Before the Haihan militia took action to annex Xin'an Water Village this time, most of the people present here had actually gotten the news through various channels, and they also had preliminary ideas about their own whereabouts. Although Haihan said "send people to join the water village", people with a discerning eye know that Haihan's move is not to give away weapons and silver to the Daming Sailor for nothing, but to let the Haihan militia stationed on Hong Kong Island put on a legal skin and openly operate in this area in the name of the Daming Sailor.

Under this premise, it can be said that the original personnel of the cleaning water village are expected, especially the officers and veterans at all levels in the water village, and they will become the focus of the new owner's cleaning. These people in Shuizhai also know that they are powerless to resist Haihan's forcible eating, and there will be no boss to make decisions for them - those who can directly manage this matter have basically been gagged by the silver sent by Haihan, and even like a certain general who has just taken office, he simply gave up his position.

As for armed resistance, let alone armed resistance, Liu Xiang's gang of pirates is a lesson from the past. Two years ago, the Haihan militia was able to beat Liu Xiang to the point of running all the way back to Fujian, and two years later, will they still take this small Xin'an Water Village in their eyes? Not to mention that since the Haihan people built Zhennan Port in the south of the island, this Haihan warship will cruise on the sea near Liyumen every now and then, deliberately showing off their strength, and these people in Shuizhai also know how much they weigh, and as long as they are not tired of life, they will not have some unrealistic illusions.

How to get the most out of yourself at this juncture is probably what these people present are most concerned about at the moment. If you don't have any skills, or don't want to work under the Haihan people, the only way out is probably to take severance pay and leave. Of course, Haihan did not do things absolutely on his side, and gave a way out to the Ming soldiers who voluntarily retired from the army, and they could be given priority to enter the Haihan Maritime Department for employment, and the work content was of course sailors and crews. After all, these people are all Shuizhai formation, even if they can't drive a boat, at least they won't get seasick, as long as they take office, they can go to sea with the ship immediately, and they don't even need an adaptation period, which is a good combat force for the shipping department.

Of course, if some of these people voluntarily want to join the Haihan Navy, then the military is also happy to see it, but they must first pass the specially formulated skill assessment and political examination. In fact, the Ming soldiers of Yazhou Shuizhai had a small number of better personnel included in the establishment of the navy, which can be regarded as a precedent for this operation. The difference is that Xin'an Shuizhai has a Luo Shengdong-style character on its side, and it can cooperate with Haihan's side in a more "harmonious" way.

Chen Yixin also didn't want to spend too much time on these two or three hundred people, and after explaining the policy in a few words, he ordered the registration to begin, and those who didn't want to stay could immediately receive severance pay and leave. As for Chen Yixin himself, he also has other things to do.

Although the strength of Xin'an Water Village is weak, the fixed assets here still need to be counted and taken over, especially the surface ships owned by the Water Village, which will be the assets of the military in the future, and even a ship nail is indispensable.

Although Chen Yixin is subordinate to the army, his duty during the period of stationing on Dawanshan Island is to jointly manage the land and sea, and the navy living in Wanshan Port is also under his command, and he is no stranger to the establishment of the armed forces on the water, so this time to take over the task of Xin'an Water Village on Hong Kong Island, most of the elite navy sent to Nanyang did not send anyone else, but Chen Yixin was directly responsible.

Although Xin'an Water Village was previously in a state of leaderlessness, many people were secretly taking out military supplies and reselling them for money, but no one dared to move the few warships in the Water Village - after all, even if this thing was sold out, no one dared to accept it except for the bold Haihan militia, and these warships are probably the most valuable assets in the Water Village at present in addition to these sailors and boatmen.

Although the sailors of Xin'an Shuizhai have been unable to do so in recent years, and have always adopted the strategy of avoiding foreign enemies without fighting, this has also brought an advantage in disguise, that is, the attrition of these warships in Shuizhai is extremely low. There are a few ships that have been in service for seven or eight years, and because they have been out to sea for very little time, they are still relatively new in condition.

