Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 144: Comprehensive Reorganization of the Chu Army
Zheng Guohui moved into the Zamboanga headquarters, a newly built Chinese-style house with a typical front-yard and back-yard layout. The front-yard yamen was used to handle official business, while the backyard was the inner residence.

There is also such a headquarters of the Marshal in Davao City. In the future, all prefecture-level administrative centers, such as those in Zamboanga and Davao, will have corresponding headquarters of the Marshal.

At the county level, a headquarters was built, which was one level lower in terms of architectural regulations and level, and was only used for short rest and accommodation during inspections.

If one day

When the Marshal ascends the throne, these Marshal's headquarters will be transformed into palaces, with some buildings and facilities added.

The courtyard inside the headquarters is deep and the vegetation is lush.

Zheng Guohui returned in the evening and had dinner. He then met with Mu Qing, Wang Jianping and Hou Yucun in turn, talked with them in detail, and then served tea to see them off.

After the few people left, Zheng Guohui returned to the study, stood in front of the half-person-high map hanging on the wall, frowned and thought deeply.

This map is an enlarged version of a Western map of equal scale. The islands are depicted in great detail and are very close to later maps.

There are just slight differences in the details.

In the southern part of Mindanao, which is now occupied by the Chu army, with the influx of a large number of Chinese immigrants, cities, towns and villages have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and productivity has grown rapidly.

As of the end of May
The immigrant population in Mindanao reached 23.3, establishing 18.54 Chinese immigrant families. The total population, including spouses of indigenous women, exceeded 42 (note, excluding 7.6 indigenous convicts).

This has exceeded the original total size of the indigenous population of more than 400,000, so on the basis of restoring the original arable land, large-scale land reclamation is being carried out to achieve the goal of "those who till the land own the land".

Zamboanga Province is now one province and two counties. In addition to the provincial capital Zamboanga City, along the Zamboanga Peninsula to the north are the newly established Ipil County and Pagadian County.

Davao Province now consists of one prefecture and four counties. In addition to the provincial capital Davao City, four new counties, namely Minan County, Jinsha County, Iligan County, and Lingshui County, have been established along the plain area around the bay.

According to the immigration resettlement plan, Chinese immigrant populations were resettled in various counties.

some of

Pagadian County, Miannan County, Jinsha County, and Lingshui County were all established earlier last year. The population of local Chinese immigrant villages and towns is relatively stable, they have been fully settled, and food production is growing rapidly.

The above four counties continuously contributed grain taxes and income taxes, which strongly supported the pioneering development of the newly established immigrant counties and formed a virtuous circle.

Yipil County and Iligan County were established later, and the plains where they are located are primitive hilly wastelands that require large-scale burning and reclamation. They are the main resettlement areas for new immigrants in recent times.

Whether it is reclaiming wasteland or building ditches, roads, bridges and other infrastructure, or establishing villages and towns, a large amount of money and grain is required.

At least in the next two years, a large amount of financial subsidies will be needed to enable it to gradually develop and break away from the continuous supply of financial resources.

In the early four counties, headed by Pagadian and Lingshui, the importance of the taxes and grain paid every quarter became prominent, providing strong support for the continued reclamation and colonization.

In the entire southern circum-bay plain area of ​​Mindanao, with the influx of Chinese immigrants, there is no abandoned land anymore, and all land has been utilized.

The next step in increasing grain production will mainly rely on the reclaimed land under the jurisdiction of Ipil County and Iligan County.

According to the land reclamation plan, the two counties will add approximately 35 mu of land before the end of this year, mainly relying on burning and reclamation.

In 1867, the two counties mentioned above will continue to reclaim and open up no less than 45 acres of farmland, bringing the farmland in the two counties to more than 100 million acres (note, including some of the original reclaimed land), becoming new granaries.

After the successful Northern Expedition against the Franks, the newly established county also had to contribute grain taxes to support the large-scale and organized settlement of Chinese immigrants in the Luzon Islands and Cebu Islands to help them overcome the difficult initial times.

This is also the significance of large-scale land reclamation, to produce more food and support the northward expedition.

In Pagadian County, Miannan County, Jinsha County, and Lingshui County, where Chinese immigrants were settled earlier, the land resources have not been exhausted, but rather have great potential for development.

In the above four counties, the farmland that has been reclaimed and utilized currently only accounts for 17% of the total area under their jurisdiction.

There are still a large number of barren mountain slopes, riverbanks and continuous forests that have not been effectively utilized. These areas are also the focus of future plantation development.

Zheng Guohui proposed the slogan for agricultural production: "Plant fields where fields are suitable, plant forests where forests are suitable, and plant mountains where mountains are suitable. Develop specialty crops, not just grains."

Mindanao is a region rich in tropical forest and fruit resources, with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. It is extremely suitable for the production of agricultural and sideline products such as spices, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, sugar, rapeseed, rice, natural rubber, coconut flesh, etc., and the output is quite gratifying.

