Illumine Lingao (English Translation)

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Chapter 42: The Ship (Part 2)

“Unusable?!” Many faces showed disappointment. The magnificent, multi-turreted ironclad battle-freighter had vanished into thin air just like that?

“Why do we have to run it aground?” someone objected. “Once a ship is beached and grounded, isn’t it very difficult to refloat it? We may not have enough crew now, and can’t operate it for the time being, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use it in the future.”

“Just to transmigrate once, and then use it as a hotel? What a waste! Without an invincible warship, how can we, the transmigrators, fight pirates on the waves?”

“With this ship, what are Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang, the Dutch, the English? They’re all nothing!”

“Can we avoid beaching it?” Wen Desi asked. “There are many good harbors in western Hainan. Lingao alone has several deep-water port development zones. Is it called Jinpai Port? They even held an investment promotion event for it in Guangzhou. There should be enough deep-water berths there.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Meng De knew that everyone’s understanding of shipping and port facilities was basically a blank slate, so he first gave a brief explanation.

Before modern times, with the exception of a very few ports with particularly favorable geographical and hydrological conditions where large ships could dock directly, in most ports around the world, large ships had to anchor in deeper water within the harbor and then use lighters and small boats to transfer cargo and passengers to the shore. Even in the modern era, many large ports still have to equip special harbor ferries and cargo lighters for passengers to board and disembark from large cruise ships. This process was, of course, very inefficient. That’s why modern ports have to build all sorts of supporting pier facilities. Even the simplest setup requires at least a few jetties.

The transmigrators planned to land in Lingao, located in the northern part of Hainan Island. The ports in northern Qiongzhou, from Mulan Head in the east to Bingma Point in the west, have a series of bays indented into the mainland. From east to west, there are Puqian Bay, Haikou Bay, Chengmai Bay, Dongshui Port, Huachang Port, Ma’niao Port, Hongpai Port, and Houshui Bay.

Along these bays, there were countless ports of all sizes. But most were small natural harbors where only fishing boats moored. Although Hainan Island in the Ming Dynasty was an important stopover for maritime trade between China and foreign countries, and many merchant ships would stop here for shelter and to replenish food and water, its own maritime trade was not developed and was mainly concentrated in Shenying Port in Qiongshan. The various bays in Lingao were almost all in their original, undeveloped state.

“There won’t be any port facilities in these Hainan bays in the Ming Dynasty. And the ports in the northern Qiongzhou region are generally not very deep. The Jinpai Port development zone that Director Wen mentioned is actually Hongpai Port. After the first phase of development and dredging, that port area has just reached the capacity to berth 5,000-ton general cargo ships.”

This statement caused a stir of whispers. Many had always thought Hongpai was a good natural harbor, but the reality was different. The Hongpai Peninsula juts north into the open sea, and its cape is constantly eroded by strong waves, forming wave-cut cliffs and platforms. The eroded lava debris is carried by currents and deposited on the west side of the peninsula, forming a gravel beach, while the finer silt and sand are transported into Hongpai Port, turning the bay into a shoal of medium and coarse sand. The Hongpai Islet on the west side of the peninsula is a basalt sea-erosion platform, and the sea in front of it has better depth, mostly over 5 meters. But inside Hongpai Port, due to siltation from coastal drift, the water depth is only 2-4 meters.

The Executive Committee had originally planned to choose Jinpai Port (i.e., Hongpai Port) as the berthing port for the ship. Meng De’s words completely shattered their plan. With a water depth of 2-4 meters, let alone a 10,000-ton ship, even a 2,000-3,000-ton ship would have difficulty.

“And the large number of shoals that have formed in the port will make our unloading work very difficult.”

“Among the ports in Lingao, the one with the best hydrological conditions is the Houshui Bay area. On both the east and west sides of Linchan Island within the bay, there are deep troughs of 10 meters extending into the bay. The shadow area south of the island is a shoal of silt and sand, but the water depth is still 7-8 meters. The coast is lined with coral reefs, which are resistant to erosion, so there is less sediment source within the bay, and the coastal erosion and deposition have stabilized. It should be said that Houshui Bay is the best natural deep-water port in Lingao. For the transmigrators, Houshui Bay has Linchan Island as a natural harbor barrier. Building a fort on it can effectively defend against sea attacks, much better than a small reef like Hongpai Islet.”

What is professionalism? This is professionalism! Whether it’s an excellent military organization or a highly efficient social production organization, a rational division of labor—placing specialized personnel in their respective work positions—is the foundation and prerequisite. The Executive Committee deeply understood this point. An atmosphere of solemn respect filled the conference room.

“It seems we can’t take things for granted in this world!” Ma Qianzhu exclaimed.

“Should we choose Houshui Bay as our port base? Since the conditions there are superior.”

“No, we can’t,” Meng De shook his head repeatedly. “Houshui Bay is excellent as a port, but it’s not suitable as a landing base—there’s no water.”

In ancient times, the Houshui Bay area of Lingao had no large natural rivers and was a relatively arid region of the county. The nearby villages had long suffered from water shortages. It wasn’t until after the Liberation that deep wells were drilled and multiple irrigation channels were dug to solve the water problem.

Without sufficient fresh water, everything would be very inconvenient. Moreover, this place was a bit too far from both Lingao County town and the transmigrators’ future main base. Communication and transportation would be inconvenient.

“Then what is your recommendation?” The tone of the inquiry had now changed from casual to respectful.

