Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 523 "Supply Chain" (Part 3)
If the coastal strongholds such as Jingyuan Fort, Nanping Fort, Tongyuan Fort (now Long Beach Port), and Xiling Fort (now Monterey City) located at the front connected the long and stable supply line of the New Continent Republic in its war against the West, then Yuzhou City (now San Francisco) was the "pulse point" of this supply line, becoming the most indispensable logistical hub in this war.

Within Yongning Bay, masts stand like a forest, their sails obscuring the sun.

The once tranquil bay is now filled with countless boats.

All kinds of ships crowded the berths, from large ocean-going transport ships to small coastal barges, densely packed together beside the expanded pier, gently bobbing with the waves.

The majestic "Breaking Waves," the national treasure of Xinhua, is moored beside the newly expanded pier, seemingly silently proclaiming the maritime power of the Republic of Xinzhou.

The two transport ships, "Jieyun-9" and "Jieyun-10," which came from the mainland, had just unloaded their full holds of wheat and corn when the empty cargo holds were immediately requisitioned by officials from the Immigration and Colonization Department to load a new batch of young and strong immigrants and send them to the southern colonization sites.

Not far away, the "Qiyun-3" ship, belonging to the American Trading Company, was carefully approaching the shore. It was in a very deep draft and was obviously fully loaded with important supplies that had been transferred from Nanping.

The coastline of the bay has been completely transformed.

The former wasteland and shrubs have been replaced by newly built warehouses, resembling a gray forest that has sprung up abruptly.

People thronged in front of each warehouse, with laborers pushing wheelbarrows and chanting low work songs as they methodically carried bags of grain and boxes of military equipment in and out.

The air was filled with the salty smell of the sea breeze, the aroma of dry grains, the scent of pickled salmon, and the fresh scent of wood.

"Quick! Double-check the pickled salmon in Warehouse No. 3! It must be loaded onto the ship and sent to Nanpingbao by eight o'clock tomorrow!" Mu Tianyou, the person in charge of material allocation, was hoarse and shouting into the warehouse with the allocation list in his hand, not even bothering to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Where are the people from the Immigration Department? They said they'd send a hundred people to the shipyard to help today! Where's the person in charge?!" A man who looked like an officer stood on a pile of cables, anxiously looking around, appearing quite impatient.

Most of the newly recruited immigrants were still wearing coarse cloth clothes distributed from their homeland, and their faces showed bewilderment and exhaustion at arriving in a strange land.

They were assigned to various positions by officials at all levels like chess pieces: the strong went to the docks to load and unload goods, those with some skills were stuffed into ship repair shops or various workshops, and those with basic literacy were assigned to assist with clerical work and handle the snowflakes of transfer documents.

On the eastern side of the pier, a simple yet fully functional ship repair shop has already been put into operation.

The sounds of sawing wood, hammering, and sawing never ceased, day and night.

On the newly laid slipway, a transport ship belonging to the Southern Maritime Transport Company was being slowly towed into the repair dock by thick ropes. Below its waterline was a shocking breach, clearly indicating that it had experienced a terrible maritime disaster and then managed to return to Yuzhou Port.

Craftsmen drawn from Qiming Shipyard and Xuanhan Shipyard are gathered around it, assessing the specific damage and discussing repair plans.

Ge Zhenhai, the former senior craftsman at Qiming Shipyard and head of the ship repair shop, was roaring at several trembling young apprentices: "The reinforcing ribs must be made of calcined white oak! How many times have I told you! Wet wood will warp as soon as it gets wet! Do you want our ship to fall apart in the wind and waves?"

On the south side of Yuzhou City, a large, long building has just been completed, with a sign hanging above the door that reads "Yuzhou Hospital".

This hospital, which can accommodate 250 beds, was expanded from the original Yuzhou Health Center and was completed and put into use in the shortest possible time.

Although the hospital has not yet undergone detailed renovations and appears somewhat rudimentary, its various functional areas are already complete, including a treatment area, a ward for seriously injured patients, a convalescent area for minor injuries, and an isolation area for infectious diseases that has been repeatedly sprayed with lime.

At this moment, dozens of crew members and officers who were brought here due to various illnesses or acclimatization problems are receiving treatment.

The air was thick with the smell of herbs and alcohol, occasionally punctuated by the suppressed groans of patients.

Several medical officers and nurses in white gowns hurried by, their faces showing lingering weariness.

