readx; As the Princess Anna anchored next to Luo Island, the navy soldiers happily rowed their small wooden boats to land. There were even some impatient warriors www.biquge.info who plunged into the blue and warm waters, shouting and laughing, and swam directly ashore.

It is no wonder that since the first day of the Lunar New Year from Dengzhou, the north wind has been like a knife, and the ship is cold and slippery. The Xisha Islands have a typical tropical climate, with summer all year round, and many soldiers from the north who have never been to the South China Sea suddenly feel comfortable.

Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Sen also landed in a boat, and according to Zhu Youzhen's request, the first thing they did after they went ashore was to survey the topography and hydrology of Luodao and record it in detail. Luo Island is not big, and with the help of Xian Nanxing and others who have been to this island, Zhang Zheng and the others quickly figured out the basic situation here.

Luo Island is located at the southwestern tip of the Paracel Islands. The whole Xisha Islands is roughly located in Qiongzhou, that is, the southeast of Hainan Island, including two groups of relatively concentrated islands and reefs in the east and west, the largest of which is located in the east, the two islands are very close to each other, fishermen call it "Ba Island" and "Xiaoba Island", and it is also the most suitable island for human habitation in the geographical environment of the Xisha Islands.

However, this time, the Princess Anna sailed due south from Qiongzhou, and did not pass through these two islands, but only through Luodao. Luo Dao is far away from the other islands and reefs of the Paracel Islands, and its area is much smaller than Ba Dao, which is a sand island. At low tide, the island is 560 zhang long from east to west and 240 zhang wide from north to south; At high tide, the sea floods a small area of sand dunes in the lower terrain, leaving only thirty or forty feet square. There is a small lagoon on the island, and the lake is full of seawater; Although there is fresh water just two feet of sand due to the abundant rainfall, the island is often flooded by seawater, and there is almost no grass on the island.

After surveying the terrain, the next thing to do is to erect the Sovereign Monument. On this voyage, Princess Anna specially prepared dozens of stones six feet high and one foot wide, and now they will move down one piece and erect it at the highest place on Luo Island, and the soldiers use weapons to engrave the four big characters of "Da Ming Luo Island" on the stone tablet. When the stele was planted, except for a few soldiers who remained on duty on the ship, all the rest of the personnel stood solemnly around the stele to silently witness this solemn and sacred moment.

However, it is not enough to just have a tree monument. According to Zhu Youzhen's will, troops must be stationed on the Xisha Islands, and as for the details of how many troops to be stationed on which island, Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Sen will decide at their discretion.

Zhang Zheng and the others convened the egg people who were familiar with the South China Sea to discuss, and everyone agreed that they should garrison troops on Luodao. Because Luodao is small, it is located on the route from Qiongzhou to Nansha Islands, and the ship sails here and has traveled about half the way, so Luodao is also known as "halfway". Setting up a garrison here is in line with the principle of "checkers".

But it's not easy to garrison. Luodao Island is lonely overseas, and it is more than 600 miles away from Qiongzhou in a straight line, and there is no grass on the island, and the fishermen only take a temporary break when they come. If you really want to be permanent, how can people survive?

However, since the emperor has a will, no matter how difficult the task is, he must find a way to complete it. In the next two days, taking advantage of the fine weather, Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Sen led the officers and men of the whole ship to throw off their arms and do a big job.

First of all, they used the timber carried by the ship to build three huts on the highest part of the island as barracks for the officers and soldiers guarding the island. However, there are many rainy and typhoons in the South China Sea, and it is difficult to say how long these three cabins can last.

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Second, two small boats and fishing nets and other fishing tools were left behind, and the main food for officers and men in the future was fish. In addition to fish, the island is also full of horseshoe snails that have been washed up by the sea, hence the name "Luo Island". Snail meat can also be eaten after cooking, just in terms of quantity, if there are not many garrisons, you can eat enough snail meat every day.

However, if people only eat fish snails and do not eat vegetables, they will suffer from fatal scurvy after a long time. The officers and men had already been prepared for this, and they deliberately loaded dozens of jars of soil from Dengzhou on the ship, and this time they unloaded ten jars on Luodao first. On the island, where soil is more precious than gold, a small pond of stones was built and soil was poured into it, so that even if it rained heavily, the soil would not be lost. The ship also carried seeds of various vegetables, and now they have planted them so that the officers and men guarding the island can have vegetables to eat.

In addition, bows, arrows, birds, guns, ammunition, fire, and other materials were also prepared, which barely met the necessary material conditions for garrison. The next question is the most critical: who will defend the island?

Everyone knows in their hearts that the mission on the island can be described as a life of death. First of all, the natural conditions are extremely difficult, although there is no severe cold here, but it is exposed to the sun all year round, and there are often storms. Moreover, it is too far away from Qiongzhou, and it is okay for small wooden boats to fish near the island, but it is impossible to sail far, unless a boat passes by, and this place is completely isolated from the outside world.

Moreover, the number of officers and soldiers stationed on the island cannot be too large, and once there is an attack by foreign ** teams or pirates, it is simply impossible to defend the island with a few men and a few guns. If it's on land, you can retreat if you can't fight it; But this is an island, and you can't even run.

Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Sen also fully considered the arduousness of the task of stationing on the island, so they gave extremely favorable conditions. The first batch of officers and men stationed on the island will be set at five, and they will be temporarily rotated every six months. During his stay on the island, in addition to his monthly salary, he also received a monthly allowance of 20 taels of silver; All officers and men who can persist until the end of their tasks and behave normally will be immediately promoted.

Of course, material stimulation is only one aspect, Zhang Huangyan also summoned all the officers and men of the ship, and fully explained the great significance of garrisoning Luodao. He spoke in simple terms and was impassioned, which greatly aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the officers and men. After saying this, many officers and men rushed to sign up, especially the new members of the navy, and they even asked to be stationed on the island.

Due to the large number of applicants, the lottery had to be used in the end. As a result of the draw, Xian Nanxing and two other egg people, a naval soldier from the Qi family's army, and a Korean soldier who joined the North Sea Fleet with Lee Yun-ho, became the first batch of warriors stationed on Luodao.

With a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, the Princess Anna will soon set sail again. At the time of parting, all the crew reluctantly said goodbye to the five warriors, and some of them had personal friends, and they couldn't help shedding tears. Xian Nanxing smiled nonchalantly: "What are the old men crying about, as if we are going to die!" Don't worry, we're going to be alive and well on the island, and maybe the next time we come for a shift, we're reluctant to go! ”

After saying goodbye, the Princess Anna quickly set sail and anchored, and Luo Island quickly disappeared behind her, and when she looked around, it was a vast sea. Zhang Huangyan stood tall in the sea breeze with emotion, and suddenly said loudly: "This official has never had a number, and he has thought about many words, but he doesn't feel that it is appropriate. Now that I have suddenly figured it out, I will use the name of 'Cangshui' in the future! ”