Chapter 2358

After the fleet left Soya Bay, it bypassed Noshabu Cape on the west side of the bay, chose to pass through the waterway between Rebun Island and Rishiri Island, and sailed to the southwest.

Mount Rishiri on Rishiri Island, which is more than 1,700 meters above sea level, stands in the center of the island. At this time, it is covered with white snow. Looking from dozens of miles away, it looks like a huge iceberg floating on the sea. The scenery

Very magnificent.

According to the route set by Wang Tom, the voyage from Zonggu Bay to the Liaodong coast is about 1,400 to 500 miles. At the current speed of the fleet, it will take at least five or six days to see the land. However, this is not a good thing for sailors who are eager to return home.

It is not a problem at all for them. They all want to return to the base as soon as possible, enjoy the fresh food provided every day, sleep in a warm barracks at night, and no longer have to fight the bad weather on the ship.

But in Wang Tom's plan, the return trip is not just about immersing himself in the journey. There are still many places on the way that he is preparing to conduct field inspections. The first target is Vladivostok.

This place should be under the rule of the Qing Dynasty at present, but it is very remote. There should not be many people settled there at the moment. There is no need to worry about encountering the Qing army there. It happens that this return trip can pass through Vladivostok, and Wang Tom plans to take advantage of this

It’s a rare opportunity to inspect this natural harbor which is said to have quite superior conditions.

Due to some inexplicable complex, Vladivostok has always occupied a unique position in the development plan of the Haihan Defense Ministry. Although the range of activities that the Haihan Army could reach in the past is still quite far away from this place, its location is

It was marked on the map of some top-secret projects early on.

A week later, the Haihan Fleet arrived at Ussuri Bay, and Vladivostok is located at the southern end of the peninsula in the west of the bay. This peninsula is marked on the map as the Amur Peninsula, but in fact this is just a place name given by Tsarist Russia in the original time and space.

At this time, the sphere of influence of Tsarist Russia had not yet reached here, so there is actually no specific place name here. If Wang Tom is willing, he can also name this place "Tom Peninsula".

Separated from the southern end of the peninsula by a narrow strait, there is also a large island with an area of ​​nearly 100 square kilometers, which provides a natural barrier for the entrance channel of Vladivostok Bay. Ships coming here only need to sail into the strait from east to west before they can see

Entrance to the bay from Vladivostok.

This bay called the Golden Horn extends into the peninsula from southwest to northeast and is about fifteen miles long, with a nearly right-angle bend in the middle. The entire bay is less than two miles wide and the water is about ten feet deep. The bay is surrounded by low

Surrounded by low hills and the terrain is very dangerous, it has excellent conditions whether it is used as a haven or a military base.

If the time was right, of course Wang Tom had the intention to occupy this place first, but after arriving, he found that there was a huge problem with his arrangement.

The freezing period in Vladivostok lasts for hundreds of days every winter, and the sea surface in the bay usually does not slowly thaw until mid-to-late March. And it is only February now, and there are no special ships like icebreakers in the fleet. I think

It is obviously difficult to sail into the Golden Horn Bay to survey the harbor terrain.

Wang Tom looked at the huge ice floes floating on the sea on the deck, and could only give up the idea of ​​letting the fleet venture into the harbor. If the ship was frozen in the harbor, it would take more than a month to get out, or the ship's body would not be able to escape.

It was crushed by ice floes and completely scrapped.

But even though he was blocked by ice floes, Wang Tom was unwilling to make a mistake this time, and decided to send a small team to land to reconnoiter the situation in the bay.

This time, Tom Wang did not intend to wait for news on the boat, but led the team ashore in person. Naturally, Shen Xueyi followed closely. He wanted to see what was going on in the harbor where Tom Wang had specially changed his itinerary for inspection.

A different place.

A company of Marines landed with Tom Wang. They rowed a small boat and approached the coast. Finally, they boarded the thick ice about ten feet away from the land and stepped onto the land through the ice floe.

After traveling a few miles north, Wang Tom and his party finally saw the scene inside the bay. The small water surface here was full of large ice floes, and where the water flow was gentler, large areas of water were already frozen. At a glance

Looking over, I didn't see any large ships anchored in the bay as far as I could see.