An officer of the naval division who had been bribed by the intermediary of Haihantong Guò earlier, took Chen Yixin to count the warships in the water village. Except for the two warships in the Wanli period that have been in disrepair and can no longer be used, and can only be chopped for firewood, the other warships should have no problem in Chen Yixin's opinion, at least normal navigation at sea.

After counting, there are a total of 400 warships, two eagle boats, two Cangshan ships, two Haicang ships, 10 net shuttle boats, and a number of various weapons for long-range and near-range attacks on board. In terms of ship configuration, it is similar to the original situation of Yacheng Water Village, but because the boats here are better maintained, the condition is much better than that of Luo Shengdong's boats. It is worth mentioning that since Luo Shengdong took refuge in Haihan, almost all the original ships under his hands have been replaced, and now all the old ships that are taken over from the Haihan Shipping Department do not know how many hands they have, and some people in the Shipping Department have given Luo Shengdong the nickname of "Pick-up Man".

In terms of the shape of these ships, there is still a big difference between them and the warships used by the Haihan Navy itself, even if they are mixed formations, there will be certain problems, and the firearms equipped on the ships are also relatively primitive in Chen Yixin's opinion, and the combat effectiveness is very low, which is not suitable for the tactics pursued by the Haihan Navy. However, this did not prevent the Navy from receiving these Ming warships and using them as naval training ships.

Due to the gradual progress of the mainland strategy, the army and navy are also carrying out the measures to expand their forces in a step-by-step manner. The Central Military Commission had already drawn up a plan to set up a special military port in Hong Kong after it took over Hong Kong Island, so that it could better control the waters of the Pearl River estuary and the main shipping lanes from Guangdong to Fujian, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. At that time, the sailors recruited from the mainland will be able to receive training as new recruits nearby, and there is no need to transport the recruits from the mainland to Sanya for training, and then send them back to the mainland coastline from Sanya to be stationed after training. Using the ships of the Ming Dynasty to train the soldiers of the Han Dynasty should be able to save the military a lot of military expenditures.

Chen Yixin didn't know how much money the relevant departments spent to take down this water village, but judging from the condition of these warships, at least the money was well spent, and what was bought back was not a bunch of rags, but something that the military could really use.

"First seal up these boats, arrange another platoon, and live on this dock to guard these boats. Chen Yixin gave the order after counting the ships. Although these ships have been taken over now, the militia does not need them for the time being, after all, there are no recruits assigned here for training, and the first thing to deal with at the moment is the personnel problem of Xin'an Water Village.

Of course, the resettlement policy announced by Chen Yixin on behalf of the Haihan military could not satisfy everyone involved, and after he left the venue, some people did try to make a noise. However, almost all of the soldiers under Chen Yixin's command are veterans who have participated in several vicious battles such as the defense of Lijiazhuang, the attack on Dangan Island, and the defense of Wanshan Port. After putting down a few restless guys, the crowd that was about to move quieted down and began to honestly follow the instructions of the Haihan military and choose their own way out.

After two days of statistics, among the nearly 300 personnel belonging to the Daming Water Division in Xin'an Water Village, nearly 50 percent of them chose to stay, and nearly 30 percent chose to go to the Haihan Maritime Department recommended by the Haihan military, and only about 20 percent chose to leave after receiving severance pay. However, as for whether the people who want to stay can get their wish, it depends on whether they can follow the professional assessment test of the Haihan Navy.

In addition to handling the reception of Xin'an Water Village, there are actually a series of projects in the northern part of Hong Kong Island that also require Chen Yixin to participate in command and coordination.

The first is the reconstruction and expansion of Xin'an Water Village, if this place is only to maintain the previous garrison scale, it is barely enough, but this time the Haihan Navy transferred five warships to be stationed here, although they are all "exploration class", but it has made the space in the water village very crowded, and this obviously does not meet the requirements of the Navy for the use of military ports, and the reconstruction and expansion project is imperative.

