Roger personally trained this unit because its strength was just above the company and below the battalion, and it was not suitable for the establishment of the company or battalion level, so the temporary establishment he had obtained at the moment was a slightly nondescript title such as the "South China Sea Special Operations Brigade". Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info but Roger didn't care much about the name, and he wanted to get this unit out of Ambuna Island to carry out some real combat missions earlier. Roger believes that the training level of his gang has actually surpassed that of ordinary militia troops, but the shortcoming of experience is indeed too obvious, and it can only be slowly made up for by participating in actual combat.

That night, Roger held a celebration banquet to reward his subordinates, and he couldn't hold it back on the wine table, and began to ask Yan Chujie about the next action arrangement: "Mr. Yan, this trip to Anbuna Island has brought a whole two fleets over, it should not only be to cruise the South China Sea, but to make another big move, right?"

Yan Chujie put down his wine glass and nodded in response: "This side of the South China Sea is too far away from the base camp, we must pave the way from station to station, it has been two years since we came to Anbuna Island, it's time to continue to extend our control area to the south!"

"Okay!" Roger was also gearing up when he heard the news, although he had expected seven or eight points in advance, but after verifying it from Yan Chujie's mouth at this time, it was still difficult to suppress the excitement in his heart. He has been in the South China Sea for so long, and he has been waiting for the executive committee to adjust its strategy, although the waiting time seems to him to be a bit long, but it is not in vain.

Yan Chujie continued: "There are two straits in the South China Sea, Malacca and Sunda, and we plan to control at least one of them within a year or two. However, at present, Malacca is still in the hands of the Portuguese, and it is not easy for us to grab it directly, so the set goal is still the Sunda Strait. ”

"Is that going to fight Batavia?" asked Roger, tentatively.

"Whether or not to completely tear up the face with the Dutch, the executive committee has not yet decided. Yan Chujie said with a solemn expression: "Our current nautical capacity is not enough to open up routes in the Indian Ocean, and the western leg of the East-West trade still needs to be undertaken by ocean-going ships from countries such as Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain. ”

The situation that Yan Chujie said does exist, if Haihan wants to spare all his strength to attack Batavia, the possibility of taking it down is very high, but the problems that may arise in the future must also be taken into account. At present, the commercial system between European countries and the Far East is basically monopolized by a few seafaring powers, and the Netherlands accounts for nearly half of them, and the name of the sea coachman is not for nothing.

According to historical records, the Netherlands accounted for three-quarters of the total tonnage of European merchant ships during this period, with as many as 15,000 merchant ships. Most of the spices from Southeast Asia, cotton textiles from India, silk porcelain and tea from China were all transshipped to Europe by Dutch merchant ships. It was not until the late 17th century that the Netherlands were defeated in the six-year Franco-Dutch War, and their predominance in global maritime trade was gradually replaced by the rising European powers.

If Haihan went to war with the Netherlands, it would inevitably affect the trade pattern between the East and the West in this era. Of course, countries like Portugal that compete with the Netherlands on a global scale will definitely be happy to see it, and the Netherlands will have a chance to replace it if it loses ground in the Far East, and Haihan's dependence on it in terms of maritime trade will also increase.

From Haihan's point of view, finding a port suitable for long-term development is more important than eliminating current competitors. The Board had held a number of discussions on this issue, and the majority opinion was that Batavia and Malacca were not suitable for long-term operation as regional trading centres, and that the terrain had limited their development prospects. In this era, the construction capacity cannot complete large-scale projects such as reclamation and port construction, and Haihan often gives priority to natural harbors when looking for overseas bases to reduce the investment in the process of port construction.

If a place like Ambuna Island had not been left without other options, Haihan would probably not have built it as an important stronghold in the South China Sea. However, the congenital conditions of Ambuna Island make it difficult to build a large seaport that can deploy a fleet, so in the process of continuing to expand southward, Haihan will have higher requirements for geographical conditions when looking for the next foothold, otherwise it will be difficult for the fleet in Cam Ranh Bay to provide timely military support for the new stronghold in the South China Sea.

