Section 143 Ferry ticket for Dongsha Island

"How many pistols?" The guy sitting in the cast-iron chair raised his eyebrows and once again smiled childlikely: "Dear Mr. Australian Federal Government Officer, don't you and your companions want to confiscate some more dangerous contraband?" I think you'll be interested. ”

The modified 8154 has completely lost the appearance of a fishing boat, and looks similar to the corvettes before and after World War II. In addition to the man-rotating 70mm rifled gun, a rotatable machine gun turret was mounted above the bow - not a typewriter, but a real M240 machine gun. There is no doubt that once it fires, it can render any warship on this plane ineffective in a matter of minutes.

The 8154 fishing vessel was naturalized in the Lingao Navy under the name of "Type 8154 high-speed cruiser" - except for the slightly smaller tonnage, in terms of firepower, it is not even a battleship of the same time and space.

Weiss? Lando came to Dongsha Island on one of them. There were also several sailboats and salvage vessels temporarily converted from landing craft.

Since he was interrogated, Lando was secretly transferred to the second guest house in the office. Fr. Kimligor tried to visit him several times, but was blocked by the terrible excuse that he was "contagious". He lived comfortably under house arrest in the second guest house. There was a good meal, a hot bath, and he was given a cool summer uniform made of cotton and linen, which he later learned was only available to the senators. Although it is not a replica of everything in the 21st century, it is more of a plausible imitation, but it is already very pleasant for Lando. In particular, he was deeply moved by the white porcelain flush toilet in his bedroom bathroom – a sentiment that would be difficult for a person who had not experienced the poor hygiene of the 17th century to understand.

In the second guest house, people came to talk to him every day. People come from different places, and some of them have a clear temperament of living in the United States in their bodies and words. A lot of people speak surprisingly good English.

They talked about everything from his mercenary work to the use of weapons, including the Portuguese in Macau. You can see that they are full of interest in all things.

The woman, who claimed to be a federal law enforcement officer, also visited him once and talked to him about some of the details of arms trafficking. Including some of his past actions, Lando realized that the federal government actually knew everything about what he was doing, but it didn't even bother.

"What's the use of knowing so many details?" Lando looked at the beautiful female agent, who was still charming despite her poor cloth uniform and cold blue eyes, "Are you still going to sue me on behalf of the federal government?" ”

"Just wanted to know more." Sarina replied simply.

"I feel curious," Landu looked at her, "how can you serve the Chinese?" ”

"It's about the same as you." Sarina shrugged her shoulders indifferently, "Is there any other option?" ”

"Of course not, I knew that their life was so nourishing, I should have cried and shouted to come to the Chinese to take me in." Lando stretched, "God, they're so comfortable"

"It's something they're building little by little. You're just here to sit back and enjoy it. ”

"NO, NO," Lando shook his finger, "I paid for the ticket." ”

Despite what he said, Lando still had a vague worry in his heart - the situation wouldn't change, would it?

Standing on the deck and looking out at the island, a rudimentary base had already faintly appeared on the barren island. As a mercenary who often cruises around the country on ships, he is fully aware of the importance of Dongsha Island in the South China Sea route. After the Chinese occupy the whole of Hainan Island, the next step will inevitably be the island of Taiwan.

Dongsha Island is an important stop on the route to Taiwan. It is not surprising to occupy this place as a relay base.

However, Dongsha Island is relatively close to the mainland. There are many fishermen from the coast who come here to fish, and the news is easy to leak out. Once the Crossing Group sets up a base here, it is very likely that it will be attacked by Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang or other Europeans. To ensure the safety of personnel and facilities, it is necessary to establish a garrison Liliang. Therefore, until not so long ago, there was no conclusive decision on whether to establish a permanent base for garrisoning here.

However, the information that there were shallow oil resources that could be exploited near Keelung still stirred up the hearts of a considerable number of veterans. After all, Taiwan is an important link in the future continental chain of the empire. As a result, the establishment of a relay base in Dongsha was on the agenda.

The Commission has already made considerable investments here to mine struvite. The island's wells were renovated and cleaned, a steam pumping station was set up, and in order to compensate for the limited water output from the wells, a freshwater station was set up to distill the heat from the boiler of the steam engine. The station uses brackish water with lower salinity drawn from brackish wells.

