Chapter 792 Chapter 792 Looking for a new target

Due to the outstanding performance of the special operations battalion in the past few years, the military budget has always enjoyed a special preferential policy. Therefore, the value of the individual equipment of the soldiers belonging to the special operations battalion is nearly half higher than that of the equipment distributed by ordinary troops.

The same is true for the military pay and treatment of soldiers and officers. Even the Navy, which has received major support from the Military Commission in recent years, is not as good as the special operations battalion in terms of per capita salary.

And Qian Tiandun is not worried that this high investment will not get a reasonable return. In fact, in the past few years during the Haihan military's southern and northern campaigns, the special operations battalion acted as the vanguard in almost all key battles, and on the battlefield

His performance has never disappointed the Military Commission and the Executive Committee. And such important tasks will definitely be exclusive to the Special Operations Battalion in the future - the Military Commission deployed him and the Special Operations Battalion to the bridgehead of Penghu.

Obviously there are considerations in this regard. Giving the most difficult tasks to the special operations battalion has become a consensus between the Military Commission and the Executive Committee.

Although the special operations battalion is organized as a "battalion", the actual strength now exceeds the standard of the Haihan Militia, and the size of the personnel continues to expand slowly. One month after recruiting Sun Zhen's new recruits, the Penghu base recruited troops

The Penghu base recruited a new batch of ignorant newcomers non-stop, and continued to recruit new recruits at monthly intervals. When Sun Zhen and others were happily receiving personal equipment and weapons, the last batch of recruits at the Penghu base in 1632 was

Listen to relevant policy propaganda on Baisha Island. Based on the current establishment and recruitment frequency, the special operations battalion is expected to increase its strength by three more companies in the coming year, bringing the total strength of the special operations battalion to more than 1,500 people.

In fact, it is enough to upgrade the organization to "regiment".

Of course, the reasons for the recruitment of the special operations battalion are also very good. At present, the Military Commission has not assigned any additional troops to station in Kaohsiung. Therefore, the special operations battalion must bear the responsibility of guarding Penghu and Kaohsiung at the same time. Although there are no strong foreign enemies in the nearby area, this

This kind of deployment arrangement is undoubtedly an excellent reason for the expansion of the special operations battalion. As long as he can enjoy the preferential treatment of the Executive Committee, Qian Tiandun will certainly work hard to make the number of troops under his command slightly larger.

Little by little.

More than a thousand troops is not the upper limit of the troops commanded by Qian Tiandun. During his tenure as the supreme commander in Annan, the troops he could directly command exceeded 5,000 troops. Of course, not all of these troops belonged to the Haihan Militia. Among them

Part of it is the Congjun Army affiliated to the Annan Army. For a general, the more troops he can command, the better. What's more, what Qian Tiandun wants to pursue is to make contributions in this era and become a famous general who will go down in history.

However, Haihan's expansion speed is obviously slower, and the frequency of war outbreaks cannot satisfy the desire of this group of soldiers headed by Qian Tiandun to perform meritorious service. If it were not restricted by logistical conditions, Qian Tiandun would actually have a strong desire to go north

Let’s take a look at the situation. Whether it’s pirates operating in the East China Sea or Spanish colonists entrenched in Jilong Port in Taipei, they are all good opponents for the special operations battalion - the so-called good means that they can’t beat themselves, but they can’t beat themselves.

Judging from the position, it does pose a certain threat to Haihan, or there is an irreconcilable conflict of interest, and it must be eliminated during the development process.

Qian Tiandun actually had a choice in his mind as to which side to attack first. One was a battlefield with unknown conditions 1,500 miles away from Penghu, and the other was a place with only one-third of the voyage distance of the former, and was more valuable to occupy.

There are many more resources worth developing in northern Taiwan than in Kaohsiung, Tainan. The undeveloped gold mines alone are enough to make the executive committee excited.

According to historical records, the Jinguashi gold mine near Jilong Port was not discovered until the end of the 19th century, which benefited the Japanese who occupied Taiwan at the time. Later, the local area was once known as the "First Gold Capital in East Asia." Qian Tiandun was not

Such a treasure will be left for more than two hundred years. If the military can take the lead in occupying the area in the near future, there will be more sufficient reasons to ask the Executive Committee for military expenses in the future.

