dahlgren gun, that's a bit small," was his first assessment.

With the technical and artisanal capabilities he currently commanded, he could not yet manufacture such a powerful muzzle-loading rifled gun. But as a weapon for Manila's defense, this cannon would be invaluable. More importantly, it would serve as a reference sample for his next step: experimentally manufacturing this type of artillery.

Soon he received a second gift, better than the first: a smaller cannon. He had already examined the naval guns aboard the captured H.H. 64—traditional smoothbores. But this weapon was entirely different: a 75mm caliber Dahlgren gun.

This was the first time Hale had seen such a small-caliber Dahlgren gun. Historically, they were rarely produced in small or medium calibers. During the mid-to-late nineteenth century when such artillery flourished, Dahlgrens served almost exclusively as coastal and fortress guns. One need only look at the American coastal forts: most mounted calibers above 200mm, and 406mm Dahlgren guns were not uncommon.

These Chinese had actually manufactured 75mm Dahlgrens! It defied Evaristo Okamoto's imagination. Unless they simply refused to waste resources making their warships overly powerful, he could find no other explanation.

"Load both cannons onto the ship immediately and transport them back to Manila. Give them to Marcos," he ordered. "Tell him I want them restored to optimal condition—quickly."

"Yes, master."

"Reward the pearl diver who found the cannon twenty pesos. One peso for everyone who participated in hauling it out. Report any new discoveries to me immediately."

Under this material incentive, the coolies who had been struggling in the baking sun and seawater found renewed enthusiasm. More items emerged from the water: first several shells, then gunpowder kegs containing propellant charges. These held little value, but Hale rewarded them all the same.

A steady stream of salvage followed: several damaged naval-pattern short-barreled Minié rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun, more shells, and a small quantity of propellant. Then came the wreckage of the boiler and steam engine. The storm and explosion had smashed these to pieces, and many parts were missing entirely. Nevertheless, Evaristo Okamoto had the coolies lay out the debris in rough order on the beach for his detailed study.

Neither boiler nor engine could be reused—Black understood this clearly. His opponents were professionals; the destruction of the Nongchao had been thorough. But by studying the wreckage, he could still deduce what manner of industrial capability they possessed.

Through intelligence gathered over time and analysis of these remains, he confirmed what he suspected: these Chinese—from the same time-space as himself—could not yet construct iron-hulled ships. All their vessels, including warships, were wooden-hulled. Clearly, they believed no power in this era possessed firepower capable of threatening them. This aligned with their choice to arm their main warships with small- and medium-caliber Dahlgrens—"just enough will do."

He silently surveyed these highest crystallizations of "Australian" industry. The shock was unparalleled. Knowing what they possessed was one thing; seeing it with his own eyes was another.

The gap is too great, he thought. What he saw today confirmed every piece of intelligence gathered thus far. The Chinese on Hainan Island held an astonishingly vast advantage in industrial capability.

By comparison, the situation he had painstakingly built in Manila was truly vulnerable before them.

If these Chinese decided to intervene in Manila by force, everything he had accomplished in the Philippines would be swept away. Evaristo Okamoto worried in silence. Fortunately, God had delivered this cannon into his hands, giving him a little more leverage. Now he had to upgrade Manila's defenses as quickly as possible, at all costs. Work on new large-caliber rifled cannons had to commence immediately, and progress on naval mines and spar torpedo boats had to accelerate.

The scavenging operation on the Nongchao continued. Though the boiler and steam engine were beyond repair or use, the heap of scrap copper and iron was loaded onto ships and transported back to Manila. The anchor chain and windlass wreckage salvaged from underwater, along with the iron ribs, were all dismantled. Evaristo Okamoto wouldn't even let go of the copper sheathing remaining on the hull bottom, organizing coolies to strip it off piece by piece.

"The dam on the lower reaches of the San Juan River has been completed. The accumulated hydraulic power can drive multiple sets of water wheels, each set comprising two to four wheels of different sizes. I observed that all the wheels are installed with drive gear sets, making the power they transmit to factory machinery smooth and efficient..."

Even Manila's local Spaniards were surprised by the colonial government's vigorous efficiency—delay and laziness were its normal style. A recent explosion at the newly built gunpowder factory had burned down the wooden workshop sheds, yet in less than half a month, they had brought in new timber and repaired the damage. Under strict orders from the Governor, workers resumed production before repairs were fully complete. At present, the military-industrial complex had recruited no fewer than a thousand Chinese workers and several thousand Tagalog coolies. The director of the Royal Shipyard complained publicly that the new munitions factory had poached so many Chinese artisans that he lacked sufficient hands to complete the colony's orders. Manila's authorities had therefore decided to expand recruitment of Chinese craftsmen, dispatching agents to Macao for this purpose. Chinese workers in the military complex received double the wages of casual laborers in Manila and the Parian, and skilled artisans earned even more—though payment came only after completing the contract term. They were concentrated in camps attached to the factories, their every movement under strict surveillance and control, treated almost like prisoners.

"Fort San Antonio has received a large-caliber cannon similar in appearance to a Dahlgren gun. The weapon was delivered by ship. The specific origin of this gun, and whether it truly has rifling, remain unclear. However, the Spanish guard it heavily, strictly forbidding anyone to approach. A brand-new emplacement is reportedly being constructed inside the fortress, along with a completely redesigned carriage.

"Droideka's whereabouts and specific address remain unknown. According to colonial officers and priests who have had close contact with him, he sometimes resides in the church, but more often hides in a cave outside Manila for retreat, or lives in a hut in a valley within his own territory—it is said he built a hermitage for himself there. But I personally believe he mainly operates within the newly built munitions factory outside Manila. Security is tight; outsiders cannot enter without the Governor's warrant. Guards have orders to shoot directly at anyone attempting unauthorized entry.

"Undoubtedly, he does this to avoid interference from meddlesome Catholic priests. I believe it is now necessary to take some proactive measures. If Droideka restricts his movements to Manila proper or the munitions factory because he senses some threat, it may actually prove advantageous to us..."

Jiang Shan set down the thick stack of translated telegrams and pressed his temples. Vince Lando's reports were always long, eloquent essays that kept the decoding room busy for half a day—fortunately, he could read English directly, or this would have been as slow as a declaration of war from the Japanese embassy. He's writing reports like novels, Jiang Shan thought. It's a pity this guy didn't become a reporter or write 007 stories.

The hour was well past midnight. Only the soft movements of the night-duty staff stirred in the office building; from the secretariat came the occasional clatter of a typewriter. Jiang Shan organized the documents, locked them in his safe, secured his office door, then went to the downstairs dormitory for a quick shower. Work, work, and more work. He hadn't been back to his apartment in days—he simply had his domestic secretary deliver meals and changes of clothes to the gate. If not for his discipline of running five kilometers or swimming fifteen hundred meters in the sea every day, he probably wouldn't have been able to sustain this relentless pace.