Simple tracks, trestle bridges, and booms have been installed on the island to facilitate the transport of struvite from the island. The Dorr Islands are rich in fisheries, and COAG is also planning to set up a fishing facility here for the purchasing, processing and storage of seafood.

As a garrison, the navy will build a small fortress here. Next to the trestle, a pentagonal bastion is being built. When completed, the Dongsha Island fort will be permanently garrisoned by four cannons and a company of marines. Meteorological observation stations and navigation stations will also be set up here. As an important support base for future maritime navigation.

The Committee of Agriculture and the People's Commissariat of Civil Affairs originally planned to establish a fishing village here to migrate to the island. However, after surveying the geographical and hydrological data, it was found that there was no suitable wharf in this place, and the environment was relatively harsh, and the fishermen in the past only worked on the island seasonally, and it was difficult for the fishing village to survive here.

The wharf is already full of boats - there is no port on Dongsha Island, it is surrounded by beaches, and there are almost no places for ships to dock except for the trestle, and the berths are very tight. The convoy of transports from Lingao packed both sides of the trestle. The landing craft simply grabbed the beach.

When 8154 approached the only berth on Dongsha Island, he saw that many simple facilities had been built on the island. Large trellises stand in the midst of a coconut grove. The black smoke and water vapor of the steam engine were constantly rushing into the sky.

"You have set up a relay base in Dongsha, are you going to Taiwan?" Lando leaned against the side of the boat and casually asked Qian Shuiting beside him.

Qian Shuiting returned with an indifferent smile. He had an American cigarette in his lips - it was the cargo of Lando fished out of the ship.

"Taiwan is a matter of the future." He said vaguely.

"Shijie is also in the future."

Qian Shuiting smiled, Lando's identity had not yet been confirmed, and he didn't want to talk too much, lest he be attacked by the populists in the Senate.

Lando stepped onto the trestle, and it was then that he realized that an improvised track had been built on Dongsha Island, with many empty minecarts parked on the track, as well as improvised cranes. The dock floor here is littered with grayish-white powder and gravel with a vitreous sheen.

"What are you mining on this barren island? Coral. ”

"Struvite." Qian Shuiting said simply - he came here as a weapons adviser with the salvage team, and the General Administration of Political Security gave him an incidental task: to serve as the mercenary's translator and accompaniment.

"You don't have to ask him anything, just treat it as an official escort and interpreter." "You can talk to him freely. ”

"Speak your mind, right?"

"That's right. Speak one's mind. Wumu said easily, "If he was his own person, he should have known everything." If he's not, it's okay to know. ”

Lando has no interest in guano. He smoked a prolific cigarette. He has become accustomed to this kind of cigarette in this time and space, and he feels that American cigarettes are not tasteful enough.

They arrived at a makeshift camp in the middle of a coconut grove, where many sheds and large tents had been erected. Some of the diving equipment has been removed from the case and is being tested by Zuihou. In the middle of all this assortment of equipment is an old two-person hand-cranked inflater. There were also some yellow painted gasoline cans, also neatly stacked one by one, covered with tarps.

With such a big scene, his ticket quota obviously moved the Chinese in Lingao. However, if they don't catch anything, they will die without a place to bury.

"I hope everything is fine," he muttered.

Zhou Weisen and Lin Chuanqing, who were in charge of diving, were already discussing diving Jihua in the headquarters. On the table was a nautical chart of the waters near Dongsha Island. A few marks have been made on it with a pencil.

Everyone shook hands politely, Lin Chuanqing made a gesture, and a sailor brought a cold soda. A few people sat down and drank bitterly.

"According to the latitude and longitude you provided, we will search for these points one by one starting tomorrow. The boat has already gone to drop the buoy - unfortunately there is no GPS here, and the sextant is used, hopefully there will be no error. "The average depth is less than 20 meters, so the dive is quite easy." ”

Lin Chuanqing said: "I'm curious, when you sink the boat, how do you plan to fish it up in the future?" ”

"Divers, of course." "How do I know I'm coming to a place where there are no divers?" ”

"And how did you get the weapon you brought to Macau out of the ship? The ship sank shallow, but into a wreck to dive? Unless you're a professional diver," Zhou said, it's hard to imagine.