Chapter 360: The Heroic Soul of the Martyrs

After Situ Zheng's translation, Lin Xiao roughly understood this technician's introduction to the layout of the entire Victoria Bay Civil Port.

The trading house under construction in front of us is a public institution under the Imperial Army, which functions similarly to the trade customs of later generations, and is the core building of the entire civil port and the surrounding settlements, and on both sides of it, dozens of merchant houses will be built along the avenue.

This building, which will be built in accordance with the model of an armed trading station, is not very large, but the supporting facilities are perfect, so to speak, it is almost a castle.

The whole main castle is a rectangular multi-storey hollow building, and its structure is roughly a large inner courtyard enclosed by multi-storey buildings, somewhat similar to the tulou in the south.

All floors are four stories high, facing outward, with no windows on the first and second floors, and windows on the third floor and above, but equipped with iron protective window panels that can be closed in case of attack.

Facing the direction of the inner compound, there are windows on each floor to allow ventilation and light, and the top terrace of the floor has an observation deck and fortifications.

The building facing south is the external office area, and the ground floor of the office area is the hall and the main gate, where all the institutions that need to work externally are located.

The eastern floor is the dormitory area, where the soldiers of the guard unit will live, and part of the ground floor is the canteen and kitchen, and part of the weapons storehouse.

The west building also has four floors, with warehouses on the first and second floors, a health clinic on the third floor, and a dormitory on the fourth floor, where the management of the trading house, clerks, and their families live.

To the north are auxiliary buildings, including granaries, various miscellaneous storerooms, and several temporary detention centers.

At the foot of the main castle, a road will be paved to connect the main road below, according to the original pattern of Baisha Island.

In addition to the trading houses, several merchant houses and wharves were already under construction, and Lin Xiao saw that the roads were littered with yellow sand, timber, barrels of cement and stones of various sizes.

It was the soldiers of the engineering battalion who were building the main road.

Although not long ago, the soldiers had just learned the technique of pouring concrete, but the troops were different, and the soldiers of several companies had a clear division of labor, and according to the method of pouring in sections, the excavation of excavation, the ramming of earth, and the pouring of pouring were all done in an orderly and orderly manner.

The more than 1,000 craftsmen brought by Lin Xiao are building a stone wharf, and after the wharf is completed, several wooden trestle bridges will be built.

The laborers, who were busy building the rest of the building, were mainly using 2,000 Tartars captured in the Battle of Canton, as well as some refugees who had volunteered to follow.

Most of these captives were Han Zhuang men who were captured after Shang Kexi entered the customs, they were originally the people of the Ming Dynasty, and they were more honest in their performance after being captured.

In order to cooperate with Li Hanzhi's construction, before Xia Bomin left, he specially ordered to be selected from tens of thousands of Tartar captives, and the rest were almost all taken to open mines.

Around them, soldiers stood on several mounds, prisoners and migrant workers were busy in a steady stream, and the "thump" of labor trumpets and rammed earth piles was resounding......

After listening to the technician's introduction, Lin Xiao was still unsatisfied, and led everyone to climb the Fortress Hill in North Point.

The people who built the fort here were the people brought by Li Hanzhi from Qinzhou.

In contrast, this group of craftsmen was more skilled in their work, and after most of the busy month, a strong fort had taken shape, and as far as the eye could see, there were less than a hundred people finishing up on the construction site.

At the beginning, He Yi selected young and strong people from the refugees in Fangcheng and formed an engineering team of thousands of people, who participated in the construction of the Baisha Island base throughout the whole process, and later undertook the construction of the Fangcheng Industrial Zone, the Tiger Port Shipyard, the Qinzhou Academy, and several factories in Qinzhou.

It can be said that this is basically a professional construction engineering team.

However, at present, the large-scale construction in various parts of Qinzhou Prefecture is nearing completion, and most of the people in this engineering team are idle, and He Yi is trying to find ways to work everywhere in Guangxi and Guangdong, and there are still many surplus personnel.

Hearing that Li Hanzhi was going to Hong Kong, He Yi took the initiative to find him, and in the end, more than 700 non-local craftsmen who had fled were selected to voluntarily go to Hong Kong to seek development......

Although much smaller in size compared to the trading houses, the fort was a real fortress.

