The docks of the port of Heishui were still bustling with more than a thousand captive Koreans working hard to build the city under the supervision of the samurai of the Eight Banners. Li Yi and the others had just gone to Dabo for a week, and when they came back, a simple wooden trestle bridge had been built at the mouth of the Heishui River, which could already accommodate two boats at the same time. At this time, the "Chopper" expedition ship was quietly docked on the side of the trestle, and some ship repairers were repairing the leaking planks with the assistance of sailors.

The port has begun to take shape, but this is still not enough in Li Yi's opinion. First of all, the port still lacks a ship repair yard and a large cargo storage and transportation center, and there are still many shortcomings in this berth and waterway alone.

The Heishui River estuary still needs to be dredged and dredged in the future, and the deep-water berths above 6 meters are really less, only a few, in case there are a large number of fleets on the east bank in the future, it may be a little troublesome. But to be honest, the conditions of the port of Blackwater are already relatively good among the many ports on Sakhalin. First, because it was an estuarine port, it was convenient for ships to shelter from the large waves in the Tatar Strait; secondly, because the coast is covered with dense tall fir trees, birch and aspen forests, which are convenient for shelter from the wind; Third, because there are tributaries of the Japanese Warm Stream flowing nearby, the annual freezing period is short. Therefore, on the whole, Blackwater Port is indeed a rare and excellent port in this area.

Of course, no matter how good this port is, it is still a frozen port. There are still three or four months a year when the harbor freezes, and although the ice is not very thick, it is not something that can be broken by the wooden ships that the Eastern Republic currently has. Therefore, it is also necessary to find a warm water port in the nearby waters for the fleet on the east coast to survive the winter. Due to the strong westerly winds that prevail in the surrounding area during the winter, the port also had to be protected from the wind. Li Yi thought about it, and only Rishiri Island in the sea on the west side of Ezo Land in the south was relatively good.

The island is small in size, but there is a volcano in the center. Therefore, the higher altitude weakens the wind blowing on the surface of the sea, and provides a good shelter for the boat. In addition, the island is rich in precipitation, lush vegetation, and is deeply affected by the warm current of Japan, so the whole island does not freeze all year round, making it an ideal base for the fleet to spend the winter and warm water. Li Yi plans to go there for a field trip when he returns, and it is estimated that only a few Ainu fishermen live there on Rishiri Island, which is considered a terra nullius by the people of the east coast. If that really suits there, then there will be a place for the East Coast fleet to spend the winter.

More than 70 aborigines recruited on this trip to Dabo went down to shore one after another with the assistance of sailors. They wore sheepskin hats, field tweed coats, and cooked cowhide suede boots. The dozens of Hezhe people on the shore who were supervising the work of the North Koreans were extremely blushing. After inquiring about the situation in the local language, more than forty hunters on the spot expressed their willingness to join the troops of the East Coast and go to sea with them. These people live not easily on weekdays by lying on ice and eating snow, but they have all developed good skills and iron will. At this moment, I heard that they can easily make a lot of money, and they are naturally willing to do it one by one. As long as the East Coasters pay their relatives a settling-in fee that is insignificant to the East Coasters. They were willing to go to sea with the people of the east coast. To venture into the unknown life.

Li Yi naturally appreciated this, and after reorganizing them, he was surprised to find that the newly recruited troops under his command had exceeded 120 people, which could play a little role. After a little thought, Li Yi named this unit the 2nd Squadron of the Stand Up Team and submitted it to the Military Department and the Executive Committee for approval. Australia's Gushan Port and Jinshan Port are isolated overseas. The defense is weak, but it is an indispensable and important node on the eastern route of the East Coast, so it is necessary to send these forwarders to garrison it.

In Li Yi's plan, a considerable number of the more than 1,200 Koreans in the current Heishui Port are located. It will also be transported to these two places in Australia to settle and pioneer, to provide enough supplies for the coming and going East Coast fleets, and to save everything having to be transferred thousands of miles from the mainland or the New China region.

"Today is July 1st, and a pier pier, two warehouses, 30 wooden houses, a canteen, a bathhouse, and two firewood rooms have just been completed. At least two watchtowers and 80-100 wooden houses will be built. If you have enough time, it's best to build a wooden fence, which is a lot of work. Li Yi put his hands in his trouser pockets and wandered around the planned urban area.

The ground was littered with roots and stumps that jutted out of the ground, because just over a month ago it was either a forest full of towering trees or a muddy swamp, but now thanks to the efforts of these captives of the Koreans, it has become the city of the first stronghold of the East Coasters in the Far East.