Wang Tom took out his binoculars and watched for a while, and found that there were some small fishing boats turned upside down on the beach on the other side of the bay. They seemed to be local fishermen. Farther north, the outlines of some houses could be faintly seen, but

The snow on the ground is too thick, almost a foot deep, and it takes a lot of effort to get there.

Wang Tom was not surprised that there were people settling in this place. The Ussuri Bay and Amur Bay on the east and west sides of Vladivostok are both sea areas with very rich aquatic resources, rich in sardines, fin fish, cuttlefish, herring, etc. Even if you are a fisherman here, you will not be very rich.

It’s expensive, but at least you won’t go hungry, and it’s located in a natural haven, so you basically don’t have to worry about bad weather destroying your fishing boat.

However, after observing the surrounding terrain, Wang Tom quickly discovered the shortcomings of this place. Whether near the bay or on the entire peninsula, there was basically no land suitable for agricultural farming.

This situation is also consistent with the satellite map that Wang Tom has studied before. The agricultural area closest to the Golden Horn is about fifty miles to the north. This means that if this area is to be developed and constructed, it will actually have to build two

An area, of which the northern area is specifically responsible for agricultural production, otherwise the local needs of materials will not be self-sufficient.

In view of the remote location of Vladivostok, it is almost impossible for Haihan to invest a large amount of manpower in local construction and development from the beginning. The lack of conditions for agricultural development near the harbor here makes the entire construction plan more difficult.

With so little, we can only rely on supplies shipped from North Korea hundreds of miles away for a long time.

There happened to be people from the North Korean military around him. Wang Tom called Shen Xueyi over and asked him: "If our country builds a colonial port here and needs your country's assistance, what do you think?"

Shen Xueyi said: "This place is covered with ice and snow for several months every year. It is not a livable place. Moreover, I have never heard of any special products here before, and there are no large towns around it. Why did the general choose this place to build a colonial port?"

?”

Shen Xueyi's rhetorical question made Wang Tom slightly stunned. Of course, he couldn't directly say that he planned to set up a military base here. If the natural conditions here were measured by the requirements of a colonial port, it was indeed not an ideal environment.

Shen Xueyi continued: "If your country needs our assistance, it will naturally provide all-out help. However, apart from having a good harbor, this place has no other advantages. I don't think this place is the first choice."

However, Wang Tom has been deeply influenced by other high-level figures in Haihan over the years, and his obsession with Vladivostok is not easy to let go. He still said with unsatisfied thoughts: "However, harbors with such superior conditions are indeed rare in this area."

Shen Xueyi shook his head and said: "General Wang, that's not necessarily the case. A few hundred miles to the south is the border of our country. There are also harbors like this. As far as I know, there is a bay in North Hamgyong Province, and it does not freeze in winter.

There is still a little land available for farming near the harbor."

Tom Wang suddenly felt his eyes light up and asked quickly: "Then is this place you mentioned a ready-made port?"

Shen Xueyi said: "That place is too far from the nearby towns and does not have much population. It only has a fishing port. If your country is interested, it can be leased to your country for use as a trading port."

"Let's go, let's go and see this place you mentioned!" Wang Tom doesn't want to stay in Vladivostok for another minute. If there is such a good place as described by Shen Xueyi a few hundred miles south, then

There is indeed no need to invest huge resources in development in a place like Vladivostok.

Shen Xueyi is really not bragging. He does know such a place. It is still deserted anyway. It is better to introduce it to the Haihan people. If the Haihan people like the place, they will lease it to them for development, which will also promote the development of the surrounding area.

.

The effects of similar cooperation methods have been initially verified in the Datong River Basin. Many local cooperative industries have solved the livelihood problems of tens of thousands of North Korean people, and will bring considerable benefits to the North Korean treasury every year in the future. Like this

For cooperation projects, North Korea only needs to provide people and land to obtain long-term benefits. At present, it seems that there is no other way to effectively solve North Korea's difficult financial situation like this.

However, Shen Xueyi knew the difference between a trading port and a colonial port, so he was very cautious in his words. He only said that this place could be used by Haihan to build a trading port, but deliberately did not mention anything related to "colonization".