Of course, if Haihan wants to directly intervene in local development, he will inevitably conflict with the Spaniards who currently occupy Jilong Port. Compared with the Portuguese and Dutch, who put profits first and can completely abandon their moral integrity for money, the Spaniards who regard themselves as the boss of Europe

It is not an object that can be surrendered by the threat of force alone. Although Spain has begun to decline in this era, the war on the European battlefield is not going smoothly, and it is also facing many rising stars in the colonial world around the world.

competition, but for the ruling royal family, Spain is still the invincible empire that controls the dry land and the dry air in the middle of the world. The Habsburg dynasty, blessed by God, can still fight for at least another five hundred years.

If we look at the Battle of Rocroix in 1643, which marked the end of Spain's hegemony in Europe, it seems that Spain still has ten years to live, and it will take a long time for the French to truly challenge Spain's dominance in Europe.

Authority. But from a global perspective, Britain, France, Portugal, and even the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East have become opponents that can compete with Spain in local areas. Of course, at this time, the Spanish overseas

The biggest opponent is the Dutch, who are currently fighting fiercely with them on the European battlefield.

In terms of population base, Taiwan Island is not an ideal colony. The level of civilization of the indigenous tribes living here is not even comparable to that of some areas in Africa at the same time. However, due to the ideal geographical location of Taiwan Island, discerning people will establish a stronghold here.

It supports the trade routes in Northeast Asia. Therefore, these two families have been fighting for several years around their foothold on the island of Taiwan. However, both sides have a relatively shallow foundation here, and they can invest no more troops.

It's relatively limited, and after playing around with it, there's no real difference.

Although the two families were rivals, when Haihan attacked the Dutch, the Spanish showed no intention to join in and kill the Dutch together. Perhaps in their view, the powerful Spanish Empire did not need to fight with the lowly

The Easterners cooperated, or they were cautious because they could not figure out Haihan's intentions. After all, the history of Haihan's rise was not a secret. As long as the Spaniards were not crazy, they would have regarded this group as their competition in the Far East.

One of the opponents.

As far as Qian Tiandun knew, the Spaniards had built a small castle in Jilong Port and stationed an armed fleet equipped with an unknown number of artillery. The difficulty of attacking the area head-on would probably not be lower than that of Taiyuan Port.

Simply collecting this level of intelligence was not enough for Qian Tiandun to make up his mind to take action against the local area. He had to wait patiently for more detailed information and a better opportunity.

In the early morning one day at the end of December, before dawn, a large ship with black sails sailed silently into Magong Port, Penghu. Except for the dock staff on the shore who were responsible for guiding the ship to the berth, there was no one at all.

People noticed this inconspicuous sailing ship. However, after the ship docked, the crew on the ship did not go down to the shore immediately, but quietly waited for something.

A moment later, a covered carriage came to the pier. The driver showed his badge to the staff on the pier: "Security Department is working, clearing the place, no entry!"

Magong Port is currently under military control, and a curfew is enforced at night. The curfew has not yet ended at such an early hour, and there are actually no people waiting on the dock. However, the Security Department obviously needs to pick up some important people or materials that need to be kept secret from here.

Only then would such a request be made.

After clearing the place, several sailors carried out a heavy sack package from the ship, followed closely by a middle-aged man dressed as a businessman. The coachman on the shore opened the curtain, got on the car with people and goods, and immediately hurried on

The car left the pier.

Qian Tiandun got the news just after he woke up from his sleep. He hurried to the headquarters without even bothering to eat breakfast. The Haihan Security Department office in Penghu is in the yard next to the military headquarters. Qian Tiandun

After entering the headquarters, I walked straight through the courtyard to the Security Department.

"I've seen Chief Qian!" Everyone in the room immediately stood up and saluted when they saw Qian Tiandun.

"Du Rong, what's the situation?" Qian Tiandun nodded, and then asked the person in charge of the local security department.

Du Rong had served on Amborna Island before. Before Haihan took over the island, there were two secret agents from the Ministry of Security lurking on the island. One was Li Dagui, who is still staying there to assist Roger, and the other was Du Rong.

Shortly after Ambuna Island was captured by Haihan, Du Rong was transferred to Fujian to work.

Du Rong's public identity when he was on Ambona Island was that of a barefoot doctor. Although he did not change his name after being transferred from the local area, his occupation changed slightly, from a doctor to a medicinal materials merchant. Except for Qian Tiandun

Except for a few senior personnel, few people in Penghu know that Boss Du is actually an intelligence officer of the Haihan Security Department.