"How to solve the food here?" An Shu suddenly asked, "You can't just rob it, right?" I don't know if the land here is suitable for farming. ”

"Farming?" Li Yi looked up at Siye, there were huge forests in the distance, and in the distance were continuous mountain ranges, and the mountains were also covered with dense forests, "Under these conditions, how can you farm the land?" Well, well, maybe it's not hard to reclaim a little wasteland. Although the climate here is cold, the soil is still fertile, and the harvest should not be bad if you plant crops once a year, but for the time being, we may not have the manpower. Rather than that, I think it's better to go out to sea and fish. The nearby Hokkaido fishing grounds are one of the three famous fishing grounds in the world, so I'm sorry not to go there to catch a handful of fish. It just so happens that we now have a ready-made fishing boat, yes, the one that was stolen from the North Koreans. I think the hull is quite new, and it is in good condition, so it is just right for fishing. ”

"That's all it can be." An nodded and said, "The fish you catch can be stacked with salt first, the climate here is cold, and it should be able to be stored for a long time." By the way, the salmon here is very famous, Mo Dayong caught a lot in the river in the morning, and it was time for lunch, let's go, let's try it together. There are also those collected mountain goods, stewed together, and it is estimated that it is also delicious. ”

At this time, it was already half past eleven o'clock in the afternoon, and there were already a group of North Koreans squatting outside the public cafeteria to eat. Their lunch was roasted sweet potatoes that had been shipped from the New China region to the area, and the sweet sweet potatoes were considered a delicacy by the perennially hungry North Koreans. They ate sweet potatoes while eating fish soup, and although they had worked all morning, their faces were full of satisfaction.

When they were in North Korea, they worked hard every day, but in the end they still couldn't get enough to eat. Now that they have been captured by these vicious pirates to this unknown place, their daily workload may not have increased much compared to before, but they can eat a full meal, and it is still three meals a day! God, what's the concept of three meals a day? In North Korea, that's a treatment that only nobles can have!

"The physical condition of these North Koreans is much better than that of those Ming people." Li Yi suddenly sighed, "Sure enough, I'd rather be a peace dog than a troubled world!" It's only been a month, and many people have basically reached the standard of going to sea. ”

Mo Dayong brought lunch to the two chiefs very dogged, radish beef stew, pork cutlet, steamed salmon and some mountain game, which looked quite rich. He said with a smile while setting up the tableware for Li Yi and Anju: "These people are really good, they can work hard when they first come, and it can be seen that the living conditions on weekdays are acceptable." Sir, you can take more people with you, anyway, you won't be able to do much work here after winter, and it won't be cost-effective to keep some more people here and waste food. ”

"Hmm." Li Yi chewed on the delicious food that was served, and said vaguely: "I'll take five hundred people away to relieve you of some pressure." Then I will leave you 50 tons of grain, plus the small 300,000 catties of grain I grabbed last time have not been moved, and I will leave it to you, adding up to almost 200 tons. It shouldn't be a problem for you to catch some fish and feed your less than a thousand people for a year. Of course, if you have time to clear out some land and plant a crop of potatoes and sweet potatoes, the first year's harvest will be disastrous, but it's better than nothing. Well, then there will be more food in abundance. ”

"Yes, sir." Mo Dayong hurriedly responded, "In the afternoon, I will organize people to reclaim a field and plant a crop of potatoes, which should be harvested before the snow." ”

Li Yi nodded and did not speak again.

On July 3, both the "Breaking Wave" and the "Chopper" had been renovated, and the ship was in the best condition in recent days. Today was the day of departure, and the five hundred selected North Korean men and women were uneasily escorted onto the ship, and their destination was to be two bases of the East Coasters in Australia. After they left, the remaining 700 or so North Koreans would continue to stay at Heishui Port for construction, supervised by more than 260 Eight Banner warriors and 50 crew members specially left here by Li Yi. All affairs of Blackwater Harbor will then be presided over by Sergeant Johnson, with Mo Dayong as his deputy.

Li Yi tried his best to leave all the things that were not needed in the cabins of the two ships locally, such as a large number of weapons and ammunition, such as some consumer goods, such as fifty tons of grain. From the previous departure from Tacheng to today, the 600 tons of refined coal loaded by the two ships have consumed less than 310 tons, and after estimating the fuel needed for the return trip, Li Yi boldly left about 80 tons of coal here as a reserve.

When everything was done, the two expedition ships hoisted their sails and left the port of Heishui and headed south, carrying 500 North Korean men and women and 120 recruited officers and men of the 2nd Squadron of the Forward. (To be continued......)