At the pier of Ceylon Island, Dong Liqun stood on the first-class deck, looking at the Arctic Ocean that was also slowly entering the port next to him. He thought that if time was not so tight, he would not have to take this passenger ship of only more than 4,000 tons.
Instead, you can take the 10,000-ton passenger ship on the Pacific Ocean Line's transoceanic flights.
When people from the Tang Dynasty travel overseas, especially when sailing across oceans, they usually go first on those 10,000-ton passenger ships.
Those who have money can travel in second class or first class, while ordinary people can travel in third class. Even though the ticket price is much more expensive than that of ordinary passenger ships, the comfort of travel is much better.
If you take a 10,000-ton passenger ship, as long as you don't encounter too big waves, there will basically be no big bumps. Not to mention that the hardware facilities of multi-1,000-ton passenger ships are relatively good and there are many entertainment facilities.
There is even more important security.
When sailing on the sea, passenger ships of 10,000 tons are much safer than small passenger ships of several thousand tons.
However, the number of luxury passenger ships of 10,000 tons is still relatively small. Pacific Ocean Shipping Company, the strongest company in this field, currently only has nine luxury passenger ships of more than 10,000 tons, and not all of them operate global routes.
In addition to the luxury passenger ships of more than 10,000 tons from other shipping companies, the total number is actually only about 20, so there are often flights of such 10,000-ton passenger ships only after a period of time.
If the time is not right, you won't be able to take these 10,000-ton passenger ships, and you will have to take ordinary passenger ships of several thousand tons.
At present, in the ocean shipping industry of the Tang Empire, the number of passenger ships between 2,000 tons and 5,000 tons, especially those concentrated between 3,000 tons and 4,000 tons, is the largest.
Especially on domestic coastal routes, that is, routes including the mainland of East Asia, Beihai Province, Nanyang Province, etc., the main passenger ships are still these passenger ships of several thousand tons.
At the same time, there are many on the Indian Ocean route and even the Atlantic route.
There are even more freighters of several thousand tons, and some of them are also freighters that carry passengers and cargo.
Datang's many ocean-going ships are spread all over the world. No matter where you want to go from the mainland, you can usually find corresponding ships to go there.
Dong Liqun was pressed for time, so he chose a passenger ship that had recently departed. However, this passenger ship was bound for South Africa. After passing through Ceylon Island, Dong Liqun would change ships.
The next day, Dong Liqun and a group of his subordinate officials directly transferred to a passenger ship bound for the Red Sea. This passenger ship was not a passenger ship specifically engaged in the Red Sea route.
Because there are many tourists in the area, the shipping company will not open a special high-speed passenger ship route for the Red Sea area. This passenger ship is actually a troop transport ship funded and hired by the military.
With the establishment of the Red Sea Affairs Office, Datang needed to station a certain number of troops locally in order to establish effective local control, especially to prevent indigenous people from other places from entering outside Datang-controlled areas.
Although a mixed regiment was dispatched in the early stage, the strength of a mixed regiment of more than 3,000 people was still too small. According to the Army's estimates, in order to completely control the Red Sea area, it would have to maintain at least about 10,000 troops in the early stage.
Otherwise, it really can’t be arranged.
For example, the Basra area on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf is a strategic chokepoint. To the east is the Safavid Empire of Persia, to the north is the Ottomans, and to the west there are many indigenous peoples on the West Asian Peninsula. No matter what the situation is, such a place must be garrisoned.
Let's go as a group.
Next up is the northeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula, which also needs to be patrolled at the border with the Ottoman region. It is estimated that several thousand people must be deployed in this area to prevent the Ottomans or other indigenous people from getting confused.
Then there is the lower Nile plain area with Cairo as the core. A certain amount of troops must be stationed here, because this area will be the core area for the empire to immigrate to the Red Sea region.
After all, only here are relatively vast arable plains, and everywhere else is nothing but sand.
Finally, there is the most critical canal area. Heavy troops must be stationed in the predetermined canal area. Later, a large number of indigenous workers will be concentrated here to dig the canal. The number of these indigenous workers will be at least 100,000 based on the construction of the Panama Canal.
So many indigenous workers are naturally a hidden danger, and the military will definitely send a certain number of troops to garrison to avoid potential disturbances.
In addition, other places also need garrison troops to a greater or lesser extent.
The Army's plan for this is that the initial garrison in the Red Sea area will require at least one division. If there is not one division, it will need at least tens of thousands of troops.
Therefore, the military has been continuously increasing its troops in the Red Sea area during this period.
However, considering that a large-scale war is unlikely to break out locally, and the threat of war is even lower than in India, only second-line troops are sent there.
This time, an infantry regiment of the 53rd Division went to the Red Sea area with Dong Liqun and others, and other troops from the 53rd Division will also follow.
According to the Army's plan, the 53rd Division will subsequently be stationed in the entire Red Sea region, while also taking into account the defense of the East African region.
After the fleet left Ceylon, it headed straight for the Red Sea. In addition to four passenger ships full of soldiers and officials, there were six mixed passenger and cargo ships in the fleet, carrying a large amount of equipment and supplies. The navy
A small fleet was also dispatched for escort.
However, the Indian Ocean can be regarded as the inland sea of the Tang Navy, so the escort is more symbolic, with only one cruiser and one frigate accompanying it.
The fleet went all the way north, soon entered the Red Sea, and finally docked at the Port of Suez.
After Dong Liqun arrived in the city with a group of accompanying officials, he officially took office.
Due to transportation reasons, the seat of the Red Sea Affairs Yamen is not located in Cairo, the traditional administrative center of Egypt, but in Suez, a city along the Red Sea.
After all, Datang didn't have much foundation in Cairo. It didn't even have an office or any other institution there before. As for Suez City, Datang already had a consulate here. After all, this place was where Datang and
It was the main port for trade in the Ottoman Empire, so the Tang Dynasty still had a certain base in Suez City, and at least the office facilities were relatively complete.
At the same time, the entire Red Sea is now a no-man's land. The once bustling city of Cairo is now deserted...
All the former natives had been packed away by the Ottomans, leaving only an empty city.
However, the people of the Tang Dynasty have never had a good impression of aboriginal cities, and they would never move directly into aboriginal cities. In most cases, they burned them with fire to ensure sanitation. Even if they did not burn, they would carry out large-scale renovations.
Area demolition and reconstruction.
Therefore, the city of Cairo, which was very important to the indigenous people, was of no value to the Tang Dynasty.
What's more important is the transportation factor. Suez Port can contact the mainland of Datang by ship. If it is located in Cairo or a city on the Mediterranean coast, it will still have to travel around the land.
However, the current Suez is different from the previous Suez. The previous city of Suez had already been turned into ruins during the war, and the place was not big in the first place. The Tang Dynasty people simply burned it down and rebuilt it.
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Of course, at present, only military camps and official office buildings have been simply set up. Other urban buildings are still under planning and will be built slowly in the future.
Datang already has rich experience in building new cities in overseas territories.
When Dong Liqun and others started working, the first fleet full of immigrants also officially arrived at the Port of Suez!