This small settlement, which originally had only about 700 residents, seemed to be forcibly injected with excessive vitality under the impetus of the war. In a very short time, more than 4,000 people poured in, including staff and logistics officers from the military, coordinating officials from various government departments, a large number of conscripted artisans and technicians, and newly arrived immigrants.

For a time, Yuzhou City was plunged into a distorted and suffocating "prosperity".

The town's area has more than doubled in size, with brick, stone, or wooden buildings constantly springing up outside the village walls.

The city's government offices were also packed with staff from various departments. Each room was crammed with four or five desks, and clerks were huddled together shoulder to shoulder, engrossed in processing mountains of official documents, lists, and dispatch orders.

Throughout the day, the sounds of arguing, abacus clicking, and charcoal drawing on paper never ceased.

"Where's the transport capacity allocation order issued by the Ministry of Transport? Without this, my ship can't load the goods from your supply department!" A dark-skinned captain blocked the entrance to the supply department and shouted.

"The gunpowder urgently needed at the front is still at Pier No. 3! Why are the people your Immigration Department dispatched prioritizing moving grain?!" An army logistics lieutenant was practically roaring.

"The latest order from the Joint Chiefs of Staff! All ships heading to Jingyuan Fort must give priority to the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Mixed Battalion and their equipment!" A messenger rushed into the noisy office and loudly read out the latest order, instantly causing a new uproar and debate.

Amidst the chaos and clamor, an unusually oppressive silence prevailed in the office of Zheng Yuexin, Commissioner of the Yongning Bay Colonization Area and Deputy Director of the Wartime Logistics Coordination Committee.

He stood by the window, gazing at the bustling docks and the hustle and bustle of the city in the distance, his brow furrowed. The last rays of the setting sun shone through the windowpane, casting dappled light and shadow on his weary face.

On the table behind him, documents were piled up like a mountain, the top one being a newly received report from Nanpingbao, requesting the transfer of another two to three hundred able-bodied immigrants to cope with the increasingly heavy workload of material turnover and storage.

"Commissioner!" His political assistant, Liu Yonggui, walked in with a list in his hand, his tone showing a hint of fatigue but forcing himself to be energetic. "This is the estimated summer grain production table for the Yongning Bay reclamation area this year. According to the summary data reported by various settlements, our special area can harvest about 13,000 to 15,000 tons of wheat this year."

“This yield is a bit low!” Zheng Yuexin shook his head and sighed softly. “If I remember correctly, the wheat planting area in our Yongning Bay colonization area this year is 230,000 mu, right? The yield per mu is less than 130 jin, which is not even as good as ordinary fields in northern Ming Dynasty.”

“Commissioner, most of these 200,000 mu of land are semi-cultivated land that has been cultivated for less than three years. The soil fertility has not been fully developed, so it is inevitable that the yield will be low,” Liu Yonggui said. “However, after these wheat fields are harvested, if the various settlements act quickly, they can plant a crop of potatoes, and by the end of autumn they can also harvest a lot of grain.”

“Yes, that makes sense.” Zheng Yuexin rubbed his throbbing temples and instructed, “Then issue a mobilization order in the name of the colony government to all the settlements, requiring all the villagers within its jurisdiction to work hard for 100 days to achieve a bumper harvest.”

"For those farmers who have been allocated land, we must actively promote the government's grain procurement policy for this year to ensure the smooth progress of summer grain storage. Oh, by the way, this year's grain purchase price will be appropriately increased by 0.2 fen per kilogram compared to last year, so as to maximize the incentive for farmers to sell their grain."

"Commissioner, if the grain purchase price is raised by two cents, then this year's special district budget will be exceeded?" Liu Yonggui cautiously reminded him.

“It’s alright.” Zheng Yuexin smiled. “We’ll ask the central government for the extra budget funds. Think about it, for every extra ton of grain our Yongning Bay colonization area contributes, headquarters can transport one less ton of grain, freeing up space to carry more other military supplies. This is the most economical measure for Xinhua as a whole.”

"Commissioner's insight is excellent." Liu Yonggui hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but say, "However... if our Yongning Bay settlement had sufficient grain reserves, we could have used this to request more immigration quotas from the central government..."

If all the food is given away, where will there be any left to feed the new immigrants?

If there are fewer new immigrants, won't the development speed of my Yongning Bay settlement slow down immediately?

