Luo Shengdong coughed dryly and said, "Mr. Yan's kindness, the little brother understands it." (.) This is the result of the battle of the soldiers of the militia group, how can the younger brother occupy it at will?"

Luo Shengdong said as he secretly forcibly suppressed the thoughts just now, the combat power of the Haihan people is so ferocious, it is better to be honest. Although the trade of illicit salt is not too profitable now, at least it is safe and safe, and there are no hidden dangers, and the war itself should not be mixed indiscriminately, and the Haihan people are really too big.

Luo Shengdong originally thought that the Haihan people went out this time just to fight pirates, but judging from the situation Yan Chujie said, this was obviously not a skirmish between armed groups, but a real war.

On 21 January, after the Executive Committee announced to the local authorities that a merchant ship had been hijacked and that militia groups had been dispatched to fight the South Vietnamese rebels, the Port Victory area was put under martial control and a curfew was imposed. And the local people, foreign merchants, including Luo Shengdong and others who came to support Haihan, only then did they know that the Haihan militia had actually started a war against a certain force in Annan. Of course, the truth that North Vietnam had invited the Haihan militia from Qiongzhou Island to help in the war would sooner or later reach South Vietnam, but that would be at least a month or two later.

This seemingly crude and direct method of retaliation has not aroused public criticism, but has won strong support from the local people. Of course, the propaganda department played a role in this, but it cannot be ignored that the germ of collectivism has gradually begun to emerge among the naturalized people, and the vast majority of people believe that the militia is marching to safeguard the interests of the collective led by the Haihan Executive Committee, including their own interests. And this battle, which was fought across the sea, was just in the eyes of the people of Victory Harbor and deservedly deserved.

Of course, the outcome of the battle also has a very important impact on public opinion, and if the troops are defeated in the end, it is inevitable that there will be voices of doubt about the Executive Committee, especially the Military Police Department. But now that the militias have won a great victory, not only striking at their opponents but also capturing a great deal, it is impossible for anyone with a brain that has not burned out to jump out at this time to find fault with the decision of the Executive Committee to wage war.

To put it bluntly, the main reason is that the main battlefield of this war is not in Victory Port, except for the curfew during this period, the negative impact of this war on the people can be said to be minimal, so there has been no obvious anti-war situation among the people, at most they are a little worried about the outcome of the war. In addition, the war period was not long, and it took only more than 20 days from the departure of the militia group to the triumphant return, and it did not have a significant impact on the normal social order in the locality. Now that the Executive Committee and the militia have proven their mettle, it is enough for ordinary people to relax and celebrate their victory.

And the dividends that the local people have gained from this war will slowly become apparent for some time. After that, the Executive Committee and the Military Police Department will evaluate the combat merits of the combatants, and issue rewards and pensions, including even the civilians, sailors and other craftsmen who went to the front line to cooperate in the battle. And the wealth distributed to the people in the form of negotiable vouchers is enough to benefit thousands of families, and thousands of naturalized citizens will directly benefit from this war. As for the positive social benefits that these initiatives will bring, it is not something that can be said in a few words.

All the combatants will be given three days of vacation in batches after returning to Hong Kong, but the officers who lead the team will not have such a good fate, and they will have to immediately hold summary meetings at all levels to make a post-war review and evaluation of the military operations. Yan Chujie, Ha Lugong, Wang Tom, Sun Changmi, and others also had to compile a briefing on the operation, and report to the Executive Committee the details of the operation process, as well as the prediction of the future trend of the civil war situation and political situation in Annam.

In addition, the Military Police had to revise the Military Development Outline of 1628, which had been submitted to the Executive Committee, and some of its contents had to be re-planned in the light of the circumstances of the operation. Although the military operation was a great victory, many problems of its own existence were still exposed in the course of the operation, and there were many areas that needed to be improved in training and the formulation of combat plans. In addition, the Military Police Department also wants to take advantage of the momentum gained this time to make a series of plans for military expansion and warfare to further enrich the military forces under the group. In the past, every time the Military Police Department applied for the expansion of the army, there would always be people staring at the military budget, but this time, the Military Police Department relied on its own table to get back a large number of votes, which was enough to build a few more "exploratory-class" warships and form a few militia companies.

After a brief welcoming ceremony, the Executive Committee arranged a large-scale celebration banquet for the expeditionary force, and set up a table inside and outside the No. 1 base, and set up a full 100 tables of flowing water seats. The executive committee members held their wine glasses and toasted the militia soldiers. Alcoholic beverages, which were normally strictly controlled on the market, were now also licensed to the combatants, and of course the drinks served were only low-alcohol drinks, and the Executive Committee did not want to see Victory Harbor in a mess by hundreds of drunks.

The officers announced that all locally recruited logisticians, as well as some of the companies that had been given leave, would be disbanded on the spot at the end of the feast. The company in charge of the rotation will return to the barracks on the east bank of the port and continue to perform the daily combat readiness duties from tomorrow.

Immediately after the executive committee went through the motions, they met with the families of the soldiers who had died in the operation. Although the specific military merit rating has not yet been released so quickly, the means of compensity must be in place to stabilize the hearts of the people.

