Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 203 Midway Island with Excellent Conditions
After four days and three nights of sailing, the "Zhenjiang" expedition task force circled the waters near Wake Island for more than a day. After repeated calculations on the nautical chart, they finally found this small coral reef island.

Wake Island is so small and low-lying, with an average distance of only a few meters from sea level. There are only three coral sandbars protruding from the sea level, forming a clear "匚" shape.

Surrounded in the center is a large lagoon, which is a safe haven for passing sailboats when ocean storms rage, or it can be said to be a life-saving treasure land.

However, when they saw this coral island, the more than 180 militiamen who had originally planned to settle here burst into tears.

It's just that this place is too shabby.

Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong, commander of the "Zhenjiang" expeditionary task force, also had a look of regret on his face. Although these three tiny sandbars are connected, it only takes half an hour to walk around them.

Even Chinese immigrants who are used to living a hard life would be frightened when they see such a harsh environment. Who would be willing to live on this small island for the rest of their lives?

But there is no way. The strict order from the superiors cannot be bargained, and anyone who disobeys the order will surely die.

It took three days to transport more than 180 militiamen and 300 indigenous women who settled on the island ashore, as well as supplies and food piled up like mountains, chickens, ducks and more than 10 pigs scattered everywhere.

These chickens, ducks and more than ten pigs are completely free-range. There is no way they can escape anyway, which saves a lot of effort.

Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong walked around the island and carefully examined this small coral island. Due to the topography, there are more than a dozen freshwater ponds of various sizes on the island, so there is no problem with the supply of fresh water.

The largest pond has a water surface area of ​​more than 700 square meters and is 3 to 4 meters deep. Its main source of water is rainfall from the Pacific Ocean. There are even some freshwater fish living there.

The trees on Wake Island are all crooked and miscellaneous. These trees are of no use. If some of them are cut down, they can barely be used to build shacks. The rest can only be used for burning firewood.

Fortunately, the "Zhenjiang" expedition task force was well prepared and brought with it 200 tents, a large number of wooden boards, wooden planks and straightened logs, as well as burned bricks and stones, enough food for more than five months, and three steam engines.

On the largest Wake Island
A circle of tent camps was set up. More than 180 militiamen were divided into 10 teams and began to build wooden houses using wood. In just a few days, they had built the frames of more than 10 houses.

The tent camp is built on the side of a mountain more than 30 meters high on Wake Island. In the future, residential areas will also be densely built here to withstand most of the power of storms from the deep Pacific Ocean.

As a naval officer, Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong knew well how terrible storms in the Pacific were.

Once a large storm hits, there will be strong winds and heavy rain for more than ten days in a row, which means that Wake Island will have difficulty in feeding itself and can only grow some vegetables at most.

So he suggested
A windbreak wall at least 5 meters high should be built around the residential area, leaving several 3-meter-wide gaps for ventilation when the weather is fine.

Once the storm comes

Logs with sharpened ends were hammered into the ground, connected into rafts to block the wind, and reinforced with diagonal braces.

Fortunately, there are some weathered rocks on the island, and large pieces of rocks can be seen at low tide. They can be mined and used to build walls, so the material problem is not a big deal.

You can pick up a lot of shells along the beach, there are countless of them.

If the windbreak wall is built over a larger area, in addition to living, people can also grow vegetables in front of and behind the house to avoid the invasion of tropical storms.

"Thank you for your valuable advice, sir. We will definitely follow it. I hope that when you pass by here in the future, you can come to the island to take a look. It will be an honor for us." Militia captain Huang Qixiang is a sturdy man in his 30s. He said with gratitude in his eyes.

Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong smiled when he heard this, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and said encouragingly;
"Your Majesty, the King of Chu, I have said many times that man can conquer nature.

Although the natural conditions of Wake Island are poor, due to its important location, there will be many ships coming and going, and you will not feel lonely.

All the necessary supplies can be brought in from now on by passing cargo ships from Honolulu. We have everything you want, and you can exchange them for fresh water and vegetables.

Look at this island. Although it is not large in area, there are many seabirds. If you go into the bushes, you can pick up a bag full of bird eggs in a short time.

There are fish and shrimps in the sea. I have brought you a lot of fishing nets this time. If you fish regularly, you will definitely get something.