On the side facing the sea, jutting out along the hill, are four convex forts made of granite stone, each three stories high, topped by an open battery, and the lower floors are the soldiers' quarters, ammunition depots, and warehouses.

In addition to the convex fort, the other sides of the fort are only two floors, but they are all made of cement poured stones, the second floor of the tunnel has a shooting hole, the lowest floor is the soldiers' quarters, as well as auxiliary facilities such as kitchens and toilets.

"It's a good repair."

Lin Xiao walked around and nodded in praise.

"This is thanks to the old shopkeeper He,"

Li Hanzhi said with a smile, "The ones sent are all skilled craftsmen, and the craftsmanship is not said." ”

"What about the rest? Aren't there hundreds? ”

"It's basically finished here, and most of the people went over there, Longhu Mountain,"

Li Hanzhi raised his hand and pointed to the west and said, "A larger fort will be built there, which can install six main guns." ”

Lin Xiao looked at the mountain to the west and nodded with satisfaction.

One east and one west, after the completion of these two forts, they can basically protect the entire Victoria Bay.

The Shipai Bay Military Port in the south is a fleet assembly place, and the fleet is used to attack, while the civilian port here can only focus on defense.

In Lin Xiao's plan, the importance of this bay is no less than that of a military port.

In addition to the Kowloon Shipyard on the North Shore, the South Bank Terminal, with the support of Guangzhou and Macau, will become the largest logistics and transshipment center for his captives on the South China coast.

As the saying goes, "before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first", fighting a war is to fight grain and grass, that is, to fight the economy, in the series of military operations that the captive army will launch later, sea transportation will be the main mode of transportation to ensure the logistics materials of the southern army.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, will become a major military station for military logistical support, and many materials will have to be transferred from here.

……

While thinking, they continued to climb up, and the group came to the open-air fort in a blink of an eye.

Looking at the few cannons in the corner that had not yet been installed in place, Lin Xiao asked, "This cannon ...... Shipped from Guangzhou? ”

"Yes, they are all captured Qing army city defense artillery,"

Li Hanzhi replied with a wry smile, "It is said that ...... Lao Cao's breech guns have been successfully developed, but only a few have been trial-produced, saying that they have to be tested by the battleship first, and it will not be the turn of the battery......"

"Let's just do it first,"

Lin Xiao smiled and comforted, "Lao Cao and Lao Zhou's strings are too tight...... It's hard for them. ”

"yes, so I didn't complain,"

Li Hanzhi smiled and said, "Actually, as long as my people are mobile fast enough and have mortars and javelins to guard them, what's the use of more gunboats from foreigners, not all cannon fodder ......"

"That being said, for the time being, it is beneficial to let the men of the independent battalion practice more offensive and defensive aspects of this artillery,"

Lin Xiao looked at the sea and said in a deep voice, "Mortar shells have to be spared...... We still have a long way to go. ”

In the near future, not only Hong Kong itself, but also Taiwan and other coastal island bases in the future will need to be manned, and these old guns will still be needed in many places until the arsenals produce enough advanced guns.

……

After returning to the military port, early the next morning, under the auspices of Lin Xiao, the burial ceremony of Lao Chen and other martyrs was held.

Although Lao Chen and the others were all seafarers, Lin Xiaoli overrode public opinion, said that he did not agree to the sea burial, and insisted that these comrades-in-arms be buried on land.

Lin Xiao felt that Lao Chen and the others had dedicated everything they had to the hot land under their feet and the sky above their heads, and it could be regarded as a comfort to the martyrs to rest on the most fascinating island of the motherland.

On the road to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, every piece of land should have a legendary story, and every dedication is worthy of being looked up to by future generations!

In the future, no matter what vicissitudes of life we have experienced, may the spirit of the martyrs always inspire our Chinese descendants to forge ahead; May the heroic souls of the martyrs become the morning star that shines in the East, shining and shining forever......

In the midst of the bursts of gunfire from the soldiers, Lin Xiao, who was standing tall in the direction of Taiwan, only said one sentence: "Old Chen, rest in peace, brother will definitely avenge you!" ”

Today is the fifth martyr's remembrance day in my country, may the heroic souls of the martyrs shine on my homeland and bless my China forever!

(End of chapter)