Not limited to any agricultural product?

Develop whatever is suitable for development.

Taking rice fields as an example, the yield per mu of rice fields cultivated by Chinese immigrants today is around 240 to 280 jin, and the average grain tax per mu is 1.5 dan.

This doubles the yield compared to the local indigenous people's extensive management of relying on the weather to harvest, demonstrating the farming talent of Chinese immigrants.

Each load weighs 100 jin, and 1.5 loads weighs 150 jin, which is an astonishing number.

The key point is that this place has three crops a year, and grain tax can be levied three times on one acre of land. This is really amazing.

The average household has 10 mu of land, and each farmer pays about 45 dan of grain tax a year, and still has more than 2300 dan of rice left for themselves, which is more than 2600 to kilograms.

Nowadays, a tenant usually consists of a man and a woman. There is so much food that they cannot eat it all, even if the woman is pregnant.

Therefore, selling more grain and raising more livestock and poultry became a common consensus among tenants, so that they could save more money and pay off the debts in their personal accounts as soon as possible.

At that time, you can get the residential land allocated by the village for free, build a new house of your own, set up animal pens and straw huts, and if you have money, buy an indigenous woman to have children.

The chicken and the egg...

Zheng Guohui raised his gaze and tapped on the Cagayan area in northern Mindanao with his hand. This was one of the key areas to be conquered next.

Another place

It is Port Angeles in the central Palawan Islands. There are more than 10,000 local indigenous people gathered in the coastal plains here. They are still in the backward era of slash-and-burn agriculture and are even more backward than the indigenous people of Mindanao.

Both of these places must be taken as the focus of the next step of Chinese immigration.

Zheng Guohui did not plan to fight in person, but instead sent a regiment of troops from Cagayan and Puerto Angeles to conduct sweeps and suppression along the way.

It is not difficult to take over Port Angel, but the Kajiayan area is a little more troublesome.

Not only was there an indigenous tribe of more than 3 people living in the area, but there was also a small group of Franks who built a wooden camp by the river where Kajiayan flows into the sea. The total number of people was between and .

According to reports, this small Frankish army unit was equipped with 4 to 6 nine-pound field guns and a cavalry squad of more than ten people. The soldiers were generally equipped with flintlock rifles, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

Zheng Guohui withdrew his fingers and took another step back.

His gaze drifted upwards to the Cebu Islands, located in the central Luzon archipelago, a thoughtful expression on his face. Cebu was the first place the French had landed, with a colonial history spanning over 350 years. The local towns and villages had a long history of development and were renowned for their abundant production of coffee, tobacco, jute, and coconut, the primary commodities the French had shipped to Europe.

Davao City is 252 nautical miles away from Cebu by sea. If a sailing fleet is used, it can be reached in more than 30 hours, so the distance is not far.

On the main island of Cebu

The Frankish defense force was not strong. The most important ones were two small defensive fortresses, with a garrison of about 500 troops belonging to 7 companies.

The most troublesome thing is that there are thousands of descendants of white colonists in the area who are ready to pick up their guns and join the battle at any time when foreign enemies attack. This important factor must be taken into consideration.

If Cebu Island is attacked, it will be like alerting the enemy, which will inevitably make the Frankish Governor's Office in Manila vigilant, and invisibly increase the difficulty of conquering Manila.

Zheng Guohui has not yet made up his mind as to which should come first.

He led an army of 7500 to Southeast Asia, with the main force led by Zheng Shun and He Ruolin. They were reorganized and trained in Zamboanga and Davao respectively to adapt to the local environment, which took about 2 to 3 months.

Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. It is not possible to mobilize troops to the north now.

The original total number of troops stationed on Minangkao Island was more than 6700, and with the addition of these 7500 troops, the total number was 1.42.

According to the organization of the Chu army, Zheng Guohui personally issued military orders, and the Chu army was reorganized into divisions, regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, and squads.

They were organized into the First Expeditionary Division, which had four regiments under its command, namely "A, B, E, and Xin", with a total of more than 4800 people. The commander of the First Division was Qian Jiang, and the deputy commanders were Huang Shan and Zhou Laonian.

The newly formed Second Expeditionary Division was established, which was composed of four regiments, namely "Bing, Ji, Geng, and Ren", with a total of more than 4800 people. The commander of the Second Division was Zheng Shun, and the deputy commanders were He Rulin and Pan Tianshou.

The Third Division was newly formed, consisting of three regiments, the Zi, Yin, and Chen, totaling over 3600 men. The division was commanded by his eleventh uncle, Zheng Shouzhong, who also served as the prefect of Davao.

The Third Division is a garrison force and does not participate in the conquest of the north. Its current main task is to guard Zamboanga City and Davao City to prevent the Franks from stealing their homes.

The First Expeditionary Division and the Second Expeditionary Division were mobile forces and the main force in the northern expedition.