The standards set by the Military Police Department are relatively high, and the families of the fallen soldiers will receive a pension of 100 yuan in a negotiable coupon, and there will be corresponding military merit medals and awards after the war merit rating is released. In addition, there are also many support measures for family members, such as free tuition and miscellaneous fees for the children of soldiers, immediate family members who are willing to sign up for the army or work in factories can be given priority, if they want to farm and farm, they will also be given 30 to 50 acres of land per household, and land rent and grain will be exempted for three years. Compared with the death pension of twenty or thirty taels of silver for ordinary soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, the treatment of the Haihan militia is already quite high.

As for the injured, depending on the condition of their injuries, they can receive an injury allowance of more than 50 yuan, and those who are unwilling or unable to continue to serve in the military will also be given priority by the military police and civil affairs departments to arrange other jobs and provide basic guarantees for their future lives.

Considering that the people of this era attach great importance to the handling of the deceased's afterlife, the civil affairs department has also prepared corresponding arrangements in advance. Near the barracks on the east bank of the port, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has set aside a 20-acre sloping area as a "martyrs' cemetery" and built a cemetery dedicated to the burial of military and police personnel who died in the crossing group. The bones of the combatants who died in the operation were also brought back with the ship, and a public funeral will be held two days later, when representatives from the Executive Committee, the military and police, civil affairs and other relevant departments will participate. In the future, this cemetery will also be included in the civil affairs department, and will be managed and maintained by a special person, and there will be corresponding sacrifices and commemorative activities every year in the future.

Of course, for some people who are unwilling to bury their relatives' ashes in the cemetery, but insist on burying them in their ancestral graves, the civil affairs department will also cooperate with the family's choice for burial. But the cemetery will still retain its spiritual position, and the treatment it should enjoy will not be less.

For such a bereavement treatment, the families of the war dead are relatively receptive, after all, when a soldier eats food, it is inevitable that there will be a day when he dies on the battlefield, and he can't blame anyone. The fact that the Executive Committee was able to handle the aftermath so thoughtfully and received a lot of pensions was already a very kind approach, and the family members could not find anything to blame.

After the official celebrations, a group of key members of the Military Police Department organized a small celebration that night. And Tao Donglai, as the boss of the part-time military police department, also attended this drinking party as a matter of course.

"Lao Tao, don't you know that the place where we are fighting is really poor mountains and bad waters! There are no other living people within a radius of 100 miles except the army, and if the supply is cut off, it will not last a week!" Yan Chujie held his wine glass and reminisced about the battle experience of the previous few days: "In the future, if we want to intervene in the civil war in Annam, we don't need to fight so hard, just send the fleet to the coastline and find a key place to cut off the grain route." ”

"We can't think of things too simply, after this fight, it is estimated that both the north and the south have discovered the importance of sea supremacy, and the next thing will definitely start shipbuilding. Isn't there a foreign devil in the south who is backing them up? I wonder if the foreign devil will give them some extra help. Tao Donglai was not blindly optimistic, but set his sights on the future.

Naturally, South Vietnam's shipbuilding technology and capabilities were not taken seriously by the crossing public, but as a local power that controlled thousands of miles of territory, South Vietnam's war potential was far greater than that of the current crossing group. With the help of Western forces, it would have been much easier for the South Vietnamese regime to build a few large shipyards than it had been for the port of Victory, and some of the human resources were available, and the port of victory shipyard would not have much advantage in terms of shipbuilding speed alone.

Of course, even if South Vietnam now begins to build a shipyard, it is already far behind the Crossing Group. At least the Shengli Port Shipyard now has 300-ton and 500-ton ships that have begun to be finalized and mass-produced, and it is relatively easy to expand the scale of production on this basis. The Crossing Group had every chance to organize troops to cross the sea again to destroy their semi-finished products before the South Vietnamese fleet was formed.

"It's the biggest regret that I couldn't catch a few foreign devils back this time!" Ha Lugong sighed and said: "As a result, I still haven't figured out which country is supporting South Vietnam." ”

"Not necessarily!" Tom Wang continued, "We have captured so many people, and there are many South Vietnamese officers among them, and there will always be some people in the know. Now that the officers and prisoners have been taken over by Qian Tiandun, it is estimated that there will be news back in a long time. The point is that even if we have specific information now, it will be difficult to close the matter in a short period of time. ”

The South Vietnamese army has now retreated to the south of the Zhanjiang River, and there are not many cities in the area controlled by the South Vietnamese that are really near the sea, and it is certainly not possible to fight with a fleet alone, and it must be supplemented by marines to strike at the opponent. However, there are not many islands in the coastal area south of the Zhengjiang River, and there are not many places where the fleet can be stationed and rest, and if it is not solved quickly, it will be in a dilemma.

"Without a fleet, South Vietnam would not be able to become a climate in any way, and this is something we can conclude at the moment. To suppress the shipbuilding industry in South Vietnam, it may not be enough to rely on Victory Port alone. Tao Donglai muttered: "Last time, the Heitu Port Management Committee mentioned the expansion of the shipyard in the local area, but it seems to have been vetoed?"

