Tao Donglai, as the actual leader of the crossing group, has never left Shengli Port once since coming to this time and space, not even Yazhou, which is not far away. Whether it is going to Beibu Gulf or going north to Guangzhou, he does not have his share, and this time he will personally lead the team to North Vietnam to negotiate, which also shows the importance that the Executive Committee attaches to Vietnam.

Since I have gone so far, it is reasonable for the Supreme Executive Committee to inspect the construction of Heitu Port by the way, and Yazhou and Bailongwei Island, which you will pass through on the way, can also arrange time to take a look. Almost all of the communication between these overseas bases and the base camp relies on radio to transmit information, and the people in the base camp can only rely on their imagination about the actual situation. This time, Tao Donglai personally inspected it, which can also confirm whether the various reports obtained by the Executive Committee before are true and whether the local personnel are in good condition.

Several relevant departments such as the military and police and the maritime transport calculated that the trip would take at least ten days, so Tao Donglai had to hand over the work at hand first, and the executive committee had to urgently convene a small-scale meeting to deal with the matter.

In addition to his position in the Executive Committee, Tao Donglai also holds leadership positions in the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Construction, the Military Police Department, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other departments, and is definitely one of the people with the most part-time jobs in the Group. There are many concurrent positions and many things at hand, so it is necessary to have a coordination meeting to hand over the work, and at the same time, let the people who take over have a good relationship with each other. The work of the Ministry of Industry will be entrusted to Bai Kesi, the Ministry of Construction will be in charge of Liu Shanxia, who has recovered his health, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be in charge of Ning Qi, and the Military Police Department will be in charge of Yan Chujie, who has stayed in the base camp.

Yan Chujie personally wants to travel with Tao Donglai, as the head of the military police department, after the crossing, he only ran through Yazhou, and at other times he was either training militia in the barracks or urging the laborers to build port fortifications, which was indeed quite different from his dream of conquering the Quartet and becoming a famous marshal through the ages. But now that the military training plan of the Military Police Department has just been submitted, it is time to do a lot for this, Yan Chujie also knows that he will definitely not be able to get out in the short term, so he can only temporarily press the idea of traveling.

The four ships returning to Victory Port brought back a total of 180 tons of coal, 100 tons of coke, and the first batch of bitumen. Although only three tons of asphalt were brought back, it marked the beginning of the operation of the coal supporting industry in Heitu Port. Next, the asphalt will be transported to the Tiandok Industrial Park to be used as a waterproof coating for the new plant.

The waterproof technology of this era is still relatively primitive, most of them are roof tiles, wall pillars with mortar, wall roots with stones, and houses are built on the heightened pedestals and the like, which can basically only rely on the building materials of ash and soil, and achieve a better waterproof effect with ingenious design and fine construction. The emergence of asphalt has undoubtedly brought waterproofing technology to a new level. However, because coal coke asphalt contains toxic substances such as anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene, which are difficult to volatilize, the chemical industry should not rush to use this kind of asphalt as a building material for paving, and when there are conditions to obtain oil in the future, it is more appropriate to pave the road with petroleum asphalt with less toxic substance content.

Since we are going to talk about arms dealing, we must prepare a batch of arms. After Li Nai ordered that batch of munitions last time, the Executive Committee immediately passed a resolution to expand the production capacity of munitions, splitting the military industrial departments, which had no subdivision of functions, into six departments: artillery, muskets, ammunition, cold weapons, other military supplies, and weapons design, so as to improve the existing weapons production efficiency.

As for the idea of eliminating the existing disadvantages of the division of labor and setting up a military-industrial complex, the Executive Committee is already considering it. However, the establishment of the military-industrial complex involves the redivision of the jurisdiction and functions of multiple units, and there are many practical difficulties, and it is unlikely that it can be done directly through the administrative order, so the Executive Committee intends to lengthen the process a little and divide it into several stages.

First of all, it is necessary to specialize the production departments, and these departments that have been split off will henceforth be stored as specialized military production units, instead of making agricultural tools in their spare time and muskets and artillery in busy hours, as they did before. Since the current production efficiency is still very low, and the weapons produced are still a little unable to keep up with the militia equipped with their own, there is no need to worry about these units being idle after they are separated. Moreover, after doing so, the responsibilities and powers of each production unit will be clearer, and the management of the higher-level units will not be as simple as before, and the operational efficiency of the entire military industrial department will be effectively improved.

Second, it is necessary to realize the separate accounting of the revenues and expenditures of the military industrial sector. From the current point of view, the military industry has begun to make a profit, and in the future it is very likely that it will be the main profit of the group, so the implementation of independent accounting, and the beginning of the payment of part of the profits to the financial department is the next measure that must be improved in the system.

Only after these objective conditions were ripe did the Executive Committee issue an executive order to set up a new supervisory unit and bring all these military industrial departments under the management of the new military-industrial complex, and the future development, manufacturing, sales, and maintenance of armaments would be entrusted to the military-industrial complex. Of course, the specific research and development of weapons must still be carried out in accordance with the requirements put forward by the Ministry of Military and Police, and the profits obtained by the military-industrial complex from the sale of arms to foreign countries must still be handed over to the financial department in proportion to the majority.

