Chapter 35: To Hon Gai

“Wen Desi said, ‘I unconditionally approve of this plan.’ He sighed as he spoke, ‘To think I’ll be returning to the place where I once fought!’”

“‘Indeed, I remember the days when Director Wen single-handedly defeated the bandits. Your style, mowing down a thousand troops with a PPK machine gun and cutting down the bandit chief, is something we deeply admire…’ said Si Kaide.”

“‘That’s all in the past, let’s not bring it up again.’ Wen Desi waved his hand dismissively.”

“‘Let’s not get sidetracked, everyone.’ Ma Qianzhu said, ‘Let’s continue discussing the Hon Gai development issue.’”

“Dongmen Chuiyu, speaking as the representative of the Military Affairs Directorate, said: ‘We currently have insufficient troops—the only available mobile forces are the Lingao Garrison Battalion and one battalion from Ma’niao.’”

“A shortage of troops had always been a curse that plagued the Lingao regime. From an overall perspective, Lingao was currently an island power, well-suited for a military structure with a large navy and a small army. Sea control could be used to protect the homeland from attack, with the army serving as an overseas expeditionary force.”

“Logically, under this system, the Lingao regime’s mobile forces should have been ample. The Senate possessed the strongest maritime projection capability of this era, able to move troops along the coastline with extreme speed. One battalion could be used as several.”

“However, the transmigrators’ regime in Lingao was also a foreign power. Although the Senators did their utmost to win the hearts of the people, and there was no strong sense of nationalism in the 17th century, the chaotic social order of a pre-modern state meant that social resources could not be fully utilized. This forced the army to take on the task of social reform, which was not originally its primary responsibility.”

“Although more than half a year had passed since the Battle of Chengmai, and the Senate had controlled the various counties of Northern Qiong for at least three months, the main force of the army was still engaged in a comprehensive ‘pacification’ of the region. The Qiongbei Pacification War, launched by the General Staff, tied down the majority of the army’s strength. The army’s four regular infantry battalions were dispersed throughout the entire Qiongbei region, carrying out a variety of guard, escort, and bandit suppression missions. The army, which was supposed to be a projection force, was no longer able to spare troops to support new military operations.”

"’…If we are to open a front in Hon Gai, we can only use the army’s general reserve from Ma’niao.’ Dongmen Chuiyu expressed his concern. To defend Hon Gai, a Hon Gai garrison battalion would have to be formed, which would require at least three companies. If the Northern Court insisted on ‘defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation,’ given their mobilization capabilities, it was highly possible they could gather ten to twenty thousand men to besiege Hon Gai. It was very doubtful whether three companies could hold Hon Gai. The General Staff’s war games concluded that at least a full-strength infantry battalion would be needed to defeat a punitive expedition from North Vietnam.”

“The Senator officers of the Military Affairs Directorate had run many simulations on various plans and proposals. The final conclusion was that Lingao’s military strength was still insufficient in numbers, only capable of fighting quick, decisive, short-term wars. Protracted warfare would still pose a risk of overstretching their resources.”

“The solution, of course, was to expand the army, whether by enlarging the regular forces or creating new second-line garrison units… However, the Senator officers themselves found it difficult to propose this. The population statistics for the entire Qiong Prefecture were not yet available, but it was estimated that the total population was at most 500,000. The current size of the army and navy already exceeded 15,000. With one soldier for every 30 people, the Lingao regime could be considered the most militaristic regime in history, even surpassing Prussia, which was known as ‘an army with a state.’ If not for the continuous influx of resources from the mainland through foreign trade and the army’s significant time spent supporting construction, such a force would have been unsustainable.”

“After the Battle of Chengmai, the Executive Committee had briefly considered the idea of demobilizing some army and navy soldiers to strengthen the ranks of grassroots cadres, but subsequent developments caused this demobilization plan to be completely abandoned.”

"’…An expedition to Vietnam would be another division of our forces, requiring a long-term presence in enemy territory, and possibly even long-term combat, while the threat from Zheng Zhilong and other sea lords has not yet been eliminated…’ Dongmen Chuiyu continued his report.”

“‘We’re in a strange cycle right now,’ Zhan Wuya said. ‘To develop large-scale industry, we need to raise an army to seize territory for raw materials and fuel. Raising an army requires a lot of munitions. Munitions require large-scale industry. Large-scale industry needs raw materials and fuel. Raw materials and fuel need to be obtained by seizing territory. And to seize territory, we need to raise an army…’”

“Wen Desi interrupted Zhan Wuya’s grumbling: ‘This is indeed difficult, but just pointing out problems won’t lead to a solution. Let me share my thoughts: first, we establish an armed trading post. We pay with some hard currency or goods to hire local natives to dig coal, and then recruit a mine guard from among the miners…’”

“‘Have the Vietnamese natives dig coal? I heard from someone in the old world that their unions are very powerful and they go on strike at the drop of a hat,’ Si Kaide expressed doubts about the labor efficiency of the Vietnamese natives. He came from a foreign trade background. In the past, many foreign trade factories moved to Vietnam to save on labor costs, but soon they were complaining endlessly, all saying that Vietnamese workers were too lazy.”