All they need is food.

The environment here needs to be built by yourselves. If it is built well, you will live well. If it is built poorly, you will live a miserable life.

This is your home, so you must take good care of it!"

"Thanks for your guidance, sir. We will work hard to build this island and will not let the officials of the court down." Militia captain Huang Qixiang was a cheerful person. After knowing that the situation could not be changed, he just went with the flow.

He first picked out two indigenous women with big breasts and big butts. If nothing else, they could just stay at home and give birth to the babies.

As the two were talking, the originally clear sky became gloomy, dark clouds quickly gathered, and the sea breeze became stronger and stronger.

Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong frowned and looked into the distance. He knew that he would not be able to leave in a short time. This was another tropical storm forming deep in the Pacific Ocean.

Fortunately, after unloading, the cargo ships were all anchored in the lagoon, with their sails folded and anchors dropped, so the impact was much smaller.

The final destination, Midway Island, is still a long way off, nearly 2000 kilometers away, and it will take a week to arrive if everything goes well.

To the east, it is more than 3700 kilometers to the Hawaiian Islands, which is also a dauntingly long journey.

Along the way, there are no more islands, only endless ocean.

Before the storm

Qian Xuetong hurriedly returned to the "Zhenjiang" sailing battleship on a small sampan. As the commander of the formation, this was his battle position, and he had to stay at his post even when encountering a storm.

If you encounter dangerous situations such as dragging anchor or running aground, you can immediately take measures to save yourself.

In less than two hours
The sky had completely darkened, and the strong winds and huge waves on the sea became more and more violent. The waves were often seven or eight meters high, surging like a tidal wave, as if they were going to turn the whole world upside down.

Witnessing the boundless power of nature, the sailors of the fleet were also horrified. They ran to the bow of the ship to light incense and offer sacrifices.

Even when it stops in the lagoon, the surging tides keep rising and falling, with waves about one to two meters high, and the strong winds that sweep through it reach over level 8, making strange whimpering sounds.

A thunderstorm exploded, flashes of lightning connected the sky and the ground, the rumbling thunder seemed to explode in my heart, and heavy rain followed.

The tropical storm came, bringing endless unrest and violent rain, raging wildly between heaven and earth.

The storm lasted for three days and three nights, and only dissipated quietly in the early morning of the fourth day.

Looking at Wake Island at this time, it was already in ruins.

The neatly stacked wooden boards and timber were blown away and scattered all over the bushes and islands. Some wooden boards were blown into the sea and gathered on the beach with the waves.

At the tent camp at the foot of a low mountain, the tents were torn to pieces by the strong wind. Only about 2/3 of the tents were intact, and the rest either disappeared or turned into tattered strips of cloth.

The villagers on the island were rescuing each other. Seven people were killed or injured in the storm. Two thin indigenous women were blown away without a trace, and two men and three women were knocked down by wood carried by the strong wind. Their injuries varied in severity.

See this scene
Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong could only offer a few words of comfort before returning to the fleet and ordering the team to split into two and set sail.

The two sailboats, which had completed unloading, returned to Manila via the same route, without stopping at Guam, and arrived in about 8 to 9 days.

It will then be deployed on the immigration route to continue its transportation mission.

The sailing battleship Zhenjiang led the remaining two sailing cargo ships, carrying more than 140 officers and soldiers and more than 550 indigenous women, and embarked on a voyage to Midway Island.

After a week of sailing
The slimmed-down "Zhenjiang" expeditionary task force successfully arrived at Midway Island without any further unsuccessful searches.

In the sky dozens of nautical miles away from Midway Island, you can see a large number of albatrosses soaring, which are simply guiding lights.

In the vast Pacific Ocean
Even birds that are good at flying cannot cross the river. Where there are flocks of birds, there must be islands, and the distance cannot be too far.

Seeing the flock of white birds dancing over Midway Island, blocking out the sun, the sailors and soldiers on the voyage couldn't help but cheer, unable to conceal their excitement. Midway Island is located in the central Pacific Ocean, 1200 nautical miles northwest of Honolulu, and is part of the Polynesian archipelago.

