Chapter Ten: Hong Kong Planning

Thanks to the active efforts of the People’s Committee for Agriculture, coupled with Ye Yuming’s vigorous lobbying at the Colonial and Trade Department, the proposal to implement a land reclamation system on Hong Kong Island finally received the approval of the Planning Institute. However, the proposal to establish a Land Reclamation Department within the Agriculture Committee was rejected by the Organization Department. Ming Lang demanded that the Agriculture Committee first submit a series of materials, including the specific reasons for the department’s establishment, its organizational structure, operational procedures, and staffing plan. Only after all materials were prepared could the approval process begin.

Ming Lang gave Wu Nanhai a pile of “standard materials” and told him to fill them out according to the format. Wu Nanhai, naturally, pushed this pile of materials onto Ye Yuming—who else but the one so enthusiastic about the land reclamation cause should handle it?

Although the department was not formally established, the team was set up first. Ye Yuming had originally wanted to create an organization similar to a construction corps, with designations like the “Third Agricultural Division, Seventeenth Regiment,” but the military expressed different opinions. Dongmen Chuiyu stated that it was acceptable for the land reclamation system to use military organizational principles, and the Training Directorate could provide necessary assistance, but the organization and designations must be distinct from the Army.

Ultimately, it was decided that the official name for the land reclamation system to be established in Hong Kong would be the “First Regiment of the First Division of the South China Land Reclamation Corps,” publicly known as the Hong Kong Land Reclamation Regiment.

“The rank should be based on the old standards, the so-called county-regiment level,” Ye Yuming said.

Wu Nanhai said, “The rank doesn’t matter. Anyway, the first regimental commander will be a Senator. I just have one concern: where will the immigrants come from?”

Lin’gao itself was still absorbing a large number of immigrants, and as control over the entire Hainan Island was established and development deepened, the demand for foreign immigrants would only grow. Where would they find immigrants to fill the gap in Hong Kong?

Ye Yuming said, “We can recruit locally from Guangdong. Hong Kong’s own population capacity is not high, and its development potential is very limited. The indigenous population plus a small number of immigrants will be enough to meet Hong Kong’s own needs.”

Originally, the Planning Institute, the Colonial and Trade Department, the Ministry of Light Industry, and the Ministry of Agriculture all had high hopes for Hong Kong, hoping to build it into a model city like the modern-day “Pearl of the Orient.” However, Wu De obtained several 1:200,000 scale maps of Hong Kong from the Great Library, including city traffic maps, geological maps, and topographic maps from the old era. The latest map of Hong Kong in this era, drawn by the exploration team, was also brought in for comparison. A team of analysts reviewed all the data in the Great Library regarding Hong Kong’s population, minerals, and industry and agriculture. The results showed that the development potential of Hong Kong Island itself was pitifully small.

Hong Kong Island itself lacked open space. The flat land was mainly concentrated along the coast of Victoria Harbour, and the long, narrow terrain made it difficult to find enough land for industry and agriculture besides setting up docks.

The most fatal problem was the lack of water. Hong Kong Island itself mainly relied on several reservoirs built in the mountainous areas for its water supply. In the 20th century, the Hong Kong government vigorously protected the mountain vegetation to increase the water storage capacity of the mountains and built multiple reservoirs. Even so, the water supply on the island itself was barely enough for port operations. In the 1960s, Hong Kong Island experienced a severe water shortage, and residents had to be supplied with water by ration. Modern Hong Kong’s water supply relies entirely on pipelines from the mainland to meet the city’s needs.

As a result, all parties who had been ambitiously planning to launch large-scale industries in Hong Kong, especially shipbuilding, were discouraged. Industry is a major water consumer, and without an adequate supply of fresh water, production cannot operate. The industrial sector had originally planned to build a shipyard on Hong Kong Island, taking advantage of Guangdong’s abundant labor and timber resources to mass-produce ships and rapidly expand Lin’gao’s transport fleet. Now they found that the implementation of this plan was very difficult.

According to the estimates of the Planning Institute’s planners, if a shipyard were to be built in Hong Kong, it could only be located on the north shore of Victoria Harbour, in the Kowloon Tong area. However, the situation in Kowloon Tong was not much better than on Hong Kong Island itself. The local water resources were also insufficient to support industry, and the area of flat land was very limited.

Whether for industry or agriculture, Hong Kong was not a suitable location. It lacked water, energy, and land—or more accurately, flat land… Before 1949, Hong Kong’s economic level was not only inferior to Shanghai’s but also a step behind Guangzhou’s. Hong Kong’s rise as an international metropolis and the “Pearl of the Orient” in the latter half of the 20th century was due to the huge benefits it gained as the sole window for exchanges between China and the West after 1949, as well as the energy, fresh water, and food supplies from the mainland that maintained the normal operation of this “window.”

Of course, if a large amount of capital were invested in its development, it would still be possible to turn Hong Kong into an industrial and commercial base. However, after investigation, the Planning Institute believed that such an investment was not of great value—around the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, the Transmigration Group’s sphere of influence was bound to expand to Guangzhou. Any investment and construction in Guangzhou would be much more convenient than in Hong Kong.

After holding several work meetings on Hong Kong’s development, Wu De determined that Hong Kong’s positioning would be as a trade window, a military base, and a logistics and transshipment center.