This time, Yan Chujie personally led the fleet to the south to conduct a relatively comprehensive cruise in the South China Sea, in the hope of finding a suitable place to stay in the area south of Ambuna Island.

After listening carefully to Yan Chujie's account, Roger asked a more sensitive question: "Do the Portuguese know our plans?"

Yan Chujie said: "The Portuguese have an office in Sanya, and such a large-scale trip of the naval fleet will definitely not be able to hide from their eyes. So we informed them of the situation in advance, so as not to misunderstand these foreign devils. ”

"Unless we go to war with the Dutch, the Portuguese will probably not be happy to see us open new ports in the South China Sea," Roger said. ”

"You're right, their consul in Sanya, Thomas, has already lodged a protest with the Executive Committee, arguing that our actions will affect their rights and interests in the South China Sea. ”

"How does Natao always reply to the Portuguese?" asked Roger, with interest.

Mr. Tao was very angry, and he beat Thomas back with one sentence - whoever has the big fist is justified. After Yan Chujie finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing.

Roger was stunned for a moment, then laughed along. With Haihan's current strength, he can indeed hold his head up and say no to foreign devils. To put it more seriously, the status of the Portuguese in the Far East is actually closely related to the strength of Haihan's support for them. Portugal's import and export trade with the Ming Dynasty is almost all under the permission and protection of the Haihan, and there is no capital to dictate to the Haihan, although Tao Donglai's words are extremely unkind, but this is exactly the tough attitude that the Haihan military wants to see.

Although Haihan and Portugal have formed a partnership, both sides have their own small calculations. The Portuguese wanted to use the force of the Haihan to suppress their competitors in the Far East and expand their trade routes, and the Haihan also counted on the Portuguese to take on more freight tasks for the East-West trade, so that they could deal with the Spaniards and the Dutch. However, Portugal still lacks such strength for the time being, after all, even their country is still under Spanish rule and has not gained independence, and in recent years in the Far East, especially the area west of Malacca, has basically struggled to support.

However, Portugal's opposition was not ineffective, and they knew more about the situation in the South China Sea than Haihan, and without the support of this intelligence source, Haihan would have to spend some more time on preparations.

Roger said through the wine: "I'm drinking a little too much now, I can't remember the specific course of action you told me, I just have a request, this cruise will also take my men out to see the world." ”

Yan Chujie readily agreed, and he also wanted to see how this unit performed after leaving the training ground. Moreover, there are many landing and reconnaissance tasks in Haihan's current patrol exercise in the South China Sea, and it is indeed necessary to have an army force that is more adapted to the local environment to act with the fleet.

Accompanying the Haihan fleet to Ambuna Island were Zheng Zheng, the little prince of Annam, and Fan Ji, the general of Champang, who also visited today's troop assessment as military observers. They can only be both envious and jealous of the performance of this Haihan new army, a new army that has not yet set foot on the battlefield has been trained more than their own regular army, and this gap simply makes people unable to resist. The only thing to be thankful for is that the content of the Haihan army's training is similar to that of its own army, and if you work harder in peacetime training, you should still have a chance to shorten the gap.

The military assistance given to them by Haihan also included the training program of the troops, and in this regard, Haihan did not hide too much selfishness, and the gap between the two sides in terms of technology and tactics was actually more reflected in the quality of the commanders, not just the difference in the individual abilities of individual soldiers. Starting from the grass-roots officers at the level of squad leader, all of them are veterans with actual combat experience, and those who can be promoted to company and platoon commanders are also promoted by virtue of their combat exploits, and most of them have received advanced training in military academies, and their professional ability is far from being comparable to that of the grass-roots commanders in the armies of Annam. Although these two countries also send officers to Sanya for further study every year, there are not many grassroots officers, and almost all of them are all related households to gild, and when they come back, they can be promoted and make a fortune with this resume, which has a very limited effect on the overall strength of the army.

