Because the Hesses were originally formed mercenaries, they not only fought in North America, but most of them also participated in wars in Europe, so they can be described as experienced soldiers. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAfter being recruited by the Tang Dynasty, the Hessians were the foreign soldiers who formed the army at the fastest speed, because the Hessians also had the largest number, so the two infantry regiments were composed of Hessians, the Americans formed another full-fledged infantry regiment, and the brigade artillery regiment was composed of Hesses, Americans, and people with artillery talents from other countries.

In fact, there are four infantry regiments in the Foreign Legion Brigade, one more infantry regiment than the ordinary Tang regimental level troops, in addition to two Hessian regiments and one American regiment, there is also a black infantry regiment, and a hodgepodge regiment. Both the Hessian and American regiments numbered around 1,200 people, and the black regiments and chowder regiments were a little smaller, with more than 800 people. Then adding some units directly under the brigade, the foreign brigade with more than 5,000 people is much more than the Tang Army brigade. Earlier, someone in the Ministry of National Defense suggested that Bai Nan upgrade this brigade to a divisional level, but Bai Nan did not think it was too necessary.

The First Regiment of the Foreign Brigade Hesse is the earliest unit in the Foreign Corps, they are all veterans, even if they switch to Datang weapons, they are quickly used to it, as for some basic tactics taught to them by Datang instructors, it is not difficult, and the Tang Army never expects these foreign soldiers to fight any hard battles, it is enough to dig trenches, conduct positional warfare, and defend fortifications. The set of queues to shoot has long been thrown aside.

Bai Nan trained this army, and it was impossible to throw it in the Bahamas, after all, a lot of silver dollars were spent, so after Yue Zhenfu completed the training task of the first Hessian regiment. Immediately stuffed this unit, which did not even speak much Chinese, onto the ship. Sent to Jiazhou.

In Jiazhou. After testing the combat capability of the Hessian First Regiment at the training ground established by the army in Chucheng, Bai Nan immediately sent them onto a transport ship, which also boarded the Tiger Regiment of the First Brigade of the Army, as well as a construction team of nearly 1,000 people from the Datang National Construction Company.

Naturally, their goal was not to land directly at the mouth of Tanggu in Bohai Bay, although such a force was almost enough. In Bainan's plan, sail nearly 10,000 kilometers and drop troops directly into the Bohai Bay. Apparently a risky and laborious task, he decided to establish an forward base in East Asia to accommodate troops and store war materials, while also being able to better command and deploy forward troops.

In another time and space, the United States was engaged in the Korean War, and the bases were selected in Japan and South Korea for the Vietnam War, and the base was in the Philippines. to help him with his strategic tasks.

If you land at Tanggukou, then the best location is undoubtedly the Korean Peninsula. However, at this time, there was also a unified dynasty on the Korean Peninsula after all, and even if it was to establish an advance base on the most inconspicuous Jeju Island, it would inevitably be subjected to endless harassment, and the intelligence was likely to flow into the Manchus in advance, although the Manchus would not necessarily pay attention to it, but Paeknam was unwilling to take risks. The same is true on Taiwan Island, after Zheng Jing, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's control over this place is not weak, although it has not yet reached the status of a province in later generations, but there is also an official government on the island, which is not hidden enough.

The distance is not very far, and it is relatively hidden, and at the same time, there is no too troublesome opponent nuisance, and it can be effectively controlled later, Bai Nan studied it with a map, and finally drew a circle near Sapporo in Hokkaido with a pencil.

Hokkaido is not yet called Hokkaido, but the Japanese call it Ezo, and although the Matsumae clan controls the Toshima Peninsula in the southern part of the island, the Ishikari Plain, where Sapporo, the island's largest city, will be located, has not yet been developed. The Japanese who were agriculturally backward could not even grow rice in Hokkaido, a slightly cooler region, so the Matsumae Domain was also one of the feudal kingdoms in Japan that did not have Ishitaka.

At this time, the real masters of Hokkaido were still the Ainu who were in the fishing and hunting stage, that is, the Ezo people, and the other face of Japan's large-scale exploitation of Hokkaido after the Meiji Restoration, exterminated the Ainu people, until the second half of the twentieth century, the number of Ainu had fallen to 2. 40,000 people.

In Bai Nan's view, although Hokkaido is mountainous except for the limited areas in the west and east, the Ishikari Plain, Tokachi Plain and other places are very good agricultural areas, although the accumulated temperature is low, but the soil conditions are good, in this latitude zone, Northeast China, British Columbia in North America, and the Great Plains of Ukraine are all famous black soil belts. Although Hokkaido is not a large area, it is a relatively interesting area for development.