Another military project that will be started in the near future is the coastal fortifications on both sides of the Liyumun Waterway, which is close at hand. The narrow waterway between the mainland and Hong Kong Island on the other side of Shau Kei Wan is the only way for almost all ships east of the Pearl River Estuary to enter the Pearl River system, and all ships in the Pearl River basin have to pass through Liyu Mun to go to Fujian. Holding on to this vital waterway is almost equivalent to controlling most of the maritime trade between Fuguang and Guangzhou, and it is of considerable practical significance to control this place from a political, economic, or military point of view.

From the early Shengli Port, Iron Furnace Port, and Heitu Port to the recently developed Zhennan Port and Cam Ranh Port, the Haihan military has always regarded the coastal fortifications with the fort as the main defense method of the colony. Although this method has a large investment and a relatively long construction period, it is superior to the strong firepower output, and it is difficult for ordinary armed merchant ships and even warships to compete head-on with the firepower of dense coastal defense batteries. Moreover, after the construction of this kind of turret, it is relatively simple to use and maintain, much smaller than the long-term investment of the navy, and the durability is also very good, just upgrade the gun as the technology tree climbs, and the turret itself can be used for at least several decades.

The conditions of the Liyumen waterway are unique for the construction of shore defense fortifications, the narrowest section of the waterway is about 700 meters, and the distance between the two banks is only about 500 meters, and the terrain on both sides is also the most suitable hill for the establishment of shore defense artillery, the slope is not steep, it is completely possible to use cargo ships to transport building materials and construction personnel from the shore to the slope, and the construction difficulty is much smaller than when the Yulinjiao Fort was built.

The only problem is that the other side of the river is still in the area controlled by Xin'an County, Guangdong, and it is not convenient for Haihan to directly erect the fort in the past, so the first phase of the project can only be implemented on the slope next to Shau Kei Bay for the time being. But within this range, the coastal defense artillery produced by Haihan now can be completely covered by firepower without dead angles anywhere on the shore, so even if the fort is built on the south bank alone, it is enough to cover this waterway.

What's more, there is a naval station next to it, as long as the lookout post at the height gives a warning, the navy's warships can be dispatched in time to block the waterway nearby, so that the opponent cannot rush through this fire-intensive water at all.

After looking at the terrain and soil quality, the on-site surveyors sent from Sanya patted Chen Yixin's chest and gave him a package ticket, as long as the building materials and labor are in place, the fort project with a design plan of 20 guns can be completed within this year, and by the way, the lookout post at the top of the mountain and the supply ramp at the foot of the mountain can be completed together.

As for where will the labor force for construction come from? Chen Yixin is not worried, after taking Hong Kong Island, the speed of Haihan's immigration will also be faster than in previous years.

With the gradual expansion of Haihan's influence in the mainland, the Executive Committee was no longer satisfied with the scale of the Lijiazhuang migrant camp. Although there is still a lot of land near Lijiazhuang that can be expanded on a larger scale, the problem is that the radiation area is relatively limited, and the waterways near Lijiazhuang are relatively narrow, and it is not suitable to build large wharves, which also limits the scale of local shipping. Now transporting two or three thousand people a month, plus dozens of ships, it is not a big problem, if the scale of shipping is further increased in the future, then the role of Lijiazhuang as a population transit station will be limited. In addition, this place has always been under the nose of Guangzhou City, and there are still many scruples in doing things, and the Executive Committee has long been interested in establishing a large-scale transshipment point on the outlying islands in the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

The most suitable location for this purpose is Hong Kong Island, which not only guards the Pearl River estuary, but also radiates to the eastern part of Guangdong, and immigrants from Fujian can also assemble here, select and identify, and then transport them to various places on Hainan Island for resettlement.

Of course, in the first two years, the Executive Committee could only salivate and think about it, after all, at that time, its own strength was still relatively weak, and it was unable to control such a large area as Hong Kong Island, and it was not sure that it would be able to eat the Ming Dynasty and not cause a backlash from the Guangdong government. However, now that Haihan's wings have gradually hardened, it is a natural thing for Haihan to take Hong Kong Island, and the plan to establish a transshipment base for new immigrants on Hong Kong Island has been put back on the agenda.