In terms of weapons production, the units are currently dominated by export versions, which account for about three-quarters of production, while self-use versions are relatively small. On the one hand, this is because the current stage of military production is mainly aimed at export, and it will focus on it when the production capacity is limited, and on the other hand, because the scale of the militia is small, and there are not many weapons that need to be equipped. In fact, there are less than 300 militia combat units that need to be equipped with firearms, and all of them are now equipped with Type 27 arquebuses, and after the Type 27 flintlock pistols are finalized and produced, they are now gradually replacing their equipment, and most of the replaced arquebuses have been sold to "Fu Ruifeng" and shipped to Fujian.

According to the Executive Committee, the arquebus, although a very primitive weapon, is still an advanced individual weapon in the present era. Although arquebuses have many drawbacks, such as slow firing speed, limited range, strong dependence on ammunition, and easy to be affected by weather, etc., their lethality on the battlefield is beyond anyone's doubt. On top of that, the training of musketeers is very simple, and it only takes a few days for ordinary people to learn the complete operation steps and then go into battle, while archers who are also long-range attackers need to be trained in years. Moreover, even if the individual force is strong, he will not have any advantage in the face of musketeers, and the battle-hardened fierce generals may have just entered the range of muskets. will be killed by a recruit egg with this weapon that ignores personal strength.

Firearms are rarely used in the current civil war in Vietnam, firstly because they have not yet tasted the sweetness of using firearms in actual combat, and secondly, no one has provided them with such weapons, and even if they want to, there is nowhere to buy them. But when the Crossing Group opens this hole to them, these weapons with far more lethality than cold weapons will soon be used on the battlefield, and when they realize the power of this weapon, the market will naturally open its arms to the Crossing Group.

Under the order of the Executive Committee, all the existing 300-odd arquebuses in stock were packed, and there were also 20 6-pounder guns and 10 12-pounder guns of the foreign trade version, as well as supporting ammunition and various utensils. And in order to be able to carry out weapons demonstrations in front of customers, the Military Police Department also prepared a company for this trip, consisting of selected musketeers and a limited number of naturalized civilian artillerymen. In addition, the Military Police Department also specially dispatched a number of capable personnel to accompany him, including Wang Tom, who is more familiar with the situation in Vietnam's coastal areas.

On 27 September, the "Flying Speed" and four cargo ships loaded with a small cargo departed from the port of Victory and headed for the northern region of Vietnam. Although the cargo ships did not carry a lot of supplies when they set off, these ships would not run empty, and when they reached the coast of Vietnam, they could load some people on board the ships and send them to the port of Heitu for cultivation.

At present, the fleet between the Black Earth Port and Shengli Port is divided into two groups, each batch of four ships, each time there will be a few people who pass through the crowd to escort the ship. And the person in charge of the fleet command this time is Xie Chun, since he was assigned to Heitu Port two months ago, Xie Chun, who used to complain a lot, seems to have matured a lot. Seeing him standing on the deck with a walkie-talkie and calmly commanding the fleet, Tao Donglai said with great satisfaction: "Young people have to accept this kind of exercise!"

Tom Wang, who was beside him, responded with a smile: "Don't think that this guy has become honest, I heard that he is not doing his job now, and he is immersed in the sea, all in order to join the navy in the future." ”

Xie Chun's main job in Heitu Port is "port and shipping management", and now he is not staying in Heitu Port, but following the coal ship to the sea, which is indeed suspected of not doing his job. And Xie Chun is a military enthusiast, many people know about it, and he applied to enter the military police department very early, but in the end he was rejected because he had no experience in the army or the police, but it seems that he has not given up his dream of being a general.

Tao Donglai said disapprerovingly: "It's not a bad thing to want to join the navy! We have relatively few talents in navigation, and it is estimated that most of the future naval captains will be naturalized citizens, and it is also a good thing to have one more of our own people as commanders." Besides, these expatriates are not just limited to their future positions, whoever can do it will be on the job, and the current head of the overseas department may be the county magistrate, mayor, or provincial governor in a few years. ”

The fleet did not stop when it passed near Yazhou, and according to the itinerary, Tao Donglai's inspection would be on the return trip, so the fleet sailed directly from the mouth of the Ningyuan River to the sea, all the way to the Yingge Sea. That night, the fleet docked in Yingge Harbor, and Tao Donglai also seized the time before sunset to land to check the nearby terrain and landform.

"What a good place!" Tao Donglai sighed after returning to the temporary camp, "It would be nice if we had enough manpower to develop this place! ”

"The point is that this place is not safe, and we don't have enough troops to garrison it. Xie Chun, who had just disembarked from the ship, immediately joined the discussion: "I heard that the executive committee plans to abandon this place and set the new salt field in the Iron Furnace Port, so it should also be due to defensive considerations, right?"

