July 31, 1878, Moon Bay, northern port of the Natuna Islands.

Chen Xingui, commander of the garrison of the Natuna Islands, accompanied Mei Dongxing, governor of Nanyang, and Wang Dashan, commander of the Nanyang Corps, to inspect the defense of the Natuna Islands.

"Lord Mei, General Wang, please come here."

Chen Xingui led the two to a high ground, facing the fortress on the other side, and introduced, "The local natives call this place Lanai, and after our army occupied the Natuna Islands, we renamed it Linshan Town, and built Linshan Fort as the core fortress of the Natuna Islands. ”

"I've heard that the Chinese who occupied the Natuna Islands at the end of the day and the Dutch later built forts here, but I wonder if this is true or not?"

Mei Dongxing asked while observing the situation of Linshan Fort through the binoculars in his hand.

"It is true that the Chinese pirates and the Dutch have built forts on the island, but the forts they built are much inferior in size to those of the mountain forts."

Chen Xingui took a few steps forward, pointed forward with his right hand, and said, "The ruins of the fortress built by the Dutch are located in the west of Linshan Fort, the circumference of the fortress is less than 100 meters, and the height is about five meters. ”

"The circumference is 800 meters, the width is 300 meters, the height of the city wall is 15 meters, and the width of the wall walkway is five meters......"

Wang Dashan recalled the data of Linshan Fort and exclaimed, "A castle of this scale can accommodate 10,000 people, right?" ”

"General Wang's expectation is good, the planning area of Linshan Fort is 240,000 square meters, the standard residential population is 12,000, if the enemy attacks, the maximum accommodating area of the castle can reach 20,000 people, and in the two wings of the Linshan Fort protruding mountain part of each build a small fortress, the two small fortresses are each equipped with a 150 mm heavy gun, and the four heavy guns of the main fort of Linshan Fort form a flanking momentum, can be limited to control the sea area near the sea outside the port of nearly 10 kilometers, and form a huge suppression effect on the enemy at sea."

Chen Xingui continued, "The Natuna Islands are an important transit point to ensure the safety of the immigration routes, and his subordinates believe that we should continue to strengthen the defense of the islands and build the Natuna Islands into a support base of the Han State in the South Seas, on the one hand, to provide material supplies and logistics support for the migrant fleet, and on the other hand, to rely on the military strength of the Natuna Islands to fight against piracy near the South Seas, to ensure the smooth flow of immigration routes, and at the same time to deter the ambitions of the Dutch on the Natuna Islands, and to ensure the long-term occupation of the Natuna Islands by our army." ”

"It is necessary to strengthen the defense of the Natuna Islands, don't hide it from Brother Chen, General Wang and I came to the Natuna Islands this time, not only to protect Miss Wu's safety, but also to convey His Majesty's will to Brother Chen."

"Lady Mei, please speak."

Chen Xingui said respectfully.

"It is expected that the war to unify Argentina will be launched in the second half of 1879 to the beginning of 1880, when the South Seas and Africa will not be able to receive effective domestic support, so Your Majesty orders that from now on, the Wehrmacht units in the two northern provinces of Annam, the Natuna Islands, and Songkhla should prepare in advance for a possible attack by the Western countries."

Mei Dongxing paused, and then said, "Director Huang of the African side has received domestic orders and started to prepare for war, and the only people in Nanyang who know the domestic orders are me, General Wang, Lord Liang of the Taiping Society, and Brother Chen, so if Brother Chen has any good suggestions and requirements for the defense of the Natuna Islands, he can put them forward." ”

Chen Xingui breathed a sigh of relief, and after digesting the news he heard, he said, "The Natuna Islands have a permanent population of 17,000, plus the number of people who stay there every year, a total of more than 40,000.

The two small forts on the hill and the two wings could accommodate up to 25,000 people, so he decided that at least three new forts would need to be built to protect the people of the island in the event of an enemy attack. ”

"Where is Brother Chen going to build a fortress?"

"Patong, Lagong Island."

Chen Xingui took out the map he had prepared in advance, spread it on the ground, and explained, "Padang is located 29.8 kilometers southwest of Linshan Fort, with open terrain and moderate port depth, making it vulnerable to threats from ships at sea, while Lagong Island is strategically located near the Dutch-controlled islands and is most likely to be attacked by the Dutch."

Therefore, he thought that the defense of the two places should be strengthened, and two medium-sized forts should be built in Padang and a small fort should be built in Lagon. ”

"Brother Chen plans to give up the Anambas Islands?"

Mei Dongxing noticed that Chen Xingui did not mention the defense plan for the Anambas Islands, and asked.

"The Anambas Islands are small in size, more than 500 miles from the Natuna Islands, and if war breaks out, it will be difficult for the Anambas Islands to hold on to the isolated main island, and it will be of little use to build fortifications on the islands, and it will also disperse the valuable forces of the National Defense Forces, so it is not recommended to build fortifications on the Anambas Islands."

The Anambas archipelago consists of Jemaja, Ziontan, Matak, and many other small islands. It covers an area of 637 square kilometers. It is hilly, covered with dense forests, and rich in high-quality wood.

Immediately after the occupation of the Natuna Islands, the Defence Forces launched an operation to eliminate the pirates of the surrounding islands and occupy the Anambas Islands.

The Anambas Islands are under the jurisdiction of the Natuna Islands, and the people on the islands are all Chinese scattered from Annam, Natuna Islands and other places, and the number is about 1,000.

Although the Anambas Islands cover an area of only 637 square kilometers, the relatively suitable natural environment on the island provides a good living guarantee for the Chinese refugees who have migrated to the island.

On the largest island of Nagama (formerly known as Jemaja Island), the Chinese immigrants cut down the dense forests to make raw materials for building houses, and at the same time, the land left behind after the felling of trees was planted with rice, sweet potatoes and other food crops, and the harvested grain, vegetables, picked coconuts and other food could not only meet the living needs of the local Chinese, but also be transported to the Natuna Islands and the migrant fleet.

According to the carrying capacity of the Anambas Islands and the industrious characteristics of the Chinese refugees, there is no big problem for 16,700 people to live on the island, but because of the danger of the outbreak of war, Chen Xingui has been careful to control the population of the Anambas Islands to prevent the problem of overpopulation on the island and difficulty in retreating.

After listening to Chen Xingui's explanation, Mei Dongxing understood his difficulties,

He said, "The Wehrmacht has limited strength in the Nanyang region, and the Nanyang Corps has to deal with the threat of the French and the Manchu Qing Guangxi Army, and cannot deploy troops to support the Natuna Islands, and the defense of the Natuna Islands still depends on you." ”

"My post understands the difficulties of Lord Mei, the Natuna Islands already have a thousand regular troops and a thousand militia troops, and they don't need the support of the Nanyang Legion, but some areas that can't be taken care of can only be given up."

"Anambas can't do anything, while there is still more than a year to go, we can start the evacuation of the people of the Anambas Islands now, and it is too late for the province to get later."

"After escorting Miss Wu's fleet away, my subordinates will arrange for someone to do it."

……