Midway Island is a coral atoll with a circumference of 24 kilometers and a land area of ​​5 square kilometers. It consists of Sand Island, East Island and Spit Island and has a subtropical climate.

Although both are coral atolls and have a lagoon surrounding them to provide shelter for passing fleets, Midway Island has a longer history and its highest point is a gently sloping plateau 47 meters above sea level.

The island has large tracts of forest, almost half of which is covered by forest, and has abundant timber resources.

What is even more commendable is that for hundreds and thousands of years, this place has been a paradise for birds, with an astonishing number of birds and turtles living here, and bird droppings piled up several meters thick.

In this era, bird droppings are the best fertilizer, no doubt about it.

After logging in
After spending an hour and a half surveying the entire island, the team leader, Lieutenant Commander Hu Dafu, grinned happily, looking quite satisfied.

This person is afraid of comparison, because the gap will be revealed once there is comparison.

Compared to Wake Island, which has nothing, Midway Island is rich in resources. It has no shortage of food, clothing, or daily necessities, and will soon be able to achieve self-sufficiency.

Lieutenant Commander Hu Dafu has already planned to build a dock on Sand Island. The materials used will be cut down on site, starting from the center of the forest on the island.

All the surrounding woods are preserved, which serve as natural windbreaks, protecting the cultivated farmland inside from being destroyed by storms and ensuring a good harvest.

Roughly estimated
There is no problem in reclaiming four or five hundred acres of land. With sufficient bird resources and climatic conditions that allow three crops a year, Hu Dafu estimates that the yield per acre can reach 350 kilograms.

At the end of the year, the grain yield per mu is definitely over a thousand kilograms, which is almost no difficulty.

Lieutenant Commander Hu Dafu planned to build a 5-meter-high circular wall on Spit Island, close to a hill about to meters high, to serve as a defensive camp, build some houses for living, and develop hundreds of acres of fertile farmland.

It is truly a dual purpose product, a perfect solution to survival problems.

After witnessing the devastation of Wake Island caused by the storm, Lieutenant Commander Hu Dafu no longer planned to build wooden houses, but instead decided to build stone houses directly.

Stone houses are more solid. If they are built in a row along the stone wall, a lot of work can be saved. The roof can also be used for patrols, defenses, and drying crops.

Midway Island is surrounded by a large area of ​​shallows, covering an area of ​​24 kilometers, which makes it difficult for large ships to enter.

Spit Island is located in the center of the shallows. It is a highland exposed to the sea water, covering an area of ​​about 1.7 square kilometers. It can be traveled to and from Sand Island by small boat, which is about meters away.

In the lagoon, you don't have to worry too much about being blown into the deep ocean by the sea breeze.

Really can't do
You can also jump off the boat to escape. The depth of these shallows on the beach is mostly about 1 to 2 meters. In shallow places, the sea water is above the calf. When the tide goes out, large areas of beach will be exposed. There are extremely rich wild seafood on the mudflats.

It is precisely because of the abundant seafood that hundreds of thousands of albatrosses gather here.

An adult albatross is one of the largest flying birds, with a wingspan of up to 3.3 meters. It can carry a child weighing about 10 kilograms into the air, but attacking adults can also be dangerous.

Taking a step back
Even if Midway Island did not produce any food, the soldiers stationed on the island could have enough food and clothing by relying solely on the indigenous women to pick up bird eggs. The number of bird eggs was simply too large.

There was no way to eat all the bird meat after killing them, so the officers and soldiers who landed on the island quickly spread a large net and tied both ends to a tree. In half a day, they caught more than forty albatrosses. After skinning and removing the tendons and internal organs, there was still more than a thousand pounds of meat.

There is no way you can catch them all or eat them all.

Lieutenant Hu Dafu arranged two soldiers to guard the edge of the net. When they caught one, they would hit it hard with a stick. When it was dead, they would hand it over to the native women to dissect and pluck the hair. After cleaning it, they would put it in the pot.

On the first day of arriving at Midway Island, the sailors on the ship and the officers and soldiers who landed on the island ate delicious bird meat stewed with cassava and bird eggs fried with wild onions. It was so delicious!
In order to transport the guano efficiently, Lieutenant Colonel Qian Xuetong, commander of the "Zhenjiang" expeditionary task force, ordered the sailors to land on the island and build a simple pier together with the officers and soldiers who landed on the island.