Look at the Ziwu River Colonization Zone. Because it has the fertile Qiongjiang River Valley (now the Willamette River Valley), its grain production has increased dramatically year after year, which has led the central government to always give it priority when allocating immigration quotas.

By last year, the population of the special zone had exceeded 60,000, and it had established more than ten counties.

What about the Yongning Bay Colonization Zone?
It has a population of just over 17,000 and only three counties.

This was the "achievement" made because the central government before the war wanted to strengthen the region's logistical supply capacity, and thus carried out large-scale immigration to the area for two consecutive years.

With a smaller population, not only will there be less impetus for economic development, but there will also be fewer official positions available.

For some colony officials who wanted to advance, this meant missing out on many valuable opportunities and time.

“We are currently in a state of war, and the Yongning Bay settlement area is an important transit center for supplies. Asking for more immigrants at this time would only be a burden and increase consumption.” Zheng Yuexin glanced at him, understanding the thoughts of these young officials. “You must remember that the development of Xinhua is a game of chess. Do not delay the overall development speed for the sake of the interests of one corner.”

"The war with the Spanish has only just begun, and our core headquarters is thousands of kilometers away from the battlefield. The transportation of supplies and personnel is already extremely difficult. If we have to divert precious transportation capacity from headquarters to support the large number of new immigrants in our Yongning Bay colony, wouldn't that just cause trouble for the central government?"

"I was short-sighted, I am ashamed." Liu Yonggui bowed and apologized, but there was still a trace of resentment on his face.

“Yonggui, Xinhua is developing rapidly, its territory is expanding, and its population is increasing significantly every year. There are plenty of opportunities for you young people in the future. You don’t need to focus on the gains and losses of this one city or place, or whether you should move sooner or later.”

Zheng Yuexin turned around and said earnestly, "As long as you humble yourself, work diligently, and make real achievements in this crucial position, why worry about not having a chance for promotion? The central government can see true merit."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yonggui's slight impatience faded, and he nodded solemnly: "The Commissioner's teachings are correct. I understand and will certainly do my duty and live up to your expectations."

“Hmm.” Zheng Yuexin walked to the table, his fingers briefly flipping through the pile of documents before pulling one out. “There’s one more thing. How’s the progress on the indigenous auxiliary armed forces being trained in Yongning Bay? By the end of June, 800 people must be trained, equipped with basic weapons, and handed over to the military for deployment to the front lines in Mexico. This is a strict order, and I have already signed my pledge.”

Liu Yonggui was clearly also concerned about this matter and immediately replied: "Commissioner, we have recruited about 1,200 young men from the various naturalized tribes and are concentrating them in Yongning (now Oakland, California), Zhaoping (now Fremont, California), and Chang'an (now Sacramento) for training. The local militia are in charge of the drills."

“But…” He paused, a troubled look on his face, “these natives don’t speak the language, are undisciplined, and their fighting ability is probably not up to par. If we send them to the Mexican battlefield at the end of June, they probably won’t be able to handle frontal combat missions…”

"Language barrier? Then have the interpreters and the tribal chiefs' sons who have already learned a few words of Chinese follow them day and night, at least they must learn a few common combat commands! Discipline is lacking, then increase the intensity of training, orders must be obeyed without question, and violators will be severely punished!" Zheng Yuexin tapped his fingers on the table, his tone leaving no room for doubt, "Make sure someone tells them that the quality of their military training and their specific performance on the battlefield will directly determine how much material subsidy they will receive!"

"As for combat effectiveness, we don't have high expectations. We don't expect them to conquer cities and territories. We just need them to be able to hold their own against the Spanish militia and their Indian vassal forces. At the very least, they can help our Xinhua Army bear some military pressure on the battlefield or divert some of the Spanish attack forces."

"Tell Shi Sanfa, who is in charge of training, that no matter what methods he uses, at least 800 combat-ready soldiers must board ships and head south to reinforce the Mexican battlefield by the end of June. This matter concerns the situation on the southern front and cannot be lost."

"Yes, Commissioner! I'll send someone to inform Captain Shi right away to ensure it's completed on schedule!" Liu Yonggui straightened his back, accepted the order, and quickly left.

Zheng Yuexin looked out the window again. The hustle and bustle of the dock was still there, but his gaze seemed to have crossed the ocean and landed in the distant north.

I wonder how much this war affected Xinhua headquarters?

(End of this chapter)