The Chu army was newly organized, with a personal guard regiment of more than a thousand people directly under the commander-in-chief. The commander of the personal guard was Zheng Fu, and the deputy commanders were Zheng Gui and Zheng Shan. The four personal guard battalion commanders were Huo Chongshan, Fang Shiwei, Dong Jiasheng, and Zheng Jiayu.

The entire army is now undergoing training, while adapting to the tropical climate, nourishing the soldiers' bodies, and eliminating the various discomforts caused by the long voyage.

Besides
There is another important reason, that is, the naval fleet is being organized. It is the main force of the Northern Expedition to Manila and of course it cannot be absent from this battle.

The naval fleet under preparation is headed by Huo Haisheng, the former captain of the "Guangming" sailing ship, and Nie Tongsheng, the former leader of the "Geng" fleet, as his deputy. They are now receiving sailing warships and equipping them with artillery personnel in Davao Province.

Subsequently, they will have to wait for the arrival of four American ironclad warships, and deploy maritime formations, artillery bombardment and coordinated training under the command of retired US military instructors, which will take a lot of time.

Cross-sea landing operations are a complex and tedious comprehensive matter. Every detail in the preparation is daunting and requires sufficient preparation.

The planned naval sailing fleet will consist of four thousand-ton three-masted sailing ships plus the "Light" sailing ship, equipped with American large-caliber naval guns, a total of five main sailing warships.

There were also 6 four to five hundred ton brigs, plus 4 "Zhen"-class warships, a total of 10 sailing ships, forming a naval fast column.

The total number of experienced gunners and sailors required is about 2600, and there is still a gap of more than 1750.

If the four American ironclad warships arrive safely, they will become the core strike force of the naval fleet. An additional 1,000 crew members will be needed to operate them, and the gap will reach more than 2,700 people.

This is equivalent to Zheng Guohui taking out half of the sailing fleet he purchased. You can imagine how bold he is.

剩下的5艘千吨级三桅风帆大船，还有13艘500~800吨双桅大帆船，4艘4~500吨级双桅风帆快船，将会投入到崇明岛至棉兰老岛的移民航线中去。

With the addition of these 22 large sailing ships, at least more than a hundred large Fu ships will be replaced in parallel, and their cargo and passenger carrying capacity will be further improved.

Most of the replaced Fujian fleet will be deployed to the Shenzhou river routes, further expanding the strength of the Zheng fleet and expanding the Chongming Island to Tianjin route.

A small number of them served as a supplement to the sailing fleet's capacity, focusing only on carrying cargo and no longer transporting Chinese immigrants.

Zheng Guohui's mind was full of thoughts. He walked back to the desk, picked up the cold tea on the table, took a sip, and sat down again.

At this moment

Huo Chongshan, the captain of the imperial guards on duty, came in with a tea tray containing freshly brewed hot tea and two pastries. He placed them on the table one by one and took back the teacup that had been used.

Glancing at Zheng Guohui, he couldn't help but persuade him, "Marshal, it's late, I beg you to rest. My wife told me before I left that I must remind you to rest on time and not stay up late."

"Yeah... got it, leave now."

Huo Chongshan mustered up his courage and seemed ready to persuade him again, but when he saw the Marshal's gaze sweeping over him, he immediately shrank back in fear. He swallowed the words that were about to come out of his throat and went down without saying a word.

Zheng Guohui tapped lightly on the table with his slender fingers, thinking about the future of the Cao brothers and the Six Gentlemen.

After a deep conversation with them

Zheng Guohui plans to assign them to positions in the county. These officials have strong abilities in identifying and solving problems and are suitable for training at the grassroots level.

After two or three years, those who perform well can be promoted to work in the state government or assigned to government departments, and they are capable of taking on important responsibilities.

There are exactly 6 counties, plus Cagayan and Port Angeles on Palawan Island. Sending one person to each place will be extremely beneficial to local construction.

The last two places have not been taken over yet, but they will be developed as prefectural seats in the future, and the level of the seats will be higher.

One Angel Province is enough for Palawan Island. If the immigrant population increases in the future, a county can be established.

There are three provinces in Mindanao: Cagayan in the north, Zamboanga and Davao in the south. This administrative setup is sufficient.

Future priorities

It should also be placed in the two northern islands of Luzon and Cebu, and the investment in Mindanao has come to an end.

According to Spanish demographics

By the end of 1865, the indigenous population of the entire Luzon Islands was approximately 340 million, of which the indigenous population of Mindanao was just over 40.

The largest population is concentrated in the Luzon Islands around Manila, with a population of approximately 220 to 230 million, which will only increase, not decrease.

The indigenous population living on the Cebu Islands is estimated to be between 75 and 80. This figure should be reliable and not too far off.

The question now is whether to take the Luzon Islands first or the Cebu Islands first?

(End of this chapter)