"That's right. Tao Donglai nodded and admitted Xie Chun's guess: "This place is too far away from the base camp, and there are too many loopholes from a defensive point of view. ”

"Is there any solution now?" Xie Chun asked.

"Yes, yes, but the effect will be slower. Tom Wang concluded and said: "The Military Police Department intends to start large-scale militia training, and in the future, the people of appropriate age must participate in this training, and after the basic military quality of the people is improved, they can organize a second-level militia according to the prescribed establishment, and then it will not be so risky to develop such a relatively remote location." ”

Xie Chun is also a shrewd person, and after listening to this, his eyes rolled, and he already figured out the joints: "The next step is to turn the militia into regular full-time soldiers, right?"

At present, the militia units under the control of the crossing group are still under the banner of the militia group, and the establishment is also a two-track system; these people are militia members registered with the military police department on the one hand, and commune members registered with the civil affairs department on the other hand, and many of them have signed up to join the militia because of this valuable membership qualification.

This kind of part-time is not like part-time, and full-time is not like full-time, so the military and police department has always been relatively dissatisfied, and the officers do not want to go out to fight with an amateur army in the future. Moreover, these militiamen are paid by the Ministry of Military Police and spend the limited budget of the Ministry of Military and Police Affairs, but they are backed by the establishment of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The most important thing is that if the soldiers are not sure of their military status, then how can they ensure the combat effectiveness of this team?

This time, taking advantage of the proposal to expand the army, the Military Police Department has very obscure this purpose. Most people think that the purpose of the military police department is only to increase the audience for militia training, and they are not aware of the changing effect on the nature of the army. Even if they are members of the executive committee, few people have noticed this secret move of the military police department, and it is possible that they are not aware of the difference between the current militia and the professional army. However, Xie Chun, an amateur military enthusiast, knew what he knew when he heard the song, and immediately sniffed out the smell.

Of course, even if the system is silently changed, the current operation of the militia will not change for a while, but when the military and police department proposes the military budget for the next year at the end of the year, this matter will be brought to the table.

Tao Donglai replied solemnly: "It is imperative to build a regular army, we just need a suitable time. Our journey is a sea of stars, and we can't fight the world with only a group of militia. ”

"I'm afraid that someone will get in the way when the time comes!" Xie Chun said with a worried face. Although he is a civilian employee, his ass is completely sitting on the side of the Military Police Department, and Xie Chun's resentment in Xie Chun's heart is no less than that of the people in the Military Police Department.

"So we have to find a way to make more money militarily. Tao Donglai said confidently: "Interests will make all opponents obediently shut up." ”

"It seems that Tao always has a comprehensive plan?" Xie Chun seemed to hear Tao Donglai's voice.

"Whether it works or not has to be found out after talking to the Vietnamese. Tao Donglai raised his hand and looked at the time and said, "When the time comes, contact the base camp, take out the radio and send a signal!"

After resting** and just after dawn, the fleet set sail for the Gulf of Tonkin and headed directly to the coast of Vietnam. Although this distance is only 1780 nautical miles, the actual voyage is already more than 200 nautical miles, according to the average speed of a cargo ship in 5 to 7 knots, it will take at least 40 hours to complete this voyage without sleep, and considering the slowdown of the night sailing, the actual time required will be about two days. Fortunately, there is a pilot ship in the fleet, although there is no GPS navigation system available on board, but this route is personally formulated by Wang Tom, but it is not afraid to get lost or take the wrong road on the way.

After nearly two days of sailing, the fleet crossed the Gulf of Tonkin and reached the coast of Vietnam. The fleet's first destination was still Thanh Hoa, where the Black Earth Harbor had previously been the main target during the colonization phase, and thousands of war refugees had been taken away. After a month-long rush period, most of the refugees who fled north from the war zone learned that they could leave by boat on the coast near Thanh Hoa, and although the destination of the fleet was not very clear, only that it was somewhere overseas, people under the pressure of the war still flocked to wait for the mysterious fleet to come again.

The port of Hakutu once thought that after that wave of refugees, it would be difficult to organize migrants in the vicinity of Thanh Hoa, but they never thought that that place would become a place of hope for the refugees, and even some people who had fled further north returned to the coast of Thanh Hoa again, hoping to find a glimmer of life from here.

On this morning, when the fleet sailed to the mouth of the Thanh Hoa River, it saw that there were still many people gathered on the shore, and some of them shouted: "It's a god ship, that's right, the white one is a god ship!"

The so-called god ship naturally refers to the "Feisu" catamaran piloted by Wang Tom. When the colonization fleet that went to Heitu Port first loaded immigrants here, the first thing to dock was the "Feisu", which was very eye-catching. Since then, there have been all kinds of strange rumors among the refugees, one of which is that the "Speedy" is recognized as a divine ship sent by God to save them, and the fleet led by the divine ship will naturally go to a paradise that has not been shrouded in war.