It is precisely for this reason that people of true insight especially value the opportunity to conduct military exercises with the Haihan militia army, even if they need to spend a lot of money for such exercises and take the risk of mobilizing elite troops to unknown places thousands of miles away, they must also strive for this opportunity that is only once a year.

On the day the Combined Fleet arrived at the port of Ambuna, military control was imposed at the port, and all civilian and merchant ships were allowed to enter and not leave, so as to ensure that the whereabouts of the Combined Fleet would not be leaked out in a short period of time. Although this arrangement will make some merchants feel dissatisfied, they also know that the rules of the Haihan people are extremely strict, and if they break this rule, then they will not want to do business with the Haihan people in the future. Fortunately, the living facilities on the island are much more complete than before, and it will not be too sad to live here for a while, and it should be forced to take a vacation for a while.

The fleet stayed in the port of Ambuna for four days, during which Yan Chujie and others seized the time to inspect various works on the island, while the soldiers and sailors took the opportunity to rest. On 16 October, the Combined Fleet sailed out of the port of Ambuna and headed southeast.

The first destination of the Combined Fleet was Borneo, just over 100 nautical miles from the island of Ambuna, the third largest island in the world, also known as Bo Ni, Boli and so on in Chinese historical records. Accounts of the island were first described in Ptolemy's Topographical Guide in 150 AD, and civilization existed as early as the second and third centuries BC. The earliest record of navigation between China and Borneo appears in the Book of Liang in the fifth century AD. The current state in Borneo is called Sucadana, and its rulers are loyal to the kingdom of Mataran on the island of Java, which was the country of the great army that swept through the Dutch colonies last year and almost captured Batavia.

However, the Haihan is not very interested in Borneo at present, first, because this big island lacks a natural harbor and the development cost is large; second, because its location is far away from the two key shipping lanes valued by the Haihan, there is no need to set up a stronghold in Borneo; third, it is also a scruple about the Suqadana country on the island, after all, the Mataran country behind it is considered a first-class power in South Asia, although the military value is certainly not as powerful as the Haihan militia, but this kind of country can easily mobilize tens of thousands of indigenous troops to go to war, and it is also a big trouble to be an enemy of it。

The navy's cruise route is to follow the western coastline of Borneo all the way south into the Java Sea, and then see if it wants to cross the sea area between Borneo and Java Island to the north shore of Java Island.

There are more than 20 islands of all sizes in the sea from Ambuna Island to Borneo, such as Subi Island, but these places have been repeatedly cleared by the garrison of Ambuna Island many times in the past two years, and they are relatively safe areas. The whole fleet maintained a relaxed atmosphere, and it took a day and a half to reach the shores of Borneo.

The fleet sent a group of men ashore in small boats near the shore, and the purpose of their landing was not to reconnoiter the enemy, but to collect samples of local flora and fauna. These samples will be made into specimens during the cruise and sent back to the research institute in Sanya for collection.

According to Ningqi's report to the Executive Committee, Borneo is home to 10 species of primates, 350 species of birds, 150 species of reptiles, and 15,000 species of plants, and there is no reason to let go of such a good place for natural science observation. Today's research results will be valuable knowledge for future generations. Although Yan Chujie believes in his heart that this kind of research will not help Haihan expand his territory, since this is a special task assigned by the Executive Committee, he will still carry it out without discount. It's just that it takes two to three days for the staff to collect specimens, which makes Yan Chujie really unbearable.

The most unclear ones were Zheng Zheng and Fan Ji, who did not know why the Combined Fleet was staying on this deserted coast, which was not suitable for the establishment of a port due to natural conditions. The nearest local town was at least two hundred miles away, and the Haihan people should not have found it even if they were to trade with the locals. (To be continued.) )