“Where will the future main base be located?”

“Bairen Tan. In the lower reaches of the Wenlan River.”

“If you want the closest option, then Bopu Port is the one.” Meng De thought for a moment. “Bopu Port is actually the estuary of the Wenlan River. In port classification, it’s an estuary port. It has long been a key point of entry and exit between Hainan Island and the mainland, and it’s also a natural typhoon shelter. The central deep-water channel of the port can be 6-7 meters deep, but the harbor is full of sandbars, and the anchorage is very small.”

“That depth should be enough for a 10,000-ton ship, right? I remember their draft is around 7 meters.”

“That’s right. A shallow-draft coastal general cargo ship could be even shallower. The problem is, I don’t have the local hydrographic data—no, I don’t have the Ming Dynasty hydrographic data. And without a pilot, and with a makeshift engine crew, we wouldn’t be able to dock even in a modern port. Many modern ships use tugboats to ‘push’ them to the pier when entering a port. With my level of ship-handling, it would be a miracle if the ship doesn’t run aground or get stranded after entering the port.”

“A ship costs tens of millions, right? Spend tens of millions to get a ‘Hotel Yamato’?”

“Actually, my suggestion is to use barges. Flat-deck or open-hatch barges would both work.” Meng De boldly proposed a completely unglamorous suggestion that was unanimously despised by the crowd. But he ignored them. At least in his field of expertise, he hadn’t found anyone who was an expert, which greatly boosted his courage—even if he said something wrong, no one would be able to call him out on it.

“The kind towed by a tugboat? Don’t those run on rivers?”

“I’m talking about sea-going barges. They are generally used in coastal areas, with deadweight tonnage ranging from 1,500 to 8,500 tons. Some barges are self-propelled and can sail short distances along the coast. These ships have a very shallow draft. A 1,500-ton one has a draft of just 2 meters.”

A typical self-propelled deck barge has the following specifications:

It could transport all kinds of general cargo and containers without any problem. The disadvantages were that it was very slow, had a short range, and poor seakeeping ability, making it suitable only for short-distance coastal freight. Of course, these were not problems for the transmigrators.

However, after comprehensive consideration, the decision was still to make general cargo ships the primary choice, with self-propelled barges as a backup only if the budget was insufficient. The reason was simple: self-propelled barges have no lifting and unloading equipment—they rely entirely on port facilities. For the transmigrators, manually unloading thousands of tons of materials was basically a myth, not to mention some items weighing tens or hundreds of tons, which couldn’t be moved by any number of people. General cargo ships, on the other hand, were usually equipped with derricks and various loading/unloading equipment.

“I have an idea.” Wu De from the sports group, who had served in the maritime police district and was part of the transmigrators’ future naval core, also participated in this ship selection meeting.

“Even if the cargo ship doesn’t run aground, using it as a warship is completely impractical.” Wu De flicked the dust off his sleeve. “Large cargo ships have a deep draft, are complex to handle, and their turning speed isn’t much faster than a sailing ship. No matter how powerful the ship is, will the enemy come to fight you head-on after getting a taste of it once? They have a numerical advantage and can wage a war of maritime harassment along the shipping routes and coasts. If a fight breaks out, we’ll be stretched thin. Even if we go out to sea and sink a few of their ships, the rest will scatter and flee into shallow waters. What can you do to them then? Lower a lifeboat to chase them? What we need is sea control. Such a lone, fuel-guzzling, and labor-intensive ship is too wasteful.”

The magnificent, multi-turreted ironclad battle-freighter was being criticized. Everyone felt a pang of regret, but they also thought that what this former naval officer said was correct.

“I was a fisherman myself and used to operate a fishing boat in the production team. During my military service, I saw the navy also using fishing boats. A 200-400 ton boat has a long range and is seaworthy. Wouldn’t it be better as the main force of the transmigrator navy than some ironclad multi-turreted battle-freighter? If nothing else, it’s much faster and uses less fuel.”

“And it can fish!”

“Right, it can also fish. These types of boats are usually trawlers, very durable.”

“Fishing boats are not easy to buy,” Meng De objected. “The paperwork from the fisheries administration is too complicated.”

“It doesn’t matter. We just won’t declare it for fishing purposes after we buy it. Anyway, once we transmigrate, we can use it for whatever we want.”

There were differing opinions on this issue within the Executive Committee; some thought it would unnecessarily complicate the operation. However, the majority of the committee expressed their support—Hainan, where the transmigrators planned to develop their base, was surrounded by rich fishery resources. The Beibu Gulf is still an important fishing ground to this day, with annual fishing disputes between Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen. It was likely to be even richer in the 17th century. One or several fishing boats could enrich the transmigrators’ protein source. Modern fishing boats are light, agile, and easy to operate. They could perfectly serve as the transmigrators’ early coastal maritime force. After all, the narrowest part of the Qiongzhou Strait is less than 18 kilometers wide; even a very small boat could easily cross it. Without ships for early warning at sea, they would likely only discover the enemy when they were within sight of the shore, which would be very passive.

And so, the plan was finalized. Wu De was entrusted with selecting the fishing boat models and proposing a corresponding list of spare parts and materials for procurement. After the meeting, at Meng De’s suggestion, a group of transmigrators with good physical condition and some interest in navigation were selected to participate in training. Meng De used his work connections to find a friend whose family operated several coastal cargo ships and sent the people onto the ships for direct, one-on-one training in relevant skills.

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