So, at the beginning of 1778, he sent a small reclamation group to the Ishikari Plain in Hokkaido, where he built houses and agricultural areas. And in the summer, he sent two regiments of soldiers directly to Hokkaido, accelerated the development there, and at the same time began the first round of material hoarding of the Cuckoo program.

Bai Nan didn't want the newly established Hokkaido colony to be able to feed his tens of thousands of troops, anyway, the Tang Dynasty was now highly surplus in food, and he only needed to build a few large granaries in Sapporo. Moreover, Bai Nan does not plan to go to Hokkaido by the Tang people to do follow-up development in person, because in his plan, Hokkaido is not only a forward base, but also a big "prison" after the implementation of the Azalea plan.

That's right, in order to reduce the resistance and unnecessary trouble for his subsequent actions in the Central Plains, Bai Nan is ready to use Hokkaido as a huge penal colony, if he successfully breaks through the capital, he can at least capture hundreds of thousands of Jurchens, whether these people are clans, or the Eight Banners of the Han Army or the Eight Banners of the Mongols, he will get these people to Hokkaido. Here the fields were cultivated and colonies were built. When the time comes, he will also station a part of the army in Hokkaido, maybe it may be a foreign legion, watch these guys, and not let them leave Hokkaido. Of course, if they have peace of mind to take root and thrive in Hokkaido, then Bainan will not hinder them.

At least Hokkaido is much better than the bitter cold Kanwai, the climate here is more similar to the local British Columbia of the Tang Dynasty, the climate is cool and humid, the temperature in winter is minus four or five degrees, and the summer will not exceed 25 degrees, which is definitely a suitable place for human habitation.

The original small army fan, now a middle-level cadre, Li Shengan, was stationed in Sapporo and became the local administrator. He arrived here before the snow melted on the Ishikari Plain, which was a vast area of broad-leaved and coniferous forests, and it took a relatively short time for the colonization team to clear a clearing of land along the coast and build some wooden buildings.

In the early days, Sapporo's main role was to serve as a base for advancement and storage of materials, so the most things here were destined to be warehouses of all kinds. In the spring, Li Sheng'an led the colonization team to build a granary for grain, a garage for military vehicles, and various arsenals here. Of course, they have also cultivated some fields in the area to grow cold-tolerant upland rice, as well as grains and other crops such as wheat.

When the Ainu discovered their existence, some traded with them and some fought against them, but with the power of Li Sheng'an, some Ainu would not pose any harm. However, the Matsumae Domain still knew that the place 200 kilometers north of their territory had been colonized by the Tang people.

In July, two regiments of troops sent by Shiranami and more construction teams, carrying more supplies and materials, arrived in Sapporo, which already had the appearance of a town. Large wooden dormitories have long been built here to accommodate the troops. However, since Li Sheng'an did not expect that another three or four thousand people would come in one go this time, the number of residences was not enough, and some newly arrived soldiers had to set up tents to deal with them temporarily. There are a lot of mosquitoes here, but even the Hessian mercenaries have been given a lot of things like wind oil essence, and the military doctors who accompany the army have long prepared anti-malaria drugs for the soldiers.

A large number of soldiers also threw their weapons aside, followed by chainsaws to cut down trees and build houses. The Hessians were visibly surprised by the existence of chainsaws, but it didn't take long for them to get used to them. Looking at the timber they had cut all morning, the Hessians expressed disbelief.

The addition of 3,000 or 4,000 people soon allowed Sapporo to continue to expand the scale of construction, and this time the construction team also brought a lot of building materials such as steel and cement, and bricks can be fired locally, and for some buildings with high requirements, these building materials can be used for manufacturing.

It is worth mentioning that the FAW Group has also set up a repair shop in Sapporo, and some workers have already arrived, and Bai Nan will not only hoard food and arms in Sapporo, but also all kinds of war-related spare parts will be hoarded here, in addition to auto parts, there are also various weapon parts here for replacement, and next spring, Bai Nan also plans to build some oil tanks and coal stations here to reserve fuel for motor vehicles and coal for warships.

There are also reserves in this area of the Ishikari coalfield, so coal does not need to be transported from Jiazhou to this side like fuel oil, and after the coal mining here, it can also be used in China, because Bai Nan also considered that once the azalea plan is implemented, it is likely that for a period of time, it will be difficult for the Tang army to get coal on the land of the Qing State, although China's coal reserves are amazing, but most of them are undeveloped.

On the Ishikari Plains, the construction team, the colonization team, and the army worked together to build a large number of houses, these rather modest wooden houses, which were modeled after the large dormitories that were first built in Los Angeles, and which at some point in the future would become the new home of the bannermen who had enjoyed the hardcore crops. (To be continued.) )