The area Du Rong is in charge of includes not only Penghu itself, but also Taiwan Island and the areas north of it. To a certain extent, he shares the work of the Ministry of Security’s intelligence agency in Fujian. Under his command, there is a team responsible for collecting intelligence on Jilong Port.

Since Haihan captured Nanri Island a year ago and ensured the safety of the northern end of the strait, the field team has regularly set out from Fuzhou to Jilong Port, using medicinal materials and timber as its main trading items, to deal with the Spanish entrenched in the local area.

Over the past year, Du Rong's men have made four or five trips to Jilong Port and have some preliminary understanding of the local situation. However, since outsiders cannot enter the castle built by the Spanish, they can only trade on the seaside.

There was still not much useful information collected about the deployment of local defense forces. After Qian Tiandun inquired twice, he stopped urging the Ministry of Security to take action and focused on the preparations for the previous attack on Penghu.

Later, after Penghu was captured, a lot of matters needed to be handled by Qian Tiandun personally, and then he started to attack the southern part of Taiwan Island. He did not interfere with the intelligence collection work of the Ministry of Security for a long time. Early this morning, Du Rong sent

Someone came to Qian Tiandun's residence to report that there was an emergency, which was a bit beyond Qian Tiandun's expectations.

"Chief Qian, please allow me to introduce you. This is Jin Ming, the secret agent responsible for collecting information about Jilong Port. He just came back from Jilong Port. Let him explain the specific situation." Du Rong introduced the person standing behind him.

The person standing there was the middle-aged businessman who had just disembarked at the pier.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Qian Tiandun nodded slightly to him: "Sit down and speak slowly."

"I'll see you, Chief Qian!" Jin Ming bowed and then took his seat: "I left Fuzhou ten days ago and went to Jilong Port to do business with the Spanish... Spanish. After arriving there, I was waiting for the other party to raise the goods.

, and stayed for a few days. After nightfall the day before yesterday, the goods had been loaded onto the ship, and I was ready to leave the place and return to Fuzhou. Unexpectedly, before I left, I encountered an accident..."

This time Jin Ming went to Jilong Port to buy some high-quality wood from the local area. Because he was waiting for the Spanish to arrange shipment, he stayed there for a few more days. Of course, Jin Ming didn't care about the extra few days of delay. He wished the Spanish

The longer the delay, the better, so that there is a reasonable reason to stay there and slowly investigate the information. After staying for five days, all the goods have been loaded on the ship, and Jin Ming was ready to leave overnight in order not to arouse the other party's suspicion. But just when they were about to solve the problem

When the sail was hoisted and the ship was sailing out of the harbor, a drunk man came to the pier. He walked frantically along the gangplank to the deck and collapsed.

Jin Ming happened to recognize this man as a blacksmith in the castle, who was also responsible for repairing weapons, armors and other equipment part-time. Although he was not a big shot, as an intelligence officer, Jin Ming naturally knew that this man had a lot of value.

information. At that time, it was already dark and there was no trace of people on the dock. This guy climbed onto the boat where Jin Ming was drunk, and no one else noticed it. Jin Ming made a prompt decision and had him put in a sack.

I tied it with a cowhide rope outside, carried it into the cargo hold and hid it, and then immediately left the port. After going to sea, I didn’t even return to Fuzhou and went straight to Penghu. There were security personnel on duty at the pier.

After the ship unexpectedly appeared, they immediately called a carriage according to the operating procedures and picked up the people directly from the shore.

Jin Ming arrived at the office and reported the situation to Du Rongyi. Du Rong also felt that the matter was so big that he couldn't make up his mind and had to report it to the higher authorities for instructions. However, he was already the highest-level official of the Ministry of Security in the local area.

The only way to report the matter was to the base camp, and the matter was so urgent that there was no room for delay, so the base camp could only be notified by telegram. However, the only radio station on the island was in the hands of the military, and in order to send a telegram, you had to get Qian Tiandun.

With the approval, this matter could not be circumvented no matter what. Du Rong did not hesitate too much and decided to report the matter directly to Qian Tiandun and let him make the decision.

"You actually came back alive? That's okay, you guys!" Qian Tiandun couldn't help but have a smile on his face: "Where is he?"
Chapter completed!