In the first month of the eighth year of Xuanping, the army and navy in Jinling City were competing for military spending and the future strategic direction that would be more beneficial to themselves.
On Mindao Island in Luzon, South Asia, Datang Western Company is making the final handover with representatives sent by the empire!
In fact, before this, the empire had already fully taken over the administration and military of Mindao Island!
In the winter of the seventh year of Xuanping, the fleet sent south by the Tang Dynasty arrived in Luzon, bringing not only a large amount of goods, but also officials and garrison troops.
In terms of the cabinet, dozens of officials were dispatched to the specially established Luzon Prefecture, including officials at all levels, including prefects and prefecture magistrates. Although the current Luzon Prefecture’s actual control area is only a small port and very few surrounding areas.
The area has a population of no more than 3,000.
More than half of them are military personnel sent by the army and navy, and only more than 1,500 are immigrants in the true sense.
However, the administrative level set by the cabinet for Luzon State is based on the Ryukyu Prefecture, which is an overseas territory directly under the jurisdiction of the State. All aspects of the administrative level are based on the mainland.
So everything that should be there will be there!
After the official personnel arrived, Datang Western Company also officially ended its corporate rule in Luzon and handed over all administrative and military power to the official. Employees of Datang Western Company, especially armed employees, had already accompanied them south.
Banten's fleet is heading south one after another, and they will then head to Myanmar and India.
In addition to administrative officials, the official army also sent a mixed battalion of about 600 people. The navy also temporarily sent three teams of marines, with a total of about 300 people. Together, they constitute the main force of Luzon at present.
garrison.
In addition, there are about 300 militiamen on the island, organized into four militia groups.
These militiamen are all selected from young immigrants. They are not considered regular troops, but their weapons and equipment are provided according to the establishment of regular troops. There is no way, there are few people overseas, and even militiamen have to shoulder part of the responsibilities of regular troops.
, therefore they must be equipped with good enough standard weapons and equipment.
Of course, in these overseas territories, the troops on the ground are at most used for defense and to encircle and suppress the local indigenous people. Real strategic security must rely on the navy's fleet.
To this end, the Navy has specially set up a Luzon Squadron in Luzon, with one frigate, three patrol ships and several small-tonnage ships. This squadron is permanently stationed in Luzon, and its main purpose is not to say
In order to resist the attack of the enemy's main fleet, we only ensure coastal patrols and combat pirates.
The real main force is the main naval fleet that patrols and escorts the surrounding waters. It belongs to the Fourth Squadron of the Second Fleet. The current main task of this squadron is to maintain and control the line from Guangzhou to Luzon and then to Banten.
It ensures the safety of the route and conducts daily patrols and escorts. It has two cruisers and four frigates, and its strength is relatively strong among the squadrons.
The handover ceremony between Datang Western Company and official representatives was not very grand. It was just a symbolic ceremony and it was over. Datang Western Company did not even send a dedicated senior executive, only a fleet commander as a representative.
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Because before this, several senior executives of Datang Western Company had already gone south to Banten, and their main target was not even in Banten, but in India.
However, although the Tang Western Company transferred administrative and military power, their trading post still exists, and it will still be an important trade and supply port for the Tang Western Company.
But these are not important. The imperial officials don't care what the Tang Dynasty Western Company wants to do. Now they are only thinking about completely controlling Mindao Island. In addition, they are also planning to control the main island of Luzon.
After all, this is Luzon State, not Mindanao State. If you don’t control Luzon Island, how can it be called Luzon State?
Therefore, the formal handover ceremony had just ended, and while the Navy's Fourth Squadron was still there, local officials couldn't wait to take action.
In addition to leaving the necessary defense personnel, the remaining 800 troops were mobilized, and then the Fourth Squadron and the Luzon Squadron set off together to head north to Luzon Island.
They planned to go directly to Manila, then land and establish a colony.
Does it matter whether the local indigenous people oppose or agree?
It's not important. Mei Jiachuan, the first governor of Luzon, didn't care about the opinions of the natives at all. If they agreed, it would save trouble. If they didn't agree, just open fire!
Does the empire need the consent of their natives to do things?
Even though Mei Jiachuan, the governor of Luzon, was ostracized by his colleagues and finally had to work in a poor place like Luzon, at his core, he was still a scholar from the Celestial Kingdom.
It's okay to be angry at home. How could he let himself be angry when he came to Luzon, a place where no one has shit? It's impossible.
Moreover, he still deeply kept in mind his original goal of coming to Luzon Prefecture, to do something big, gain merit, and then return to his homeland, or even return to the capital. He was not willing to stay in this miserable place of Luzon for too long.
Speaking of which, he was unlucky.
He used to work in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and he didn't dare to say that he had a high position, but he could still be regarded as a Beijing official. However, he offended his colleagues, who kept giving him trouble, which eventually led to mistakes in his work!
The superior officer doesn't care what caused your mistake. If you messed up, he will kick you away.
Of course, this level is not as good as losing his official position. They just let him end his term early and then kicked him back to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to select officials.
At that time, officials from the Ministry of Personnel told him that he now had two choices, either to be demoted to a remote northwest or southwestern part of the empire, or to maintain his rank and serve in Luzon.
In the end, in order to maintain his rank and gain merit and return to Gyeonggi Province, he gritted his teeth and chose to come to Luzon Prefecture.
Because he is considered a knowledgeable person and knows that going to the southwest or northwest is also a remote and remote place, and it is also very dangerous. It is normal to lose your life accidentally. Although it is a local area, it is definitely not as good as Luzon.
How good is the situation?
However, Luzon Prefecture has one advantage that cannot be compared with other remote places in the mainland, that is, as the second overseas territory directly under the empire, it is more valued by the empire. If he does well in Luzon Prefecture, he can easily be promoted.
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Of course, if you don't do it well, you will have to stay in those miserable places for anywhere from five to six years to a dozen times or even a lifetime.
So even though it was dangerous and the conditions were difficult, Mei Jiachuan chose to come to Luzon.
As soon as he arrived in Luzon, he couldn't wait to make achievements!
How to make great achievements? Of course it is to win Luzon!