Hong Kong’s geographical location at the mouth of the Pearl River meant that a fleet based there could blockade the river and prevent hostile forces from raiding the coastal areas. Currently, the government forces had been severely defeated by the Senators, and the coastal village self-defense systems had been destroyed. If pirates were to take advantage of the vacuum, the economy and livelihood of the Pearl River coastal areas would be severely damaged.

As a deterrent to Guangdong: if there were any unusual movements in Guangzhou, an intervention fleet dispatched from Hong Kong could reach the city within a day and a night. This was a significant improvement in reaction speed compared to the long time it took to receive news and then set out from Lin’gao.

Hong Kong is located at the midpoint of the shipping route from Xiamen to Hainan. It would be difficult for the Zheng family’s fleet to attack the transmigrators without being detected by the fleet stationed in Hong Kong, giving the transmigrators an early warning. And if the transmigrators were to attack the Zheng family, Hong Kong would be an excellent forward base. A large amount of supplies could be procured locally instead of being shipped from Hainan, cutting the supply line in half.

Once this keynote was set, the development plan for Hong Kong Island was also scaled back. In terms of industry, after much effort from the Colonial and Trade Department, a shipyard project was finally retained. The prospect of mass-producing transport ships using local timber and labor was still quite attractive to the Planning Institute. In addition, the shipyard itself could provide ship repair services for passing vessels.

The Ministry of Light industry had originally planned to build a food processing plant in Hong Kong, but now, due to the lack of water, it had to be temporarily canceled. The final decision would depend on the results of the exploration team’s investigation of Hong Kong’s freshwater resources. The Agriculture Committee’s land reclamation plan was retained. Land reclamation itself was more of a political calculation than an economic one, and the reclamation settlements themselves also had the task of garrisoning.

Based on Hong Kong’s topography and in reference to Lin’gao’s current economic scale and capabilities, the Planning Institute decided that the development area of Hong Kong would be mainly concentrated on the north and south sides of Victoria Harbour, that is, the small alluvial plain on the north side of the main island and the gentle slopes of the Kowloon Tong area.

The naval patrol fleet already stationed on Hong Kong Island was officially reorganized into the Navy’s Hong Kong Sub-fleet. A Navy’s Hong Kong Base Unit was established in Hong Kong, stationed at Sai Wan on the south bank of Victoria Harbour. In terms of land defense, in addition to the outposts already established by the Pearl River Estuary Detachment at Lei Yue Mun, Kap Shui Mun, and Fan Kwai Tong, permanent fortresses would be built at North Point and Lung Fu Shan in Sai Wan, forming the initial eastern and western support points. A simple road would connect the two support points for troop mobility. A number of outposts would be built along the road, making this road a defensive line to protect the development zone along the coast of Victoria Harbour.

The original Base 852 in Central would be expanded into a large-scale trade base, with customs, warehouses, civilian passenger and cargo terminals, fishing terminals, a market, a shipyard, and a seafood processing plant.

A headquarters for the Hong Kong garrison’s army and navy, a radio station, military warehouses, and a naval dock would be established at the Lung Fu Shan military base in Sai Wan.

The food, vegetables, and poultry and egg supplies for Hong Kong Island would mainly be provided by land reclamation in Kowloon Tong. The land reclamation regiments would be distributed in various locations on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the outlying islands, including Kowloon Tong, Tseung Kwan O, Kwai Chung, Sha Tin, Tai Po, and Tung Chung. They would build fortified settlements for centralized living, mainly engaged in fishery production, vegetable cultivation, and animal husbandry. Each settlement would serve as a land reclamation brigade headquarters, with several squadrons or teams under it. Each squadron would build a village centered around a blockhouse. The land reclamation teams would adopt a system of universal military service, with a core militia. Not only would there be immigrants from other places, but the local villages would also be “reclaimed.” Smaller villages would be abolished and merged according to the principle of “village consolidation.”

A large-scale purification camp would be established in the Tung Chung area of Lantau Island. Immigrants transported from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian would first be purified here before being distributed to various places. The Taiwan development plan would soon be on the agenda. Setting up a purification camp on Lantau Island would shorten the sea transit time for immigrants.

The total garrison force would be an army battalion-level garrison consisting of 3 infantry companies and 1 artillery company, 1 naval base unit, and 1 naval sub-fleet. The naval base unit would include 1 marine company for rapid response.

“This force is sufficient for the initial stage,” said Dongmen Chuiyu, explaining the garrison plan. “The land reclamation points also have militias that can be mobilized. Even if they can’t serve as combat troops, they are sufficient for miscellaneous and logistical roles.”

Si Kaide proposed that, given the current shortage of troops, in addition to arming the farm workers, a batch of Li and Miao mercenaries could be recruited. Five to six companies could be stationed at the various mountain passes in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island as mountain security forces to block the invasion routes of Ming troops or large groups of pirates. As for their armament, it could be simplified: bows and crossbows, machetes, and a few grenades would suffice.

“Five or six hundred Li and Miao people, with their own separate units, I think that’s inappropriate,” Wu Nanhai immediately objected. “Even if we are to recruit them, they should be dispersed and serve in the army.”

“This issue will be discussed again,” Dongmen Chuiyu said. “The utilization of the Li and Miao population is probably not that simple.”