“‘The monkeys are actually quite hardworking and diligent, at least better than the natives further south—they grow three seasons of rice, you know. Is that something lazy people would do?’ Wen Desi said. ‘Besides, heretical ideas like labor unions don’t exist in this era. Another point: Vietnam has a large population, enough to supply the needs of coal mining. Aren’t they fighting a north-south war right now? In this kind of pre-modern society, on such a small piece of land, fighting a major battle with over a hundred thousand people, it goes without saying that the people are living in misery. We can acquire a large population at a very low cost—just give them enough food to eat.’”

“Wu De said: ‘In the long run, an armed trading post can also serve as a base for gradually cultivating and transforming the local natives, which will be beneficial for our future implementation of the new order.’”

“In the Senate’s overall plan, countries within the ‘Chinese cultural sphere’ like Vietnam, Korea, and Japan were slated to enter the ‘East Asian New Order’ system in the future. Their treatment would be different from that of the natives in the Southeast Asian archipelago.”

“Everyone had no objection to Wen Desi’s idea of using local labor. Even if the local Vietnamese couldn’t provide enough native labor, in the long run, slaves could be transported to fill the mines.”

“Dongmen Chuiyu said: ‘I’m just worried that the armed trading post won’t be able to withstand an attack from the Northern Court…’”

“‘We will try our best to engage in peaceful trade.’ Wen Desi elaborated on his plan. ‘The trading post is just a shelter for emergencies. So it doesn’t need to be very large, just strong enough to hold out until the navy can reinforce it.’”

“The transmigrators’ intention was only to mine coal, not to occupy territory. The Hon Gai area was not a land of fish and rice, but a barren, hilly peninsula. Lingao’s formidable military achievements should have reached the Northern Court by now. The Northern Court was already at war with the Southern Court and had its own troubles to deal with. It was not worth it for them to get into a major conflict with a powerful military power over a small piece of barren land—especially when the other party’s only goal was to mine coal. Wen Desi’s plan was based on this prediction.”

“Yu E’shui said: ‘In my personal opinion, Director Wen’s plan is feasible. Every time the Northern Court pushes south, they are blocked by the Nguyen clan’s fortress complex near the 17th parallel and the firearms supplied by the Portuguese. They are now eagerly looking for foreign aid. According to the historical timeline, the Dutch will soon become their advisors. If we provide some munitions in exchange for being allowed to stay in Hon Gai and mine coal, it would not be an unbearable price for the Northern Court. Moreover, it would also squeeze out the Dutch influence on the Northern Court.’”

“‘Sell munitions?’ Someone found this hard to accept. In the past, Li Luoyou’s attempt to purchase munitions for the Ming Dynasty was rejected, and now they were suddenly going to sell munitions to the Northern Le Dynasty.”

“‘Do we have enough steel?’”

“‘With the No. 1 blast furnace, our steel production capacity has expanded by more than ten times. Consuming some of it in exchange for enough coking coal is still beneficial for us.’ Zhan Wuya, feeling a bit flush from the successful ignition of the blast furnace a few days ago, said, ‘The No. 1 blast furnace is not yet operating at full capacity, but its daily pig iron output already exceeds 60 tons. The No. 2 blast furnace can also be put into operation in another month.’”

“‘There are also medicines and processed ready-to-eat foods—we can even do toll processing for food… These can all be sold as trade goods to the Northern Court. Similar to the goods sold to the Tartars.’ Si Kaide said, ‘I don’t think the Northern Court will refuse this kind of trade request. Medicines and ready-to-eat foods are very useful in military affairs.’”

“In the end, the resolution to open a trading post in Hon Gai to mine coal was passed. As a first step, the Vietnam Trading Company was spun off from the Leizhou Station. The Vietnam Trading Company became a state-owned company directly under the Colonial and Trade Department, achieving the same status as Leizhou Sugar, with its headquarters still located in Leizhou.”

“In a luxurious residence on Haian Street in Haikang County, Leizhou, the Senators of the Leizhou Station were sitting around a table, the atmosphere a bit delicate. The table was piled with account books and the like, and besides an abacus, there was also a pocket electronic calculator.”

“A large, dark-skinned man spoke up at this moment: ‘Alright, the accounts should all be clear now, right?’”

“The female Senator who was filling in the last few numbers on a form straightened up—she was none other than Jin Zhijiao of the CHEKA. She said: ‘No problem, there are a few transactions that violated regulations, but nothing serious.’ With that, she stamped the handover audit form. ‘Done!’”

“‘Old Wen, I’m about to leave you, don’t miss me…’ The dark-skinned man was Chang Shide. A few days ago, he had received a telegram from the Organization Department, telling him to ‘prepare for handover immediately and be transferred to Lingao for another appointment.’ Following closely behind the telegram was this woman from the CHEKA.”

“The Hon Gai operation began with personnel transfers: Chang Shide was transferred out of Leizhou; Yan Maoda was officially transferred to Leizhou to serve as the general manager of the Vietnam Trading Company, and Bei Kai was appointed as the trade representative to North Vietnam. The latter had already undergone long-term Vietnamese language training in Lingao—studying the strange Vietnamese language with a television every day was really getting to him. Although Bei Kai repeatedly emphasized that his family had no connection to Vietnam, he was still chosen for the position of trade representative to Vietnam because of his ‘very Vietnamese’ appearance.”