"The Shengli Port Shipyard is not full of manpower, how can we support them to expand?" Yan Chujie nodded and affirmed Tao Donglai's memory: "Now there are only one or two hundred shipwrights in the Shengli Port Shipyard, plus some pure labor, to start construction of three ships at the same time, how can you squeeze out people to Heitu Port!"

"It seems that we can only find a way to solve it from the mainland. Tao Donglai shook his head helplessly and said: "Go back and send a telegram to Guangzhou, raise the treatment again, come to a high-salary recruitment, and try to send a group of useful people to Heitu Port as much as possible." ”

"Heitu Port is also trying to figure out a way by itself, I heard Sun Changmi say that they have set up a trade route on the side of Lianzhou Mansion, and it is estimated that they can also dig up some craftsmen. Harukun added.

Tao Donglai nodded, and suddenly changed his words and asked, "By the way, Lao Ha, how is the appearance of the cavalry company this time, I haven't had time to ask you today." ”

Ha Lugong smiled bitterly: "There's nothing to say, the whole process is soy sauce." The place was full of rivers, dense forests, and mountains, and the cavalry did not dare to let them out without being familiar with the terrain. If there is anything to gain, it is to practice how to take the horse on an expedition across the sea to ensure the health of the horse in an unfamiliar environment. ”

"This is also very important!" Tao Donglai said disapprovingly: "With just a dozen horses that can be ridden, can you still expect your cavalry team to launch a charge?" All of our arms have just been established, and they are very inexperienced in both marching and fighting. The results of the battle are secondary, and the key is what our troops and officers have learned from this battle!"

Ha Lu said solemnly: "Mr. Tao, you are reasonable, but I am arrogant. However, I still have to submit it again to the Executive Committee for consideration of the proposal that I had put forward earlier, and to start the construction of cavalry units on a large scale as soon as possible. ”

With the current size of the cavalry, it can only act as a herald and scout when the troops go out on patrol, and it cannot be expected to exert its combat ability at all. And the executive committee, which aspires to the world, wants to conquer the mainland in the future, and everyone is struggling, and there are not a few cavalry units with good mobility and strong combat effectiveness at hand, and they will definitely not be able to play the big map. However, the cavalry has a long training cycle, a large investment, and the speed of eating money is no worse than that of the navy, and there is no large plain area in Sanya that is particularly suitable for grazing horses, so the executive committee has always been not very interested in the cavalry expansion plan of the military police department.

This battle was originally an opportunity to earn a watch, but all branches of the army showed that they were good, only the cavalry team has never had the opportunity to show Xiàn, so it can be said that they will come back as they go, and they are full but have not made an inch, so when Halugong mentioned this matter again, he was not particularly confident.

Sure enough, after Tao Donglai heard this, his attitude was not as eager as before: "Well, this...... You may have to wait. You are also a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Military and Police, and you should be very clear about the development plan of the department, Ruth has to go step by step, things must be done one by one, and we can carry out leapfrog construction in the development of weapons, but we really have to come step by step in the establishment of the army. At present, there are at least two things that are more urgent than the expansion of cavalry. ”

"First, the formation of the Navy, which is already on the line, has to be sent. Before, this plan was delayed again and again, first saying that they would have to wait for the ship, and then they faced the problem of not having enough sailors, and then there was a shortage of ships, and then there were not enough sailors. How many times I tossed it repeatedly, everyone was annoyed by the quarrels. Now that the Discovery has already been in the war once, and we don't have a regular navy yet, it's a bit of a stretch. You can't wait until the warships on the slipway are launched, and then row under the establishment of the shipping department, right?"

The establishment of the navy is bound to occupy a considerable part of the resources of the military police department, and Harugong also knows that the cavalry will definitely not be able to compete with the navy, so he can only nod silently in agreement.

"The second thing is that since the establishment of our military and police department, there are still more than two months and a year left, and now the military and police are still integrated, the combat organs and the public security organs are mixed together, and the division of responsibilities between the militia and the security is not clear, and this is certainly not a long-term solution. At the year-end summary meeting, I also informed everyone that as soon as the matter in Vietnam is over, the Military Police Department will immediately start the matter of splitting up the organization. The Executive Committee's proposal was to separate the functions of the police from the current Military Police Department, and then merge them into the Ministry of Justice, which would be established later, together with the courts and the procuratorate. ”

Speaking of this, Tao Donglai sighed and said: "You also know that the most troublesome and complicated thing in the public procuratorate and law is the procuratorate and court system, and there are indeed many people in our gang who have served as soldiers and policemen, but there is not a single one who has mixed in the procuratorate and the court! There is no other way but to cross the river by feeling the stones." ”

Tom Wang smiled: "Fortunately, we still have an unscrupulous lawyer, Mr. Tao, will your cousin be in charge of the court or the procuratorate at that time?"

Tao Donglai was silent for a long time before he said: "I don't count this matter, the whole group is just such a legal expert, and I still have to listen to the opinions of experts." ”