Tom Wang doesn't care about these little calculations of the other party. What he thinks about is far more important than these trivial things.

If Haihan wants to effectively control the Sea of ​​Japan area between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago in the future, and at the same time radiate to Liaodong, Sakhalin and other places in the north, it will be difficult for the existing Datong River base to meet the requirements. After all, from the Datong River

Departing from the base and entering the Sea of ​​Japan requires bypassing the entire Korean Peninsula, which is not ideal from a geographical point of view.

Wang Tom had already made a comprehensive inspection of the northwest coastline of the Japanese archipelago in the first half of the trip, but did not find a place he liked. Hakodate in Hokkaido was originally a place with good conditions, but it was too far away from Haihan's existing control area.

The nearest Dinghai Port is four thousand miles away in a straight line, and there is not much local population. To travel so far away to build a colonial port all at once, Wang Tom is also worried that the logistics cannot be effectively guaranteed.

Therefore, on the return trip, Wang Tom chose Vladivostok as the inspection target. The geographical location and harbor conditions here are more in line with Wang Tom's strategic vision. However, the environment is not perfect enough, and too many resources need to be invested in the early development and construction, which may not be enough.

It's a good deal.

If what Shen Xueyi said is true, then the fact that the port is not frozen is worth a special trip by the fleet.

The group returned to the ship, and the fleet sailed out from the west side of the strait, then turned south and headed toward the Korean Peninsula along the coastline. Only a day and a half later, the fleet arrived at the place mentioned by Shen Xueyi.

This is a bay facing south. On the east side is a peninsula about fifteen or six miles long, and on the west side is the mainland. The bay is narrow in the north and wide in the south. It is about ten miles wide at the entrance. It is arranged vertically into two large and one small ones.

The island is divided into two channels: east and west.

At the end of the bay, there is a sea-facing valley plain, covering an area of ​​about 20 square kilometers, and is surrounded by mountains. In terms of the usable area of ​​the harbor, it is obviously much larger than Vladivostok, and the valley plain has

With natural water conservancy conditions, agricultural development should be easier.

"This place is called Najin, which is under the jurisdiction of North Hamgyong Province. I actually don't know much about the situation here. I will ask the local officials after I get ashore." Shin Xueyi's introduction was very brief, because he was also very honest.

I'm not very familiar with this place. The only reason I know about it is that I passed here on official business in the early years and took shelter here temporarily from the wind and waves, so I have an impression of the environment here.

Wang Tom's views on this place have been reflected in the orders he issued. Several ships began to spread out in and out of the bay. Their mission was to collect hydrological data here, measure the size of the bay, and draw more detailed maps.

.

Wang Tom had prepared detailed satellite maps in advance for several key inspection targets during this trip, but Luojin was obviously out of the plan, so there was no detailed map of this place for reference, so he could only carry out

On-site surveying and mapping.

Rajin Bay is located more than 300 miles southwest of Vladivostok. The difference in latitude is actually not big. It is a little higher than Hakodate on the opposite side of the Sea of ​​Japan, but only a small amount of floating ice is seen on the sea surface in the bay.

, and the offshore area is not as frozen as Vladivostok. Obviously what Shen Xueyi said is completely true, and this is indeed a rare ice-free port.

Whether it is hydrological conditions or surrounding environment, this place is obviously much better than Vladivostok, which is 300 miles away. But Wang Tom has never heard of this place, which also gave him a brief doubt about the capabilities of the Ministry of National Defense's Military Intelligence Bureau.

I wonder how I could have missed such a good place.

In fact, this is not entirely a question of the capabilities of the Military Intelligence Agency, but the selection criteria of the Ministry of National Defense for natural ports are mostly based on famous ports in the time and space before the time travel. However, the place of Rajin Bay only began to expand a few years before the time travel.

It was developed and constructed on a large scale, so when they crossed, it was not a well-known port, so it was ignored by the Ministry of Defense.

Wang Tom couldn't wait to lead the team ashore. This time Shen Xueyi had the rare opportunity of taking the Haihan people as the host to visit nearby fishing villages.
Chapter completed!