In addition to the guards, more than 400 officers and soldiers came down from the three large sailing ships. Together with more than 140 officers and soldiers who landed on the island, more than 500 indigenous women worked together and started working in full swing.

In just three days

They felled more than 1700 large trees, cut off the branches, and cut a large number of wooden planks and boards on a steam-driven sawing machine, and began to build a wooden pier along the inside of the lagoon.

Ten days later
A simple wooden pier was built, extending more than 76 meters from the island along the shallows of the lagoon, stopping where the water suddenly deepened. Then a horizontal pier was built, about meters long, forming a "T" shape overall.

Such a wooden pier can accommodate two large sailing ships for loading and unloading cargo at the same time.

If they are docked side by side, they can be tied together securely with ropes and can accommodate seven or eight sailing cargo ships.

During this time
The chefs of the Zhenjiang fleet were also busy. They took out large nets to catch albatrosses, and could harvest hundreds of them every day. After plucking their feathers, removing their internal organs, and cleaning them, they salted them into bacon and dried them for a few days before storing them in the cabin for later use.

During this period, dozens of tons of bacon were collected.

The sailors on the ship and the soldiers on the island ate fresh meat and looked down on the salted meat. Fresh bird meat tasted more fragrant and was delicious no matter whether it was stewed in soup or braised.

Some of the salted bird meat was reserved for consumption during the voyage, and most of it was intended for the residents of Wake Island, who had nothing there after all.

After the simple dock was built, the speed of transporting guano became very fast.

More than 10 donkeys and some poultry and livestock raised at the bottom of the cabin were left to Midway Island and came in handy at this time.

Donkey carts were used to transport guano between the dock and large sailing ships, and more than one hundred tons could be transported in a day.

In order to provide nutrition for these donkeys, Lieutenant Hu Dafu fed bird eggs three times a day, feeding the donkeys a bowl of eggs each time, plus nutritious feed such as soybean meal, as well as green grass and tender leaves from the island. The donkeys became more energetic after being fed.

five days later

Two sailing cargo ships loaded with thousands of tons of guano followed the large sailing ship "Zhenjiang", slowly left the dock and headed towards the depths of the ocean.

Lieutenant Hu Dafu led everyone to wave goodbye to the fleet, and stood there with tears in his eyes until the sails disappeared at the end of the horizon.

Some young men couldn't help but shed tears, feeling as if a big piece of their hearts had been lost.

People are like this. Although they had no worries about food and clothing on Midway Island, being left alone in the middle of the ocean gave them a strong sense of loss, as if they had been abandoned by society.

Lieutenant Hu Dafu didn't want to let such sadness spread, so he shouted and cursed loudly;
"Why are you crying? You useless thing.

From now on on this island, the sky is the boss, the earth is second, and I am the third. There is no shortage of women, meat, and food on the island. We are free and no one cares about us. Isn't this good?

If you have energy but nowhere to use it, hurry up and build the windbreak and the houses so that everyone can have a room.

We all sit together happily. Next year we will have pups, flocks of chickens and ducks, and we also have donkeys and endless bird meat. What is there to worry about?

Okay, let’s all go back.

After lunch, we continued working in the afternoon. We had to hurry to build the stone wall first, and then we would start building the house along the stone wall.

In the afternoon, 50 women went to collect bird eggs, 20 women made fire and cooked, 30 women were responsible for catching birds and cleaning them, and the others all went to help at the stone wall construction site.

There are five or six hundred of us. We must build a 500-meter stone wall every day no matter what. That’s 10 kilometers in 5 days.

After building the stone walls and the house, you will have a place to stay and will not be afraid of any storms.

Such a great place, those guys who stayed on Wake Island must be envious to death, why are they crying like sissy? "

His words caused everyone to burst into laughter and drew enthusiastic responses from the young men. The sadness came quickly and went away even faster.

The boss is right. Apart from the lack of wine, there are women here, endless meat to eat, and a carefree life with no one to control us. Isn't this a good life?

Take wine for example. Once the crops are grown, there will be many people who can make wine. Will you still be afraid of not having wine to drink?
(End of this chapter)